Put On A Show

Behind The Poem:

This poem focuses on the torture that women accused of witchcraft faced and the root of why they were tortured, not for being magical but for being women.

When women accused of witchcraft were first imprisoned, they were stripped naked, shaved of all of their body hair and then searched for the devil’s mark. This involved witch pricking, the act of taking a long, sharp needle and pricking every mark, mole and imperfection until one was found that produced no pain and no blood. If this was found, it was a death sentence.

Other tortures the accused endured included thumb screws, the witches’ bridle, sleep deprivation, ‘waking the witch’ where ropes were tightened around an accused’s head to keep them awake; this often felt like their skull was going to crack, and starvation. All of this is happening in damp, dark, and unclean cells.