9781408144244_

It is a historical phenomenon that while thousands of women were being
burnt as witches in early modern Europe, the English - although there
were a few celebrated trials and executions, one of which the play
dramatises - were not widely infected by the witch-craze. The stage
seems to have provided an outlet for anxieties about witchcraft, as
well as an opportunity for public analysis. The Witch of Edmonton
(1621) manifests this fundamentally reasonable attitude, with Dekker
insisting on justice for the poor and oppressed, Ford providing
psychological character studies, and Rowley the clowning. The village
community of Edmonton feels threatened by two misfits, Old Mother
Sawyer, who has turned to the devil to aid her against her unfeeling
neighbours, and Frank, who refuses to marry the woman of his fathers
choice and ends up murdering her. This edition shows how the play
generates sympathy for both and how contemporaries would have responded
to its presentation of village life and witchcraft.

(*_*)9781408144244_

...(*_*)9781408144244_

It is a historical phenomenon that while thousands of women were being
nburnt as witches in early modern Europe, the English - although there
nwere a few celebrated trials and executions, one of which the play
ndramatises - were not widely infected by the witch-craze. The stage
nseems to have provided an outlet for anxieties about witchcraft, as
nwell as an opportunity for public analysis. The Witch of Edmonton
n(1621) manifests this fundamentally reasonable attitude, with Dekker
ninsisting on justice for the poor and oppressed, Ford providing
npsychological character studies, and Rowley the clowning. The village
ncommunity of Edmonton feels threatened by two misfits, Old Mother
nSawyer, who has turned to the devil to aid her against her unfeeling
nneighbours, and Frank, who refuses to marry the woman of his father's
nchoice and ends up murdering her. This edition shows how the play
ngenerates sympathy for both and how contemporaries would have responded
nto its presentation of village life and witchcraft.

The Witch of Edmonton

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