The Witch: A New England Folktale

This semi-realistic supernatural horror period piece rose to fame after its initial release at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2015. With a run-time of 93 minutes, the film was both written and directed by Robert Eggers and ultimately grossed $40 million, ten times its budget. It stars three experienced actors: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, and Kate Dickie. The film is widely acknowledged for its ability to frighten its audience while also conveying many themes of its historical setting.

Historical Accuracy

Overall, the historical aspects of this film may be considered historically accurate. In broad terms, it highlights many of the major, commonly known themes of 17th century New England, including witchcraft, religious hysteria, and parental authority. Robert Eggers also put great effort into making the film’s details as true to the time period as well, such as only using natural and/or candlelight while filming.

Creation of the film’s screenplay began with four years of research, Eggers referencing as many sources as he was able to, including expert historians and primary sources. The characters’ language was based on the grammar of these primary sources, bolstered by an all-English cast. Experts were also consulted and employed during production, including a professional carpenter and costume designer, both specialized in the Jacobian era. Unfortunately, not all details were under Egger’s control, otherwise it could be argued the film would have been more authentic in its portrayal. For example, Eggers was limited by the film’s budget, which led to filming in Canada rather than New England.

 

Plot Summary

Thomasin (played by Anya Taylor-Joy), the eldest child of the family, is continuously accused of witchcraft by her family.

Set in 1630s New England, the film focuses on a family of seven: father William (Ralph Ineson), mother Katherine (Kate Dickie), eldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), eldest son Caleb, fraternal twins Jonas and Mercy, and new baby boy, Samuel. The film opens with William questioning the leaders of Plymouth Colony, saying they are being too lenient for his conservative Puritan beliefs, ultimately leading to the family being exiled and moving to a secluded area far from town.

While under his sister Thomasin’s care, baby Samuel is kidnapped and later murdered by a witch living in the nearby forest. Katherine blames her eldest daughter for the family’s loss and incites suspicion among the children that Thomasin is a witch. Though Thomasin denies their claims of her supernatural ways, her seeming level of guilt only grows when her brother Caleb goes missing. The pair had traveled into the forest, were separated, and Caleb encountered the witch. He shows up later that evening, naked and delirious. The family determines he has been possessed and are trying to save him when he breaks from a coma-like state to scream his love for Christ, spit up an apple, and die.

William feels he has no choice now but to also accuse Thomasin of witchcraft, who in turn accuses Jonas and Mercy, saying they have been conversing with the family’s male goat, Black Philip. When the twins are unable to recite their prayers, William no longer knows who to trust, leading him to lock all three children in the goat stable for the night. That night, the detainees woke to see an old woman (presumably the witch) drinking from their nanny goat. In the morning, William sees the goat house destroyed, goats dead, twins missing. Thomasin is on the ground, unconscious, covered in blood when she wakes to witness Black Philip murder her father. This incites Katherine to attack Thomasin, blaming her for all the family’s misfortunes. The scene ends with Thomasin killing her mother in self-defense.

Alone, with nothing left to lose, Thomasin entreats Black Philip to speak to her as he did with the twins. Black Philip then does so, transforms into a man, has Thomasin sign her name in his book, and leads her into the forest where she joins a group of witches holding a ceremony. The film closes with Thomasin and the witches laughing and levitating over a bonfire.

 

Family Dynamics

 

The family (from left to right): Jonas, Mercy, Katherine, William, Caleb and Thomasin.

Throughout the whole film, the themes of gender roles and family structure are prominent and integral to the story line. Katherine and William are both parental figures, yet they have very different roles in the life of the family. Katherine is never really seen outside of the homestead, and also seems to have a more direct role in raising the children. Katherine’s role can be seen as more in control of the domestic tasks. In contrast, William will do things outside of the house, like hunting and trading, making him less concerned with the day-to-day running of the house and raising the children.

As the oldest children, Thomasin and Caleb have responsibilities mirroring the parent of their respective gender. Thomasin arguably works the most in the family and is seen doing housework, caring for animals, watching the twins, doing laundry, etc. Caleb tends to follow around William and assist him in whatever he is doing, typically hunting. The twins are both too young to be of any real use, so regardless of gender, they really do not have responsibilities.

Overall, it is very clear that this is a very patriarchal family and William is the one seen as the head of the household. This aligns with the culture of the time period; men were seen as the one who had the power, and women were expected to care for the kids and house. Women did not generally have a lot of power. Throughout the movie Katherine accuses Thomasin of various things (stealing a cup, being a witch, etc.) however, Thomasin doesn’t really get in trouble for these things. The reason she never gets in trouble is William speaks up and is on her side, once again showing that he is the final word, not Katherine.

One example of the power structure in the movie is when the parents are discussing sending Thomasin away to work for another family in town. Thomasin is old enough and her mother believes she is causing trouble in their family. In a situation like this, as a child, Thomasin has no control over her fate, it is in her parents’ hands. If her parents decide this is what will happen, she can’t really change their minds. Thomasin has no autonomy in this situation and truly is at the will of the adults of the family.

