STAGE WITCHES DURING THE REIGN OP KING JAMES I, l603-l625

APPROVED:

Major Professor

Jf- , ,M,% rsv* Pr»A fo a <2 r\ r* * Minor Professor

£-S. Director of fehe Department of English

v / ^ Deart of the Graduate School

STAGE WITCHES DURING THE REIGN OP KING JAMES I, 1603-1625

THESIS

Presented to the Graduate Council of the

North Texas State University in Partial

Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

By

Linda Kay Verges, B. A.

Denton, Texas

January, 1970

TABLE OP CONTENTS

Chapter Page

I. INTRODUCTION 1

II. KING JAMES I AND WITCHCRAFT 8

III. THE THREE WITCHES OP MACBETH 38

IV. THE MASQUE OP QUEENS AND THE WITCH 70

V. THE WITCH OF EDMONTON 98

VI. CONCLUSION 118

BIBLIOGRAPHY 125

lii

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

King James VI of Scotland succeeded to the throne of

England in 1603 at the age of thirty-seven. Technically he

had been a king since 1567 . By the time he became James I

of England, his ideas of kingship and all related matters had

developed to maturity. James ruled England for twenty-two

years, and the impressions made upon the country by his reign

are indelible. The status of monarchy was seriously affected

by,the doctrine of divine right which James advocated, and

historians of the Jacobean period list other governmental

and cultural areas where James made more than a passing

impression.

One of the king1s many interests was witchcraft, which,

although largely discounted by modern man, was a subject of

serious concern in the seventeenth century. James had been

personally exposed to witches and witchcraft in Scotland.

As an avid theological student, he was quite familiar with

biblical references to witches and witchcraft. He wrote two

treatises on the subject, Newes from Scotland and Daertonologie.

and in the course of modern critical scholarship, his repu-

tation has suffered as a result. Often historians and

literary critics have attacked James for his interest in

witchcraft, but the king*s interest should not be dismissed

as idle, morbid, or fiendish. A handful of scholars has

found the king1s views to be in keeping with his background,

his studies, and the time in which he lived. James was not

the only notable man to write about witches and witchcraft

between 1566 and 1625; but he was a king, and his interest in

the occult frequently offends those who find the subject

archaic.

However, if the king's approach to witches and witch-

craft is carefully examined as a part of all his writings and

theories, an important fact emerges. As king, James felt

himself to be the divinely appointed guardian of his realm,

which began with Scotland and later included the rest of the

island. As the protector of his kingdom, James felt it was

his responsibility to God to protect the spiritual well-being

of his subjects. One of his endeavors toward this end was

the publication under his auspices of the authorized version

of the Holy Bible. His interest in the spiritual condition

of his subjects is directly related to his interest in witches

and witchcraft. Briefly, James considered witches to be

agents of the devil, who was man*s worst enemy. A fallen

angel, the devil continued his battle against God by seeking

the damnation of men, whom God had created in His own image.

As an earthly representative of divinity, James considered it

to be his responsibility to protect his realm against the

devil*s evil purpose. Witches were the devil*s agents, and

through them the devil tempted mortals to damn themselves by

submitting to him. The king's personal experience with witches

and his theological studies convinced him that witchcraft was

a real and dangerous threat to men. In his role as guardian,

James felt that he must combat the devil's evil forces, and

his two treatises were partially directed to that end.

Because witches were the devil's agents, James was cer-

tain that anyone who sought, consulted, or aided them placed

his soul in jeopardy. Similarly, anyone who doubted the

existence of witches endangered the salvation of his soul;

for witches were the devil's agents, and to doubt the exis-

tence of the devil was, in effect, to doubt the existence of

God. To educate the innocent and the doubtful in the truth

concerning witches and witchcraft, James wrote Newes from

Scotland and Daemonologie. In these two works the king's

philosophy takes concrete form. The three main points James

concentrates on are the serious consequences of doubting the

existence of witches, the danger of any association with

witches or the devil, and the necessity for perfect judgment

in witch trials. The last issue is one which led James to

personal investigation of witchcraft cases during his reign.

As spiritual guardian of England and Scotland, James had to

he sure that his administrators of the law did not commit the

sin of convicting innocent victims or freeing guilty parties,

particularly in witchcraft trials. An error in judgment

( would endanger the- soul of the magistrate and perhaps also

the spiritual well-being of the entire country. The king*s

strong conviction accounts for his active interest in and.

concern for witches, witchcraft, and witch trials.

In his two treatises, James provides descriptions of

. the practices of witchcraft, the devil*s method of tempting

mortals, and the means of detecting true witches. He felt

his discourses were necessary if men were to know the truth

about witches and were to be capable of protecting their souls.

Thus, the whole fabric of James* attitude toward witchcraft

was an inextricable part of his conception of himself as

monarch and as a guardian of God*s will.

A relatively important segment of the realm overseen

by James was the English theater. It attracted royal support,

and although drama functioned primarily as an art form, it

also served as a communication medium and a commentary on

current events. Consequently, it could be expected that

Jacobean playwrights would give some consideration to the

king1 s views on witches and witchcraft, afid that their plays

would reflect to some degree the king1 s opinions and attitudes.

In particular, black witches were first seriously portrayed

in detail on the stage during the reign of James I. "White

witches had been used in earlier plays, and a few black

witches had been used in certain scenes of a few earlier plays.

Between 1603 and 1685, however, black witches became vital

dramatic characters in plays whose effect depended upon them.

As a necessary part of the inclusion of such characters in

Jacobean plays, the king*s philosophy on witchcraft became,

probably inevitably, a factor in the drama.

Although the subject of countless examinations, Macbeth

by William Shakespeare has been overlooked as a reflection

of the king*s philosophy of the tragic consequences of know-

ingly entering an alliance with the devil. A re-evaluation

of the play suggests that scholars have neglected an important

element in Macbeth1 s tragedy. Ben Jonson*s The Masque of

Queens and Thomas Middleton* s The Vltch also reflect the

king1s philosophy of witchcraft in the characteristic

practices of witches depicted in each work. Finally, The

Witch of Edmonton by Thomas Dekker, John Ford, and William

Rowley presents a study of an actual witch trial and the

factors which led to one person1s commitment to the devil as

a witch. Based on the tragedy of Elizabeth Sawyer, the play

incorporated much of the philosophy of King James.

A re-evaluation of the king's writings combined with a

t detailed study of these Jacobean plays provides sufficient

evidence, to support the main contentions of this thesis. First,

it presents the proposition that the interest of James in

witches and witchcraft has been misjudged and frequently

either maligned or disregarded. Second, it demonstrates

. that the king»s views on witchcraft comprise a philosophy

which is consistent with the balance of his political and

religious thought and action. Third, it develops the idea

that certain reflections of the king*s interest in witchcraft

are significantly evident in specific plays written during

his reign.

Support for these contentions is provided from the two

basic works of James on witchcraft, Daemonologie and Newes

from Scotland. as well as other actions and writings of the

king concerning witchcraft. Once the perspective of how

James viewed witches and witchcraft is established, particular

Jacobean plays are examined in chronological order as to the

dramatic application of the king*s interest in and philosophy

of witchcraft. The Jacobean plays which are considered are

ones in which witchcraft or witches are a vital factor in the

entire presentation. The witch scenes in Macbeth. The Masque

of Queens. The Vitch. and The Witch of Edmonton are analyzed

with respect to the relationship of dramatic witchcraft and

the philosophy of James on witchcraft. In different ways,

the plays are found to reflect the ideas of the king regard- •

ing witches, witchcraft, and witch trials.

CHAPTER II

KING JAMES I AMD WITCHCRAFT

Too often modern evaluations of King James I in relation

to witchcraft have condemned the monarch as little better than

a superstitious, fanatical witch hunter. Such a distorted

view of James is held by no less a respectable scholar than

George Macauley Trevelyan, who denounces James as the insti-

gator of a rash of witch hunts immediately upon his succession

to the throne of England:

The outburst came with the accession of a Scottish King, who . . . was crazed beyond his English subjects with the witch mania of Scotland and the continent. His first Parliament enacted new death-laws; at once the Judges and magistrates, the constables and the mob, began to hunt up the oldest and ugliest spinster who lived with her geese in the hut on the common, or tottered about the village street muttering the in-audible soliloquies of second childhood.^-

In spite of the condemnations by Trevelyan and others, however,

historical record, shows that James was not a royal fiend bent

on purging his realm of old women who were suspected of alliance

with the devil. In his introduction to a 1930 reprint of

•^George Macauley Trevelyan, England Under the Stuarts. 31st ed. (London, 1965)# PP* 28-29.

8

Reginald Scolds The Dlscoverle of Witchcraft. Montague Summers

cites the meticulous research of C. L* Estrange Even as having

revealed that there were more witch trials during Elizabeth* s

forty-two year reign than during the entire seventeenth cen-

tury, which includes the twenty-two-year reign of James."

More precisely, Wallace Notestein has found that state records

confirm only forty executions for witchcraft during the reign

of James and unofficial record of two others.3 if James had

been attempting to eliminate witches from the country, the

official records would indicate either that he was a complete

failure as a witch hunter or that modern historians have

ignored certain facts.

Furthermore, George Lyman Kittredge illustrates that the.

1604 statute on witchcraft is only more severe than that passed

during Elizabeth1s reign in certain respects and that in prac-

tical application to cases tried in 1612 the punishment would

have been the same under Elizabeth1 s statute.2* The increased

2Reginald Scot, The Discoverie of Witchcraft (London, 1930), p. xxiii.

Wallace Notestein, A History of Witchcraft in England from 1558 to 17IB (New York, 1965), PP. 137, 384, 3 9 6 .

4 George layman Kittredge, Witchcraft in Old and New

England (New York, 1956), pp. 282-286.

10

severity of the statute is found in the changing of the penalty

for conviction of witchcraft that causes physical harm from

death for the second offense to death for the first offense

and the expansion of practices included in the categories of

invocation and conjuration of evil spirits.5 Absolute evidence

that James himself was responsible for either the severity or

the enactment of the l6o4 statute is strangely lacking, and

even Trevelyan admits that Elizabeths subjects had campaigned

for more stringent witchcraft laws during her reign.^ The

evidence would suggest that James may have been the unfortunate

heir of a statute-which his cousin refused to consider.

More explicit information as to the actual attitude of

James towards the practice of witchcraft may be found in an •

examination of his actions and in his writing on witches and

witchcraft during both his Scottish and English reigns. As

King James VI of Scotland, the monarch wrote and published a

treatise entitled Newes from Scotland in 1591. His purpose

was to discredit false stories concerning certain witch trials

Materials Toward a History of Witchcraft. Vol. lii, collected by Henry Charles Lea, arranged and edited by Arthur C. Howland (Philadelphia, 1939)* PP. 1306-1307.

6 Trevelyan, p. 28.

11

held in 1590 by providing the truth of what transpired, as he

explains in his introductory note to the reader:

Neuertheles to satisfie a number of honest mindes, who are desirous to b^ enformed of the veritie and trueth of their confessions, which for certaintie is more stranger than the common reporte runneth, and yet with more trueth I haue vndertaken to publish this short Treatise, which declareth the true discourse of all that hath hapned, & aswell what was pretended by those wicked and detestable Witches against the Kinges Maiestie, as also by what meanes they wrought the same.?

The trials with which Newes from Scotland is concerned resulted

from the confessions of a young woman named Geillis Duncane of

Trenent. Charged with practicing witchcraft and tortured, she

admitted an association with an Agnis Tompson and a Doctor

Fain, as well as several others, in performing rites of the

black art of witchcraft. Those named by Geillis Duncane were

imprisoned along with her, and further legal action awaited

the pleasure of the king, who decided to personally question

the eldest witch, Agnis Tompson, before his council. Agnis

Tompson at first refused to confess, but after a devils mark

was found on her body and she was tortured, she made a lengthy

and detailed admission of guilt.

It should be noted that James was not completely credulous

7 James I, Newes from Scotland, edited by George Bagshawe

Harrison (London, 1924), pp. 5-6.

12

of the confessions made during the trials. In fact, his

approach seems to be almost one of curiosity; for when Agnis

Tompson told the king and his council about Geillis Duncane

playing a dance tune for the coven*s procession to their

sabbat, James sent for Geillis Duncane, who repeated her per-

formance to the king* s amazement:

These confessions made the King in a woderful admiration, and sent for ye said Geillis Duncane. who vpon the like Trump did playe the said daunce before the Kings Maiestie, who in respect of the strangenes of these matters, tooke great delight to bee present at their examinations.8

More important, however, than this brief digression for amuse-

ment of the king is his charge to Agnis Tompson that the

witches* confessions must be lies because the stories were

simply too fantastic to believe:

Item, the saide Agnis Sampson confessed before the Kings Maiestie sundrye thinges which were so miraculous and strange, as that his Maiestie saide they were all extreame lyars . . . .9

As a result of the king*s accusation, two important disclosures

were made by the accused witch. First, Agnis Tompson convinced

James of the authenticity of her alliance with the devil by

quoting to him the private conversation he and Queen Anne had

8

Ibid., p. 14.

9Ibid.. p. 15.

13

in Norway on the first night of their marriage:

. . . whereat the Kinges Maiestie wondered greatlye, and swore by the liuing God, that he beleeued that all the Dluels in hell could not haue discouered the same: acknowledging her woords to be most true. . . . 1 0

By divulging this particular private conversation to the king,

Agnis Tompson convinced James beyond any doubt that she was

indeed a witch.

The second disclosure was Agnis Tompson1s subsequent con-

fession of two attempts on the king*s life. The first was an

attempt by all the members of the coven named by Geillis Dun-

cane to produce a sea storm that would destroy the ship carrying

James and his bride to Scotland from Denmark.^ James himself

was a witness to this tempest which threatened to sink his

ship and delayed his return to Scotland, and Agnis Tompson1s

admission of the witches1 conspiracy strengthened his convic-

tion as to their contract with the devil and their actual

powers. Perhaps even more important to James was the reason

that Agnis Tompson gave for the failure of this attempt on his

life: "further the saide witche declared, that his Maiestie

had neuer come safelye from the Sea, if his faith had not

1 0 Ibid.

nibid., pp. 16-17.

14

preuailed aboue their ententions."12

The second attempt on the king* s life was Agnis Tompson1s

singular effort at maleficium. which was foiled by her failure •

to obtain a piece of cloth that had been worn by James.13 she

also explained to James why these attempts were made by herself

and the coven. At their sabbat, which Agnis described to James

in detail, the witches asked the devil why he bore a grievance

against the King of Scotland. The devil*s reply was that

James was his greatest enemy on earth.^ Together with Agnis

Tompson1s other statement that the king*s faith was all that

saved him at sea,- the devil's comment could only be interpreted

as indicating James to be the strongest follower of God*s

teachings on earth: the devil himself declared the Scottish •

king was the most faithful of all faithful Christians. *

Prom his own comments in Newes from.Scotland it is evident

that James was convinced that Agnis Tompson was a witch, that

the coven to which she belonged had made attempts on his life

at the devil1s direction, and that his faith had not only saved

his life but had forced the devil to admit that James was his

12lbid., p. IT.

13Ibid.. p. 16.

14Ibld.. p. 15.

15

most formidable mortal opponent. It should be pointed out that

neither James nor the Protestant church followed the example of

the Roman Catholic Church of considering witches to be heretics.

The Church's practice during the Inquisition of convicting hun-

dreds of people as heretics because they were believed to be

witches was not followed in Scotland or England.*5 in these

two countries, witches were legally charged as felons according

to the results that their incantations, charms, and curses

produced. The witches-1 crime against God of yielding up their

body and soul to the devil was considered to be a grave sin by

James and the Protestant church, but it was not the basis for

i

the persecution and condemnation of the witches. The accepted

definition of a witch, which James and others used, was based

upon a commitment to the devil, and whereas such an agreement

<was most despicable to religious men, the conviction of witches

in Scotland and England was determined by their transgressions

against mortal men.

The next notable comment of James on witches and witchcraft

came in 1597, when he wrote a dialogue entitled Daemonologie.

The subject the king treats is the various divisions of magic,

i \

^Kittredge, p. 24.

16

such as necromancy and witchcraft, and how they are put to use.

In his preface James states that his work was precipitated by

skeptical opinions put forth by Johann Wierus and Reginald

Scot.-^ Johann Wierus* De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incanta-

tionibus ac Veneficils was published in 1564. Wierus, a German,

approached witchcraft with a surprisingly professional and

objective attitude. It was his belief that witches were the

insanely deluded victims of the devil and their magical powers

were only hallucinations induced by the devil. On the basis

of his diagnosis, Wierus felt that witches should be handled by

physicians instead of theologians and magistrates, which was

the usual continental practice, and if punishment were deserved

for evil intentions, it should be wielded with respect to the"

witches* mental condition.^7

The other volume which displeased James was Reginald Scot's

The Dlsooverie of Witchcraft. Scot, an Englishman, spent a

great part of his life researching the legal investigations of

witchcraft and had reached the conclusion that witches and

••• James I, Daemonologie. edited by George Bagshawe Harrison (London, 1924), p. xi.

