The Witch of Edmonton

Content Warning: This play includes physical violence, death by suicide, and period-typical misogyny, including slurs addressed against women. Characters display discriminatory attitudes based on age, appearance, and socioeconomic status.

A short couplet first introduces the themes of the play: murder, forced marriage, revenge, and the role of hell in revenge. Then, the main prologue describes how the town of Edmonton produced the material for onstage portrayals of both a devil and a witch. It then promises that the play includes humor as well as serious, thought-provoking material.

Frank Thorney, one of the play’s main characters, tells Winnifride, who is pregnant, that she no longer needs to worry about her and her child’s welfare since he has now married her. She will not face social condemnation for giving birth out of wedlock. However, he says that they must keep their marriage secret for the moment to protect Frank’s inheritance, as his father would not approve. So, Frank is sending Winnifride to live with an uncle five miles away. Winnifride says she is grateful for his honorable treatment of her, but she wants to see him more often than their arrangement easily allows.