Witches can be right
Before reading this entry consider that line for a good while. Something I've been trying to convey throughout this month is that witches are human. They are fallible and can make mistakes but we shouldn't always hold that against them. One of the biggest things that set witches apart from other monsters is that they're as I said human. Or at least appear human, this idea is heavily explored in the Stephen Sondheim musical Into The Woods, which is a mash-up of fairy-tales and adds deeper meaning to these characters and asks what comes after happily ever after. The show premiered on Broadway in 1987 with Bernadette Peters originating the role.
Other iconic actresses in the role include Mother Gothel's voice actress, Donna Murphy.
This is a little humorous as The Witch is based on the Witch character from the original Rapunzel fairy tale. However, the character of The Witch is a bit more complex and has more depth to her than one might expect. She may be considered the villain but antagonist is perhaps a more appropriate word and I'll explain this as we go along. In 2014, Disney released a film adaption of Sondheim's musical and Meryl Streep took on the iconic role. (Oh, I'll be doing something different and won't be giving the songs an individual section but attributing them to the sections that best suit the themes of this entry)
Meryl Streep
Streep is perhaps one of the more iconic actors that I've covered for this series as she's been acting since the '70s and I remembered reading that a lot of diehard fans of the musical weren't happy with this casting decision. Now, if I recall correctly, Streep up to this point in her career had only done other musical, the film adaption of the ABBA jukebox musical, Mamma Mia!. I believe Streep was stronger here as The Witch and that is important to highlight as while Woods is an ensemble piece, The Witch has to carry a lot of the musical as her actions are what trigger the events of the story. And while there have been better and more versatile ladies to play The Witch, for Rob Marshall's film adaption, Streep does a commendable job.
First Appearance
The Witch first appears during the 14-minute long prologue setting up all the characters. We first get a sense of her with a line from The Baker.
It's the witch from next door.
It's a small line but it sets up how the fairy tale villagers are afraid of The Witch because they don't know her and well, she's different. This is something I hope to explain more but the way the villagers treat The Witch harkens back to how those that were accused of witchcraft were treated when the trials were rampant. A perfect example of this is the play, The Witch of Edmonton.
In the village of Edmonton, Elizabeth Sawyer is derided by her neighbours. A poor and lonely old woman, she is ostracised, harassed and accused of being a witch.
The line that sells how The Witch had been shunned by how the villagers for me is how she describes what The Baker's Father did.
He was robbing me. Raping me
Obviously, when we see the word rape, our mind thinks of the horrific sexual action that people commit. And while The Baker's Father didn't sexually rape The Witch, she's not wrong if one looks at the other definition.
an act of plunder, violent seizure, or abuse; despoliation; violation
This idea speaks to how the character of The Witch was abused by those around her and as a result, was punished for their actions. This idea of The Witch being punished for others' actions and speaks to how complex and complicated all these characters in this story are.
Personality
Complicated and complex as I said is an apt way to describe this character. And this is what fascinates me the most about this particular character. She's not truly evil, she just fears the outside world.
...rather than being truly evil, simply distrusts people and the world in general and tries to keep Rapunzel sheltered from it
While the character of The Witch isn't truly evil per se, there is still a sense of frightening yet sympathetic. This is especially felt in her interactions with Rapunzel as she comes across as both a loving mother but also intimidating. This is perhaps best exemplified during the song, Stay with Me that she sings to her daughter.
There is a sense of commanding and heartbreak in this number. as she feels as though her heart has been betrayed by Rapunzel and guilts the young princess by calling herself old and ugly. The line that really sells the evil and terrifying side of her is this.
I gave you protection and yet you disobeyed me.
This here speaks to the frightening nature of this character but there is also a sense of sorrow in her as she views herself as Rapunzel's mother and is heartbroken when her daughter runs off.
This highlights a key aspect of this musical that is the parent/child relationship and The Witch perhaps displays it the best because while she did take Rapunzel away from The Baker's Father, she did truly love the girl and wanted to do everything in her power to keep Rapunzel safe. I know that I've been spending a lot of time on her relationship with Rapunzel here but that helps define The Witch's personality more than just saying that she's cold and vindictive. This is a character that cannot be boiled down that easily and I think by looking at her most important relationship, one can see why she's so fragile.
Motivation
You'll rightly note that I didn't use Grand Desire for this section and well, that's because it didn't feel right. There are multiple things that we have to consider here. The first being getting her youth and beauty back, which she does for a temporary while.