"^Christina Hole, Witchcraft in England (New York, 1947),

p. 137.

17

witchcraft were largely the products of the overzealous minds

of ignorant commoners and fanatical preachers. Sco^s book

examines in detail the practices of witches, and abuse of

alleged witches, and the classification of supposed magical

practitioners; he concludes by denouncing witches and witch-

craft as the sheer fabrication of limited minds distorted by

1R

delusion and fear. °

James found both of these books to be objectionable, for

he was convinced that witches did exist, as Agnis Tompson had

proven to him, and their evil practices in his view were quite

s real. As was the case when he wrote Newes from Scotland. James

wrote his Daemonologie with the intention of providing the

truth, and he clearly states his purpose in the preface of his

Daemonologie:

My intention in this labour, is only to proue two things, as I haue alreadie said: the one, that such diuelish artes haue bene and are. The other, what exact trial and seuere punishment they merit. . . . 9

The entire volume is divided into three books. Each book is

concerned with a particular division of magicj the first book

examines necromancy, the second witchcraft, and the third

T O

Scot, passim.

^•^Daemonologie. p. xii.

18

spirits and specters. In the second book, James describes

witches* charms, sabbats, brews, image-making practices, and

sex, in addition to other black magic occurrences, such as

demonic possession. However, James made it clear to his

reader that his primary concern was the protection of men1a

souls and not to present a complete and detailed analysis of

the various practices of black magic.20

The dialogue which James provides is held between Epistemon

and Philomathes. Epistemon, who believes in witchcraft and the

other divisions of black magic, presents a logical and convinc-

ing argument for his belief to Philomathes, who does not

believe in black magic. Epistemon*s success in persuading

Philomathes to accept his view indicates that Epistemon is

the king's spokesman. As the dialogue progresses, it reveals

certain views of the king concerning witchcraft that are indic-

ative of a philosophic formulation. First, Epistemon explains

that the exact sin that witches commit against God is "a

refusall of all his p r e c e p t e s . H e further explains that the

devil is able to lure followers to witchcraft by appealing to

SO

Ibid.. p. xiv.

81Ibld.. p. 7.

19

the human passions of the "thrist of revenge, for some tortes

deeply apprehended: or greedie appetite of geare, caused

through great pouerty."22 it ls apparent that James felt the

basis for the sin of witchcraft were two specific human weak-

nesses. In a more detailed analysis, Epistemon describes the

people whom God allows the devil to confront with his occult

offerings and defines the circumstances under which the devil

is allowed to corrupt the human soul.

. . . there are three kinde of folkes whom God will permit so to be tempted or troubled; the wicked for their horrible sinnes, to punish them in the like measure; the godlie that are sleeping in anie great sinnes or infirmities and weakenesse in faith, to waken them vp the faster by such an vncouth forme: and euen some of the best, that their patience may bee tryed before the world, as IOBS was.23

After explaining to Philomathes that the only valid pre-

vention or cure against such evil temptations of the devil is

faith, Epistemon designates those who are most vulnerable to

the powers of witches:

. . . there is no kinde of persones so subject to re-ceiue harme of them, as these that are of infirme and weake faith (which is the best buckler against such inuasiones:) so haue they so smal power ouer none, as ouer such as zealouslie and earnestlie persewes them, without sparing for anie worldlie respect.2^-

22Ibid.. p. 8.

23ibid.. p. 47.

84Ibid., pp. 49-50.

20

Whereas James does not exempt Christians from the devil*s

tempting offers or possible harm from witches, he is

thoroughly convinced that faith is the greatest protection

against such threats to the body and soul. In a more sophis-

ticated manner, his logic echoes the reasons given to him

by Agnis Tompson for the failure of the earlier plot of her

coven against his life.

Before Epistemon describes some specific practices of

witches, such as raising storms and transvection, a. state-

ment on the general intent of witchcraft is made by Philo-

mathes, who has deduced his conclusions from Epistemon*s

s argument:

. . . their whole practises are either to hurte men and their gudes, or what they possesse, for satisfying of their cruell mindes in the former, or else by the wracke in quhatsoeuer sorte, of anie whome God will permitte them to haue power off, to satisfie their greedie desire in the last poynt.25

, James leaves no doubt as to his diagnosis of the purpose of

witchesj as servants of the devil they are maliciously evil,

and the fruit of their evil is human suffering and ultimately

human damnation.

Because of his difference of opinion with Wierus and Scot,

James naturally prescribes a distinctly different treatment for

25Ibld.. p. 35.

31

the guilty parties. The punishment for witches is pronounced

by Epistemon in clearly understandable terms; "They ought to

be put to death according to the Lav of God, the ciuill and

imperial law, and municipall law of all Christian nations."^

The king*s verdict repeats the biblical instruction found in

the twenty-second chapter of Exodus that "Thou shalt not suffer

27

a witch to live," but his argument is more philosophical than

theological. James also provides exemption from his death

sentence for children, who, he feels, are not capable of

reasoning why they should not follow the devil, although the

death sentence does apply to all others .who counsel with

witches.

Perhaps of even greater importance than the king's penalty

for witches are the conditions set for Princes and Magistrates

who sit in mortal judgment of witches. Epistemon states that

primarily the judges must punish the guilty, for failure to do

so would be as grave a sin as the practice of witchcraft itself,

but he also warns against the equally damaging possibility of

punishing the innocent:

26 Ibid., p. 77.

27 The Bible and Holy Scriptvres. translated and edited by

Gilby Anthony, Thomas Sampson, and William Whittingham (Geneva, 1560), p. 34.

23

Iudges ought indeede to beware whome they condemne: For it is as great a crime (as SALOMON sayeth,) To condemne the innocent, as to let the guiltle escape free: neither ought the report of any one infamous person, be admitted for a sufficent proofe, which can stand of no law.28

James acknowledges the possibility of false accusations against

a person for practicing witchcraft, and he uses Epistemon to

outline the specific proofs which can verify the guilt or

innocence of an alleged witch. Yet his concern is for those

sitting in judgment. The verdict must be the correct one,

for to err is to sin.

In his Daemonologie. James seeks to substantiate the

actual existence of the practice of black magic, and his

proofs are based upon the philosophical development of his

argument. Concerning witchcraft in particular, James presents

his convictions of how it is possible for witches to exist

and why they exist. His conclusion emphatically states that

men should treat the devil*s servants with extreme caution.

If man believes in God, then he must acknowledge the existence

of the devil's forces, and man must also take pains to make

sure he does not endanger the salvation of his soul by mis-

judging witches. To James the harm that witches can inflict f

upon men becomes subordinate to the harm men can inflict upon

28 Daemonologle. pp. 78-79*

23

themselves. His conclusion not only vividly points out what

he feels are the errors or even sins of Wierus and Scot, it

also alerts his readers to the fact that elimination of

witches by court trial must be conducted in the realization

that an invalid verdict can place the souls of the judges in

jeopardy.

In the same year that Daemonologie was published, James

found the witch trials in Scotland to give evidence of the

erroneous judgments similar to those he warned against in his

book. Upon investigating a series of particular trials in

Edinburgh, the king found the judgments to be the product of

a contagious fear instead of being based on undeniable evi-

dence and enlightened judicial practice. To avoid further

outbreaks of such damning performances, James revoked the

commissions that had been established especially for witch-

craft hearings.29 The king's action illustrates that the

philosophy he presents in his book was one which he intended

to have practiced.

A further indication of the perspective from which James

viewed the crime of witchcraft in relation to his duties as

king is found in his Basilikon Doron written in 1599 and

29prancis Legge, "Witchcraft in Scotland," Scottish Review. XVIII (October, 1891), 264.

24

originally published with only seven copies. The book is

addressed to Prince Henry, the oldest son of James and Anne,

and it consists of the king*s private instructions to his

heir on the fulfillment of his future role. In the second

division of the book, James discusses the duties of the king

in his office and makes specific reference to witchcraft,

which reveals the serious consideration it warranted:

But as this seuere lustice of yours vpon all offences would bee but for a time, (as I haue alreadie said) so is there some horrible crimes that yee are bound in conscience neuer to forgiue: such as Witch-craft, wilfull murther, Incest (especially within the degrees of consanguinitie), Sodomie, poisoning, and false coins.30

James made it evident to his son that a monarch should treat

witchcraft as a serious crime equal to that of murder or

c ount e r f e it ing.

His instructions to Prince Henry were repeated again in

a letter. The letter is not dated, but references to Basilikon

Doron and an approaching visit of the king to his son suggest

that it was written between 1599 and his departure from Scotland

for England in 1603. In the letter James praises Prince Henry

for having detected a fraudulent witch and again cautions his

James I, The Political Works of James JE, Vol. I, edited by Charles Howard Mcllwain (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1918), p. 30.

25

son against false judgments in such cases:

I am also glaide of the discouerie of youe litle counterfitte wenche. I praye God ye maye be my aire . . . in suche discoueries; ye haue ofte hearde me saye that most miracles nou-a-dayes proues but illusions, and ye maye see by this hou waire Judgis should be in trusting accusations without an exacte tryall, and lykewayes hou easielie people are inducid to truste wonders . . . .31

Except for his personal letter to Prince Henry, all of the

writings of James on politics, religion, and magic written

before he became King of England were published again in

London in 1603 as James traveled there to be crowned. The

king*s approach to witches and witchcraft was first made known

to the English public at large through these editions which

James authorized, and the same views were reaffirmed in 1616,

when his works were again published. In spite of the statute

against witchcraft which quickly followed his ascension to the

throne, it is unlikely that the newly acquired English subjects

considered their king to be a purger of witches. Even before

he entered London, James was involved in a dispute over the

sentence of death pronounced in 1602 on Elizabeth Jackson for

bewitching a young girl named Mary Glover. After Elizabeth

Jackson was imprisoned, a pamphlet war erupted over certain

"̂hrhe Progresses of King James the First. Vol. I, collected by John Nichols (New York, 1828), p. 304.

26

theological and medical points in the case. The dispute as to

whether Mary Glover was ill or bewitched kept Elizabeth Jackson

safe from the executioner, and the pamphlets supporting each

side of the argument reached the king outside of London.32

James read the published material and consulted with concerned

authorities before ordering the release of Elizabeth Jackson

from Newgate Prison. Either convinced of the woman*s innocence

or sufficiently dubious of her absolute guilt, James trans-

formed his written philosophy into action in his newly in-

herited realm.

During the first few years of his reign in England, James

proved that his Interest in witches was more than a passing

curiosity by taking an active part in certain cases. On April

16, 1604, James granted a pardon to a Christian Weech of Nor-

folk, who had been convicted of practicing witchcraft.33

This pardon is of particular interest because on April 3, 1610,

the woman was pardoned for a second time, although the charge

against her was the murder of Mary Preeston by witchcraft.3^

32Henry N. Paul, The Royal Play of Macbeth (New York, 1950), p. 107.

33 Calandar of State Papers. Domestic Series. Vol. VIII,

Public Records Office, edited by Mary Anne Everett Green (London, 185?), p. 96.

3^Ibid.. p. 598.

27

The charge of murder by witchcraft against Christian Weech

was a grievous onej but the king must have been convinced of

the woman1s innocence, or he would not have endangered his

soul by pardoning her.

One aspect of the king1s active interest in witchcraft

in the early years of his English reign was his personal

detection of fraudulent witches. In late l6o4 and early 1605,

two accused witches were held at Cambridge at the king* s re-

quest and expense for observation and diagnosis as to the

validity of their alleged practices.35 The two women, named

Beatrice and Francis, were eventually dismissed after pains-

taking examinations, which were reported in detail to the

king, confirmed the suspicions of James that they were the

victims of false charges and self-delusion. James* actions in

this instance are indicative of the thorough investigation

he felt should be made of accused witches.

Subsequent to an entertainment of James, Queen Anne, and

Prince Henry at Oxford in August of 1605, the king was again

engaged in a case of witchcraft detection. The case concerned

a woman named Ann Gunter, whose supposedly bewitched condition

' 35ibid.. p. 218.

28

is described in the diary of Walter Yonge:

This year there was a gentlewoman and near kinsman to Doctor Holland*s wife, Rector of Exon College in Oxford, strangely possessed and bewitched, so that in her fits she cast out of her nose and mouth pins in great abundance, and did divers other things very strange to be reported.36

James had three interviews with the woman, and after the first

interview in September of 1605, the king employed Dr. Samuel

Harsnet and Dr. Edward Jordan to further investigate the case.

Neither physician agreed with the kingfs philosophy on the

origin of witchcraft or demonic possession. However, their

diagnosis that Ann Gunter*s condition was due to hysteria and

delusion was concurred in by Dr. Richard Neile and Archbishop

Bancroft and confirmed by the woman1 s eventual confession.37

The credit for the discovery of Ann Gunter*s fraudulent claims

was given to the king, and his interest in the case undoubtedly

reflects his desire to derive the truth. If Ann Gunter could

feign a bewitched condition with a relative degree of success

before the king*s investigation, it was conceivable to James

that others using similar means could follow her example.

J Welter Yonge, The Diary of Walter Yonge. Esq.. edited by George Roberts (London, 1848), p. 12.

^Paul, p. 126.

29

James realized that persons faking the symptoms of being be-

witched could denounce an innocent party as a witch. The

victims of such charges could even be put to death if the

fraudulent accusations were not discovered. James was cer-

tainly aware of such a possibility, and as a result, the ob-

jective of his investigations could hardly be discounted as

sheer amusement.

When James spoke at the opening of Parliament on March 19,

1604, he made it clear that he viewed himself as a guardian of i

both Scotland and England, responsible in turn to God:

What God hath conjoined then, let no man separate. I am the husband arid all the whole isle is my lawful wife: I am the head and it is my body: I am the shep-herd and it is my flock. . . .3®

James saw himself as the leader, protector, and provider of

his total realm. His paternal instincts blossomed optimistic-

ally. In the area of witchcraft, James was able to actively

engage in fulfilling part of his self-asserted role. Witches

were servants of the devil who used witchcraft to harm men.

They should be punished for their evil practices, but the

condemnation must be based upon the truth. If James allowed

3®Select Statutes and Other Constitutional Documents Illustrative of the Reigns of Elizabeth and James I, 4th ed., edited by G. W. Prothero (Oxford, 1913), P» 283.

30

the legal administrators of his kingdom to prosecute and con-

vict falsely-accused witches, he would be condoning action

which would jeopardize his own soul as well as those of his

subjects, in whose behalf he and his administrators conducted

the affairs of state. In order to protect his "flock" from

the consequences of mis judgment of witches, James felt it was

his royal duty to set the example for determining the truth.

During the reign of James, scholars, ministers, and

physicians produced scores of pamphlets and books debating the

question of witches and witchcraft. Not all of the writers

i were in agreement'with the king*s views, but the interest dis-

played in the topic overflowed into another area of Jacobean

communication, the theater. The theater was in a certain sense

a news medium in the seventeenth century when printing was

a cumbersome process and daily newspapers were still an ac-

complishment of the future. In a society primarily depen-

dent upon verbal communication, the Jacobean theater and the

drama it produced cannot be considered as creations in a

social vacuum. Current ideas and attitudes were as much a

part of the plays as the playwrights* attempts to successfully

combine the demands of popular appeal and dramatic art. The

king* s views on witches and witchcraft were not ignored, and

31

his philosophy of witchcraft produced an interesting minor

effect on the stage.

I

CHAPTER III

THE THREE WITCHES OP MACBETH

Various elements of the supernatural, including witches,

were evident in English drama long before William Shakespeare

wrote Macbeth. The devil and many allegorical manifestations

of his corruptive powers, such as greed, envy, and gluttony,

were depicted in medieval mystery and morality plays. Such

characters were included in the Church-oriented dramas to

instill the fear of evil and sin in the hearts of the illit-

erate audiences so that they would readily appreciate and

follow the teachings of Christianity. In keeping with the

didactic intent of these medieval plays, the devil and his

forces were always defeated by the powers representing true

faith and Christ-like virtues.

Gradually the church drama reached further and further

beyond its original clerical purposes, and the plays began to

show evidence, in both form and content, of neo-classical

influence. As the drama segregated itself from the church

and became a more sophisticated art form directed toward a

more cosmopolitan, secular audience, the playwright* s

3*2

33

approach to supernatural forces gradually changed. In part

supernatural characters in alliance with the devil became

instruments of comedy, although at times they continued to

reflect remnants of their former strong religious orientation.

Witches were among the first members of the supernatural

cast to find a place on the emerging secular stage of England.

