The Witch of Edmonton

“Get you to your nunnery,

There freeze in your cold cloister.”

Sir Arthur turns on Winnifride when she rejects his sexual advances, illustrating the power imbalance that exists between them and showing that his apparent affection and concern for her is dependent on his getting what he wants. Sending a disgraced woman to a nunnery to remove her from society was a common practice of the time; it also imposed a life of chastity on them, trapping them in a rigidly controlled environment. Heat was often used as a metaphor for desire—in telling Winnifride to “freeze” in the “cold,” Sir Arthur attacks her lack of sexual appetite for him and condemns her to a future devoid of sexual desire.

“A very unthrift, Master Thorney, one of the country roaring-lads. We have such as well as the city, and as arrant rakehells as they are, though not so nimble at their prizes of wit.”

Old Carter gossips with Old Thorney about Warbeck, who is from a neighboring village, reflecting the insular nature of the community. He says he is the country version of a “roaring-lad,” a well-known archetype of a brash young man who engages in drinking, partying, reckless behavior, and possibly petty crime. One of the playwrights of The Witch of Edmonton, Thomas Dekker, co-wrote a play earlier called The Roaring Girl, which explores a female version of this character, dramatizing the life of the legendary Moll Cutpurse. Though a proactive and outlandish figure, she is fundamentally honorable and extremely clever, whereas Old Carter pokes fun at Warbeck by stating that the rural equivalents are less witty. He also mocks Warbeck’s foolish spending. He compares Warbeck to a rake, an archetypal male character who places hedonism above all else and who is associated with dishonor.

“Dar’st thou persever yet, and pull down wrath

As hot as flames of hell to strike thee quick

Unto the grave of horror?”

Old Thorney’s warning to his son foreshadows his fate, building tension by signposting what is to come. The vivid, tangible language he uses of flames and a grave illustrates the early modern preoccupation with hell as a physically real, horrific place. Old Thorney uses a rhetorical question to express his shock that his son risks this divine judgement by pursuing a sinful path and to try to persuade him to be honest.

“Alas! I knew

Your rage and grief proceeded from your love

To me.”

Frank Thorney forgives his father’s fury at him by saying it comes from love, foreshadowing Old Carter’s response to Susan’s death, in which he rages at her corpse. This illustrates the fine line between parental love and control, particularly in an early modern social context, which emphasized familial duty. However, here, this statement is laden with dramatic irony as the audience knows that in fact, Frank is still lying. His apparently benevolent forgiveness of his father’s anger, which the audience knows is justified, highlights his emotional manipulation and deception.

“I’d go out of myself

And give this fury leave to dwell within

This ruined cottage ready to fall with age.”

In Elizabeth Sawyer’s soliloquys and monologues, she speaks in eloquent, poetic verse, filled with metaphors, which belies her poor, uneducated background. This contrasts with the coarse, aggressive curses she levels at other characters onstage. The play makes her a mouthpiece for sophisticated explorations of emotions and ideas, and it suggests that the version of her that the villagers see does not reflect her full self. Here, she metaphorically imagines her body as a “ruined cottage,” showing her physical vulnerability as it is “ready to fall.” She poetically reflects that in allowing her anger to fully consume her, she will lose herself: Her fury will entirely fill the cottage, pushing her out.

“Equivocations?

Art mine or no?”

When Elizabeth Sawyer tries to answer Dog using noncommittal wordplay, showing an initial reluctance to fully submit to him, Dog sees through her intentions immediately and questions her insistently, pressuring her to give a straight answer. This shows his wily nature: He cannot be tricked with words and is determined to trap her in a contract. “Equivocation” had a specific meaning in this period: Jesuits who were captured working illegally in Anglican England were taught to phrase their answers in ways that avoided an outright lie but sounded like the desired response, which was known as “equivocating.” To an early modern audience, this phrase evoked the societal tensions between the official Anglican religion and covert Catholicism. The word had connotations of underlying danger that could break out into deadly consequences, both for the physical body and the soul, reflecting Dog’s role in the play.

“Two wives? Sir, I take it

Exceeding likely.”

This line encapsulates Susan’s pure character. When Frank Thorney says he was foretold to have two wives, Susan assumes he will outlive her and remarry, reflecting her absolute trust in him. Even when he mentions later that Winnifride has a claim on him, she is supportive of the idea he might marry her one day. This also reflects the high mortality rates of women in childbirth at this time: Susan’s declaration that a second marriage is “likely” shows her full acceptance of this fact.

“Thinking to land at Katherine’s Dock, I was almost at Gravesend.”

Young Banks engages in wordplay typical of the clown archetype. He gives a humorous metaphor for his escapades: In pursuing Katherine, he nearly died when led astray into the water. “Gravesend” is the name of a real place that he uses as a pun to indicate going to his grave, or the end of his life. “Katherine’s Dock” has a triple meaning: It refers to a real place, to the character of Katherine in the play, and it also has a sexual undertone through the word “dock.” The places Young Banks names are near Edmonton in London, so they would have been familiar to the London theater audience, creating an inside joke for them.

“I love you, but I pray you let’s have no more of these ducking devices.”

