REWRITING THE WITCH IN CARYL CHURCHILL’S VINEGAR TOM: A GENDER AND POWER ANALYSIS

Abstract

This article discusses the way in which Churchill rewrites the witch who is traditionally connected to power of females and threat to male domination by throwing up the patriarchal narratives that dwell on the values of repression, fear and male control of society According to this article, the traditional depictions of women, gender roles and control dynamics are deconstructed in this body of work when the author Caryl Churchill presents a play Vinegar Tom (1976), which was especially relevant in terms of the exploitation of witchcraft in historical contexts.. Using the critical gender and power critical approach, the study explores how the play depicts the women whose witchcraft was accused, associating their oppression with the wider social, economic and patriarchal systems. The application of the feminist theory, post structuralist thought, and the politics of power forms a crucial element in the study as the symbolic expression of witchcraft in vinegar tom is used as the weapon to attack society. The present article fits into the discourse of gender, power, and women marginalization considering Vinegar Tom as a piece of subversiveness that depicts the redefinition of the witch as the symbol of defiance to male control rather than solely an isolated evil character.