Analysis of the Late Lancashire Witches in the
light of the Lancashire Witches Trial of 1633.

Words: 1000

The main aim of this literary analysis
is to show that the play reveals the bias and miscarriage in judicial
procedures at the time (17th century England). You will have to link the literary
analysis with the historical context of the time, i.e., Lancashire Witches Trial of
1633 and the beliefs on witches in England at that time (17th century
England).

Throughout your analysis, you’ll need to make
links with the trial and how the authors interpreted the event in the play, as
the play clearly deals with the trial. 

INSTRUCTIONS

·       read the play (modern version). compulsory

Here is the
version you’ll have to work on:

Brome,
Richard, and Thomas Heywood. « The Late Lancashire Witches ». Richard Brome
Online,

https://www.dhi.ac.uk/brome/viewTranscripts.jsp?type=MOD&play=LW&act=1

·       Introduce the play

-authorship,
mention the main themes (see bibliography).

-summarize
the play (general summary and act-by-act summary).

-provide context: the Lancashire Witches Trial
of 1633 (see bibliography). Tell about the trial, the people involved, and how
the play illustrates these events.

·       Analyse the play

-highlight
the main themes and illustrate from relevant quotes from the play (see detailed
plan below).

-explain how this play is an illustration of
the social beliefs of its time (irrationality of the witch trials, human
tendency to scapegoat and persecute others in times of fear = mass hysteria).

-explore how this play combines elements of
dark comedy and tragedy to underscore its critique of the social and legal
systems of the time.

-for each
themes, analyse it with the text (the play) and theoretical research (about the
play) that I added in the bibliography. You have to use them
(compulsory).

N.B.:

Below, you’ll
find a detailed plan and bibliography that will guide your writing.

You’ll
find in boxes the main ideas that should appear in the analysis. The ideas
mentioned must be developed and illustrated with sources from the
bibliography/references.