The Witch of Edmonton Literary Elements

Domestic Tragedy

English (Renaissance/Early Modern English)

Edmonton, early 17th Century

There are two key storylines: one following a bigamist named Frank, and another following a witch named Elizabeth Sawyer condemned by the community of Edmonton.

One that jitters between the tragic and the darkly comic.

This is up for debate. The clearest antagonist is perhaps Dog, but both Sawyer and Frank act as both protagonist and antagonist at times.

Elizabeth Sawyer is accused of being a witch and so decides to become one and instructs her newfound familiar Dog to wreck havoc on the neighborhood, which tangles into the larger storyline of Frank's bigamy.

Frank's murder of Susan and Anne's death followed by the discovery of Frank and the betrayal of Dog to Elizabeth.

From the beginning, we are given asides from Dog that suggest he is on nobody's side but is rather a neutral malevolent figure who is there to break apart the community.

Dog states the "devil is no liar to such as he loves" which is a complete understatement in the sense that the Devil loves no one and so lies to everyone.

Elizabeth Sawyer's story is all an allusion to real witchcraft trials that took place, including a real trial of a woman named Elizabeth Sawyer. Her supposed confession was written up in a pamphlet by a man named Henry Goodcole and became the inspiration of the play. A lot of the language and wording of the play alludes to this pamphlet, and in some ways Dekker is critical of Goodcole's treatment of Elizabeth Sawyer as an embodiment of evil. This allusion and diversion from source material offers evidence for an argument which could suggest that Dekker offers a more sympathetic portrayal of witchcraft than his 17th-century contemporaries.

The imagery of the domestic twisted and perverted into something satanic is used throughout, which is reflective of the genre of the play which itself is both domestic and tragic.

"Dog" is a character that is paradoxically human and animal. Also, Elizabeth Sawyer is a character that is paradoxically a witch and not a witch as the very meaning of what it means to be a witch is constantly questioned within the narrative of the play.

Dog and Sawyer's relationship is paralleled with Dog and Cuddy's - both are examples of people that treat the devil as a pet. Initially Sawyer sees Dog as Satan but comes to love him as a companion, whereas Cuddy generally sees him as a companion but consistently—despite his protestations that he had no knowledge—is made aware of his satanic presence.

"Dog" in some ways is a literal personification of the domesticated dog. The audience is aware of both his humanoid and dog-like qualities and he constantly sits at the border between these binaries.

The witch is given a number of soliloquies in which the audience is given an insight into her mental state, allowing us to sympathise with her and how she has been betrayed by her only companion. The stage directions of Dog are also very interesting. When he curses a character, he "brushes" against them—the fact this seems like such a benign act raises the question as to whether Dog is causing the evil in the community or whether the evil exists there anyway without external satanic provocation.