As the play is Older Than Steam, all spoilers on this page are unmarked.
The Witch of Edmonton is a play written in 1621 by a triumvirate of William Rowley, Thomas Dekker, and John Ford.
No, it's not set in that Edmonton. It's set just outside London, in the (at the time) present day, based off of the real life execution of a woman for witchcraft around the time.
Notable about this play is that it has two plotlines that are separate but take place concurrently. The plot the play is named after, is about a so-called witch named Elizabeth Sawyer who the town hates and accuses of witchcraft, while the other plot is about a Love Dodecahedron and a Shotgun Wedding. But then someone known only as the Devil Dog appears and it all goes to hell.
Because it was written in the same time as Shakespeare, it's rare that you will find anyone who knows about this. In spite of its modern day obscurity, it has actually been performed in The '80s and The New '10s by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Tropes
- Big Bad: The Devil Dog. While it may come off as The Dragon of Elizabeth Sawyer's plot, it's pretty clear that the Devil Dog is the one pulling the strings.
- Driven to Suicide: Anne Ratcliffe is driven insane by the Devil Dog at Elizabeth's behest, and she beats herself to death.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: The witch (Sawyer) is presented as a product of society. Had the people of Edmonton not blamed her for everything, she wouldn't have wanted revenge.
- Invisible to Adults: The Devil Dog can only be seen by Cuddy and is invisible to everyone else, with one exception:
- Invisible to Normals: Of course, Elizabeth can see the Devil Dog when she becomes a witch.
- Karma Houdini:
- The Devil Dog is never confronted, and will go onto corrupt more people in London.
- Sir Arthur Clarington had an affair in the past, and is in general pretty slimy, but he is never called out on it. Truth in Television somewhat - it was easy for people in his position to get away with their crimes.
- Love Dodecahedron: Frank is in love with Winifred because he believes he's the father, and Susan is in love with him.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: While much of Thorney's plot doesn't have the devil dog, the scene in which Torney murders Susan has the devil dog on stage, leaving it open to interpretation that the Devil Dog may have influenced his actions.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: A good interpretation of Elizabeth Sawyer's reason for becoming a witch. Before she decided to become a witch? She was already called a witch.
- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Despite being a "Witch", Elizabeth surprisingly doesn't do much witchy things, especially since the Devil Dog (in one scene) acts without following her commands and in another, is implied to maybe be influencing Frank.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Elizabeth Sawyer calls out Sir Arthur Clarington for all he's done and gets away with.
- Shotgun Wedding: Instead of Winifred's parents being the ones telling Frank to marry their daughter, Frank does it himself since he thinks he's the father.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: The play has two plots going on, Elizabeth Sawyer's Revenge on the town, and a bigamist named Frank Thorney.
