By Zan
Once the medieval church assimilated Witchcraft to Devil-Worship in the 15th century, the stereotypical image of a Witch was that of a perverse, amoral, ghoul-like creature; after two hundred years, this stereotype appeared to have the solidness of oak. As James (the first Stuart king of England) was known as a proponent for the maligned view of Witches, play-writer Ben Jonson is very careful to indulge his Majesty’s prejudices when he puts up The Masque of Queens in 1609, at the royal court. Charles Manson and Jack the Ripper together had nothing on these Hags, who (as one can see from the copy of the play posted on The Holloway Pages) make their various entrances (p. 348) boasting of killing infants with a dagger, in order to gain their infant-fat; rifling the hanged corpse of a murderer for grotesque trophies; and killing a black cat for its brain. Demented and psychotic as the Hags undoubtedly are in their characterizations, there is a logic to the performance of their rite, and a layer to their presentation, that suggests the deliberate demonizing of something otherwise “real” in the culture. In describing the outfitting of the Hags (p. 345), Jonson indicates quite a bit of folklore-association going on in their costuming; they are “all differently attyr’d [attired]: some with Rats on their Head; some on their Shoulders; others with Ointment Pots at their Girdles; all with Spindles, Timbrels, Rattles, or other veneficall Instruments, making a confused noise, with strange Gestures.” Other than the “rats on the head” (surely one of the most unusual costume-directions in the history of theater), nothing about this presentation of Witches fails to conform to what we might imagine of early 17th century village Wise-Women- identified by their “ointment pots” worn on their belts (“girdles”); with the spindle of a spinning wheel; and with timbrels (tambourines), rattles, and other “veneficall” (for being associated with Witches) music-making instruments.
What’s been said…