Abstract:
ABSTRACT
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WITCHCRAFT AND FEMININITY:WITCHCRAFT AS A SEX SPECIFIC CRIME
WITCHCRAFT IN EARLY MODERN ENGLISH DRAMA
Yilmaz, Turkan
M.A., Department of Literature
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Laura TOSI
February, 2015
The present thesis is an attempt to understand the close relationship between
femininity and witchcraft in early modern English society, and to analyze the religious, sociohistorical,
and cultural reasons for that association. Then, I aim to present how witchcraft
material is approached by the contemporary English dramatists. With this aim, the first
chapter consists of four subchapters each of which includes the explanation of four different
reasons for the strong association of witchcraft with femininity. The second chapter includes
comparative analysis of three plays; namely The Witch by Thomas Middleton, The Witch of
Edmonton by William Rowley, Thomas Dekker and John Ford, and Macbeth by William
Shakespeare. Accordingly, how witchcraft theme is interpreted and incorporated in the
corpora of those plays and the function of witch scenes constitute the main concern of the
second chapter.
Through analyzing the possible reasons for the clear link between femininity and
witchcraft, and discussing the interpretation of witchcraft theme in the plays from early
modern English drama, this research highlights how witchcraft and witch-beliefs serve as a
material for playwrights to criticize idealization of femininity.
