The Witch in History: Early Modern and Twentieth-Century Representations

Diane Purkiss examines how the figure of the witch has been interpreted from early modern England to the 20th century. The book considers the writing of witchcraft history, the myth of the ‘Burning Times’ and the ways modern witches and radical feminists have used witch imagery to define identity and express political ideas.

Its literary and historical readings range from women’s accounts of household magic, bodies and children to Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. Purkiss discusses Shakespeare’s Macbeth and The Tempest alongside The Witch of Edmonton, tracing how stage witches, accused women and later cultural representations reflect changing ideas about gender, power, belief and testimony.