The Witch of Edmonton

The Witch of Edmonton was written in 1621, when James I was on the throne. After the Reformation of the previous century, religious tension remained high between the official Protestant religion (Anglicanism) and Catholic traditions. A growing Puritan movement disapproved of traditional features of English culture that fell outside their rigid biblical interpretations. For instance, folklore and communal traditions often drew on pre-Christian ideas that blended or co-existed with Catholicism over the centuries. Examples of this include legendary figures such as Maid Marian and seasonal festivities such as May Day, which are both referenced in the play. The Morris dancers encapsulate these communal traditions—though Morris dancing was a relatively recent addition to village life, it was amalgamated into existing festivities and practices. The characters’ deep belief in and concern for the afterlife, meanwhile, typifies an attitude that spanned the divide of the Reformation, since Protestant ideas of the afterlife included only heaven and hell and eschewed the pre-Reformation Catholic notion of purgatory. Since the play includes these ideas, it appealed to the broadest possible audience.

The subject of witchcraft in the play also reflects the common understanding of this topic at the time. In the early modern period, witch-hunts took place across Europe, increasing during the religious tension and violence of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. Tens of thousands of people were executed for allegedly practicing witchcraft. Witch hunts were more prolific and brutal in other parts of Europe, but the movement was significant in England, too. This obsession with the figure of the witch fed into, and was fed by, the period’s culture. For example, witches were often portrayed in mass-distributed woodcarvings that propagated popular ideas about them, such as their use of a broom or their relationship with a familiar (the role that Dog fulfills in the play). Witches also commonly featured in the literature and theater of the era—the witches of Macbeth are a famous example. However, the idea of magic was complex, and it was not always considered wicked. The high arts, which were associated with divine knowledge and power, were generally linked to noble causes and masculine practitioners, whereas witchcraft was considered low magic, originating from the devil and associated with female practitioners. Caliban’s mother and Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest offer an example of this contrast.

Therefore, a large majority of those accused of witchcraft were women. Women’s socio-economic status at this time was weak: They were considered the property of their father or husband, for example. This lower socioeconomic status made women natural targets for scapegoating. Also, accusations of witchcraft could be used to police women’s behavior and maintain power structures. For example, witches were often presented as being sexually voracious, engaging in sexual acts with the devil. This reinforced a rigid code of sexual behavior for women. Additionally, widows who owned their own property straddled the boundaries of patriarchal systems of ownership; arresting them for witchcraft reflected a societal distrust of their more powerful status and offered a means to maintain existing patriarchal systems. Other types of marginalization also played a role: Most women accused of witchcraft were relatively old and of low economic means.

The play does, however, references a respected female fortune teller (2.1.118-19). This raises the tension that existed between the archetype of the village wise woman and the witch. Women’s knowledge and skills were often valuable—perhaps as healers or midwives, or through local knowledge or life experience. An old woman could be both valued by a community and viewed as an easy target; for example, if her status was resented, the witch-hunting fervor grew.

The play offers a commentary on The Role of the Witch in the Community: Although it uses Goodcole’s pamphlet as a source, it presents Elizabeth Sawyer in a more sympathetic light. It includes a greater exploration of her socio-economic situation and of her mistreatment by the villagers.