Eva Strazek
Queerness is a motif throughout Witch and is one of the main elements that sets it apart from Caryl Churchill’s Vinegar Tom. We have Cuddy, Frank, and Scratch, three characters that are canonically queer– and while you could say Vinegar Tom had queer themes, Witch brings queerness to the forefront of the story.
How does Queerness associate itself with and juxtapose toxic masculinity and a patriarchal society? How do these two things intertwine, and why does this create Frank and Cuddy’s love/hate dynamic? And– was there any relationship between the Devil/witchcraft/diabolical help and queerness in the Jacobean era?
England’s Homophobic Roots:
“For example, in late 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and England, the clergy complained about the prevalence of homosexuality in the royal entourage of the Nor- man rulers. The young men of the court had begun to wear long hair and women's clothing and adopted effeminate mannerisms. Thus the monk Orderic deplored the court of William Rufus, son of William the Conqueror, where "the effeminate predominated everywhere and reveled without re- straint, while filthy catamites, fit only to perish in the flames, abandoned themselves to the foulest practices of Sodom."48
In England in the 11th and 12th centuries, effeminate hobbies and mannerisms became associated heavily with homosexuality. Many believe this was because of the dichotomy between the two sexes in Medieval England, and women being perceived as the weaker sex. This could be a partial reason why homosexuality among women was not reported or accounted for as greatly as homosexuality among men was. (Anne Barstow wrote in Witchcraze that lesbian persecution was “impossible to describe, based off of a few cases”).
Cuddy’s interest in Morris dancing– defined on Britannica as a “ritual folk dance performed in rural England by groups of specially chosen and trained men; less specifically, a variety of related customs, such as mumming, as well as some popular entertainments derived from them” is a large part of his identity. His father, Sir Arthur, along with Frank Thorney, sees this as weak and effeminate. There was also a negative association between Morris dancing and a Puritan lifestyle: “At the same time that it (the Morris dance) was evoked lovingly in sketches of rustic Life by Poets and playwrights… it was also being damned by Puritans as the devil's dance: ‘ men never went as yet by multitudes much less by Morris dancing troops, to heaven.’”49
Frank and Sir Arthur look down upon Cuddy for not “performing at the same standard” as they believe they are, as they believe men should. This plays an integral role in the queer coding of Cuddy’s character.
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Greenberg, David F., and Marcia H. Bystryn. “Christian Intolerance of Homosexuality.” American Journal of Sociology 88, no. 3 (November 1982): 515–48. https://doi.org/10.1086/227706.
Garry, Jane. “The Literary History of the English Morris Dance.” Folklore 94, no. 2 (January 1983): 219–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/0015587x.1983.9716280.
The Queer Woman and Diabolical Help:
“The nun that was her companion reported that Bendetta, when possessed by a male angel named Splendatello had forced her to have sex with her a relationship that lasted for several years. This astonishing Revelation raised more questions than the investigators could handle. Was Bendetta responsible for her actions? She was, after all, in a trance every time she seduced the nun– was she committing heterosexual or homosexual acts?”50
Bendetta was a woman who was tried on account of witchcraft in Italy. Because lesbianism and queerness among women were seen as a threat to Christianity, capitalism, and a patriarchal society, they were easily conflated with demonic possession, witchcraft, and diabolical help.
Interestingly, Bendetta was not tried as a sodomite for her lesbianism. If she were, she would have been burned at the stake, which was the punishment for a female sodomite in Italy, and also a popular punishment for suspected and accused witches at the time. “There were a few precedents in Europe,” Barstow writes “Five, to be exact, in the criminal records– of the death sentence for female sodomites.”51
Elizabeth’s affinity for Scratch grows when she realizes that Scratch does not identify with a gender. This subtle queer-coding of Elizabeth’s character highlights the association between female queerness, the devil/diabolical help, and witchcraft.
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Barstow, 43.