Initially, the playwrights showed a distinct preference for the

white witch, instead of the black witch, as a dramatic charac-

ter. The white witch was commonly accepted in English villages

as one whose supernatural powers were used to benefit those

who sought her aid rather than to harm them either physically

or spiritually. In Witchcraft in England. Christina Hole

discusses the powers of white witches and their role in the .

community:

The white witch or Wiseman, was the protector of the community, as his criminal opponent was its enemy. Like the black witch, he relied on magic, but he used it principally for benevolent purposes, to cure diseases, to defeat spells, detect thieves or find stolen goods, and to protect his neighbours from every kind of ill. . . . The wisewoman filled the office of mid-wife. . . . They were . . . friendly people, well known to their patients, who attended to the mother*3 physical needs and at the same time calmed her mind by protecting her and the child from fairies and sorcerers. White witches sometimes did valuable work by allaying the fears of their neighbours, composing quarrels, and securing the restoration of stolen goods without the public scandal of a prosecution. Their value to the community lay in the fact that they

3^

were known and trusted and were called upon In cases of Illness or trouble when no stranger, however learned, would have been consulted.*

White witches were also reputed to be capable of casting love

charms and curing sick animals. Furthermore, they did not

practice their art as a means of personal gain. Unlike black

witches, who implemented their powers to obtain revenge or

profit, most white witches refused payment for the services

they performed.2

The dramatic application of white witches was similar to

that made of most rural or rustic characters in early English

comedy. The rustics were treated as Ignorant buffoons, and

the playwrights found the practices of white witches and the

superstitious beliefs of their followers to be a fruitful

source of comic material. Between 1550 and 1590, white witches,

or knowledge of them, were used in Gammar Gurton1s Needle. The

Old Wives Tale. Endvmion. and Mother Bombie to produce effec-

tive comedy.

In 1604 Thomas Heywood used a fraudulent white witch as

the basis for his comedy The Wise Woman of Hogsdon. Heywood

himself had written about contemporary witches in Gunaikeion.

•'•Hole, p. 98.

2Ibid., pp. 107-108.

35

and he was obviously aware of the serious consideration that

King James I gave to the detection of false accusations and

claims of witchcraft.3 Furthermore, he was probably aware of

the fact that the king did not recognize any differentiation

between black and white witches. James condemned both, as

well as any who associated with them, in his Daemonologie

Yet Heywood chose to treat the topic in a comic manner on the,

stage. The comedy is primarily concerned with the antics used

by the Wise-woman to amaze and convince clients of her clair-

voyant and prophetic powers. The Wise-woman is an ingenious

trickster, who uses various props, such as a secret closet,

to perpetuate the hoax that she is endowed with supernatural

powers. In the end her deception is penetrated, and she is

exposed as the operator of a house of prostitution. As the

first witch play produced during the reign of James, The Wise

Woman of Hogsdon is unique. The exposure of the Wise-woman as

a counterfeit white witch reflects the king* s interest in the

exposure of fraudulent witches, but at the same time, the play

does not give serious consideration to the king's philosophy

^Robert Rentoul Reed, Jr., The Occult on the Tudor and

Stuart Stage (Boston, 1965), p. 155.

^Daemonologie. p. TQ.

36

of witches and witchcraft. Heywood avoids the serious impli-

cations of witchcraft in his play although the newly crowned

monarch was sincerely concerned with various aspects of black

magic. It is possible that Heywood felt his play was based

upon the comic consequences of fraud, and, as a result, it did

not merit a serious treatment of witches since no real witch

or witchcraft was involved.

Macbeth is often cited as the first serious dramatic

application of black witches in English secular drama.5

However, it should be noted that Shakespeare also made serious

application of witches and witchcraft in the first two parts

Henry VI. which were written about the same time that

Daemonologie was first published in Scotland. In the first

part of Henry VI. Joan of Arc emerges as a damnable witch

associated with silent fiends for the purpose of saving Prance

from English rule. The French woman would use any means

available to rid her country of the English, including making

a pact with the devil. It is interesting that Shakespeare1s

Joan of Arc is condemned as a witch in accordance with English

definition instead of being condemned as a heretic in

^Muriel Clarice Bradbrook, "The Sources of Macbeth." Shakespeare Survey. IV (1951), ^1«

37

the usual continental manner. Her condemnation is based

upon the application she would make of her supernatural

powers rather than her rejection of God. What Shakespeare

actually does with Joan of Arc is to change her from a con-

tinental witch-heretic into a character that fits the English

definition of a black witch. As a result, she is tried and

convicted as a felon in accord with English law. It is

possible that Shakespeare made the alteration in the character

of Joan of Arc because he felt that transforming her into a

witch conforming to the concepts of English culture would

enhance the dramatic effect of her condemnation.

In the second part of Henry VI. Shakespeare depicts the

plot of Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester, against the '*

king. The conspiracy itself is a matter of historical

record.^ The Duchess employed Roger Bolingbroke, a sorcerer,

and Margary Jourdemain, a witch, to murder the king by

maleficium so that the Duke of Gloucester could ascend to the

throne. The actual conjuring ceremony of the sorcerer and

the witch is presented on the stage, and it provides sufficient

evidence to condemn the participants as traitors.

6 Notestein, pp. 4, 8.

36

More important, however, than the instances where Shake-

speare used witchcraft in his plays before Macbeth is the ex-

tent to which the practice of the black art and its consequences

affected the entire play. Neither of the witchcraft scenes

in the first two parts of Henry VI • is a crucial examination

of witchcraft itself, nor is either witchcraft sequence of

such vital importance that the entire play would be altered if

the scenes were changed. Shakespeare's treatment of witches

and witchcraft in these instances is quite serious in tone,

but the fact that Joan of Arc and the Duchess of Gloucester

are involved with witchcraft is not pivotal in either play.

Each woman was primarily an enemy of England, whose crime

against the state was compounded by her association with a

particular form of black magic. In contrast, Macbeth provides

a presentation of witches whose practices are directly related

to the actions of the protagonist, and the three witches of

Macbeth are quite indispensable to the study of Macbeth1s

tragic character. Without the witches and the witchcraft

sequences, Macbeth would be a rather bland dramatic excursion

into Scottish history, and Macbeth himself would emerge as a

less tragic and more villainous character.

Scholars generally agree that Shakespeare's Macbeth was

39

first produced between 1606 and l6ll.. The most frequently

proposed date is I606, which places the play immediately after

the initial investigations and exposures of fraudulent witch-

craft by James. One worthy attempt has been made by Henry N.

Paul to pinpoint the exact date of the premier performance J

Paul's argument is that Macbeth was first performed on August

7, 1606, at royal command in honor of King Christian IV,

Queen Anne's brother, who was visiting England. Paul's seven-

teenth century sources verify that a play was presented to the

court on August 7 at Windsor as a part of various ceremonies

and entertainments arranged for the royal guest, but none of

the sources actually name Macbeth as the particular play pre-

sented on that date or even during the weeks of festivities

honoring the Danish monarch. In spite of the lack of absolute

evidence that a play entitled Macbeth was originally offered

at court, Paul does present a proposition worthy of further

consideration. He also suggests that after Macbeth was viewed

by the late summer court it was enlisted as an offering to the

public during the regular theater season of 1606-1607 , which

is an acceptable date for the public premiere.

Whether or not Macbeth was first enacted at the command

7paul, pp. 329-330.

40

of James, there is no doubt that, as a playwright, Shakespeare

was within the reach of the king*s influence. When Macbeth

was written, Shakespeare was a member of the King*s Company,

the acting group which had secured the patronage of James

after he was crowned.8 Consequently, whether the play was

written for a royal performance or for regular production in

the public theater by the royal company, it is evident that

Shakespeare must have prepared his work with a certain aware-

ness of the king and his views. Royal patronage was too cru-

cial a factor in the mere existence of an acting company for

a playwright to risk offending the king through ignorance. It

would follow that Shakespeare would have been familiar with

the 1603 publications in England of the king^ works and the

royal investigations of witchcraft between 1603 and 1606, as

well as other matters of interest to the king.

The generally accepted source for Shakespeare*s play is

the story of Macbeth related in Raphael Holinshed's Chronicle

of Scotland.9 Macbeth was an eleventh century usurper of the

8 John ¥. Draper, "Macbeth as a Compliment to James I,w

Englische Studien, LXXII (April, 1938), 207.

o ^Raphael Holinshed, Chronicles of England. Scotland and

Ireland. Vol. V (London, 1808), 264-277.

41

Scottish throne, whose rise in importance was predicted by

"three weird sisters."1° Granting Shakespeare^ knowledge of

the king's treatises on witches and witchcraft, it is not

impossible that he considered it appropriate to dramatize the

"three weird sisters" as Scottish witches akin in character to

Agnis Tompson, the one woman who convinced King James that she

was a witch. Regardless of the exact process Shakespeare

followed in developing the witches of Macbeth, the final result

certainly reflects the king*s writings and philosophy.

A number of scholars, including M. C. Bradbrook,11

Katherine Mary Briggs,^ and John W. Draper, ̂3 have identified

and classified particular characteristics and acts of the

Macbeth witches as reflecting the descriptions of witchcraft

given by James in Newes from Scotland and Daemonologle.

Although the scholars acknowledge that Shakespeare incorporated

parts of traditional witchlore into the development of the

10Ibid.. p. £69.

•^radbrook, pp. 41-43.

12 Katherine Mary Briggs, Pale Hecate's Team (London, 1963),

pp. 78-81.

13 Draper, pp. 208-212.

42

witches of Macbeth, the frequency and detail of the similari-

ties between the playwrights witches and the king*s writings

have convinced them that Shakespeare depended heavily upon

the monarch's treatises for information. The similarities

between the witches of Macbeth and the king*s writings are

important also because they reflect a large part of the ana-

lytical approach to witchcraft the playwright takes in the

play. The witches of Macbeth are evil, malicious, black

witches whose powers are applied solely to the detriment of

men.

It should be.noted that the character of Hecate is ex-

cluded from this study of the witches of Macbeth. Most scho-

lars agree that Hecate's two speeches and her songs were

added to Macbeth by someone other than Shakespeare. It is

also generally agreed that the additions were taken from

Thomas Middleton*s The Witch. The reason for excluding

Hecate from consideration here, however, is not related to

the probability that the Hecate scenes are an interpolation by

another hand. Hecate is not considered with the three witches

°f Macbeth largely because she does not have any direct con-

frontation with Macbeth and because her appearances in the

llfReed, p. 173.

43

play are not directly related to Macbeth^ tragedy.

Some of the similarities noted by scholars between

Shakespeare's witches and the writings of James are readily

evident to anyone who chooses to investigate. One of the

similarities is the witches1 means of transporting themselves.

Their transvection frequently resulted in their disappearance,

and both the flights of witches and their reported disappear-

ances, which are presented in the play, are discussed by the

king. At the end of the first scene of Macbeth, all three

witches exit after they chant a line that implies the manner

by which they will be transported to their next meeting when

they will confront Macbeth: "Houer through the fogge and

filthie ayre."^5 James discusses the unnatural flights of

witches in Daemonologie. and he attributes such common passages

to the devil spiriting his servants over short distances.^

The king also discusses the invisibility of witches being

transported, and the witches of Macbeth completely vanish at

the end of two appearances in acts one and four. James gives

15 William Shakespeare, Macbeth. New Variorium Edition,

edited by Horace Howard Furness Jr. (New York, 1963), 1,1,15, p. 13. All subsequent citations from the play will be from this volume and will be noted 'in the text by act, scene, and line.

n ZT

Daemonologle. p. 38*

44

the credit for such disappearances to the devil, who is capa-

ble of hiding his subordinates from the sight of mortal mens

For if the deuil may forme what kinde of impress!ones he pleases in the aire . . . why may he not far easilier thicken & obscure so the air, that is next about them by contracting it strait together, that the beames of any other mans eyes, cannot pearce thorow the same, to see them?^

When the witches vanish from their first encounter with Macbeth

and Banquo, both men are mystified and dubious of what they

have seen (I, iii, 85-96). The playwright*s implication may

be interpreted as reflecting the opinion expressed by the king.

Neither man is sure of what he has or has not seen, and the

possibility of the devil having deceived them is apparent.

A more definite example of transvection is found in the

first part of the witches' second appearance in the play as

they plot against a sailor and his wife. To gain revenge upon

the rude wife of a sailor, the first witch plans to follow the

sailor's ship in order to do him harm: "Her Husband's to

Aleppo gone, Master o*th1Tiger;/ But in a Syue lie thither

Sayle "(I, iii, 10-11). In Newes from Scotland. James reports

Agnis Tompson*s testimony about her coven's similar journey

to a sabbats "all they together went by Sea each one in a

^Ibld.. p. 39 .

45

Riddle or Clue."^® Agnis Tompson also testified that the

witches used the same means of transportation when, in their

attempt to sink the king* s ship, they dumped a christened cat

into the sea:

. . . the saide Cat was conueied into the midst of the sea by all these witches sayling in their riddles or Ciues as is aforesaide. . .

The first witch of Macbeth plans to go to sea in order to

raise a storm, which is the same reason Agnis Tompson gave in

her confession for her coven's similar journey. In Newes

from Scotland James related Agnis Tompson*s description of

the storm her coven invoked, and he included the ability to

raise such storms over land or sea in his list of witches*

powers in Daemonologle:

They can rayse stormes and tempestes in the aire, either vpon Sea or land, though not vniuersally, but in such a particular place and prescribed boundes, as God will permitte them so to trouble. . . , 2 0

When the first witch in Macbeth announces her intention of

traveling to the sailor* s ship for revenge, her sisters vol-

unteer their storm-raising powers which the first witch

18 Newes from Scotland, p. 13.

19Ibld.. p. 17.

20 Daemonologie. p. 46.

46

accepts and plots to use:

2. lie glue thee a Winde. 1. Thfart kinde. 3. And I another. 1. I my selfe haue all the other,

And the very Ports they blow, All the Quarters that they know, I*th* Ship-mans Card. . . . Though his Barke cannot be lost, Yet It shall be Tempest-tost.

(I, ill, 14-20, 27-28)

Shakespeare*s use of the sea storm is particularly important

in view of the fact that James himself was a witness to the

effect of the Scottish covers tempest.

The ability of witches to seek and gain revenge, such as

the first witch desires upon the sailor*s wife, is mentioned

in the king*s writings. In his Daemonologie James acknowledges

witches* general power to obtain revenge "vpon anie whome they

haue malice at."^^ The first witch of Macbeth explains to her

sisters that the sailor*s wife refused to share her chestnuts

with the witch and called the devil*s servant a derogatory

name. Such a rebuff was sufficient reason for the witch to

plot vengeance on the woman through her husband. The witch

outlines how she will make her victim suffers

81Ibid,. p. 43.

47

lie dreyne him drie as Hay: Sleepe shall neyther Night nor Day Hang vpon his Pent-house Lid: He shall Hue a man forbid: Wearie Seu*nights, nine times nine, Shall he dwindle, peake, and pine:

(I, iii, 21-26)

Similar descriptions are found in both of the king's treatises

on witchcraft. In Newes from Scotland James mentions the Earl

of Angus, "who languished to death"22 due to witchcraft. In

Daemonologie the king explains that such torturous illnesses

and deaths resulted from maleficium. whereby witches bewitch

their victim and burn a wax or clay picture of him: "That by

the rosting thereof, the persones that they beare the name of,

may be continuallie melted or dryed awaie by continuall sick-

nesse.,,23 in both the witch's and the king's description, the

victim suffers a gradual death with the symptoms of dehydration,

and the similarity in this instance is quite evident.

The fourth act of Macbeth opens with the three witches

preparing a brew in anticipation of Macbeth*s second and final

consultation with them. Holinshed does not report such a

meeting between the witches and Macbeth. The scene is probably

gg Newes from Scotland, p. 11.

23paemonologle. p, 44.

48

Shakespeare*s own innovation in Macbeth's story and the details

of the witches1 conjuration based upon the playwright's own

knowledge of witchlore. In Daemonologie James attributed the

preparations of such concoctions as the witches1 brew to the

teachings of the devil. Witches were able to achieve unnatural

feats by preparing mixtures according to the devil's instructions:

"he causeth them to ioynt dead corpses, & to make powders there-

of, mixing such other thinges there amongst, as he glues vnto

Pli

them."^ James also wrote of the mixture Agnis Tompson con-

fessed to preparing in her solo attempt on the king's life:

She confessed that she tooke a blacke Toade, and did hang the same vp by the heeles, three dales, and collected and gathered the venome as it dropped and fell from it in an Oister shell, and kept the same venome close couered. . .

Similarly, Agnis Tompson confessed that when her coven sought

to raise the tempest at sea to sink the king's ship, they used

a cat and part of a corpse:

. . . she being accompanied with the parties before specially named, tooke a Cat and christened it, and afterward bound to each parte of that Cat, the cheefest

24Ibld.. p. 43.

gc Newea from Scotland, p. 16.

