Opinion piece: Witches in literature and society.
Welcome back everyone, I wanted to look at the role of witches in society, literature in particular. Reviewing A. K. Blakemore's The Manningtree Witches (2021) got me thinking about how witches have been perceived in literature and society as a whole. Blakemore's novel is not the only book I have read. For me, this book reveals what happened in Manningtree when Witchfinder General Matthew John with a feminist viewpoint. But before I get too deep into witches, the first question to ask is - what is a witch? Well according to The Dictionary of Feminist Theory (1995) ‘Most modern writers use the old English word Wicca, meaning 'wisewoman' which is a positive term for maiden, mother and crone.’¹
So it remains a mystery as to how this interpretation of a witch is never portrayed. Take something in popular culture such as the television programme Doctor Who which included two good examples of witches. The first example I am thinking of is ‘The Shakespeare Code’. The episode funnily enough sees the Doctor and his companion, Martha Jones battle against witch-like creatures alongside William Shakespeare himself. Right from the beginning we see Lilith (the main antagonist) with her two stepmothers - Mother Doomfinger and Mother Bloodtide. They attack a man trying to charm Lilith. Later on in the episode, we see them use a voodoo doll to murder someone. When the doctor discovers the dead man, he quickly points out to Martha that it is witchcraft.²
These witch-like carrionites use witchcraft for evil. They appear in black, ripped clothing. The use of black connotes darkness and black magic. That combined with the weird ornaments at their home and the voodoo dolls illustrate them as far from this positive ‘'wisewoman'’³ that was mentioned in The Dictionary of Feminist Theory (1995).
To juxtapose this, in Lolly Willowes, the titular character starts out as someone who has a motherly presence in her role of being an aunt. Unlike the Lilith in Doctor Who, Lolly is lured into becoming a witch by Satan. What also makes her seem as a more innocent witch is her name. Laura is her proper name, but niece uses Lolly as a mispronunciation. This ends up sticking to her and it creates a sense of childishness. This is not quite the evil witchy characters of Doctor Who or perhaps those in Shakespeare's Macbeth (1623). These witches use spells and make predictions to Macbeth himself. This leads to multiple characters being murdered. Even if they do not directly state the killings will happen, they make their claims to Macbeth who ends up killing characters. It could be argued that their actions led to lives being lost including Banquo and King Duncan.
There are many more examples I could refer to but overall witches often have a hidden agenda or rather to gain something they want. To me, witches are outsiders who did not fit in, whether by choice or not. I have seen witches filled with pure evil such as in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and good witches too such as Glinda from the Wizard of Oz (1939) and more recently the Wicked (2024) films. Glinda in Wicked (2024) is a strong example that highlights how for me, the witch often plays the role of the outsider.
Anyway, do tell me what your thoughts are in the comments below.
Until next time,
Thomas.
Footnotes:
¹ Maggie Humm, The Dictionary of Feminist Theory (Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1995), 299.
² (Doctor Who 2007)
³ Humm, The Dictionary of Feminist Theory, 299.
Bibliography:
Doctor Who. 2007. "The Shakespeare Code". BBC iPlayer. 45:34, April 7th. Doctor Who (2005–2022) - Series 3: 2. The Shakespeare Code - BBC iPlayer
Humm, Maggie. The Dictionary of Feminist Theory. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1995.
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