Philomela strikes back

The language of witchcraft and adultery in English Renaissance writing is marked by common metaphors: both are considered female crimes that threaten to subvert the patriarchy; both employ images of fragmentation. This cultural equation is embodied in the figure of the drama's adulteress. First, she is invariably linked with witchcraft by her betrayed husband. Second, she is threatened with brutal mutilation, often bodily dismemberment. The actual treatment of adulterers by the English court system enacts no such violence, but punishes through public shame. However, the treatment of suspected witches offers a useful paradigm: the court's search for the witch's mark, the brand of the devil, as the sign of a true witch; and the accuser's action of “scratching” a witch as a remedy for the witch's enchantment. Ultimately, the patriarchal attempts to contain both adultery and witchcraft are futile: woman retains possession of her power to subvert, whether her husband — or society — marks her with physical violence or not

Adultery · Art · Assertion · Drama · Literature · Patriarchy · Political science · Possession (linguistics · Shame · Sociology · Witch · Gender Studies · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Law · Philosophy

• Business, Pleasure, and the Domestic Economy in Heywood's a Woman Killed with Kindness

  Ann C Christensen, Ann Christensen•Exemplaria•1997

  Incluir item

• Business, Pleasure, and the Domestic Economy in Heywood's a Woman Killed with Kindness

  Ann C Christensen, Ann Christensen•Exemplaria•1997

  Incluir item

• Marriage and society

  R B Outhwaite•Marriage and society•1982

  Incluir item

• Becoming visible

  Claudia Koonz, Renate Bridenthal•Becoming visible•1977

  Incluir item

• The origins of English individualism

  Alan Macfarlane•The origins of English…•1979

  Incluir item

• The family, sex and marriage in England, 1500-1800

  Lawrence Stone•The family, sex and marriage in…•1979

  Incluir item

• Church Courts and the People During the English Reformation, 1520-1570

  Margaret Bowker, Matthew H Bowker et al.•The American Historical Review•1980

  Incluir item

• Approaches to the History of the Western Family, 1500–1914

  Open Access•Michael Anderson, Michael L Anderson et al.•Approaches to the History of the…•1980

  Incluir item

• Witchcraft and the Status of Women

  John Swales, J K Swales et al.•British Journal of Sociology•1979

  Incluir item

• Witchcraft and the Status of Women -- The Case of England

  Alan B Anderson, Alan Anderson et al.•British Journal of Sociology•1978

  Incluir item

• The Double Standard

  Keith Thomas•Journal of the History of Ideas•1959

  Incluir item

• Women and Witches

  Clarke Garrett•Signs: Journal of Women in…•1977

  Incluir item