49

partes of a dead man, and seuerall ioynts of his bodie. . . .26

The ingredients which the three witches of Macbeth toss into

their bubbling caldron bear a strong resemblance to those

mentioned by the king. The first ingredient is a toad whose

condition is similar to the one prepared by Agnis Tompson:

In the poysond Entrailes throw Toad, that vnder cold stone, Dayes and Nights, ha*s thirty ones Sweltred Venom sleeping got, Boyle thou first i* th* charmed pot.

(IV, i, 7-11)

After adding segments of various other animals, the three

witches of Macbeth begin adding the human ingredients to their

brew:

Liuer of Blaspheming lew,

Gall of Goate, and Slippes of Yew, Sliuerfd in the Moones Ecclipse: Nose of Turke, and Tartars lips: Finger of Birth-strangled Babe, Ditch-deliuerM by a Drab, Make the Grewell thicke, and slab.

(IV, i, 28-34)

The similarity between the ingredients named by the witches of

Macbeth and those listed by the king, is apparent, although the

vivid dramatic narrative overshadows the plain description

given by James.

26 -Ibid., pp. 16-17.

50

When Macbeth joins the three witches, he demands to know

about his future. According to James, witches are the devil1s

servants, ana as such, they lack the ability to reveal the

future. However, the king recognizes the devil as capable of

revealing the future to his subordinates:

As God by visiones, dreames, and extases reueiled what was to come, and what was his will vnto his seruantes; vsed he [the devilj not the like meanes to forwarne his slaues of things to come?27

Upon their first encounter with Macbeth, the three witches

saluted him with his current title and two titles which he

will hold in the future. The exact means through which they

obtained their knowledge is not revealed in the play, but later

disclosures made to Macbeth in the fourth act suggest that the

devil was their informant, which agrees with the opinion of

King James. The witches themselves do not answer Macbeth1s

questions about his future and that of Banquo. They act only

as agents who call upon their master to fulfill Macbeth*s

request. The riddle-answers to Macbeth*s questions are given

by apparitions, not by the witches:

A-operation, an Armed Head. Macb. Tell me, thou vnknowne power. 1 He knowes thy thought:

27 Daemonologle. p. 37.

51

Heare his speech, but say thou nought. 1 Appar• Macbeth. Macbeth. Macbeth:

Beware Macduffe. Beware the Thane of Fife: dismisse me. Enough.

He Descends. Macb. What ere thou art, for thy good caution, thanks

Thou hast harpfd my feare aright. But one word more. 1 He will not be commanded: heerefs another

More potent then the first. Thunder. 2 Apparition, a Bloody Childe.

2 Appar. Macbeth. Macbeth. Macbeth. Macb. Had I three eares, II1d heare thee. 2 Appar. Be bloody, bold, & resolute:

Laugh to scorne The powre of man: For none of woman borne Shall harm Macbeth. Descends.

Mac. Then Hue Macduffe: what need I feare of thee? But yet lie make assurance: double sure, And take a Bond of Fate: thou shalt not liue, That I may tell pale-hearted Feare, it lies; And sleepe in spight of Thunder. Thunder.

3 Apparation. a Childe Crowned. with a Tree in his hand.

What is this, that rises like the issue of a King, And weares vpon his Baby-brow, the round And top of Soueraignty?

All. Listen, but speake not too*t. 3 Appar. Be Lyon metled, proud, and take no care:

Who chafes, who frets, or where Conspirers are: Macbeth shall neuer vanquish*d be, vntlll Great Byrnam Wood, to high Dunsmane Hill Shall come against him. Descend.

Macb. That will neuer bee: (IV, i, 79-113)

The witches tell Macbeth that it is their master who speaks,

and the implication is that the apparitions are a form taken

by the devil. James acknowledged the devil*s ability to

appear in various forms: "he appeares as he pleases, and as

53

he findes meetest their £ his servants^ humors."28 The

prophecies given to Macbeth and the form in which they are

given both conform to the examples given by James.

Other similarities between the king*s descriptions of

witches and witchcraft and the witches of Macbeth have been

noted by scholars and sometimes enumerated to a ridiculous

degree. However, In analyzing the play in view of the king's

writings, scholars have neglected or ignored the relationship

between the role of witchcraft in Macbeth1s tragedy and the

t

king's philosophy. Some scholars have recognized Macbeth's

i actions as a submission to the witches' suggestions in full

realization of the consequences that will result. For instance,

Simon A. Blackmore offers that Macbeth's plight is a portrayal

of the battle that man realizes he faces with temptations "In

Macbeth is pictured the moral history of every man. In bodying

forth the evil within the heart, temptation makes each one con-r

scious of his true character,"29 Virgil K. VThitaker states

more explicitly that Macbeth's downfall is a result of his own

conscious decision: "Macbeth is the tragedy of a man who, In

28 Ibid., p. 52.

2%imon A. Blackmore, A Great Soul In Conflict (Chicago,

1914), p. 60.

53

full knowledge of what he was doing, destroyed his own soul."3°

J. Lyndon Shanley interprets Macbeth*s tragedy as the conse-

quence of premeditated sin; "His ruin is caused by the fact

that he sins: he willfully commits an act which he knows to be

wrong."31 Among all these opinions, scholars have signally

failed to consider Macbeth*s actions as a reflection of the

king*s philosophy on witchcraft.

Politically, Macbeth errs when he becomes a usurping

regicide. John W. Draper has made an interesting study of the

play as an endorsement of the principle of divine right, which

s was an important part of James* view of government Yet even

as a murderous rebel, Macbeth*s soul would still have been

redeemable if he had not succumbed to the forces of the devil,

thereby placing himself beyond the forgiveness of God and man.

Scholars have noted the three witches of Macbeth again and

• again as forms of evil temptation, but the spiritual conse-

3°Virgil Keeble Whitaker, The Mirror Up to Nature (San Marino, California, 1965)> P» 2 6 5 .

3^J. Lyndon Shanley, "Macbeth? The Tragedy of Evil,n

College English. XXII (February, l$)6l), 307./ ;

32 Draper, passim.

54

quences of Macbeth*s association with them has been seriously

neglected.

In the preface to Daemonologie. James states what he con-

siders to be the purpose of all the devil*s actions, including

those perpetrated through witches: "the deuilles intention in

them is euer to perish, either the soule or the body, or both

of them."33 James views the devil as "the enemie of mans

S a l v a t i o n , w h o uses every conceivable means to insure the

damnation of as many men as possible. Mortal man must work to

earn spiritual salvation from God. Man*s salvation is based

upon his work towards obtaining it and his faith in God. The

divine creator is unable to extend redeeming grace to man un-

less man proves himself to be desirous and worthy of it. Just

as God is unable to proffer salvation unless man makes the

initial move, the devil is unable to condemn a soul to eternal

damnation unless man indicates that he is willing to commit

his body and soul to the devil. In Daemonologie James gives

the limitations within which the devil must operate

It is to be noted nowe, that that olde and craftie enemie of ours, assailes none, except he first finde

33 Daemonologle. p. xiv,

31* lb id., p. 6. .

55

an entresse reddy for him, either by the great ignorance of the person he deales with, ioyned with an euill life, or else by their carelesnes and contempt of God. . . .35

Through man the devil is able to thwart God. by using his powers

to persuade mortals to abandon righteous pursuits and pledge

themselves to him. James believes the individual man is the

key to the devil*s success or failure in his battle against

God. The devil can continue to antagonize God and harm God*s

children only if men, such as Macbeth, are receptive to the

suggestion that they need not be satisfied with their life as

it is. The devil uses various forms and agents, such as

apparitions and witches, to tempt men into relying upon his

powers. His success in convincing men is, for them, an act

of irrevocably renouncing God, an act which condemns their

souls.

The greatest danger that James saw in witches and witch-

craft was a spiritual one. The king noted the physical harm

that the devil*s servants were capable of producing, but his

primary concern was the spiritual damnation that their practices

could bring about. To doubt that the devil had such servants

as witches, spirits, and necromancers was to doubt God.3^ In

35Ibld.. p. 32.

lbid.. pp. 54-55.

56

part at least, James wrote his Daemonologie to convince Scot

and Wierus and anyone who agreed with them that such disbelief

was sacrilegious. Furthermore, James felt the devil1s purpose

must be made known to all men so that they may protect them-

selves against such temptations; and finally, men should be

careful not to misjudge legal cases against witches, for either

conviction of the innocent or release of the guilty is an

affront to the Heavenly Father.

When evaluating the character of Macbeth, scholars have

often commented upon his lack of tragic nobility.37 Some find

him emerging from the play as an ignoble villain both defeated

and denounced. He is beheaded by Macduff and denounced by

Malcolm, and such a fate is far removed from the more

genuinely tragic deaths that Shakespeare provided for Hamlet,

Lear, and Othello. Justification for Macbeth*s demise, for some

scholars,is found in the rationalization that his crime was one

of unbridled ambition. The connection between the witches as

the devils agents and Macbeth*s relationship to them has not

attracted modern attention, but to the seventeenth century

mind, Macbeth1s most grievous fault was not his greedy move to

obtain power but his misplaced faith in the devil. Man could

^Shanley, p. 305.

57

be forgiven for murder, even regicide, if he were pentitent,

but Macbeth compounded his sins by committing his body and

spirit to the devil. By seeking out the witches and by

assuming the validity of the apparition^ prophecies, Macbeth

moved beyond the farthest reach of divine or mortal forgive-

ness and redemption. Hence, he deserved to have his head

severed from his body by Macduff and his name denounced by

Malcolm.

An indication of Macbeth1s commitment to the devil is

found in Holinshed*s Chronicle in a description of his convic-

tion of the success awaiting his undertakings: "he had such

confidence in his-prophesis, that he believed he should neuer

be vanquished."3® Such a statement, combined with a knowledge

of the king's philosophy, may have suggested to Shakespeare

an effective means of effectively incorporating his patron1s

views about witchcraft into his play. Yet no study has em-

phasized that the relationship of Macbeth and the three

witches is in large part a reflection of the king*s philosophy,

The evidence offered by the play would suggest that such an

oversight may result in an incomplete understanding of the

real tragedy of Macbeth.

In Daemonologie James gives a description of the devil*s

3®Hollnshed, p. 276.

58

power to tempt men through his agents:

For as an old practisian, he knowes well inough what humor domines most in anie of vs, and as a spirite hee can subtillie walken vp the same, making it pec-cant, or to abounde, as he thinkes meete for troubling vs. . . .39

The witches* contact with Macbeth and the subsequent results

indicate that the devil*s agents were operating according to

their master*s instructions based upon his analysis of Macbeth.

It is important that the three witches open the dramatic

action: first, because they would have been immediately

identified by the seventeenth century audience as agents of

the devil and second, because they clearly state that their

objective is to confront Macbeth (I, i, 12). The grotesque

physical appearance of the witches and their arrival in a

crescendo of thunder and lightning denotes that the purpose

of their mission could only be detrimental to Macbeth.

When they salute Macbeth as Thane of Glamls, Thane of

Cawdor, and King of Scotland, he is amazed. His amazement,

however, is replaced by curiosity, and he demands to know the

witches* source of information:

Macb. Stay you imperfect Speakers, tell me more: Sinelis death, I know I am Thane of Glamis,

3%)aemonologie. p. 45.

59 '

But how, of Cawdor? the Thane of Cawdor Hues A prosperous Gentleman; And to be King, Stands not within the prospect of beleefe, No more then to be Cawdor. Say from whence You owe this strange Intelligence, or why Vpon this blasted Heath you stop our way With such Prophetique greeting? Speake, I charge you.

(I, iii, 75-84)

The witches vanish without answering Macbeth, leaving him with

his curiosity aroused. The devil's agents have been successful

in their initial confrontation with Macbeth; in the Thane of

Glamis they found "an entresse reddy" for their suggestion

that he may attain more respected and more powerful positions.

Whether or not he.has secretly dreamed of greater accomplish-

ments for himself, Macbeth has now been exposed to creatures

who voice such possibilities as the crown of Scotland for his-

future. Immediately, Ross and Angus enter to confirm the

first prophecy. Macbeth recognizes the unnatural aspect of

the foretelling of his promotion, and in asides he debates the

issue with himself:

Glamys, and Thane of Cawdor: The greatest is behinde. . . .

Two Truths are told, As happy Prologues to the swelling Act Of the Imperiall Theame. . . . This supernaturall solliciting Cannot be illj cannot be good. If ill? Why hath it giuen me earnest of successe, Commencing in a Truthj? I am Thane of Cawdor.

6o

If good? Why doe I yeeld to that suggestion, Whose horrid Image doth vnfixe my Heire, And make my seated Heart knock at my Ribbes, Against the vse of Nature? Present Feares Are lesse then horrible Imaginings: My Thought, whose Murther yet is but fantastical!, Shakes so my single state of Man, That Function is smother^ in surmise, And notheing is, but what is not. . . ,

If Chance will haue me King, Why Chance may Crowne me, Without my stirre.

(i, Hi, 130-131, 143-158, 160-162)

Macbeth rationalizes that he will accept whatever fortune has

in store for him, but his appetite has been whetted. No

matter how much Macbeth pretends he does not care about addi-

tional power and glory, the possibility of becoming king is

an overpowering temptation for him. '

In the following scene Duncan greets and praises Macbeth

and Banquo and then announces that his eldest son, Malcolm,

is invested as Prince of Cumberland and heir apparent. This

news stuns Macbeth. That he could be king was plausible before;

now it seems impossible. Macbeth is excluded from all hope of

legal succession to the throne, but he now has a growing desire

for it because of the witches1 salute to him. Macbeth recog-

nizes Duncan*s announcement as one which negates the witches*

suggestion of his future role unless he takes certain appalling

steps to prevent Malcolm from succeeding his father on the

61

Scottish throne;

The Prince of Cumberland: that is a step, On which I must fall downe, or else o*re-leape, For in my way it lyes. Starres hide your fires, Let not Light see my black and deepe desires; The Eye winke at the Hand; yet let that bee, Which the Eye feares, when it is done to see.

(I, iv, 60-65)

Macbeth realizes that it is impossible now for "Chance" to

crown him king, and the fulfillment of the prophecy is entirely

dependent upon his actions.

The indication that Macbeth is succumbing to the witches*

suggestion that he will be king comes from the letter he sends

Lady Macbeth before he returns home, and his wife reads it

aloud in the fifth scene of the first act. In the letter

Macbeth recounts his first meeting with the three witches

and their salutations. His comment on the third greeting is

most revealing as to his acceptance of the witches1 suggestion:

. . . these weyward Sisters saluted me. and referrM me to the comming on of time, with haile King that shalt he. This haue I thought good to deliuer thee (my dearest Partner of Greatnesse) that thou might* st not loose the dues of reloycing by being ignorant of what Greatnesse is promis* d thee»

(I, V, 9-13)

Macbeth is sufficiently certain of his eventual position as

monarch to write his wife to prepare for their ascent. In her

reaction to Macbeth* s news of the three witches Lady Macbeth

62

presents an Interesting foil for her husband. Macbeth succumbs

to the devil's forces only after prolonged introspection, but

Lady Macbeth readily sees the temptation for what it is: the

work of the devil through his agents. The offer of greatness

and power is desirable to her at any cost, and she calls upon

the devil1s agents without hesitation to make her committments

Come you Spirits,

That tend on mortall thoughts, vtxsex me here, And fill me from the Crowne to the Toe, top-full Of direst Cruelties make thick my blood, Stop vp th,accesse, and passage to Remorse, That no compunctious visitings of Nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keepe peace betweene Th*effect, and hit. Come to my Woraans Brests, An take my Milke for Gall, you murth*ring Ministers, Where-euer, in you sightlesse substances, You wait on Natures Mischiefe. Come thick Night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoake of Hell, That my keene Knife see not the wound it makes, Nor Heauen peepe through the Blanket of the darke, To cry, hold, hold.

(I, v, 45-59)

Lady Macbeth readily commits herself to the devil, and she is

the one person who can encourage Macbeth to follow her example.

However, Macbeth realizes that each step he takes in his own

responsibility and the consequences will affect only him. His

agony is acute just before he kills Duncan. An apparition of

a dagger appears before him. It should be evident by now that

the floating dagger is a product of the devil1s powers. Yet

even with the dagger before him, the decision to kill Duncan

63

must still be Macbeth*s own. He debates the question again

briefly and acknowledges the role of witchcraft in this affair,

but finally the temptation of power becomes too great for him

to resist any longer:

Now ofre the one halfe World Nature seemes dead, and wicked Dreames abuse The Curtain*d sleepe: Witchcraft celebrates Pale Heccats Offrings: and wither*d Murther, Alarum*d by his Centinell, the Wolfe, Whose howle* s his Watch, thus with his stealthy pace, With Tarquin*s rauishing sides, towards his designe Moues like a Ghost.

Whiles I threat, he liues: Words to the heat of deedes too cold breath giues.

A Bell rings. I goe, atid it is done: the Bell inuites me. Heare it not, Duncan, for it is a Knell, That summons thee to Heauen, or to Hell.

