The Power of Mistress Beldam Divyadharshini Ragupathy 12th Grade

In the pre-industrial and pre-democratic society that Harvest is set in, Mistress Beldam has no power over what happens to the land because political power is in the hands of the landowners: Master Kent and Edmund Jordan. However, due to her influence over and the impact that she has on the villagers (especially Thirsk), Mistress Beldam has significant social power. She is able to incite the imagination of, frighten, inspire and act against the villagers. Therefore she is not the most powerful character in Harvest, but could be considered as being one of the most powerful characters.

From the outset of the novel, Crace makes it clear that Mistress Beldam lacks political power. This is shown through Thirsks’ foreboding tone when he says “we’ll see” when talking about whether the Beldams will have a “right to stay”. Through mentioning the “law” prior to the newcomers’ “right to stay”, Crace highlights that in this society, the “law” and thus the landowners decide whether those with no political power can stay on their land or not; in this case, it is up to Master Kent. Furthermore, Kent uses his political power to benefit himself: he uses the newcomers as scapegoats, to avoid blaming the villagers for the burning of the manor...