Double Toil and Gender Trouble? Performativity and Femininity in the Cauldron of Esotericism Research
New Approaches to the Study of Esotericism December 3, 2020 M. White
“Double, double toil and trouble; / Fire burn and cauldron bubble.” Thus chant the three potion-brewing witches ominously in Shakespeare’s Macbeth (4.1.10–38). The witch’s cauldron is a fitting starting point for an exploration of (Western) esotericism, gender, and femininity. Boiling and brewing, poisoning and stewing, have gendered connotations, evoking the labor of house chores—socially...