(II, i, 62-69, 73-7B)

Macbeth murders Duncan. Yet although he is a murderer, Mac-

beth* s commitment to the devil is not irreversible.

Malcolm and Donalbain flee in fear that they will be

blamed for their father* s death, and Macbeth succeeds to the

Scottish throne. Yet he still broods over the prophecy the

three witches made to Banquo that he would be the father of

kings. Banquo*s reaction to the witches is almost an exact

opposite of Lady Macbeth*s, and it serves as another foil to

Macbeth*s reaction. After Macbeth learns that he has been

named Thane of Cawdor, Banquo warns him about the hidden

64

dangers of accepting the witches1 word as the truth:

But *tis strange: And oftentimes, to winne vs to our harme,

The Instruments of Darknesse tell vs Truths, Winne vs with honest Trifles, to betray* s In deepest consequence.

(I, iii, 137-141)

Banquo* s warning is a rewording of the warning of King James

about the devil* s powers and his ability to persuade mortals

to commit themselves to him.^0 Banquo is curious about the

prophecies, and he even attempts to discuss them with Macbeth

immediately before Duncan is murdered. Yet Banquo*s interest

is not directed toward assuring the fulfillment of the witches*

greeting. He does not envision any means by which he can in-

sure the succession of his descendants to the Scottish crown.

Consequently, he does not commit himself to the devil. The

temptation never reaches Banquo, and the greatest effect the

witches* words have on him is to suggest the hope that the

fulfillment of Macbeth* s prophesy would indicate that his may

also come true:

If there come truth from them, As vpon thee Macbeth, their Speeches shine, Why by the verities on thee made good, May they not be my Oracles as well, And set me vp in hope.

(Ill, i, 8-12)

4°Ibid.. p. 32,

65

Banquo i s . sa t i s f ied t o l e t the f u t u r e develop as i t w i l l ; he

i s not tempted in any way to take steps t o procure the sug-

gested honor f o r h i s h e i r s .

However, Macbeth f e e l s t h a t Banquo i s a t h r e a t t o him.

He r e f l e c t s t h a t i f i t i s t rue t h a t Banquo* s h e i r s w i l l be

f u t u r e kings then h i s crimes have benef i t ed not him but Banquo

and Banquo*s descendants:

He chid the S i s t e r s , When f i r s t they put the Name of King vpon me, And bad them tspeake to him. $hen.Prophe^-l ike, They hayl* d him Father t o a Line of 'Kings . Vpon my Head ^hey (plac*d a f ru i t l esse t Crowne , And put a barren Scepter in my Gripe,

, 1m Thence t o lbei wa^ncht with an v n l i n e a l l Hand, No Sonne of mine succeeding: i f * t be so,

u,,,;*?0? Banquo1 s £ssue lftftve I fiJL*d ,my Minde,i( For them, the gracious Duncan haue I murther*d

ii. , Vessel l p £ , ^ P e a c e , ( i u ; ' I ; y b - 7 8 )

i * i l * ( i * K t s t ; tli\ t I t 1 ;» C i' 1 a/' , > i i< i V t 4 i 1 I L v. ( 1 i i I in I m i I U<»i i v j « As Macbeth continues h i s complaint, he acknowledges t h a t he l > 1 i J b , > U I | 1 1 k « 1 . < J 1 , . - i I i I i ! I i I . • ,

has given h i s soul t o the dev i l in language which echoes the i « ' l i b ! i i s i > r • >

words of King Jaipe?:, ^"min^, e^ , rn^ l^ I^ye?.^,,/ Giu,£n,'to the 'in! i < . J i b • iii :; jn i < t u b i 111 ' I' I m 11 1 * ' i h I i I i „ v

common E n ^ i e pf Mai}",,(£11,,, ,.7%-BQ) M , ,,,( , V I • • . . - .1 I I n / " , i n I I ' l l l i b . . b ! * i > \ l I a

Macbeth h i re$ murderers, t p k i ^ ftanqyp and Fleance, h i s I t » r W i i i j * lb Willi • i t i V i J i i I ILiiliI

son, as they t ( f t^ W ftffcprappp, p ^ e t . . Bf^iq^o i s $ la in , but bur i '>> u < | u i,1 I ;.:! 11 < I w i V <. ! lb I 1 b my ile

Fleance epc^peg,.,,, Th$t , ^ , , ^ 0 ^ ^ ; banq^t»u 9«ftquo* s i hi i v,, i ii'. n i .-a I ut the V v.;. i :j t„: 1. t uf my . t. .

ghost appears t o Macbeth, who had momentarily J ^ l t ,sepi^r^( ^hen

he ^ea^ned phtf ,B$nqufl ,wag u$e,$c|tji( Thflt gftpsfc t o r n ^ s ^ a p b f i t h , b i > <' i a lit.i , >uu i I u lite bcv 1 J i a bL>. i i /' w u { »• a ccliuc.) I be

i" • <; > b I' i* tin, Jutu*> > < : jk, Le t'n<j i I \ *. wc 'I i .* i ut i i lu tin

66

but it must not be mistaken as a product of Macbeth* s guilt-

stricken conscience. One of the forms that King James listed

hi

among those the devil might take is that of a dead body.

At least one reason for the devil to assume such forms was to

remind his victims of his power: "£hej makes himselfe to

seeme more terrible to the grosser sorte, that they maie

thereby be moued to feare and reuerence him the more."1*2

Macbeth*s reaction to Banquo*s ghost follows the outline

given by King James exactly. Macbeth is frightened, and he

decides to return to the three witches to find out in detail

what his future is:

I will to morrow (And betimes I will) to the weyard Sisters. More shall they speake: for now I am bent to know By the worst meanes, the worst, for mine owne good, All causes shall giue way. I am in blood Stept in so farre, that should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go ore: Strange things I haue in head, that will to hand, Which must be acted, ere they may be scand.

(Ill, iv, 163-171)

Although to repent and seek forgiveness would be difficult,

Macbeth sees that it is equally troublesome to continue his

present course of action. If he turns back, his life is lost

4-4b id.. p. 52.

42lbid.

67

as well as the powerful position he has acquired. If he con-

tinues, his soul Is damned, but he may be able to retain his

kingship. It is here that Macbeth places himself beyond the

reach of all forgiveness, for he knows that by going to the

three witches he is yielding completely to the devil.

The first three apparitions that Macbeth sees when he

visits the witches are reassuring to him. He seeks assurance

about the future, and he thinks he receives a prognostication

that he is indestructible. However, the fourth apparition,

which the witches warn him not to seek, displeases him. It

is the lineal display of Banquo's descendants as kings, and

it assures Macbeth that the witches' original comments to

Banquo were true. He will be unable to prevent Banquo's

descendants from becoming kings.

Macbeth is finally challenged as king by Macduff and

Malcolm, who are aided by the King of England. They consider

Macbeth to be the worst possible degenerate: tyrant, usurper,

and regicide. To Macbeth*s horror, the apparition's assur-

ance about his future turns out to be a deceptive riddle.

The timbers of Byrnam Wood are used as camouflage by his

enemies as their troops move into position to attack, and

Macduff reveals that he was torn from his mother* s womb,

68

hence not actually born of woman.

Macbeth realizes that all he has gained is lost and

that his confidence in the validity of the apparition*s

predictions was misplaced. He is defeated by his opponents,

but more important is the fact that he has already defeated

himself. Macbeth allowed himself to be tempted by his witches'

predictions, and his "entresse reddy" gave the devil*s agents

sufficient access to his will to lure him into their power.

When Macbeth returned to the witches for reassurance that it

is worthwhile for him to pursue the path of sin and destruc-

tion he had chosen, he committed himself to the devil and

condemned his own soul. He let his greedy passion for power

overrule his conscience, and his defeat and death are the

result. Macbeth deserves no noble exit. In effect, he sold

himself to the devil and knowingly damned his own soul to

eternal hellfire.

The misplaced faith in witches and their powers that

Macbeth exemplifies is exactly the kind that James felt was

extremely dangerous. The king believed that all witches,

black or white, were the devil*s agents and faith in them and

their powers could only result in the damnation of a man*s

soul. James sought to instruct men of the consequences of

69

such misplaced faith by writing Daemonologie. and Macbeth*s

tragedy gives dramatic shape to the warnings of the king that

to follow the devil is to insure endless torment in hell.

When Macbeth is viewed in the light of the king* s philo-

sophy of witchcraft, it is evident that Shakespeare*s play

reflects the opinions expressed by James in his writings.

Macbeth was the first of several plays that shows the effect

of the king's interest in witches and witchcraft. Other plays

reflect the king*s philosophy as Shakespeare"s does but with

less skill and less dramatic effectiveness.

CHAPTER IV

THE MASQUE OF QUEENS AND THE WITCH

One dramatic form which the first two Stuart monarchs

nurtured with great relish, perhaps to a fault, was the court

masque. Masques performed at court for the amusement of

royalty began in England under Henry VII,1 and even prudent

Elizabeth I occasionally allowed herself the treat of such

expensive entertainment.2 However, it was not until James

became King of England that the court masque became an estab-

lished royal extravaganza. The whole purpose of the masque

was spectacular amusement, and during the reign of-the first

Stuart king, it blossomed as a beautiful backdrop for music

and dances at court.3 King James found court masques amusing,

and Queen Anne found participation in the spectacle to be

•'•Ashley H. Thorndlke, Shakespeare* s Theater (New York, 1950), p. 143.

2 Mary Sullivan, Court Masques of James .1 (New York, 1913),

p. 156.

^G. P. V. Akrigg, Jacobean Pageant or the Court of King James 1 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1962), p. 148.

70

71

delightful. All of the royal family, including Prince Henry

and Prince Charles, enjoyed the private productions. The

masques were a means for members of the court to display

certain dramatic talents in short speeches, songs, and dances

while their captive audience was bedazzled with ingenious

settings, machinery, and costumes. These private productions,

which were a combination of masquerade, drama, and pageantry,

were the paramount artistic endeavor at court.^

In view of the king*s interest in witches and his par-

ticular delight in court masques, it is to be expected that

witches should find their way into the court masques. On

February 2, 1609, just such a masque was presented at White-

hall. 5 At the request of Queen Anne, Ben Jonson had prepared

The Masque of Queens for performance by the queen and the

ladies of her court.^ The queen made a further request that

Jonson include a display preceeding the masque to act as a

li Ibid.

5a Second Jacobean Journal, edited by George Bagshawe Harrison (London, 1958), p. 127.

6 The Progresses. Vol. II, 216, The complete text of Jon-

son* s original manuscript has been reproduced in The Progresses. Vol. II, and all subsequent citations from the masque are made from this manuscript.

72

foil for the main spectacle, such as he had devised previous-

ly.7 The result was a contrast of twelve grotesque witches

with twelve lovely and presumably virtuous queens.

Jonson decided that The Masque of O.ueens would serve as

"A celebration of honourable and true Fame bred out of Vir-

0

tue." To augment the effect of his masque, as well as com-

ply with the queen's request, Jonson opened his display with

twelve witches in an antimasque, a term which he devised.9

First only eleven witches appear before the audience, but they

chant a call to their leader, Ate or Mischief, who joins them.

Together the twelve dance and report their most recent evil

endeavors. Then Ate calls upon the eleven witches to join

her in an incantation to raise the devil as they prepare to

combat virtuous Fame. The group makes three unsuccessful

attempts to contact their master, and then in a burst of music

they vanish. The witches are replaced by a conveyance for

Perseus as Heroic Virtue, who explains that the evil powers

of the witches are worthless when challenged by "Fame bred

out of Virtue." Perseus tells of his daughter Fama Bona.

7 Ibid.

6 lb id.

9John C. Meagher, Method and Meaning in Jonson* s Masques (Notre Dame, Indiana, 1966), p. 52.

73

whose presence eliminates the evils of the world. He further

explains that tonight she honors twelve queens, who have dis-

played great virtue and won fame on earth. The queens, whom

Perseus lists, are to reside henceforth in the House of Fame

as a benefit to all ages. At the end of Perseus1 speech, the

stage machinery changes to reveal his daughter, who calls upon

the twelve queens to descend from the House of Fame. After

their descent, the queens circle the arena in three chariots

and dismount to perform three dances. Their dances are accom-

panied by songs which further pronounce the glorious powers of

Good Fame. Finally they return to the House of Good Fame and

are saluted with a final song.

At the request of Prince Henry, Jonson prepared a care-

fully footnoted edition of The Masque of Queens. ̂ The exten-

sive notes provide an impressive list of Greek and Roman

sources, including Horace, Virgil, Seneca, and Lucan, and

provide sufficient evidence of Jonson1s familiarity with

classical writers. The playwright*s classical scholarship was

' indeed a matter of prideful concern to him, and his extensive

use of classical sources on a topic that was of interest to

the king is a demonstration of that pride. As a result, his

10Ibid.. p. 215.

74

work is a unique reflection of the kingTs concern with witches

and witchcraft.

It must be acknowledged that Jonson* s ego, as well as his

artistic and professional purpose, had an effect upon the

material he selected for The Masque of Queens. Yet even

Jonson* s use of classical models for his witches reflects the

king1s influence. First, Jonson would have certainly been

aware of his monarches Latin and Greek scholarship. The pos-

sibility of an audience1 s lack of classical learning never

deterred Jonson from making reference to ancient scholars, but

the king1s familiarity with such scholarship may have encour-

aged the playwright in his endeavor. Second, Jonson cites

Cornelius Agrippa as one of his sources for The Masque of

Queens.H The citation is not exceptional, but it is inter-

esting in view of the king*s preface to his Daemonologle. In

his preface James advises the inquisitive reader to consult a

particular work of Agrippa*s if a more detailed description of

the rites of black magic is desired after reading Daemonologie.

Third, Jonson departs from his classical references at least

to acknowledge the king*s discussion of the witches1 sabbat in

-11Ibid., p. 327.

12Paemonologie. p. xv.

75

Daemonologie.-*-3

Similarly, the characteristic practices of the witches

which Jonson chooses to use in his masque are related to those

cited in the king* s writings. Robert Rentoul Reed, Jr., is one

of several scholars who would prefer to consider The Masque of

Queens as a commentary on classical witches without reference

to seventeenth century England:

Jonson^ presentation of witchcraft in The Masque of Q.ueenes is thus an illuminating cosmopolitan study, with emphasis upon Greco-Roman practices; it must not be mis-taken for a portrayal of the alleged black magic of Elizabethan England.^

i Such a limitation, however, can hardly be fair to Jonson.

First, Jonson carefully limits the witches' descriptions of

their practices to the kind of endeavors undertaken by classi-

cal witches. The playwright"s twelve witches are true witches

as differentiated from enchantresses, such as Medea and Circe.

The enchantresses belong to a particular group of classical

immortals, whose powers are used either to harm or benefit

men depending upon their personal desire. No ulterior motive

concerning the eventual destiny of men1s souls directed their

actions. In contrast, the witches are mortals whose powers are

•^The Progresses. Vol. II, 217.

"^Reed, p. 166.

76

used to destroy men, and their purpose is linked to the tor-

ment and damnation of men*s souls. Second, several of the

practices Jonson*s witches describe are ones which are illus-

trated by James in his two treatises, as well as being found

in classical works. Jonson himself notes the king*s descrip-

tion of witches dancing in his Daemonologie when the first

eleven witches appear dancing.^5 As the eleven witches re-

cite a charm prevailing upon Ate to appear, they make a brief

reference to the practice of maleficium: "With pictures full,

of wax and of wool; / Their livers I stick, with needles

quick. Jonson lists Horace as his classical source for the

passage, and he notes that pictures were still "in use with

our modern Witchcraft .,,;L7 j n b0th Newes from Scotland and

Daemonologie James described the "modern Witchcraft" practice

maleficium and its result. After Ate appears, she calls

upon the eleven witches to report their a c t i o n s . J a m e s

•*-5The Progresses. Vol. II, 217.

l6Ibid.. p. 219.

17lbid.

18Ibid.. p. 223.

77

recorded the devil*s request for similar reports from witches

at their sabbats in his Daemonologie:

. . . at what time their master enquiring at them what they would be at: euerie one of them propones vnto him, what wicked turne they would haue done, either for obteining of richer or for reuenging them vpon anie whome they haue malice at. . . .^9

After the witches have reported their separate ventures, Ate

utters an invocation which begins the group*s call for the

devil to appear. In her speech Ate refers to the witches*

power of controlling the weather:

. . . when the boisterous sea, Without a breath of wind, hath knock*d the sky; And that hath thunder*d, Jove not knowing why; When we have set the elements at wars, Made midnight see the sun, and day the stars; When the wing*d lightning in the course hath staid; And swiftest rivers have run back afraid, To see the corn remove, the groves to range, Whole places alter, and the seasons change; . . . the pale moon, at the first voice down fell Poison*d, . . . durst not stay the second spell.20

The king had, of course, acknowledged the ability of witches

to "rayse stormes and tempestes in the aire, either vpon Sea

of land" in his writings. Finally, as the witches* incantations

to the devil reach a frantic pace in The Masque of Queens.

they return to their magic dance before vanishing:

^9i)aemonologie. p. 43#

20The Progresses. Vol. II, 288.

