‘Depictions of Witches in Early Modern Literature Pander to Gender Stereotypes’: An Analysis of The Witch of Edmonton and Macbeth Summer Jade Dolan College

Because of the belief in early modern England that women were more susceptible to sin than men,[1] any literary depiction of a witch – the epitome of a woman who has fallen to sin – is a manifestation of, and an example of pandering towards, this gendered stereotype. Indeed, the gendered nature of the ‘witch’ figure is revealed in Malleus Maleficarum, a text noted by many to have laid significant groundwork in the perception of witches prior to the ‘witch craze’ of the early modern period; within this, it is claimed that ‘since they are weak, [women] find an easy and secret manner of vindicating themselves by witchcraft’. [2] Additionally, statistics surrounding witchcraft accusations and executions demonstrate their gendered nature; of the individuals accused of witchcraft during the European ‘witch craze’ of the early modern period, around eighty percent were women. [3] When considering the individuals who were executed following such accusations, the proportion of women rises to around eighty five percent. [4] However, as will be explored in this essay, whilst some texts of the period – such as Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1606) – exploit this stereotype in a way that both reinforces and perpetuates it, others – such as William...