Romanticism Bewitched

Reveals the remarkable flexibility and power of the Romantic-era witch as a symbol of political and social disorder.

From its recurring appearances in Gothic poetry and prose to the menacing images of Fuseli and Blake, Orianne Smith provides an interdisciplinary reimagining of the Romantic witch, shedding new light on the history of witchcraft and its influence on public discourse, literature and art.The Romantic-era witch was a remarkably flexible symbol of political and social disorder. The then-recent seventeenth-century witch hunts had already revealed deep anxieties about the subversive potential of women, and the witches who stalk the pages of Gothic poetry and prose or glare menacingly from works of art by Henry Fuseli and William Blake embody revolutionary anger and the possibility of radical social transformation. Despite the fears surrounding such figures, however, the Romantic period also saw witchcraft open up in conceptually new ways, enabling writers and artists to envision alternative means of interacting in the world that were not predicated on the subordination of women and other marginalized groups. Here, Orianne Smith embarks on an interdisciplinary reimagining of witchcraft, women's writing, religion, and social reform, providing original insights on the history of witchcraft and its influence on public discourse, literature and art.