78

Around, around, Till a music sound, And the pace be found, To which we may dance,

And our charms advance.2*

The same type of dancing incantation during a sabbat was re-

vealed to the king by Agnis Tompson and recorded in Newes from

Scotland: "Jjbhe witches^J tooke handes . . . and daunced this

reill or short daunce, singing all with one voice."22 Follow-

ing Agnis Tompson*s confession, the king requested to hear and

did indeed hear Geillis Duncane play the dance upon a trump.

Although Jonson* s witches are assuredly depicted with particu-

lar reference to classical writers, the playwrights decision

to depict a sabbat and the subsequent claims of the witches

would indicate that Jonson was going out of his way to acknow-

ledge certain practices of witchcraft that the king noted in

his works. The possibility that Jonson found material for his

antimasque in Newes from Scotland and Daemonologie is certainly

worth consideration in view of the playwright*s knowledge that

the king would be present for the performance of The Masque of

Q.ueens.

Finally, the theme of The Masque of Queens reflects, in

21Ibid.. pp. 233-234.

p p Newes from Scotland, p. 13.

79

part, the king*s philosophy on witches and witchcraft. Jonson

applies his antimasque to emphasize the contrast between the

good and evil forces depicted and to accent the triumph of the

good forces.^3 in Newes from Scotland James recorded Agnis

Torapson's confessions that attempts to kill him by witchcraft

failed because of his faith, which in itself is a concrete

example of virtue negating the influence of evil and one from

which the king gained a considerable amount of personal fame.

Jonson has transmorphosed the victorious fame into females,•

including Queen Anne1s portrayal of the most glorious Bel-

olj,

i Anna. However, the triumph of good over evil is not affected

by the change of the participants sex. The characteristics

of the witches, which Jonson carefully presents, are traits

which cannot defeat virtue regardless of how fierce and power-

ful they are. The fame of virtue defeats the evil witches;

and although Jonson avoids the religious issues the king dis-

cusses in his writings, the playwright does reflect the triumph

of good over evil, which James sought to insure for men*s

souls by writing Newes from Scotland and Daemonologie. and

2^Meagher, p. 52.

24 The Progresses. Vol. II, 242-243.

80

does emphasize that true virtue is impervious to evil machi-

nations .

The characteristic practices of black witches presented to

the private court audience in The Masque of Queens were also

part of a play written for the public stage. The play is a

tragicomedy by Thomas Middleton entitled The Witch, which was

performed by the King* s Company at the Blackfriars Theatre,

with little success by the playwright's own admission.

Scholars usually cite the play as being written after Shake-

speare* s Macbeth, but the play could have been written at any

time between 1609 and l6l9.2^ Part of the problem in dating

the play is due to the fact that the script survived in the

form of an undated copyist's manuscript. The Witch was first

published in a limited edition in 1778, and that edition was

based upon the manuscript copy.2? Another problem in dating

The Witch stems from the role of Hecate. The character appears

2^The Works of Thomas Middleton. Vol. V, edited by A. H. Bullen (London, I885), p. 335- Hereafter cited as Works.

Thomas Middleton, The Witch, edited by W. W. Greg and F. P. Wilson (Oxford, 19^9), PP« vi-vil.

27Works. Vol. V, 353.

81

in both Macbeth and The Witch, and although it is generally

agreed that her brief appearance in Macbeth is the result of

an interpolation by someone other than Shakespeare, the ques-

tion remains as to whether The Witch originally appeared before

or after the revival of Macbeth in l6l0.28 Modern scholars

have attempted to narrow the ten year span of possible com-

position to establish a more precise date for the play, and at

the present it is generally accepted that Middleton* s tragi-

comedy was written between 1612 and l6l5.2^

The plot of The Witch primarily deals with the romantic

and political intrigues of the court of Ravenna. The Duchess

of Ravenna decides to take revenge on her husband for his per-

sistent use of her father's skull as a toasting cup. She de-

vises a scheme to have the murder committed by Almachildes,

who is the unrequited lover of the Duchess1 attendent, Amoretta.

At the same time, a young gentleman named Sebastian returns

from three years at war to find that his contracted bride

Isabella, who is the niece of the Lord Governor of Ravenna, is

OQ J. M. Nosworthy, "The Hecate Scenes in Macbeth." The

Review of English Studies. XXIV (April, 1948), 138-139.

29 David George, "The Problem of Middleton's "The Witch"

and Its Sources," Notes and Queries. New Series, XIV (June, 1967), 309-211.

82

to wed the unscrupulous Antonio. The Governor's consent for

the marriage was obtained sifter Antonio arranged for him to

receive a false report of Sebastian's death. Even more intri-

gue is provided by Antonio's sister Prancisca. She is un-

married but pregnant by Aberzanes, not the most gallant or

honorable of gentlemen. Prancisca must arrange to deliver

"the child in secret so that her reputation as a virgin will be

maintained. A. H. Bullen cites Michiavelli's Florentine

History as Middleton*s source for the Duchess' plot.30 David

George proposes that the remaining intrigues were derived from

Giraldi Cinthio's Hecatommithi and Cyril Tourneur's The

Atheist's Tragedy.3^

The witch Scenes in the tragicomedy constitute still

another level of action which is connected to the various seg-

ments of the main plot in three separate instances. First,

Sebastian seeks the aid of the chief witch, Hecate, to pre-

vent the consummation of Isabella's marriage to Antonio.

Second, Almachildes comes to Hecate to procure a love charm

for Amoretta so that she will reciprocate his passion for her.

Third, the Duchess requests that- Hecate dispose of Almachildes

30works. Vol. V, 353-351*.

3•'•George, p. 809.

83

by maleficlum after he has supposedly served his purpose for

the Duchess.

The major comic element of the play is found in the

/

witch scenes, but the witches themselves are not designed as

instruments of humor. The comedian is Hecate*s son Firestone,

whose verbal battles with his mother, obvious greed, and

poignant asides closely resemble the antics displayed on the

stage by earlier comic witches.

Scholars have persistently named Reginald Scot's The

Discoverle of Witchcraft as the source for Middletonfs

witches.32 The insistence on Scot as the sole source is

largely based upon the phraseology of the witches1 speeches,

and at least one scholar has taken great pains to show that

a large part of the chants and incantations used by Hecate

and her associates, Stadlin and Hoppo, were practically

plagiarized from Scot.33 The Discoverle of Witchcraft does

contain an overwhelming number of graphic illustrations of

witchcraft, although it was written by a man who doubted the

existence of witches. Scot*s detailed examination undoubtedly

32Montague Summers, The History of Witchcraft and Demonology. 2nd. ed. (New York, 1956), p. 290.

33Reed, pp. 174-175.

84

provided Middleton with ready-made lines, particularly if he

were writing the play in haste. Yet, Middleton1 s selection of

Scot is an intriguing one, for King James had ordered Scotfs

book burned in 1603 because the monarch felt that the author1s

basic doubt of witches was dangerous.3^ Scholars have failed

to point out that, although he may have used a forbidden text

for his material, Middleton did not follow Scot*s main argument

discrediting witchcraft. Middleton,^ witches are malicious and

even gleeful over the powers they wield. Their claims as to

the suffering they have caused are sincere, and their per-

i formances of the black art in the play are quite genuine.

Hecate is approached by Sebastian, Almachildes, and the

Duchess because they all believe in the powers of witches.

Each of these characters professes a belief in the witches1

abilities before they actually visit Hecate and her associates.

Sebastian expresses a degree of fear about his plan to consult

the witches as he leaves his friend Fernando to seek their

aid:

H i s not fit For any, hardly mine own secrecy, To know what I intend. I take my leave, sir.

J R. Holmes, "Shakespeare and Witchcraft," The Quarterly Review. CCCV (April* 1967), 185.

85

I find such strange employments in myself, That unless death pity me and lay me down, I shall not sleep these seven years; that*s the

least, sir.35

Almachildes is more specific about his intention and the powers

accredited to witches when he decides to visit them to procure

Amoretta* s love:

I will to the witches. They say they have charms and tricks to make A wench fall backwards, and lead a man herself To a country-house, some mile out of the town, Like a fire-drake. There be such whoreson kind girls And such bawdy witches; and 1*11 try conclusions.

(I, i, 90-95)

When the Duchess decides to eliminate Almachildes, she too

seeks the witches1 assistance and expresses her belief in

their ability to bring about what she desires: MI have

thought on*t; / 1*11 take some witch1 s counsel for his end, / \

That will be sur*st: mischief is mischief^ friend" (IV, i,

94-96). None of the three characters expresses any doubt

that the witches will not be able to aid them, nor is there

any expression of doubt in witches or witchcraft in the entire

play as would be expected if Scot*s theory as well as his

phrases were employed and adapted by Middleton.

*

^-Hforks. Vol. V (I, i, 18-23), P« 358» All subsequent citations from the play will be made to this volume and noted in the text by act, scene, and line.

86

King James has been neglected by scholars in their con-

sideration of The Witch. Neither his writings and interest in

witches nor his position as monarch has been considered as a

possible source for or an influence on Middleton*s material

for the play. In fact, little attention is actually paid as

to why Middleton would include witches in his play. The rea-

son for Middleton*s dramatic use of witches is either ignored,

attributed to an attempt to repeat the success of Macbeth or

The Masque of Queens. or vaguely explained as "an obvious

attempt on Middleton*s part to exploit the popular interest in

the supernatural."3^ However, an examination of the witch

scenes indicates that the practices of the witches which

Middleton includes are found in the king*s writings, and the

possibility is increased that the playwright did attempt to

attract the king's attention by using.as a pattern character-

istic practices of witches depicted in Newes from Scotland

and Daemonologie.

The first witch scene takes place at Hecate*s abode where

she, Stadlin, and Hoppo are preparing various mixtures to

implement their practices. One of their preparations is

36Richard Hindry Barker, Thomas Middleton (Hew York, 195©),

P« 93 •

87

intended to achieve maleficium through wax pictures:

Hec. Is the heart of wax Stuck full of magic needles?

Stad. 'Tis done, Hecate. Hec. And is the farmer's picture and his wife's

Laid down to th' fire yet? Stad. They're a-roasting both too. Hec. Good £ exit STADLIlfJj then their marrows are

a-melting sublty, And three months' sickness sucks up life in 'em.

(I, ii, 43-47)

The witches' description of their practice is quite similar to

the one given by James in Daemonologie as he lists the powers

which the devil grants to his agents: To some others . . . hee teacheth, how to make

Pictures of waxe or clay: That by the rosting thereof, the persones that they beare the name of, may be con-tinuallie melted or dryed awaie by continuall sick-nesse.37

Following an exchange between Hecate and Firestone,

Sebastian enters seeking Hecate's aid. Hecate toys with

Sebastian's urgent feelings by offering Stadlin's services

to invoke a tempest to defeat an enemy at sea and Hoppo's

power to devastate an enemy's crops and livestock. Sebastian

declines her offers. Hecate then tells him what he actually

seeks from her and gives him the charm to prevent the consum-

mation of Isabella's and Antonio's marriage:

•^Daemonologie. p. 44.

88

Hec. Is it to starve up generation? To strike a barrenness in man or woman?

Seb. Hah*. Hec. Hah, did you feel me there? I knew your

grief. Seb. Can there be such things done? Hec. Are these the skins

Of serpents? these of snakes? Seb. I see they are. Hec. So sure into what house these are convey*d,

^Giving serpent skins &c., .to SEBASTIAN• Knit with these charms and retentive knots, Neither the man begets or woman breeds, No, nor performs the least desires of wedlock, Being then a mutual duty.

(I, 11, 150-160)

The effectiveness of the charm is absolute, and Isabella re-

mains a virgin. Antonio*s servant Caspero swears that his

master is bewitched: "Surely I think if ever there were

man / Bewitch*d in this world, *tis my master, sirrah" (III,

ii, 43-44). Caspero*s diagnosis is based on his knowledge of

Antonio*s consumption of strong potions and his master*s extra-

marital indulgences with the courtesan Florida, whom he kept

for years before his marriage to Isabella. \

The practice of witches to invoke charms prohibiting the

consummation of a marriage is not found in either Daemonologie

or Newes from Scotland. However, the king expressed his

opinion on the subject during the divorce hearing of the Earl

of Essex and Lady Prances In l6l3.^8 The couple had been

38Akrigg, pp. 184-185.

89

married as children for political reasons, and as they matured,

they did not share any emotional attachment. The divorce pro-

ceedings rose out of the romance of Lady Frances and the

current court favorite, Robert Carr. Carr and Lady Frances

wished to be married; consequently it was necessary for Lady

Frances to divorce Essex. The concern of James in the pro-

ceedings grew out of his affection for Carr, and the monarch

was greatly in favor of the divorce.

Lady Frances and Essex both testified that their marriage

had never been consummated. Lady Frances was supposedly exam-

ined and found to still be a virgin, and Essex claimed to be

capable of sexual intercourse with women other than his wife.

Out of this unusual situation emerged the charge that Essex

had been bewitched, rendering him incapable of properly taking

Lady Frances as his wife. The Archbishop of Canterbury, who

headed the commission hearing the petition for divorce, sub-%

sequently notified the king that an examination of church

writings failed to confirm that witches held such powers and,

even if such were the case with Essex, the Earl and his wife

had not sought the spiritual aid of fasting and prayer. Con-

sequently, the Archbishop thought that the commission would be

setting a questionable precedent if the divorce were granted.

90

James replied to the Archbishop in a long letter wherein he

sought to correct the prelate's errors in theology and witch-

craft and secure the divorce for Lady Frances. G. P. V.

Akrigg effectively summarizes the king*s basic argument:

If the Archbishop did not think the Devil had invented plenty of new tricks since the time of the Church Fathers, let him consult the book which James had written himself, his Daemonologie. . . . How did the Archbishop know that Essex and Lady Frances had not resorted to alms and prayer, but privately and secretly as befitted true Christians? Let the Archbishop consider all this with his brothers, James concluded, and they would be convinced of the weakness of the objections.39

James also added two bishops to the commission to make sure the

divorce was granted, and, in spite of the Archbishop's opposi-

tion, it was.

It should be noted that R. C. Bald refers to the question

of witchcraft in the Essex divorce in his attempt to date The

W i t c h . H o w e v e r , Bald overlooks the king's letter and dis-

cusses the confessions of witchcraft, revealed in the l6l6

trial of Lady Frances and Carr for the murder of Sir Thomas

Overbury. As a result, Bald cites the play as having been

written in 1616, but it hardly seems likely that Middleton

39 J>Ibid.. p. 185.

40 R. C. Bald, "The Chronology of Middleton*s Plays,"

Modern Language Review. XXXII (January, 1937), kl.

91

would attempt to flatter the king in l6l6 by referring to

embarrassing disclosures made at the trial of a former court

favorite. However, if Middleton had written the play during

or after the 1613 divorce hearing and before the murder trial,

the witch scene would have been in direct support of the King*s

Company1s patron and certainly acceptable to James.

After Sebastian receives the impotency charm from Hecate,

he departs, and Almachildes arrives, seeking a love charm for

Amoretta. As before, Hecate anticipates her visitor's

request:

Thou com*st for a love-charm now? Aim. Why, thou*rt a witch, I think. Hec. Thou shalt have choice of twenty, wet or dry. Aim. Nay, let*s have dry ones.

(I, ii, 203-205)

Hecate eventually gives Almachildes a ribbon which he uses the

next time he confronts Amoretta. Almachildes ties knots in

the ribbon, recites a Latin chant over it, and thrusts it into

Amoretta1s bosom. The charm takes effect upon Amoretta immedi-

ately, but its power is not permanent. Amoretta is full of

fond expressions for Almachildes until the charmed ribbon falls

out of her bosom, and then she returns to her former attitude

of detesting him.

The ability of witches to alter the affections of men and

92

women was one of the principle points in the practice of

witchcraft listed by James in his Daemonologie« James states

that witches are capable of invoking both love and hate in

their role as the devil1s agents:

They can make men or women to loue or hate other, which may be verie possible to the Deuil to effectuat, seing he being a subtile spirite, knowes well inough how to perswade the corrupted affection of them whom God will . permit him so to deale with. . .

James also gave a description of the results of a love charm

cast in Scotland by an associate of Agnis Tompson, Doctor

Pain, who sought to bewitch a young woman, but his charm was

sidetracked to a heifer by the young woman*s mother, who was a

witch. As a result of the alteration of the charm, the heifer

amorously followed Doctor Fain everywhere he went.1*2

The second witch scene is primarily a display of Fire-

stoned comic nature. The witches gather in a field in pre-

paration for a flight at night, but before Hecate can depart,

she must give instructions to her son. The business of witches1

transvection was a subject that James discussed at length in

both of his treatises, and this witch scene appears to be

merely an insertion to present Firestone*s comedy and the

111 Daemonologle. p. 45.

42 Newes from Scotland, pp. 21-23.

93

witches1 flight preparations. It has no bearing on the rest of

the action in the play. Dramatically, the scene serves no

actual function, but as an examination of characteristic prac-

tices of witches, it offers basic information about the black

art.