Young Banks displays his loving, innocent nature—even after Dog leads him into the water while tricking him, he says he loves Dog and treats the incident as a joke. He offers sophisticated wordplay with layers of meaning, typical of the clown archetype, who often had both foolish and clever characteristics. The “ducking device” refers to his literal experience of being ducked in water by Dog’s trickery, as a “device” could mean a plan. It also harks back to his wordplay earlier in the scene about going ducking with Dog (hunting for ducks using a dog to flush them out). However, this term also refers to the ducking stool, a device used to torture women into confessing to witchcraft or to punish them for other crimes by submerging them in water. This pun offers a clue to Dog’s underlying dangerous nature, and this subplot offers a humorous version of the tragedy of Elizabeth Sawyer’s plot.

“Those that are joys denied must take delight

In sins and mischiefs; ‘tis the devil’s right.”

Dog explains what motivates him to corrupt humans: He says he has no source of joy and therefore seeks to cause suffering to others as a means of fulfillment. This echoes the idea articulated by Mephistopheles in Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus that the devil is constantly suffering the absence of God. It also echoes Richard III’s sentiment in his opening soliloquy, stating that he cannot engage with traditional joyful activities and therefore can only seek fulfilment through villainous machinations. This statement places Dog (as the devil) in the archetypal role of the villain, seeking others’ destruction due to his own damnation. It highlights that he, too, is part of The Vicious Cycle of Evil, instigated by his own original rebellion from heaven.

“That’s the sad eclipse: the effects must follow

As plagues of shame, spite, scorn and obloquy.”

As eclipses happen rarely and bring darkness in the daytime, in the 16th century, eclipses were considered momentous events that were portents of widespread bad fortune. Winnifride compares Frank Thorney’s act of bigamy to an eclipse, which is a metaphor that points to the shocking and unnatural nature of his crime. Her horror is not just at the act itself, but at the terrible outcomes that will follow, reflecting the play’s interest in the consequences of actions. She compares these to “plagues,” continuing her metaphor as these were often seen as following astrological events. Plagues were regularly occurring events in Europe during the early modern period, particularly in concentrated cities like London, so comparing the social destruction Winnifride and Frank will face to a plague illustrates the devastating nature of these consequences.

“[M]y soul’s purity

Shall with bold wings ascend the doors of Mercy,

For Innocence is ever her companion.”

In this quotation, the playwrights explore the relationship between sin and intention. Susan maintains a dual perspective: She asserts her innocence but nonetheless believes she has “slept in sin” and is culpable for these actions despite her pure intentions (3.3.42). Here, the play tackles how this apparent dichotomy can be resolved, personifying the figures of Mercy and Innocence to explore their relationship to Susan’s soul. Susan’s innocent intentions do not mean that she has not sinned, but rather that she should be granted mercy for this sin. This allows for an action to be presented as sinful regardless of intent, while maintaining that intent still matters, impacting the afterlife.

“You see I had no purpose. I’m unarmed.

‘Tis this minutes decree, and it must be.

Look, this will serve your turn.”

Before murdering Susan, Frank Thorney is keen to communicate to her that his decision to kill her is not premeditated but is one that he made in the spur of the moment. This further establishes the narrative he uses to contextualize his actions throughout the play, consistently portraying his choices as involuntary responses to circumstances spiraling beyond his control, later stating, “Think what forced men do” (3.3.85). He plays into the idea of a tragic hero spiraling down a bad path. The play later challenges this idea: In Act V, he admits his responsibility and his execution formally recognizes his guilt. In this instance though, his statement that he is “unarmed” is backed up by the fact that earlier in the scene, he gave his sword to Winnifride to take away. The sudden appearance of the knife as a murder weapon is suggested by his exclamation of “Look”; this implies that in staging the scene, Dog may provide the knife, practically facilitating Frank’s evil deed. However, his use of the word “decree” places the onus on him as the decision-maker, comparing him to a lawmaker issuing a command. This word illustrates his desire to shape events to suit him, like an authority issuing laws.

“I fear thou hast death’s mark upon thee too.”

Old Thorney falls for his son’s staged crime scene, having faked an attack on himself. However, this line also contains dramatic irony in the unintended double-meaning: Frank Thorney does have “death’s mark” on him, but in the sense that he has been the cause of Susan’s death, rather than being near death himself. “Death’s mark” also refers to the fact that this deed has damned Frank to hell unless he repents: While earthly death was considered relatively insignificant when compared to the perpetual afterlife of heaven, damnation was considered to be eternal death.

“You hot whore, must we fetch you with fire in your tail?”

Heat is used as a metaphor for sexual appetite; in these lines, Old Banks refers to the popular view of witches being sexually insatiable. People believed that they engaged in sexual liaisons with devils. This idea reflects a fear of female sexuality and a drive to police it into rigid behavioral codes, especially for older unmarried or widowed women. The idea of “fire” in the “tail” refers to sexual arousal, but it also has a double meaning—witches were burned at the stake as a punishment for religious deviation.

“By what commission can he send my soul on the devil’s errand more than I can his? Is he a landlord of my soul to thrust it, when he list, out of door?”

