Betty
Betty’s lack of desire to marry or perform womanly duties results in an accusation of witchcraft, explicating the ways in which women suffer due to societal expectations. Betty is bled by the village doctor in scene six, a process believed to reveal witches, which Vinegar Tom’s production note advises “is one of humiliation rather than torture and Pack is an efficient professional, not a sadistic manic” (134). Later, Betty visits Ellen’s cottage, where she laments, “I don’t know what I’m here for. I’ve had so much treatment already. The doctor comes everyday” (156). Betty has sought out an alternative healer to the doctor who torments her everyday. She is not looking for treatment, she is simply looking for comfort. Churchill first shows the humiliation pricking inflicts upon Betty before revealing that it is horrifically a part of Betty’s everyday …show more content…
During a later visit, Ellen advises “You get married, Betty, that’s safest … Your best chance of being left alone is to marry a rich man, because it’s part of his honour to have a wife who does nothing” (169). Ellen knows that Betty cannot succeed alone as a poor woman but a position as a trophy wife will afford her all the alone time she needs. Ultimately, Betty is rehabilitated after allowing herself to be convinced that her unwillingness to wed and perform wifely duties is due to bewitchment (Basourakos 281). Of the five women accused of witchcraft in Vinegar Tom, Betty is the only survivor. This implies Betty took Ellen’s advice and recanted her anti-marriage sentiments. If she marries rich, she will be left alone but at the cost of doing the one thing she was determined not to do. This further explores the relationship between gender and poverty, exploring the coercion of women into marriages that effectively operate as financial
Betty’s lack of desire to marry or perform womanly duties results in an accusation of witchcraft, explicating the ways in which women suffer due to societal expectations. Betty is bled by the village doctor in scene six, a process believed to reveal witches, which Vinegar Tom’s production note advises “is one of humiliation rather than torture and Pack is an efficient professional, not a sadistic manic” (134). Later, Betty visits Ellen’s cottage, where she laments, “I don’t know what I’m here for. I’ve had so much treatment already. The doctor comes everyday” (156). Betty has sought out an alternative healer to the doctor who torments her everyday. She is not looking for treatment, she is simply looking for comfort. Churchill first shows the humiliation pricking inflicts upon Betty before revealing that it is horrifically a part of Betty’s everyday …show more content…
During a later visit, Ellen advises “You get married, Betty, that’s safest … Your best chance of being left alone is to marry a rich man, because it’s part of his honour to have a wife who does nothing” (169). Ellen knows that Betty cannot succeed alone as a poor woman but a position as a trophy wife will afford her all the alone time she needs. Ultimately, Betty is rehabilitated after allowing herself to be convinced that her unwillingness to wed and perform wifely duties is due to bewitchment (Basourakos 281). Of the five women accused of witchcraft in Vinegar Tom, Betty is the only survivor. This implies Betty took Ellen’s advice and recanted her anti-marriage sentiments. If she marries rich, she will be left alone but at the cost of doing the one thing she was determined not to do. This further explores the relationship between gender and poverty, exploring the coercion of women into marriages that effectively operate as financial