The last witch scene takes place in Hecate*s abode. The

Duchess comes to have Almachildes bewitched. Hecate offers

to use the wax-picture method, but the Duchess prefers a less

time-consuming process:

Hec. What death is't you desire for Almachildes?

Duch. A sudden and a subtle. Hec. Then I've fitted you.

Here lie the gifts of both; sudden and subtle: His picture made in wax, and gently molten By a blue fire kindled with dead men's eyes. Will waste him by degrees.

Duch. In what time, prithee? Hec. Perhaps in a moon's progress. Duch. What, a month?

Out upon pictures, if they be so tedious*.

(V, ii, 1-8)

The Duchess asks for a more expeditious means, but she makes the

mistake of doubting that such an accomplishment is within

Hecate's power. The chief witch flies into a rage at the in-

sulting suggestion and tells the Duchess that the spell will

produce results within five hours. The Duchess departs, and

the witches proceed with their conjuration.

The witches1 wax-picture method of bewitching a victim so

94

as to cause eventual death is the only detailed maleficlum

that James describes in his Daemonologie. but he does make a

general statement about similar powers which the devil dis-

penses to certain agents: "To some hee giues such stones

or poulders, as will helpe to cure or cast on diseases.w^3

In The Witch the final result of Hecate's charm is not seen.

At the end of the play, Almachildes is still alive. This dis-

crepancy can be attributed either to an oversight of the play-

wright, or to the nature of tragicomedy, which does not allow

important good characters to die, or to the fact that the

action of the play terminates before Hecate's five hour time

limit expires.

Middleton does not attempt to include in The Witch any

reflection of the king's philosophy on the evils of witchcraft

even to the elementary division of evil versus good that Jonson

provides in The Masque of Q.ueens. In fact, Sebastian benefits

from his appeal to the witches, and Almachildes gains Amoretta's

affection for a few moments because of the witches' charm. The

vicious appeal of the Duchess is left incomplete, but none of

the characters who consult the witches are punished. It may

have been such an oversight by Middleton that destined the

^Daemonologie • P* 44.

95

tragicomedy for a short stage life. The playwright possibly

hints at some shortcoming of the play in his epistle to the

recipient of the manuscript copy of The Witch when he calls

the play an "ignorantly ill-fated labour.

Nonetheless, Middleton*s play does display one aspect of

i

witchcraft about which James is quite emphatic. In his writings

the king repeats several times that the devil and his agents

are powerless unless man submits himself to them. As noted

by Briggs in Pale Hecate1s Team. Middleton1 s witches are kept

powerless as far as the main plot is concerned except when

their aid is sought by Sebastian, Almachildes, and the Duchess

of Ravenna.

Both Jonsonfs and Middleton*s dramatic witches have been

related by scholars to sources other than King James. However,

it is apparent that their selection of certain characteristic

practices of witches to be included in their dramatic endeavors

shows the effect of the king*s interest in witches and witch-

craft. Jonson attributed the actions of his witches to the

writings of classical scholars, but it is evident that the

practices displayed in The Masque of Queens were not unknown to

44tforks. Vol. V, 355.

^^Briggs, p. 82.

96

James. Even more important, however, Is the thematic applica-

tion Jonson makes of the twelve witches. The defeat of the

twelve witches by Fama Bona and the twelve virtuous queens

reflects the triumph of good over evil. James had experienced

two similar triumphs over witches, which he described in Hewes

from Scotland, and he sought to instruct the ignorant and naive

of both the evil powers of witches and the protective powers of

faith in his Daemonologie. The protective power that the king*s

faith afforded him and the lesson of that faith he strove, to

teach through his treatises is reproduced by Jonson in the

form of "Fame bred out of virtue" and the twelve queens. With-

out engaging in the theological aspects of the king's beliefs,

Jonson reflects the king*s basic concept that witches are evil

forces and can only be defeated by good forces.

Similarly, Middleton may have adopted lines and phrases

written by Reginald Scot, but his selection of material does

reflect the descriptions of the characteristic practices of

witches given by James in Newes from Scotland and Daemonologiie.

Furthermore, the fact that Hecate and her associates put their

powers into effect only when their assistance is sought in the

play echoes the king's opinion that witches functioned within

certain limitations. James believed that unless there was an

97

"entresse reddy" the devil's agents were incapable of exer-

cising their powers, and Middleton's witches perform their

feats only upon solicitation.

Jonson and Middleton employed the king's views and de-

scriptions of witches in a different manner than Shakespeare did

in Macbeth, but the effect of James1 opinions upon these two

works remains evident. Still a different aspect of the king's

philosophy is reflected in knottier Jacobean play involving

witchcraft, The Witch of Edmonton.

/ / /

CHAPTER V

THE VITCH OF EDMONTON.

Prom the beginning of his English reign, James displayed

his interest in witchcraft by personally investigating cases

of accused witches. The first instance of the king*s partici-

pation in such an investigation was in 1603 when he pardoned

Elizabeth Jackson after carefully studying the circumstances

of her trial. The woman had been accused of practicing witch-

craft by Mary Glover, who suffered from violent fits which

she claimed were caused by her having been bewitched by Eliza-

beth Jackson. The accused witch was condemned in 1602, but

public dissatisfaction with the trial erupted in a furious

pamphlet war. As a result, Elizabeth Jackson remained in New-

gate Prison awaiting execution until James arrived from Scot-

land, made his investigation, and pardoned her.

Even after James had taken action in Elizabeth Jackson1s

case, concerned parties continued to write about and publish

pamphlets on witchcraft. In fact pamphlets on witches and

witchcraft continued to appear throughout the whole of the

king*s reign. Not all of the opinions expressed in the

98

99

pamphlets agreed with those held by the king, but many did.

At least two of these pamphlets re-emphasized the belief of

James that the evidence submitted as proof that an accused

person was a witch must be examined with extreme caution. The

first pamphlet is A Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft

by William Perkins. The pamphlet was first printed in 1608,

six years after the author's death, and was comprised of

sermons that Perkins, a theologian, had written and delivered

on the subject.* Perkins believed in witches, and his pamphlet

is largely a substantiation of his views. However, in his dis-

cussion of the punishment that witches deserve, he warns

against the condemnation of accused witches on invalid or in-

sufficient evidence:

Notorious defamation, is a common report of the greater sort of ^people, with whome the partie suspected dwelleth, that he or shee is a Witch. This yeeldth a strong suspi-tion. Yet the Magistrate must be warie in receiuing such a report. For it falls out oftentimes, that the innocent may be suspected, and some of the better sort notoriously defamed. Therefore the wise & prudent Iudge ought care-fully to look, that the report be made by men of honestie and credit; which if it be, he may then proceede to mak further inquirie of the fact.2

^-Kittredge, p. 290.

William Perkins, A Discourse of the Damned Art of Witch-craft (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1956), p.* 643.

100

Perkins1 opinion, in this instance, is strikingly similar to

that expressed by James in Daemonologie.

The second pamphlet was written by John Cotta, a physi-

cian, and is entitled The Triall of Witch-craft. The pamphlet

was published in l6l6. In it Cotta does not delve into the

theological proof of the existence of witches. As a physician,

he states that his interest is primarily in accurate diagnosis.

Consequently, the purpose of his writing is to present a more

direct and certain method of determining the authenticity of

witches.3 His technique is to compare different means of

correctly diagnosing witches to the parallel diagnosis of

physical diseases and to eliminate the methods that are not

based upon sound reasoning and perception.11' Although Cotta's

approach is somewhat different from Perkins', his main concern

is also for closer scrutiny of accused witches.

James did not write any formal treatise on the subject

of testing witches during this period; but he was involved in

a witch trial during his summer progress of 1616, and the

situation reveals that the king was still concerned about valid

^John Cotta, The Triall of Witch-craft (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 19$3)> p. v.

li Ibid.. passim.

101

and accurate judgment in such cases. In July of 1616 nine

accused witches were convicted and executed in Leicester,

largely as a result of the testimony of a young boy named

Smythe.5 The boy had supposedly been bewitched by the accused

and consequently suffered from violent fits. In mid-August

the king's tour reached Leicester, and between the time of

the July executions and the monarch* s arrival, Smythe* s fits

had continued. As a result, six more people were accused of

bewitching the boy and were in prison awaiting trial when

James came to Leicester. The king spent only one day in the

fl

town,0 but he learned of the events that had taken place and

decided to examine the boy himself. Upon questioning Smythe,

James was convinced that his claim of being bewitched was

totally fraudulent.7 To verify his suspicions, the king sent

the boy to Lambeth to be re-examined by the subordinates of

the Archbishop of Canterbury.® Before the monarch*s summer

progress ended, his doubt of Smythe*s story was confirmed by

the Archbishop1s examiners. One of the six accused by Smythe

^Kittredge, p. 322.

6The Progresses. Vol. Ill, 180.

7Hole, p. 62.

8Kittredge, p. 323.

102

had died in prison, but the king ordered the immediate release

of the other five. Furthermore, James held Sir Humphrey Winch

and Sir Randolph Crew, who had served as Justice and Serjeant

during the July trial, responsible for the error. He denounced

them for their failure to detect Smythe^ false testimony and

for sentencing nine people to death on the basis of that testi-

mony. As a result of their irresponsible conduct, the two men

were dishonored.9 Prom the king*s actions, there is little

doubt that he still felt "Iudges ought indeede to beware

whome they condemne."

, Interestingly enough, between the time of the king*s action

in Leicester and his death in 1625, official records show that

only five people were condemned and executed as w i t c h e s . ^

Of these five, the last was Elizabeth Sawyer of Edmonton, who

(was tried, convicted, and executed in April of 1621. The cir-

cumstances of Elizabeth Sawyer1s trial and her confession after

conviction were recorded by the ordinary of Newgate Prison,

Henry Goodcole, who reluctantly allowed his manuscript to be

published the week following the woman*s execution.11

^Calendar of State Papers. Domestic Series. Vol. IX, 398*

10Kittredge, p. 323.

^Henry Goodcole, The Wonderfull Dlscouerie of Elizabeth Sawyer, a Witch (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1965)* P» i*

103

Goodcole's pamphlet subsequently provided the basic

plot materials and the title for The Witch of Edmonton by

Thomas Dekker, John Ford, and William Rowley. The play was

also written in 1621, and the Prince^ Men performed it at

1 P

court on December 19, 1621. Most scholars agree that Thomas

Dekker is the playwright responsible for the development of

the witch scenes, working closely at times with William Row-

ley in specific instances.where the playfs clown, Cuddy Banks,

and his antic associates come into contact with Elizabeth

Sawyer.^

Although The Witch of Edmonton was probably a direct

result of Goodcolefs pamphlet, Dekker did not limit himself

solely to that source in developing the character of Elizabeth

Sawyer and the witch scenes in the play. Dekker1s liberal use

of sources other than Goodcole may be attributed, among other

things, to his desire for a successful play. However,the fact

that the play was first performed at court before it was

presented to the public would suggest that Dekker probably

12 The Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker. Vol. Ill, edited

by Fredson Bowers (Cambridge, 1958), P» **83. Hereafter cited as Dekker.

•^Frederick Pierce, "The Authorship of The Witch of Edmonton.w Anglia XXXVI (1912), 289-290, 310.

104

included the king* s writings on witchcraft in his search for

material to utilize in the play. A close examination of the

witch scenes offers evidence that Dekker was well aware of the

king*s philosophy on witchcraft and developed the role of

Elizabeth Sawyer in accord with James* views in at least two

instances.

The woman1s first appearance in the play is in the opening

scene of the second act. She is alone in a field near Edmon-

ton gathering sticks and voicing her complaint of the villagers*

vabusive treatment:

Sawy. And why on me? why should the envious world

Throw all their scandalous malice upon me? 'Cause I am poor, deform1d and ignorant, And like a Bow buckl* d and bent together, By some more strong in mischiefs then my self? Must I for that be made a common sink. For all the filth and rubbish of Men's tongues To fall and run into? Some call me Witch; And being ignorant of my self, they go About to teach me how to be one, urging, That my bad tongue (by their bad usage made so) Porspeaks their Cattle, doth bewitch their Corn, Themselves, their Servants, and their Babes at nurse.^

It is apparent from Elizabeth Sawyer's complaint that, at the

present, she is not a witch but a poor woman tormented by

suspicious neighbors. As she ends her soliloquy, she is

Dekker. Vol. Ill (II, i, 1-13), PP. 505-506. All sub-sequent citations of the play will be made to this volume and noted In the text by act, scene, and line.

105

attacked by Old Banks, who calls her a vitch and beats her

for gathering sticks on his property. Old Banks departs,

and Elizabeth is confronted by Banks' son, Cuddy, and three

or four others, who taunt and mock her. Finally left alone

again, Elizabeth determines that if she is to be subjected

to such continual torments without being a witch she may as

well be one:

I am shunn'd And hated like a sickness; made a scorn To all degrees and sexes. I have heard Old Beldames Talk of Pamiliars in the shape of Mice, Rats, Ferrets, Weasels, and I wot not what, That have appear1d, and suck*d, some say their blood. But by what means they came acquainted with them, I'm now ignorant: would some power good or bad Instruct me which way I might be reveng'd Upon this Churl, £ Old B a n k s I ' d go out of my self, And give this Fury leave to dwell within This ruin'd Cottage, ready to fall with age: Abjure all goodness: be hate with prayer; And study Curses, Imprecations, Blasphemous speeches, Oaths, detested Oaths, Or any thing that's ill; so I might work Revenge upon this Miser, this black Cur, That barks, and bites, and sucks the very blood Of me, and my credit. *Tis all one, To be a Witch, as to be counted one.

(II, i, 95-114)

Abused by her neighbors, Elizabeth comes to the conclusion

that if she is thought to be a witch she might as well be one,

for her life could not be more miserable than It already is.

By admitting her willingness to become a witch, she becomes

106

subject to the devil*s temptations, and in her wretched con-

dition she is easily persuaded to trade her soul for embit-

tered revenge on her tormentors.

Elizabeth Sawyer1s speech shows that she is aware of the

commonly reported practices of witches and that witchcraft is

one means of getting revenge on those who mistreat her. How-

ever, the woman admits that she does not know how to become

a witch, although she is willing now to do whatever is necessary,

When she finishes her soliloquy with another cry for vengeance,

the devil appears in the form of a black dog. Elizabeth agrees

5 to his terms of surrendering her liody and soul to him in ex-

change for the revenge she wants. The pact is sealed when

the devil sucks blood from her arm in the midst of thunder and

lightning.

Immediately, Elizabeth wants him to take the life of

Old Banks to revenge her, but the devil explains that his power

is limited in that capacity because of the good qualities of

Old Banks1 characters

Though we have power, know, it is circumscribe,

And ti'd in limits: though he be curs*d to thee, Yet of himself he is loving to the world, And charitable to the poor. Now Men That, as he, love goodness, though in smallest measure, Live without compass of our reach. His Cattle And Corn, 1*11 kill and mildew; but his life

107

(Until I take him, as I late found thee, Cursing and swearing) I have no power to touch.

(II, i, 152-160)

The devil tells Elizabeth that she must be satisfied with

minor vengeance upon Old Banks and other tormentors unless

the person is of such character that his life would be for-

feited. Whenever the woman desires the devil to avenge her,

she can cause the work to be done by repeating a phrase he

teaches her: "If thou to death or shame pursue*em. /

Sanctibicetur nomen tuum" (II, i, 170-171).

The real Elizabeth Sawyer had confessed to Goodcole that

the devil first confronted her at a time when she was cursing,

but she gave no further details of the s i t u a t i o n . C o n s e -

quently, the confrontation scene in the play would appear to

be a product of Dekker*s invention, and a striking similarity

to it is found in the Daemonologie of King James. The king*s t

procedure in this instance was to first establish that the

devil cannot tempt anyone except those who are ready to submit

to him. Next, a description of the devil*s method of approach

to such people is given:

. . . finding them in an vtter despair . . . he prepares the way be feeding them craftely in their humour, and filling them further and further with despalre, while he

IK -'Goodcole, p. IS.

108

finde the time proper to discouer himself vnto them. At which time, either vpon their walking solitarie in the fieldes, or else lying pansing in their bed; but alwaiea without the company of any other, he either by a voyce, or in likenesse of a man inquires of them, what troubles them: and promiseth them, a suddaine and certaine wale of remedie, vpon the condition on the other parte, that they follow his advisej and do such thinges as he wll require of them . . .

