Overview

From ""Macbeth"" to ""The Wizard of Oz"", from the hysteria of witch trials to emblems of 20th-century female empowerment, no matter how she is portrayed, the witch is an enduring source of fear and fascination. In this study, Diane Purkiss investigates the diverse interpretations and meanings attributed to the figure of the witch, encompassing a wide range of cultural norms which include Canonical literature, such as Shelley and Yeats, visual arts, fairy tales, folklore and real-life witch stories. Also considered are pornography and sado-masochism, film, from the classic Swedish ""Haxan"" to ""The Witches of Eastwick"", and the stage, including Shakespeare and Jonson.

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9780415087629

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Reviews

Ms. Purkiss..has interesting things to say about contemporary witchcraft and some striking if idiosyncratic comments about earlier (mainly fifteenth-and sixteenth century) material...Her [Purkiss's] analysis of the contemporary witchcraft movement, like her analysis of their myths, though generally critical, is occasionally and almost reluctantly admiring.. <br>- The New York Review of Books, October 1997 <br> The author has an impressive ... grasp of literary, philosophical, psychological, and ethnological sources and their relevance to women. <br>- Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences <br>

Author Information

Diane Purkiss is Lecturer in English at the University of Reading.

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