Is Hester Swane, the protagonist from By the Bog of Cats by Marina Carr, a witch?

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                                                                                           Monika Glegoła

Is Hester Swane, the protagonist from By the Bog of Cats by Marina Carr, a witch?

‘ Witch – a woman thought to have evil magic powers; a follower or practicioner of witchcraft; Wiccan priestess; a girl or a woman capable of enchanting or bewitching a man’

                                                                ( The New Oxford Dictionary

                                                                        of English ).

        Literature has always been occupied with the subject matter concerning witches and witchcraft. Early and contemporary literature have established similar definitions of a witch although the witch herself was portrayed a little bit different. The subject of a witch has always attracted people as it brings uncertainty, suspension, curiosity and interest for the unknown. It reveals the relation between something natural, human and the undiscovered, not understood in its nature. A witch is a person perceived as being similar to christian God and its power, though witchcraft is a pagan ‘religion’. She is capable of controlling others, making them behave as she wants and, furthermore, capable of making things happen according to her will. Thus, witches have become the subject of fear as the unknown but at the same time they have established a major interest reflected mostly in literature. Through legends, myths, documents of fact and literature of fiction, the reader is allowed to gain the knowledge about witches’ nature  and culture and to enter their world. However, the question still remains : is every woman perceived as a witch is indeed one?

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        The drama written by Marina Carr entitled By the Bog of Cats presents the character of Hester Swane and her fateful attempt to reclaim her lover, her child and her home. Left for a woman of greater means, the dangerous and hypnotic Hester, perceived by the village society as a witch, finds herself on a collision course with a terrible decision, one that will leave no one’s life unscarred.The play offers a mournful folk tale about a small village in the Irish midlands, near a swamp called the Bog of Cats. Hester Swane, one of a Gypsylike people, has defied her ...

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