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Gender Dependencies in The Witches of Eastwick

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Gender Dependencies in The Witches of Eastwick

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Even though The Witches of Eastwick feature Witches and the Devil as its main characters, the main conflict of the movie lies in the conflicting suspension between the genders. The definitions of genders and gender-roles get discussed quiet often during the movie. During their first meeting, Alexandra, Suky, and Jane talk about how relieved they supposedly are, without husbands, only to rave and dream about what their perfect partner would look like. They purely define themselves after whom they are in love with or married to. This seems even more hypocritical, when almost all of the women immediately fall for the uninhibited Daryl Van Horn, and are clearly affected by him, even changing in personality and behaviourisms.
On the other side, even the Men can’t be without their women either, though expressing in dramatically different ways. The reporter Clyde Alden for example, murders his woman over how much she had changed and scared him. After doing the deed, he returned on his armchair and continued reading. Even Daryl Van Horn himself laments in his outrage in the church, how he wished there was a cure from women, after his unsuccessful attempts on using the witches to bring life to his offspring. Though this anger could also be applied to one of his conversations with Suky, wherein he expressed how he would love to give birth to children himself, potentially also deriving from a suppressed jealousy.

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It is rather easy to lose sight of some of the more subtle recurring symbols in Suspiria, that are hidden behind the ever-present use of colours. One such Symbol is that of Water.

During some of the key moments of the movie we can see how Water washes away the terrors that dwell within the dancing school. It is almost exclusively shown in scenes revolving around Suzy Banyon. The first instance being, of course, the heavy rain on her arrival. During her way to the dancing school, there are also fast cuts on flood gates and a storm drain. Generally the instances where water is shown have in common, that the water is always moving, showing a certain pull or current that cannot be halted.

The importance of Water gets reiterated multiple times within her room in the dancing school, either in the bathroom sink or the toilet, always quiet literally flushing away what restrained Suzy (when she flushes away the bland food she got served for example). The symbols on the Windows and Doors of her dorm room also depict a shape that resembles a Water fountain.

The heavy rain, meanwhile, that returns after the climax, while the school is burning down, represents the beginning of the end and the ultimate end of the witches. This way Suzy can also be seen as the initiator of the witches’ demise and the impersonator of the cleansing rainstorm.

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Rosemary’s Baby and the Absence of Magic

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Rosemary’s Baby and the Absence of Magic

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Of course there are many elements of supernatural powers and entities of that kind mentioned all throughout Rosemary’s Baby. And yet, even though they are essential for the plot, the use of magic itself is happening out of view - Behind the bedroom wall, off-screen, or in Rosemary’s dream. Even Adrian, the Anti-Christ, can only bei heard crying, he cannot be seen and the only hint at his appearance can be derived from Rosemary’s shocked expression over her son’s eyes.

This serves a simple cinematic purpose. In movies we are used to see most of what the Characters perceive, perhaps even more. But by obscuring the magical elements, Viewers are incentivised to draw their own conclusions and Imagination to assume what’s happening behind the scenes or out of frame.

This is even used directly during Rosemary’s Nightmare, where the faces of the present satanists are lighted from behind in such a way, that their faces are cast in shadows. The audience can only roughly estimate their expressions, hence hightening their uncertainty, and – consequentally – their Horror.

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The Witch Jennifer's Femininity as a defining character trait

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The Witch Jennifer's Femininity as a defining character trait

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Jennifers seductions, first as a matter to ruin Wallace Wooly and later under the effects of her own love potion, make out most of her screen time. Correspondingly Wallace's attempts to hide her from his fiancée are also the source of most of the conflicts and comedy in the movie. This is accompanied by constantly highlighting her looks and her femininity, starting with her first encounter with Wallace Wooly, where he finds her naked in the fires of a burning building. Later on, she sneaks into his house and even into his bedroom, spending all night with him trying to seduce him. Wally, though trying to uphold his engagement, is clearly drawn towards her, less because of her endearing character traits, and moreso due to her appearance.

Interestingly, her own character motivations are almost always secondary, and she is acting on behalf of a male character almost consistently. First it is her father, later she is under the influence of a magic potion, that makes her fall in love with Wallace. So even after she cuts ties with Daniel, she is still not acting out of her own will and desires but is controlled by her artificial love towards a man. So her depicted of a witch is reduced to the seductiveness of the archetypal witch, while other elements (like brewing potions, flying on a broomstick and speaking evil curses) shift onto her father. Consequently this depiction is branded by its time and a mirror image of later iterations of feminist portrayals of witches.

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The visual discrepencies of the Witches of the West and North

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The visual discrepencies of the Witches of the West and North

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The Wizard Of Oz portrays the two major Witches as polar-opposites, both in framing and costume design. In the chosen scene, which is also shortly after the introduction of the Wicked Witch of the West, the two are directly contrasted. Whereas the Wicked Witch is more akin to a traditional understanding of witches (dark clothes, a broom, old and ugly), Glinda seems to be more like a Fairy than a Witch. She is wearing a glittering, brightly-colored ballgown and wields a Magic Wand with a star at its tip. She also wears a crown, that is both in color and shape the complete opposite of the tipped hat of the Wicked Witch. Whereas Glinda is standing up straight, the opposing witch has a hunched back and withered black hair. This scene also portrays a certain power dynamic, as the Witch of the North seems to be of larger statue than the Wicked Witch, and is supporting Dorothy from the back, similar to how she is keeping an eye on her during the movie. In Contrast, the Wicked Witch seems to stand lower than Glinda and her dark clothes, and her upward gaze hint at her more devious character.