Charming Politics: Magic and Power in Medieval and Early Modern Texts

In this thesis, 1 look at three works: The Sorcery Trial of Alice Kyieler, an account written in 1324 by Bishop Ledrede about his time in Ireland; Dr. Faustus, a play by- Christopher Marlowe published in 1604 but first performed in 1592: and The Tempest, a play written by William Shakespeare in 1610. 1 am reading these works as literary texts, even The Sorcery Trial of Alice Kyieler because of how a literary representation can reveal information about the subconscious and can speak m code about a subject, where historical texts do so to a lesser extent. 1 explore the relationship beUveen power and magic in these works and how magic can serve as a trope for politics and political power. I also show, in addition to the political nature of the works, how magic becomes demysified. The authors\u27 portrayals of magic give readers a glimpse of how th^- view the world and use magic to comment upon it