However, this only goes so far and is one of the more shallow elements of this character. Not saying being beautiful makes one shallow but there is more to her than that. There is a key point that the movie changes regarding The Witch and the second act. Spoilers for an old stage musical but...
Back in the enchanted kingdom, her madness sends her screaming and weeping through the woods, where she's eventually trampled to death by the Giant. And this all happens right in front of her mother.Removing Rapunzel's death cuts part of the emotional weight that this character should have as to The Witch, Rapunzel was her world and would do anything to protect her from the outside world. As we saw with the song, Stay with Me. Rapunzel's death when handled well can help to highlight the idea of hopelessness that The Witch is facing and how she does become the cold realist when characters start dying left and right. Now Sondheim did write a new number that was ultimately cut for Streep's Witch that helps one to understand her hurt feelings when Rapunzel leaves with her Prince.
In the film, there's no madness, no babies, and most importantly no death
It includes a hint of the Witch's Lament. I like this number because it shows how The Witch is trying to dupe herself into believing that she didn't actually lose the one thing/person she cared about. Again, killing off Rapunzel would have had more weight but this works to show how sympathetic this character to say compared to a Mother Gothel. The Witch truly loves Rapunzel whereas Gothel put down the animated Rapunzel every chance she got with a line such as this.
Look in that mirror, I see a strong, confident, beautiful young lady. Oh look, you're here too
Her third goal is a sense of survival when The Giantess starts wreaking havoc throughout the village and can be felt with the opening line of Last Midnight.
Just give me the boy
The villagers defend Jack (aka the boy) from The Witch but I think for some context, we need to look at the song that leads directly into Last Midnight
I remember when I first saw the movie, I talked with my mom about who was truly at fault. And well, I think that's the wrong message to take from this story as everyone is seemingly at fault for the actions that have transpired here.
Demise
The Witch's demise or death if you wish to call it that is a bit weird. But the words that she goes out on are a bit scathing and I love it.
The Witch here gives it to the villagers and in many regards, I look at some of the lyrics and it feels like the women that were accused of being witches channeling their anger into this character as a vessel to lash out at those that wronged them. Look at this whole section here.
This is where we see The Witch being fed up and just tired of the blame game, which is perfect but the line that really sells the anger of The Witch and that works as the vessel that I was talking about can be seen here.
No, of course, what really matters is the blameSomeone you can blameFine, if that's the thing you enjoyPlacing the blameIf that's the aimGive me the blame
You're all liars and thieves
It's hard for me to not look at this line and think of how someone like Abigail Williams wrongly had so many killed because of her lies.
I cannot one hundred percent say for certain that was Sondheim and James Lapine were going for when writing for this particular character but it's hard for my brain to not think of this. This brings us to a larger point that I didn't know where to fit it. Quite a few of the characters in this musical are both victims and the cause of someone else's pain. This is very much true with The Witch, we've already she's a victim because of what The Baker's Father did all those years ago, even if it was well-intentioned for his wife. Whereas she took their daughter in exchange because of what he did. I apologize if this seems rambly but I do have a point here, it's something that I feel is key to bring up and works the best with this character.
The people that were accused of witchcraft were essentially victims of bullying and groupthink. If society had dubbed someone a woman, they would be ostracized and tortured in unspeakable ways Taking us back to the play, The Witch of Edmonton, one can compare the "Your all liars and thieves." to this particular line from the character of Elizabeth Sawyer.
Throw all their scandalous malice upon me?
Both of these lines, I feel can be looked at to show two witches that are fed up with the world around them and in the case of The Witch. And this is why she basically takes herself out of the picture and leaves the villagers on their own to deal with The Giantess on their own.
Is The Witch a Good Villain?
Let's return to the lyric I opened this entry with.
Witches can be right
Which brings us to another question, is The Witch a Villain? Well, it's complicated as she does horrible things that trigger the events of the first act of the musical but she is just as much a victim as anyone else in this story. Yes, she's antagonistic but...
.
It almost feels like calling her a villain would be selling her short. Yes, this is called Villains Profile and I know this may seem like it's defeating the whole purpose of covering her on Villains Profile but let me explain. When looking at someone at first glance and assuming they're a villain, we don't always see the human side of them. Yes, most other villains I've covered for this series have been explicitly evil (except maybe Varian) but The Witch is one of the more human characters that I've covered for this series. And again, she is antagonistic and can be villainous but there is more to her than that. Which makes her a great character and I guess that can make her a good villain because she's one that the audience can relate to and feel for. I hope that you've enjoyed this rather unique entry for this Halloween series. Peace!
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