Student Theses
Date of Award
Spring 5-25-2022
Document Type
Thesis
Language
English
First Advisor
Professor Katharine Goodland
Second Advisor
Professor Steven Monte
Third Advisor
Professor Rosanne Carlo
Abstract
The most obvious carnivalesque aspects in Dekker, Ford and Rowley’s The Witch of Edmonton—the Morris dancers and their leader Cuddy Banks, and the shapeshifting demon Dog—have received the bulk of scholarly attention. However, very little has been written about the cagey, pregnant servant girl Winifred, who as I argue in this thesis more fully embodies Carnival’s aspects of rebirth and renewal. Winifred endures the play’s turmoil by inventing and reinventing herself. Her powers of creation are antithetical to the downfalls of the play’s two main characters—Frank Thorney and Elizabeth Sawyer, the play’s eponymous witch—as well as the mischief created by the devilish Dog, who boasts a considerable amount of magical powers, but still must work within tight parameters. Both Sawyer and Frank are victims of societal pressures, bowing to what Edmonton expects of them, but this is not the case with Winifred. Sawyer and Frank end the play hanging from the gallows, whereas Winifred survives and thrives. She does so by refusing to allow anyone to dictate who she is. My aim for this essay is to illustrate how the playwrights closely align Winifred with the spirit of Carnival and in so doing cast her as the true Witch of Edmonton.
Recommended Citation
Barone, James B., "Dancing with the Devil: Carnival and the True Witch of The Witch of Edmonton" (2022). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/si_etds/8