Table Of ContentSCEPTICISM AND BELIEF IN ENGLISH WITCHCRAFT
DRAMA, 1538–1681
Scepticism and belief in English
witchcraft drama, 1538–1681
ERIC PUDNEY
Lund University Press
Copyright © Eric Pudney 2019
The right of Eric Pudney to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Lund University Press
The Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology
P.O. Box 117
SE-221 00 LUND
Sweden
http://lunduniversitypress.lu.se
Lund University Press books are published in collaboration with Manchester
University Press.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 9 1983 7686 9 hardback
ISBN 978 9 1983 7687 6 open access
First published 2019
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Contents
Acknowledgements page vii
A note on references and abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
1 Scepticism in the Renaissance 10
Sceptics and believers 14
Evidence, authority, and ridicule 19
Histories and stories: facts, fictions, and lies 27
Rhetorical scepticism 33
Submerged scepticism 40
Protestant scepticism and the origins of
witchcraft drama 45
2 Witchcraft in Elizabethan drama 58
Gender, scepticism, and magic in Elizabethan
England 61
Fedele and Fortunio: the female witch as male
magician 77
Classical witches and Elizabethan prophecy 81
The Golden Asse and early modern witchcraft 89
A Midsummer Night’s Dream: witchcraft without
witches 97
Joan of Arc, Margery Jourdain, and the historical
witch 103
Magic and demonology in Dr Faustus and its
competitors 110
3 Witchcraft in Jacobean drama 130
Sophonisba 132
Macbeth 137
The Masque of Queens 155
Frances Howard, court scandal, and The Witch 160
vi Contents
4 The Witch of Edmonton 182
Scepticism in The Witch of Edmonton 184
The devil and sin in The Witch of Edmonton 192
The social and the demonic 200
Evidence and authority in The Witch of
Edmonton 206
5 The Late Lancashire Witches 209
Witchcraft in the 1630s 210
Thomas Heywood and witchcraft 217
The play and the case 220
Debating witchcraft in The Late Lancashire
Witches 226
Two types of witchcraft 238
6 Witchcraft in the Restoration 244
The nature of spirit and body 247
Witchcraft in the theatre 260
7 The Lancashire Witches 278
Scepticism in The Lancashire Witches 279
Good and bad witchcraft 287
The play and the plot 291
Conclusion 306
Bibliography 320
Index 336
Acknowledgements
No project of this length can be completed without a great deal of
help, and I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to the many people
who have provided advice, support and feedback. The book was
written while I was at Lund University, where the higher seminar
in English Literature provided a great deal of support, guidance
and encouragement, and played a major part in shaping the book.
Thanks to all those members of the seminar, past and present, who
have commented on my work: Professor Marianne Thormählen,
Professor Cian Duffy, Dr Birgitta Berglund, Dr Kiki Lindell, Dr
Sara Håkansson, Dr Cecilia Wadsö Lecaros, Dr Ellen Turner, Dr
Annika J. Lindskog, Dr Claes Lindskog, Dr Anna Lindhé, Dr Mette
Hildeman Sjölin, Associate Professor Alexander Bareis, Professor
Jane Mattisson Ekstam, Dr Sanna Melin Schyllert, Katie Anderson
Ahlstedt, Charlotte Hansson Webb, and Lisa-Marie Teubler.
Outside of Lund, this book owes a great deal to a number of
scholars with particular expertise on witchcraft who have contributed
to it in a variety of ways. Special mention must be made of Dr Roy
Booth of Royal Holloway for his advice on the project: he provided
expert knowledge, a critical eye, and an endless supply of good
humour. I had the privilege of discussing a draft version of the book
at some length with Professor Marion Gibson of the University of
Exeter, and I am immensely grateful to her for everything I learned
in the course of our conversation. Thanks are also due to both of the
peer-reviewers engaged by Lund University Press for their generous
and very helpful comments, which improved the book considerably.
Several institutions have also been generous in supporting my
work. Olof Sagers stipendiefond made it possible for me to spend
half a year in London, with access to the British Library’s resources.
This time made a major contribution to the book and was spent
very happily, as well as very productively. A grant from Stiftelsen
Fil. Dr Uno Otterstedts fond allowed me to attend a conference
viii Acknowledgements
on Demonology at UiT in Tromsö, which was extremely helpful to
me, and I would also like to thank the organisers, Professors Liv
Helene Willumsen and Rita Voltmer, and all of the participants. In
addition, I am particularly grateful to the Royal Swedish Academy
of Letters, History and Antiquities for honouring this book with
the 2019 Warburg Prize for an outstanding work of literary history
published in Sweden.
Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank my family for
keeping my feet on the ground and for dragging me out of the early
modern period and into the present from time to time. Thanks to
my parents, Steve and Linda, and my parents-in-law, Chris and
Björn, for all the support, free babysitting, and practical help. Most
thanks of all to Charlotte, my wonderful wife and most steadfast
supporter; and to Jake and Gabriel, the best sons in the world, for
drawing me all those pictures and being so interested in everything.
A note on references and abbreviations
All references to the Bible are to the King James Version unless
otherwise stated.
References to all books printed during the early modern period
are to electronic copies accessed via the Early English Books Online
database.
All references to laws (appearing in the format v Elizabeth c.
13) are from The Statutes of the Realm.
The following abbreviations have been used:
CSPD Calendar of State Papers (Domestic series)
ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
OED Oxford English Dictionary
SP State Paper
