The Witch of Edmonton

A detailed Summary of The Witch of Edmonton

Written early in the 17th century by three of Shakespeare´s contemporaries, Thomas Dekker, John Ford and William Rowley, this play deals with many interesting issues - love, money, gender disguises, revenge, forgiveness, witchcraft and evil, which, as we see in the play lurks in the heart of man. In this essay I am not going to deal with all the above mentioned themes. It is the character of witch and witchcraft craze I´ll be interested in.

The title character of the play is Mother Sawyer, a lonely, feeble old woman, in her own words "poor, deformed and ignorant", who is used as a scapegoat by the villagers of Edmonton for all their woes, and is believed to be a witch even though she is not. In revenge, Mother Sawyer calls on the Devil for a Faustian pact in which she is given magical power. She has some fun getting her revenge on the villagers, but ultimately the Devil betrays her, and she is to be executed.

The play is by no means a modern, materialistic analysis of witchcraft, but it is unique in highlighting the scapegoating phenomena as a cause of witchcraft, rather than as a justified response to it.

And being ignorant of my self, they go

About to teach me how to be one, urgi

Blasphemous speeches, Oaths, detested Oaths,

The glass of thy sins is full, and it must run out and Gallows

Some common words found in the essay are:
Thy Trial, Mother Sawyer, Sir Arthur, Witch Edmonton, II Scene, Body Dog, Mother Sawyer´s, Devil Faustian, Agnes Ratcliffe, William Rowley, pact devil, sir arthur, mother sawyer, demonic pact, justice sir, death sentence, scene 1, mother sawyer´s, justice sir arthur, ford rowley, demonic influence, sir arthur´s hidden, dekker ford rowley, arthur´s hidden sin,

Approximate Word count = 1810
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Arts

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