The witch : heroine or anti-heroine

Abstract

The image of the witch has always been an important one in the minds of men. The conception, which was an integral part of human bellief, later lost all its power and became the symbol of the out-group and was in the process of tIme solely assocIated with women. The witch became responsible for all the negative miracles and the wrongs that befell man. Still later the power invested in the ideation was questioned and philosophers as well as men of religion decided that none could be as powerful as God and therefore the power of the witch was only imaginary. These changes were reflected in the Iiterature. Women were first presented as forceful figures who could lead men to their destruction. Later this power was taken from them and they were depicted as peripheral figures whose sale function should be to please men. Ultimately women came to see themselves as secondary and lacking male figures whose aim should be to emulate men and prove their merit. It was later in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that women started searching for a different image for themselves. This image was the witch figure which had always been the symbol of power whether positive or negative. In the nineteenth century Mary Shelley created the monster Frankenstein in her capacity of witch. Charlotte Bronte explored the image but remained ambivalent in her choice between elf and goblin. In the twentieth century Elizabeth Bowen took a step further In this directIon by seeing the connection between the conception of woman and her affiliation with the witch figure. Jean Rhys further examined men's fear of this powerful figure and Fay Weldon took it to its culmination by advocating women to assume once more the role of the powerful witch figure.