53 pages • 1 hour read
Thomas Dekker, John Ford, William RowleyThe Witch of Edmonton
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1621A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Act IIIChapter Summaries & Analyses
Act III, Scene 1 Summary
Young Banks and the Morris dancers discuss whether there should be a witch character in the Morris dance. He is keen that the dance should pass the Carter household with him as the hobby horse, as he wants Katherine to see him play his part. He tells the other Morris dancers that he needs to go off alone for a bit. They initially entreat him to stay, guessing he is in love, and they banter about how slowly time passes when absent from a loved one. After they leave, Young Banks nervously wonders what kind of creature he will have to follow to get to Katherine, as per Elizabeth’s instructions.
Dog arrives and leads him to a spirit in the shape of Katherine, who says in an aside that Young Banks is foolish but virtuous, so they can’t truly corrupt him. Young Banks tries to woo the spirit, adapting a popular ballad, but the spirit leads him into water (a pond or stream). Young Banks emerges shaken but unscathed. Initially angry, he decides he can’t blame a dog for his own choices. He is surprised that Dog then speaks to him, but he nevertheless listens. Dog agrees to help him woo Katherine. He promises that something bad will happen to Somerton, his rival. Young Banks says he will get Dog some food as a reward, but some of the foods he mentions—like “Maids” and “Soles,” which are types of fish—have double meanings, suggesting virginal women and souls.
Act III, Scene 2 Summary
Frank Thorney and Winnifride are fleeing the area. She is disguised as a boy and is in great distress, having recently learned of his bigamy. He excuses his actions as being necessary for money, but she says the money is tainted since it is immorally gained.
Susan enters to say farewell. She mistakes Winnifride for a male servant and talks with her alone. She asks her to treat her husband well and gifts her a jewel in thanks. Winnifride promises to look out for him. She pretends that her tears are due to a fly in her eye. Reluctant to be parted from Frank, Susan draws out her farewell, but Frank is eager for her to leave. She convinces him to let her accompany them a short distance further.
Act III, Scene 3 Summary
Invisible to the onstage characters, Dog watches Susan continue to accompany Frank, to his aggravation. Frank tries to persuade her to leave; she says their fathers will come after them soon so she can leave with them, alarming him. Dog brushes against Frank, who suddenly decides to kill Susan, producing a knife from somewhere (which is possibly Dog’s doing). Susan does not believe he is serious at first, but he reveals his bigamy and stabs her. She is horrified at this sin and her involvement in it, and she says she is glad to die rather than continue living in such circumstances. She offers a prayer for his forgiveness and dies. Frank cuts himself to make it look like he was attacked, too. He then binds himself to a tree with the help of Dog, whom he still does not notice. Then, Dog leaves.
Old Carter and Old Thorney enter and are horrified by the scene. Frank claims to have sworn an oath not to name the perpetrators, but he describes Warbeck and Somerton clearly, directing the two older men to blame them.
Act III, Scene 4 Summary
Sir Arthur ushers in Somerton and Warbeck, preparing for the Morris dancers to arrive and perform. Somerton wishes he could sleep instead of watching the dancers—he says he feels low-spirited. Warbeck feels oddly mirthful and comments on the absurdity of Morris dances. The dancers arrive with Sawgut the fiddler, but they cannot start the performance, as Young Banks is missing. He comes in a few minutes late, accompanied by Dog, who is visible only to him.
The constable and several officers enter as the dance finishes, rebuking them for their jollity at such a sad time. They ask Sir Arthur to cooperate with them as they apprehend Warbeck and Somerton, explaining that they are accused of murder. Young Banks realizes that Dog is behind the arrest of his rival for Katherine’s affections. He notes that the Morris dance can’t continue in these circumstances, and he leaves with Dog. Sir Arthur says that he respects the Constable’s authority but will vouch for the two gentlemen. Warbeck and Somerton agree to cooperate, saying they do not fear the authorities, as their consciences are clear.
Act III Analysis
In this act, events escalate as the various plot strands begin to come together. Frank Thorney’s moral corruption reaches its narrative climax when he murders Susan, which the play portrays as a natural culmination of The Vicious Cycle of Evil he has become trapped in. In bringing Winnifride and Susan together onstage, the play underlines the profound wrongness of Frank Thorney’s bigamy—the conventions of the period considered it sinful for one person to have two wives, so seeing the two women physically next to each other has dramatic weight. The two women further underline the error of Frank’s ways by using dramatic irony: Susan asks Winnifride to look out for Frank like a wife would, believing she is his page, to which Winnifride says that no bribe could make him dearer to her than he is. This sounds like a polite response, but the audience knows that it reflects their true marital status. This scene also highlights Susan’s innocence and trust, which makes Frank’s murder of her even more despicable.
Dog’s presence throughout this act ties Frank’s subplot into the titular narrative of Elizabeth Sawyer’s witchcraft and indicates that The Role of the Witch in the Community is one of hastening the cycle of evil. The play signposts Dog’s influence on Frank’s decision to murder Susan, as Dog rubs against Frank just before Frank makes this choice. After this, Dog attends the Morris dance in Scene 4, promising trouble. However, he isn’t referring to any of the dancers, but to Somerton and Warbeck, and this event is an off shoot of the other subplot of Frank Thorney’s moral corruption. Dog remarks: “Mark what a mischief, / Before the Morris ends, shall light on him” (3.4.160-61), which builds tension and foreshadows the two men’s arrest. Their arrest brings together the two subplots—the humorous narrative of Young Banks’s enlistment of Dog’s help for his pursuit of Katherine, and the tragic narrative of Frank Thorney’s moral degeneration. Dog’s connection to Elizabeth gives him a path to enhance the evil and corruption of the whole community.
The subplot of the Morris dancers gives a more humorous insight into the role of the witch. The dancers’ discussion of whether to include a witch in the dance illustrates that the idea of a village witch is not shocking to the Morris dancers. It is a well-loved part of English folklore, with Young Banks declaring, “I love a witch” (3.1.11), and another dancer saying, “[W]itches themselves are so common nowadays […] they say we have three or four in Edmonton besides Mother Sawyer” (3.1.12-15). The archetype of the witch is broad enough to allow for a range of manifestations, including a folk figure embraced as part of local custom, or a village wise woman. The Morris dancers’ banter about this topic juxtaposes sharply with the real violence done to Elizabeth Sawyer and her wishes for terrible revenge. The Morris dance is the climax of the dancers’ comedic role in the story, indicating that the remainder of the play will focus on the tragic consequences of the first two acts.