Elizabeth Sawyer challenges Sir Arthur’s right to judge her, pointing out to the Justice that he does not have a say in what happens to her soul. The question of whether other people could judge the fate of a person’s soul was very relevant in Jacobean England. The religious landscape of the time was shaped by the Reformation and counter-Reformation; central to these was the debate over whether priests and church authorities were the only ones with the power to save a soul (thereby gatekeeping heaven), or whether an individual’s faith alone (“sola fide” in the Reformed Protestant ideology) could be their salvation. Also crucial to these movements was the debate over the extent to which civil authorities should police religious matters: Since Henry VIII’s break from Rome, the monarch was head of the Church in England. By using the word “landlord,” Elizabeth brings these debates into her domestic sphere, showing that these questions over hierarchies of power that exist at the level of national politics also affect a village community.

“Men in gay clothes, who backs are laden with titles and honours, are within far more crooked than I am, and if I be a witch, more witch-like.”

In this quotation, Elizabeth Sawyer expresses her distrust of authority. She points out the hypocrisy of being punished by the law for her transgressions when powerful people (those with “titles and honours”) are themselves guilty of material excess and corruption. She suggests that the idea of a witch exists to make her more culpable than them. Her words tap into a common criticism of Jacobean Courtly material excess.

“[S]o you might,

Were there no place to go to when you’re gone

But only this.”

Katherine expresses the commonly held belief of the period that dying by suicide will damn one’s soul. She tells Frank Thorney that it would only represent an escape if heaven and hell did not exist. However, her statement is laden with dramatic irony: Unknown to her, he has already committed murder, which is an act that would have already damned his soul, as per the beliefs of the period.

“All life is but a wandering to find home.

When we are gone, we are there. Happy were man

Could here his voyage end; he should not then

Answer how well or ill he steered his soul

By heaven’s or by he’s compass.”

Frank Thorney describes life as a spiritual journey. He uses the words “wandering” and a “voyage” to evoke a sense of yearning for “home,” meaning heaven. This reflects the common conception of the material world as a wilderness in which the soul is lost and God as the home of the human soul. However, Frank Thorney also reflects on another side of this ideal: By making poor choices, a person can damn themselves, barring their soul from this home forever. He continues his voyaging metaphor, acknowledging the agency of a person in “steering” their soul through their choices. He paints religion as the force that should guide a person, like a “compass.” His wistful speech shows his preoccupation with the sins he has committed and his fear that his soul may be beyond redemption.

“I am called witch,

Yet am myself bewitched from doing harm.”

This quotation reflects the common belief of the time that witches did not have true power—their power derives from the fickle figure of the devil. It was thought that the familiar only superficially served the witch; in reality, the witch served them, carrying out wicked deeds on earth and ultimately sacrificing their soul to hell. Elizabeth Sawyer’s helplessness in the face of this greater supernatural force is revealed: Dog is actually the one in control in their relationship. She is “called witch” both before and during her partnership with Dog, regardless of whether she aims to be one. She now realizes that she has little agency in this regard.

“Thou art my raven on whose coal black wings

Revenge comes flying to me. Oh, my best love!

I am on fire, even in the midst of ice,

Raking my blood up till my shrunk knees feel

They curled head leaning on them. Come then, my darling!”

In this soliloquy, Elizabeth Sawyer calls out to the absent Dog, craving his presence. She addresses him as a lover, playing into the suggestion that witches had sex with the devil—the word “fire” indicates sexual desire. By employing verse and sensual language, her speech plays into theatrical conventions used by characters who played lovers onstage.

“Could I run

Like a swift powder-mine beneath the world,

Up would I blow it all to find out thee,

Though I lay ruined in it.”

Elizabeth Sawyer describes how she would blow up the whole world, including herself, to find Dog, reflecting that her ruin lies in her dependency on Dog. She again employs verse in this soliloquy that is rich with imagery and metaphor. Her imagination belies the confines of her life in a small village. The imagery here is intensely violent, showing her destructive impulses.

“Whiteness is day’s foot-boy, a forerunner to light which shows thy old rivelled face. Villains are stripped naked; the witch must be beaten out of her cockpit.”

Dog’s duplicity toward Elizabeth Sawyer is revealed as he revels in her fate. He no longer acts as her ally, instead deriding her age and appearance and suggesting that she will get what she deserves. His white coloring in this scene draws on Goodcole’s pamphlet, according to which Elizabeth Sawyer allegedly reported that he was sometimes black and sometimes white. The play also uses the color white to symbolize the emerging truth, both in terms of Dog’s attitude to Elizabeth and of her crimes to the authorities. The “cockpit” that Dog speaks of means a den or shelter, but in reference to a cockfighting pit—so, he presents a witch’s den as a place of violence and iniquity. However, “cockpit” also references the name of the theater this play was written for and first performed in, which is an inside joke for the audience. The description of stripping a villain evokes the practice of stripping a woman accused of witchcraft to search for their familiar mark, believed to be an extra nipple from which a familiar drank blood. Goodcole’s pamphlet reports that this was also done to Elizabeth Sawyer.