By her own admission, Elizabeth is a miserable person, and her

situation is worsened by her encounters with Old Banks and his

son. She offers a nearly perfect example of the king's des-

cription of a despairing soul who is continually tormented and

abused. When she is finally left alone by her tormentors, she

clearly states that she is willing to become a witch. According

to James, such sin admission is all the devil needs in order to

take advantage of the situation, and Dekker* s treatment of the

confrontation scene would seem without much doubt to reflect

the king*s opinion.

The physical form that the devil takes in the play does

not agree with the king* s statement, but it is based upon the

confession recorded by Goodcole.*7 later in the play, just

before Elizabeth is taken off for trial, the devil appears to

her in the form of a white dog. When the woman asks why he has

l6Daemonologie. pp. 32-33.

17Ibid.. p. 14.

109

changed his color, the devil replies that it is because she is

about to be tried and will be executed. The real Elizabeth

Sawyer had told Goodcole that the devil sometimes appeared to

her as a white dog, but the change of color was not related

specifically to her arrest and t r i a l . J a m e s had readily

conceded in Daemonologie that the devil was capable of appear-

ing in "Diuers formes"-^ depending upon the situation neces-

sitating his appearance.

The most important reflection of the king1s philosophy of

witchcraft in The Witch of Edmonton is found in the first

i scene of the fourth act when Old Banks and two or three others

decide to take action against Elizabeth Sawyer because of the

troubles that have recently plagued them. Old Banks and the

others complain about their misfortunes, and they are joined

by a character named ¥. Haraluc, who has a handful of thatch

straw from the woman*s roof. One of the supposedly valid tests

for a witch was to burn thatch from her roof, and if the suspect

were a witch, she would immediately come to where the thatch

was burning without being summoned. Goodcole noted that such

"an old ridiculous custome was. vsed"20 when the real Elizabeth — — -

^paemonologie. p, 51 •

20Goodcole, p. 1,

110

Sawyer was suspected. James does not mention this particular

test for witches in his writings, but Perkins rejected thatch

burning as a valid means of witch detection along with other

p i

commonly accepted tests.^

As the thatch burns, Elizabeth Sawyer appears and is

assaulted by the group of villagers. Her appearance at such

a crucial moment is sufficient proof to them that she is a

witchj

1. This Thatch is as good as a Jury to prove she is a Witch.

Omn. Out Witchj beat her, kick her, set fire on her. Sawy. Shall I be murthered by a bed of Serpents? help,

help*.

(IV, i, 25-27)

The group is prevented from harming the woman by the arrival of

Sir Arthur Clarington and a Justice. The violence is stopped,

and the Justice admonishes Old Banks for his part in the

attack: "Alas, neighbow Banks. are you a Ring-leader in mis-

chief? / Pie, to abuse an aged woman*." (IV, i, 33-3*0 • Old

Banks explains that they had just proven Elizabeth Sawyer to

be a witch by burning thatch from her roof, and the Justice

rebukes them for their actions

Just. Come, come; firing her Thatch? ridiculous: take heed Sirs what you do: unless your proofs come better

2*Perklns, p. 643.

Ill

armfd, instead of turning her into a Witch, you*11 prove your selves starke Pools. Omn. Fools? Just, Arrant Pools.

The Justice further cautions Old Banks not to threaten the

woman because it is against the law. He then asks Old Banks

to explain why he suspects Elizabeth Sawyer of being a witch,

and Banks relates how his behavior has been affected since he

beat the woman for gathering sticks on his property;

Bank. So, Sir, ever since, having a Dun-Cow tied up in my Back-side, let me go thither, or but cast mine eye at her, and if I should be hangfd, I cannot chuse, though it be ten times in an hour, but run to the Cow, taking up her tail, kiss (saving your Worship*s Reverence) my Cow behinde; That the whole Town of Edmonton has been ready to be-piss themselves with laughing me to scorn.

(IV, i, 52-58)

Old Banks* unusual situation is not part of the information

that Goodcole recorded. However, an almost identical case was

cited by George Gifford in A Dialogue Concerning Witches and

Witchcrafts written in 1593s

A third man came in, and he sayd she was once angry with him, he had a dun cow which was tyed up in a house, for it was in winter, he feared that some evil would follow, and for his life he could not come in where she was, but he must needs take up her tayle and kisse under it.22

22 George Gifford, A Dialogue Concerning Witches and

Witchcrafts (London, 1931), p. 86.

112

Gifford*s work was re-issued in l603,2^ and the similarity

between the two versions of the story would strongly suggest

that Dekker used Gifford as his source. James also related

the story of a man and a heifer in Newes from Scotland except

in the king*s story it is the animal who is uncontrollably

smitten.2**

The action of the play continues with Sir Arthur advising

Old Banks that even if Elizabeth Sawyer were shown to be re-

sponsible for instigating such behavior by witchcraft her

actions alone would not merit execution as a witch, and the

Justice repeats his warning to Old Banks against personally

taking rash action against the woman;

Sir Art. Nay, if she be a Witch, and the harms she does end in such sports, she may scape burning. Just. Go, go; pray vex her not: she is a Subject, and you must not be Judges of the Law to strike her as you please.

(IV, i, 63-65)

Old Banks and his associates reluctantly depart, and the Justice,

who is still quite doubtful that Elizabeth is a witch, questions

her. He first asks her straightforwardly whether or not she is

a witch. At first she denies being a witch, but her sharp

2^Kittredge, p. 395.

pk Newes from Scotland, p. 23*

113

replies, laughter, and ramblings about witches and the devil

imply that she is not telling the truth. The Justice continues

to question her, and through her boasts she reveals herself as

an agent of the devil. Sir Arthur and the Justice do not

arrest her, possibly because the most serious charge against

her is the claim of Old Banks. Instead, the Justice charges

her to repent: "Old woman, mend thy life, get home and pray"

(IV, i, 147).

The importance of the confrontation scene with Old Banks,

Sir Arthur, and the Justice lies in the emphasis which Dekker

places on absolute proof and fair judgment of accused witches.

The Justice is not convinced by Old Banks* accusation that

Elizabeth is a witch. Even after she is questioned and volun-

tarily implicates herself as a witch, the Justice does not

feel the situation warrants immediate action. If she is a

witch, her alleged crime is not serious, and the Justice's

parting instructions to Elizabeth would indicate that he felt,

at the time, her salvation was of greater importance than any

punishment he might inflict upon her or her supposed abuse of

Old Banks.

Left alone, Elizabeth calls upon the black dog and finds

that he has caused Anne Ratcliffe, who had beaten the witch* s

114

sow, to become raving mad. The real Elizabeth Sawyer was

accused and convicted of bewitching an Agnes Ratcliefe so

that she died in four days time, but she denied the charge.2-*

In the play Elizabeth demands that the devil take Anne

Ratcliff*s life, and in a frenzy the insane woman dashes her

brains out within the sight of the group which confronted

Elizabeth Sawyer earlier. This time, however, Old Banks does

not act rashly. Although he is now thoroughly convinced, that

Elizabeth Sawyer is a witch and responsible for Anne Ratcliff1s

death, he cautiously instructs the others to secure legal

I prosecution against the woman:

C). Bank. Masters, be rul*d by me; let's all to a Justice. Hag, thou hast done this, and thou shalt answer it. Sawy. Banks. I defie thee.

J O . Bank. Get a Warrant first to examine her, then ship her to Nfewgate: there's enough, if all her other villanies were pardon*d, to burn her for a witch.

(IV, i, 210-215)

Old Banks has taken the admonitions of Sir Arthur and the

Justice seriously, and his conduct towards Elizabeth exempli-

fies the rational approach that James advocated. The woman

had made a damning display of her powers, but Old Banks calls

upon the other villagers to follow his example of utilizing

what they have witnessed as legal testimony rather than acting

^^Goodcole, p. 14.

115

rashly as they did earlier. In the last act Elizabeth is

arrested, and after an off-stage trial, she crosses the stage

on her way to be executed. Her conviction and eventual execu-

tion are a direct result of her scene with Anne Ratcliff, and

Dekker's plot suggests that the actual proof of Elizabeth

Sawyer's being a witch necessarily had to be based upon sub-

stantial evidence.

The caution exercised by the Justice in his approach to

Elizabeth certainly reflects the instructions of James in his

Daemonologle that magistrates should conduct witch trials with

i extreme caution to prevent the erroneous conviction of an

innocent person or the release of a guilty party.Similarly,

the Justice's warnings to Old Banks and the others not to act

rashly on invalid or insufficient evidence could be little else

than a reflection of the king* s philosophy, which he had most

recently applied in the aftermath of the Leicester witch trial.

Only after Elizabeth Sawyer is openly connected with the death

of Anne Ratcliff is she arrested and charged. Prom the trial

to the execution, in the play at least, is a short step because

the woman's guilt has been established beyond any doubt to the

audience, and the proof of her guilt is irrefutable.

2^Daemonologle. p. 78.

1X6

The Witch of Edmonton Dekker portrays the tragic story

of a woman tormented and abused by her neighbors as a witch.

Although at first she is not a witch, she becomes willing to

serve the devil because of the mistreatment showered upon her.

Embittered toward those who have unfairly denounced and abused

her, she becomes the agent of the devil in order to get revenge,

and the result is her eventual execution for causing the death

of one of her tormentors.

The pitiful and miserable plight of some whom the devil

tempts to become his servants was noted by James in his

Daemonologie. and Dekker1s witch reflects this circumstance

that the king described. More important, however, is the

(emphasis Dekker places on rational conduct toward an alleged,

witch. Through the example set by Sir Arthur and the Justice,

the playwright effectively dramatizes the king's belief that

cases of alleged witchcraft necessitated cautious and valid

judgment. In the play the king's stress upon the importance

of condemnation based on undeniable truth is reflected in the

treatment of Elizabeth Sawyer. The last Jacobean play con-

cerned primarily with witchcraft strongly reflects the king1s

Insistence on valid and accurate judgments in witch trials

as a major tenet. The Witch of Edmonton demonstrates the

117

pervasiveness of James1 interests in witchcraft and witch

trials, and offers an example of the persistence of the king's

influence in the plays of his time, almost, it would seem, up

to the end of his reign.

/ /

/

CHAPTER VI

CONCLUSION

The Witch of Edmonton is the last play written during the

reign of James I in which witches play a prominent part. The

play was written and produced in 1621. James died in 1625 .

Between 1621 and 1625 no playwright made an attempt to serious-

ly incorporate witches as a major part of a play. Undoubtedly

the lack of witches on the stage during this relatively short

period was partially due to the fact that Elizabeth Sawyer was

the last witch executed under James.

From approximately three years after James succeeded to

the English throne until four years before his death, the

Jacobean stage hosted witch plays that reflect the king*s

philosophy on witches and witchcraft. An examination of these

stage witches shows that the king's influence was strongly

felt. The basic views of James had been promulgated in Newes

from Scotland and Daemonologle. which were first published

during the last ten years of the sixteenth century in Scotland

and published again in 1603 in England on James* ascent to the

throne. In spite of the condemnation lavished upon James for

118

1X9

his views by certain modern scholars, the king1s treatises on

witchcraft shott not only his avid interest but his sanity and

objectivity. Furthermore, the king not only wrote his trea-

tises on witchcraft, he set an example of jurisprudence for

his subjects to follow in his personal investigations of

alleged witches and supposed bewitching. Even before he was

crowned in 1603, James investigated the case of an alleged

witch. He found the evidence against her insufficient for

conviction, and he pardoned her. Official records show that

the interest James displayed in this instance was repeated,

throughout his reign.

Concerning witchcraft in particular, his purpose in

writing his treatises was to educate men in the truth. James

believed that witches actually did exist and that they were a

threat to men. He believed them to be agents of the devil.

The greatest danger of witches, James felt, was their tempting

offers to men, who, if they succumbed, were lured into aban-

doning their faith in God. Submission to the practices of

witchcraft in any form, was an expression of belief in the

devil and a rejection of God. The consequence was the damna-

tion of a person1s soul. Because witches were the devil's

agents, James felt that they must be punished by death. How-

120

ever, the king warned that the conviction of witches must be

based upon sufficient and valid evidence and made with extreme

caution. In Daemonologle James stressed his belief that it

was equally erroneous to convict the innocent as to free the

guilty.

James* views on witches were also aligned with his views

on kingship and himself as king. James believed himself to

be the divinely appointed guardian of his realm. He was

responsible to God for his actions as well as those of his

subjects. The king considered himself to be responsible for

the spiritual well being of his charges, and this responsibility

included protecting them from the devil*s forces. Consequently,

the king's treatises were intended to instruct the ignorant

of the evils of witchcraft in order to protect their souls.

James also sought to insure valid judgments of accused witches

because errors in such cases would place the judge*s soul in

jeopardy. The sin of condemning innocent parties to die was

equal to the sin of freeing the guilty. Since magistrates and

justices at all levels were the king's representatives, they

should feel a special charge to carefully evaluate the accu-

sations and evidence against alleged witches and to pass

sentence only after cautious deliberation.

121

It is not surprising to find that the king*s interest in

witches and witchcraft influencing the drama during his reign.

The Jacobean theater embodies a special form of communication,

and through this medium the current attitudes and ideas were

expressed, mocked, or augmented. Inevitably, the king's

philosophy of witchcraft was incorporated into certain plays

during his reign.

The first reflection of the king*s views was in the al-

teration of the roles of witches upon the stage. Prior to the

succession of James to the English throne, stage witches, with

a few exceptions, were predominantly comic characters. After

James became king, serious treatment of witches and witchcraft

evolved to the extent that witches came to play a vital role in

certain plays of the period.

Jacobean playwrights went further than merely reflecting

the king's interest in witchcraft by expaijding the role of

witches on the stage. Plays were written that reflected

various aspects of the king's views. The first such play

was Shakespeare's Macbeth. Although the similarities between

the witches of Macbeth and the king's descriptions of witches

have been recognized, scholars have ignored the relationship

between Macbeth's tragedy and the king's philosophy of

123

witchcraft. However, by carefully examining the play in view

of the kingf s opinions, it can be seen that Macbeth reflects

the tragic consequences that James envisioned for those who

allowed themselves to be tempted by the devils forces.

Ben Jonson incorporated the characteristic practices into

The Masque of Queens for the court. Although Jonson himself

cited his sources as ancient classical scholars, his selection

of particular witchcraft practices to display reflects the

practices James noted in Newes from Scotland and Daemonologie.

However, Jonson*s masque included another aspect of the king*s

i philosophy. In The Masque of Queens Jonson uses witches to

emphasize his theme of the triumph of good over evil, which,

in effect, allegorizes James* belief that the devil's agents

could only be resisted and ultimately defeated by faith in

God.

Dramatic application of the characteristic practices of

witchcraft described by the king was made in a play, as well

as in Jonson*s court masque. Middleton*s The Witch includes

the practices of witches that James describes in his treatises,

such as love charms and maleficium. The Witch also incorporates

the witches* power to invoke impotency, which was a practice

James stated as possible in a letter to the Archbishop of

123

Canterbury in 1613. Middleton included still another of the

king* s views in The Witch regarding the ability of witches to

make use of their powers. In the play Hecate and her asso-

ciates are able to put their powers into action on the stage

only when their assistance is sought by certain characters;

they do not and cannot take independent action toward the

characters in the plot. James was convinced that witches

could not apply their evil practices unless men either were

willing to believe in their powers or asked for their aid.

Finally, in The Witch of Edmonton two more concepts of

the king*s philosophy were forcefully dramatized. First,

Dekker developed the character of Elizabeth Sawyer as a mis-

erable, abused creature to illustrate what James had written

about the devil being able to successfully tempt those whose

life was full of despair. Second, the questioning of Elizabeth

by the Justice and Sir Arthur, as well as their instructions

to Old Banks, emphasizes the king*s belief that accused witches

must be cautiously and accurately judged. Furthermore, the

actions of the Justice and Sir Arthur emphasize that the guilt

of a witch, such as Elizabeth Sawyer, must be based on valid

and irrefutable evidence. In Daemonologle James stated his

belief as to how witch trials should be carefully handled, and

12^

during hia reign he put his philosophy into practice by per-

sonal investigations of accused witches.

The king's Interest in witches and witchcraft was, indeed,

a serious one. James was convinced that witches existed and

that they provided a real threat to the salvation of men*s

souls. He wrote his two treatises to acquaint men with these

facts, and he took an active part in the investigations of

alleged witches. Once the seriousness with which James re-

garded witchcraft is realized, Jacobean plays in which witches

and witchcraft have a prominent part attain a new Importance.

The use of witches, witchcraft, and witch trials in Macbeth.

The Masque of Queens. The Witch, and The Witch of Edmonton

must be taken as less superficial and more important than is

first realized. In writing these plays the playwrights were

doing more than offering commentary on witchlore of the seven-

teenth century. They were giving dramatic treatment to the

king8 s philosophy of witchcraft, and upon examination it be-

comes apparent that, at least in these plays, the whole course

of the development of dramatic witchcraft was influenced by

James* philosophy.

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