Witches in Women ’ s Poetry
Claire Jenns
Claire Jenns
CLAIRE JENNS , a third-year student on the ENGL347 Women ’ s Writers module , remarks on the value of the ‘ witch ’ character in female poetry , commenting on three poets of their time . In her essay , she discusses how the ‘ witch ’ figure is utilised to draw upon elements of female experiences both past and present and the relationship of the character to its inextricable female nature . Claire told us the English course has opened her eyes to the companionship of literature , saying it has made her time in education both exciting and engaging .
SOTA Anthology 19 / 20
THE FIGURE of the witch is artistically valuable to the woman poet . The fantastical element of witches as a supernatural myth is useful for atmospheric aesthetic expression , while the cruel historical realities of witch-hunts , trials and executions act as shared female trauma operating within the sphere of cultural memory . To demonstrate this , I will be examining Mary Elizabeth Coleridge ’ s ‘ The Witch ’ ( 1892 ), Anne Sexton ’ s ‘ Her Kind ’ ( 1960 ), and Audre Lorde ’ s ‘ A Woman Speaks ’ ( 1978 ). In a general sense , the timespan between these works is indicative of the utilisation of witches as a subject within poetic