In discussing gender roles and norms in The Witch, it is important to note that this movie primarily follows only one family and not necessarily generalizable to the rest of the population. The only time anyone outside of the family is seen is the opening scene of the banishment. Even in this scene only men are seen talking, which agrees with the theme of a patriarchal society. Additionally, in this scene only William is spoken to and the rest of the family is ignored. This interaction is brief, but it helps to set a foundation for the gender roles and patriarchy seen in the rest of the movie.

 

Witchcraft 

Twins Mercy (left) and Jonas (right) with the family’s male goat, Black Philip.

The elements of witchcraft in this film were moments of possession, rituals and sacrifice, and symbolism in the form of animals. The fear of Satan and witchcraft was very real during the time period this movie took place. The first hint to any witch in this film was when baby Samuel is stolen by the witch, but only the audience knows this, the family is left to assume the child was taken by wolves. Though suspicion that something sinister is in the woods is in everyone’s minds. The form of a witch first appeared as an old decrepit naked woman living in the woods. This witch also wore a red cape, a color often associated with the devil. Once the witch has the child it appears that she uses it to regain her youth through a sacrificial ritual. Caleb is the first to see the witch when he gets lost in the woods, except this time the witch takes a much younger more erotic form. After this the presents of witchcraft starts to pick up.

Caleb returns to the farm naked and delirious, he seems to be under some sort of spell or mysterious sickness. This is when the family starts to fall apart and they start accusing each other of witchcraft, specifically Thomasin and the twins. As Caleb suffers this mysterious sickness he wakes at various moments and speaks about witches and possession. The twins also seem to suffer from some kind of possession as they forget their prayers and double over in pain, until they become unconscious. Being unable to recite prayers was commonly believed to mean the presence of something sinister.

The symbolism of Satan comes in the form of a black goat. Having a black goat representing Satan and satanic things stems from the alleged form of Satan himself. Many times he is pictured as a man in stature but with the head and legs of a goat. Black Philip is a black goat that appears on the family’s farm and the twins Jonas and Mercy instantly become transfixed with him. Later on in the film the twins admit to Thomasin that black Philip has been talking to them, and at the end of the film when Thomasin is alone she begs black Philip to speak to her as well. When he finally does we see a form of Satan appear behind her and offer her anything she wants if she signs her name in his book. When she agrees she is led into the woods and finds a group of naked dancing women around a big fire, the film ends with Thomasin floating up into the air with the other women.  There is also another animal that appears in the film as a symbol, a rabbit. There are old folklore stories that connect witches with rabbits. Some folklore claimed that witches could transform themselves into a rabbit, and as such they caused mischief. This holds true for the rabbit in this film who most likely was the witch that stole baby Samuel or one of the other witches Thomasin sees in the forest at the end.

 

Religion 

The family begins their meal with a family prayer led by the father, William.

Religion was the biggest contributing factor in this time period and ultimately is the reason for this film. God was the only explanation in the 1600s. One of the main reasons religion was incredibly popular was that it provided a reason for the unexplained. This “explanation of everything” idea was the starting point for the development of witchcraft. Witchcraft was seen as part of the devil’s work and if you practiced witchery you were working with the devil. There was no found “cure” to this witchery and it was always punished by death. The idea that witches could exist undetectable in society increased paranoia in the public and created the obsession of getting rid of all witches from the world.

In the film, The Witch, you get an idea of how serious the fear of witchery is during this time period. The film starts off with William being convicted of prideful conceit. This is a serious sin according to The Bible, being overly prideful indicates you have forgotten that God gives us the intelligence and physical capabilities thus, you should not boast. Portraying pridefulness is punished by death, However, in this film, the family was banished for their father’s actions. This did not deter the family from the Calvinist beliefs. However, this strong belief that god predetermined who goes to the promised land ultimately led William to believe they could survive in the woods alone. He believes if his family asks for forgiveness for their sins God will grace them with survival.

As the days pass with little hope of survival throughout the winter, the paranoia and hysteria begin to take full effect. The family tries to remain strong in their beliefs however the fear of witchcraft existing in the woods begins to alter the eternal faith in god. Katherine begins the first accusations of witchery on Thomasin. She does this because she blamed Thomasin for the loss of her unbaptized new born baby. Even though Thomasin could recite her prayer this did not convince her mother she was witch-free. This accusation leads the family into a spiral.

With Caleb and the twins displaying clear signs of witchcraft the family begins to panic. God is yet turned to again in hopes to save this family. They excessively pray over  Caleb and the twins’ bodies with obvious doubt in their eyes. Eventually the whole family is all affected and the faith in God is lost. The family is now perceived to be controlled by the devil and their actions take a turn for the worst. After Thomasin kills her mother, the only family member left at this point, it shows her practicing witchcraft in the woods. This presents the message of how one sin can spiral into working with the devil. This film adds to the ongoing debate of if horror films should be watched by Christians. As people argue this suggests one believes in god out of fear of the devil.

 

Suggestions for Relevant Reading

• An interview with the films writer and director, Robert Eggers on the research that went into the screenplay and film production
• A critical review of the film’s historical accuracies
• Primary source of an Accusation of witchcraft
• Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans 1639-1800 (accessible through the OSU library catalog)