Barstow 140
James I as Queer Nobility:
“Rather at the very least he was bisexual. Of course, queer theorists have shown that the tripartie labels of heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual are particularly modern constructs that should not be applied to a pre-modern person like James. Yet even if we accept this modern terminology for the moment, how does it really apply to James? It is true that James was married to Anne of Denmark and that he had sexual intercourse with her– they had several children, three of whom lived past childhood. Does that make James bisexual? Not really. James married and fathered children because it was his duty. He needed to produce heirs to the throne. Back in 1589, James wrote a remarkably open letter to his subjects in Scotland, explaining his decision to marry. He observed that he was “ found fault with by all men for the delaying so long of my marriage.” The prospect of no heir “ bred disdain,” and the people began to wonder if James suffered from an inability “as if I were a baron to stock”. These and other considerations drove James into marriage, although he would happily have delayed the act “ for, as to my own nature, God is my witness I could have abstained longer.” Furthermore, James never showed an amorous interest in any other woman before or after his marriage; all his extra marital love affairs were with young males. Except for his wife, James's lifelong sexual desire or preference was directed exclusively towards those males.”52
James, I was the king of England at the time Witch takes place, and research into his queerness has proved to have incredibly fruitful results. James had male courtiers whom he considered “favorites”, and had romantic relationships with many of them. However, queer theory does ask that we not modern terms on historical figures, as sex and romance could very well be faultily documented.
As we can see exemplified here, James did marry a woman and produce several hiers. However, this is not solid proof that he was indeed bisexual, or not homosexual. This is closely tied to Cuddy’s story arc in Witch. As Cuddy is in the closet, struggles with internalized homophobia, and either does not know what homosexuality is– or only knows it in the context of the time– he hides behind the fact that he will be eventually marrying Winnifred when he is chosen as Sir Arthur’s hier. It is no coincidence that Winnifred is the only young woman Cuddy speaks to in the play– in the world outside of the play, it is very probable that Winnifred is the only woman with whom Cuddy has a close relationship, as they are both marginalized in different ways while living in the castle (Winnifred for her class, Cuddy for his suspected queerness). Winnifred could be to Cuddy what Anne was to James.
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Young, Michael B. “James VI and I: Time for a Reconsideration?” Journal of British Studies 51, no. 3 (July 2012): 540–67. https://doi.org/10.1086/664955.
Violence and Homo-Eroticism:
Cuddy is in love with Frank. Cuddy is in hate with Frank.
“I’m like, fuck you, Frank!” Cuddy laments to Scratch in the second scene of the play. “ I'm like, someday I’m gonna hit you in your perfectly straight teeth, someday I’m gonna be like Hi Frank and then I’m gonna hit you so hard you fall off of the stupid fucking horse!’’
A most likely red-faced Cuddy makes his declaration of supreme loathing towards Frank in the first scene he appears in– to the actual Devil, who Cuddy then strikes a deal with– to sell his soul in exchange for Frank’s death.
Cuddy is in love with Frank. But also is in hate with Frank. Cuddy kills Frank. How is all of this possible?
Based on what we know about the treatment of homosexuality in the 17th century, Cuddy would likely have one of two preconceived notions about queerness. It could be that Cuddy does not know that queerness exists– when he feels a strong feeling of lust for Frank, he attempts to replace that feeling with a more “masculine” one– a feeling of rage. The other option is that Cuddy looks down on homosexuality and queerness, and is attempting to beat the homosexual feelings out of himself, in a way, by performing a manhood act.
In Men, Masculinity, and Manhood Acts, by Douglas Shrape and Michael Shwalbie, the authors state that “All manhood acts, as we define them, are aimed at claiming privilege, eliciting deference, and resisting exploitation. As suggested earlier, body types are irrelevant, except since a male body is a symbolic asset and a female body a liability, when trying to signify possession of a masculine self and put on a convincing manhood act.”53
Cuddy is being pushed aside in the quest for Sir Arthur’s heir because he is perceived as weak and effeminate by the other people in the town. Cuddy’s societally ingrained masculinity (something that directly opposes anything that has to do with queerness or homosexuality)-- leads him to turn to violence whenever thoughts of Frank cross his mind.
Near the end of Witch, Cuddy is pushing out thoughts that can be seen as weak and effeminate, and replacing them with thoughts that are violent and masculine. In the scene where Cuddy murders Frank, he does all of the above mentioned in the quote.
Cuddy claims his privilege by killing the man who was leading him away from a masculine life, he becomes the last candidate for his standing, and he resists all of the exploitation that he receives throughout the play.
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Schrock, Douglas, and Michael Schwalbe. “Men, Masculinity, and Manhood Acts.” Annual Review of Sociology 35, no. 1 (August 1, 2009): 277–95. 280.