Once seen as evil, supernatural beings to be feared and stigmatised, witches have been persecuted, tortured, put on trial and burned at the stake for centuries.
🧙♀️ So how have they shape-shifted from the grotesque and dangerous ‘weird sisters’ of Shakespeare’s Macbeth (AKA The Three Witches), into alluring femme fatales capable of seductive sorcery?
🕯️ And how are they now seen as beloved feminist role models in TV and film, like Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch?
✨ Grab your broom and join the V&A’s resident witch-experts Ruth and Lydia for a spellbinding flight through the history of witches and witchcraft in art and design. From Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty and Elphaba in 'Wicked! The Musical' and 'The Wizard of Oz', discover how witches have been reclaimed in the 20th century, and why now 💚 finally 💚 it’s a pretty good time to be a witch…
- 00:00 What is a witch? From scary woman to Hermione and Sabrina
- 00:30 What makes you a witch? Medieval superstitions
- 00:55 The first ever witches – Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches)
- 02:36 Ugly hags in medieval prints
- 04:31 Shakespeare’s Macbeth – The Weird Sisters
- 05:58 Fairytales and folklore – The Witches Frolic
- 07:01 The Wizard of Oz and suffragettes
- 07:29 Victorians, Femme fatales and the New Woman
- 08:50 Fashion and costume design
- 10:00 Sexy witches, broomsticks and erotic postcards
- 10:53 Feminist symbolism – witches in politics
- 12:03 The witch reclaimed – Wicked! The Musical
