Witchcraft and deformity in early modern English literature

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores the links between witchcraft and deformity in early modern English literature. Although historians of witchcraft have not examined the concept of deformity or stigma within witchcraft publications, literary scholars have used a sociological theory of disability to shed light on early modern plays and their characters. This article will utilise the methodology developed by literary historians and will apply it to early modern publications (pamphlets, ballads, plays, poems) pertaining to witchcraft. It will argue that the concept of deformity played a role in witchcraft texts and accusations, for it distinguished individuals as evil based on their physical appearance. Operating alongside and interacting with other motifs, it functioned as a literary device which further demonised characters and signified their otherness. This article helps to demonstrate how the figure of the witch and familiar spirits functioned as ciphers for numerous early modern cultural concerns.