The witch is wicked and haggard, she’s exiled and lonely, she’s an ugly shade of green wearing a pointed black hat. Her image is synonymous with Halloween: a woman to be feared and hated.
But where did she come from? Why did society grow to scorn the witch, then commercialize her as a Halloween decoration?
Her origins can be traced through centuries of literature, from fables to folklore; appearing in stories across the globe, in languages dead and new.
The witch is ubiquitous, yet she is always one thing: a woman. Witches are the manifestations of what men have always feared most. She is the woman who refused to conform to the boundaries of societal standards, she dared to hold power, to be independent, to grow old and become undesirable. And so, men called her a witch, and continued to for generations.
Literature offers a glimpse into the evolution of the witch, commenting on the never-changing fear of women empowerment, no matter the era.
Ancient Greek Mythology (8th Century BCE)
Depictions of the witch begin in the epic poetry of ancient Greek myths. While they don’t refer to the women in their stories specifically as witches, ancient poets like Homer write of magical women feared by society.
In Homer’s “The Odyssey,” Circe is a goddess residing in her isolated stone palace, where she turns men into animals. The core elements of the witch are already present in this ancient rendering: a secluded, powerful woman whom men fear.
Circe was a woman who wielded power independently of men, who failed to adhere to the standards of an ancient time. To be independent, as a woman, was dangerous in the eyes of Homer. It upset male authority and the ‘natural order.’
Circe became the embodiment of societal fears, and the witch was born.
Homer wrote of the witch thousands of years ago, but oral tradition of the ancient Greek myths lived long before he did. The character of the witch was likely created much earlier, and passed down through generations by reciting the epic poem outloud.
Was there ever a time men did not fear the witch?
European Fairytales (12th, 13th, 14th Centuries)
Much like ancient Greek oral traditions, fairytales that were later published as novels in the 1800s began as European folktales told through oral storytelling.
Fairytales such as “Hansel and Gretel” and “Snow White” come from the period’s oral traditions, and the witch is a vital part of their stories.
Hansel and Gretel’s witch is an old hag, living alone in the woods, wicked and mischievous. Again, the theme of a woman living independently into old age is morphed into a frightening story, scaring women of deviating from societal expectations.
No woman wants to become a witch.
Medieval Literature (500-1500)
Morgan le Fay appears across medieval literature, evolving in Arthurian legend from a magical ruler to a temptress; she is yet another instance of man crying witch.
She is powerful and seducing, but she is also a healer. Fearful of her social status and her abilities, Morgan le Fay becomes an image of the witch, and history remembers her only as so.
Early Modern Era Literature (1500-1750)
The German Heinrich Kramer wrote “The Malleus Maleficarum” (often translated to “The Hammer of Witches”) in 1486 in defense of the prosecution of witches, a foundational text during the brutal witch trials of the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe.
It was the piece of literature that suggested witches should be burned at the stake; a work of pure superstition and hatred towards women.
Shakespeare’s 1606 “MacBeth” fused the earlier myths and folklore of witches with the political subversion to women’s potential power of the time.
The past stories of witches bubbled into a mass hysteria in the form of witch trials, and literature such as Shakespeare’s captured the ever-present societal fear of women.
The witches of “MacBeth” are the wayward sisters, who, along with the typical hag-like characteristics, were described as masculine, even having beards. It is perhaps an allusion to a belief that to have authority and power, one could only be a man.
Gothic Literature (1764-1900)
Gothic literature as a whole saw atmospheric settings of dark isolation, a narrative of creeping dread, supernatural elements and complex protagonists with a flawed morality.
It allowed the witch to be explored for the first time as a person; a woman troubled, but not evil or good. William Harrison Ainsworth’s 1848 “The Lancashire Witches” is based on the true stories of the earlier witch trials, examining the fear of the female body, power and autonomy in a different way than the tales of the past.
An interest in the mind of the witch took hold, and society grew to tolerate her.
20th Century Literature (1900-1990)
Complicated depictions of the witch, even more complex than the gothic era, begin to arise in L. Frank Baum’s 1900 “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” The novel’s witches are both good and wicked, literally.
The Wicked Witch of the West is old and ugly, and although she’s not green until the 1939 film, she fits into the characteristics of the witch. Unlike those before her, though, the Wicked Witch of the West has power, she is a ruler. She’s an elaborate both; she’s evil, yet allowed power.
Baum’s story presents another witch: Glinda, the Good Witch of the South. She too is a ruler, but for the first time in literary history, the witch is good.
C.S Lewis tells another tale of a complicated witch in his 1950 novel “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” The White Witch is feared in Narnia and uses her cruelty and power to rule over its citizens. The witch here is wicked, but she is depicted with physical beauty and great power.
The witch in 20th century literature is not feared the same way she was in the past, but she is still mostly ‘wrong’ for positions of power. The way she rules is not praised, but feared. She’s still a witch, she is only given a higher political standing.
The Witch Today (1990-Present)
Authors of today’s witches have reclaimed her characteristics to be the reason she succeeds, rather than what makes her a villain. By being a witch in present day narratives, she can overcome the story’s adversity.
Madeline Miller’s 2018 novel “Circe” retells the ancient myth in the perspective of the witch, rather than the society that feared her.
Many novels of witches today explore the witch through sisterhood, shared generational knowledge, and found female power and resilience. Authors reject colonial perspectives and write stories of witches outside of Europe.
Today, the witch is a beacon of feminism; she is a woman who refuses to let the fear of men dictate her story.
A walk through literature offers a window into both the lives of ancient women and those only one generation ago. Spoken and written word has the power to reveal the thoughts and the fears of what society demands a woman to be, and what happens to a woman who dares bend the boundaries. Men created the witch out of pure terror of a powerful woman. The witch, though, turned into something much more powerful.