John Ford (1) (1586–)

One of my favorite English Renaissance plays, The Witch of Edmonton is a collaboration by three master playwrights of the period. Each took charge of a different plotline: Dekker, the true-life story of Elizabeth Sawyer, a poor, elderly woman executed for witchcraft; Rowley, the comic plot of the dull-brained but innocent Cuddy Banks, whose greatest ambition is to play the hobby horse in the upcoming Morris dancing; and Ford, the tragic plot of Frank Thorney, who becomes first a bigamist and show more then a murderer, all in pursuit of money. Interweaving all three plots is Dog, a devil in disguise who provides Mother Sawyer with power and companionship, who the affable Cuddy attempts to reform from his devil-dog ways, and who pushes Frank Thorney into murdering Susan, his clingy second wife. Witchcraft, sex, murder, bloody tokens, ghosts, a devil dog, Morris dancing, women in male disguise, confessions and executions--what more could you ask for in a good piece of Renaissance drama? Social commentary, maybe? Well, there's plenty of that as well: the shift from land-based to money-based economy, the pressure to marry for money while companionate marriage is on the rise, the politics of witchcraft accusations, the diminshment of traditional rural life, the strictures of a patriarchy, and more.

Not to be missed if you enjoy early seventeenth-century drama. show less

A boy's best friend (with benefits) is his sister, in a Renaissance Italy filled with "banditti," corrupt churchmen, and Machiavellian schemers.

Disturbing, memorable dialogue that mitigates (somewhat) the generally preposterous plot. Think of Shakespeare crossed with a "Grade B" horror film, directed by David Cronenberg.

A healthily intelligent edition of a beautiful work. As with any "classically structured" revenge drama of the era, there are some issues with credibility that would strain our dramatic notions. And the feminist and religious issues inherent in the text demand further reading than just this Introduction. However, this is a lovely, easy-to-read edition.

In a word ...............Torture.

I did not realize both before I read it and once I started it what a struggle it was going to be for me. This play was written in the 17th century, so if you struggle with Shakespeare, you'll struggle here too.

I understood the barest of its storyline, and none of the details. I certainly don't understand why it has this title, incest and being a whore are not the same thing. Too many plots and betrayals, I may have loved it had it been written in modern show more language, but as it stands, it was a disaster, I hardly understood a thing. show less