'Fearing the Body of the Witch: Gerontophobia and Transphobia in Early Modern Drama'
This talk explores the phobic disgust and erotic fixation surrounding elderly witches in early modern drama, analysing their supernatural attempts to restore youth, reproduce, seduce young men, and commit sexual violence. It investigates the troubling gender ambiguity and predation with which playwrights characterise senescent bodies, and probes the historical overlap between transphobia and gerontophobia.
Date:
24 May 2022, 17:15
Venue:
T. S. Eliot Lecture Theatre
Venue Details:
Merton College
Speaker:
Dr Ezra Horbury (University of York)
Organisers:
Dr Katie Murphy,
Prof Lorna Hutson
Part of:
Early Modern English Literature Seminar
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Members of the University only
Editor:
Katy Terry
