The Witch

Synopsis

The Witch (1615/16?), categorised by its author as 'a tragi-comedy',

pits the intrigues of a group of Italian aristocrats against the

malevolent practices of Hecate and her witches' coven, leaving the

audience with the impression that human malevolence is by far the

fiercer and more effective.

This edition sets the play into its

dramatic and literary contexts, ranging from Shakespeare's Macbeth and

Middleton's own later tragedies to Reginald Scot's sceptical Discovery

of Witchcraft and King James's virulent Daemonologie.

It also argues

that Middleton wrote it as a topical satire to capitalise on the

scandal involving Frances Howard, who obtained a divorce from the Earl

of Essex on the grounds that he had been sexually incapacitated by

witchcraft; she was also rumoured to have tried to poison him.

Middleton exposes his noble characters precisely by letting them get

away with murder.