Matilda is a Marvel
Did you watch Marvel’s new episodic installment - Agatha All Along?
Did you notice that Teen has a picture of Matilda Joslyn Gage tacked up to his desk?
Matilda had quite a bit to say about witches in her book: Woman, Church and State:
"Witchcraft was regarded as a sin almost confined to women. The Witch Hammer [Malleus Maleficarum - written by German Catholic clergy Heinrich Kramer in 1486] declared that the very word femina meant one wanting in faith. A wizard was rare; one writer declaring that to every hundred witches but one wizard was found. In the time of of Louis XV this difference was greatly increased; to one wizard 10,000 witchs; another writer asserted there were 100,000 witches in France alone. No class or condition of women escaped; we read of young children, old people, infants, witches of fifteen years, and two ‘infernally beautiful’ of seventeen years. One of the peculiarities of witchcraft accusations, was that protestations of innocence, and a submission to ordeals such as had always vindicated those taking part in them if passing through unharmed, did NOT clear a woman charged with witchcraft, who was then accused with having recieved direct help from Satan.”
Matilda continues: “Whatever the pretext made for witchcraft persecution we have abundant proof that the so-called witch was among the most profoundly scientific persons of the age. Ignorance and the anathemas of the church against knowledge to be gained through an investigation of the more abstruse laws of nature, have invested the word magic with terror. But magic simply means knowledge of the effect of certain natural causes, according to Bacon and other philosophers; consequences resulting from control of the invisible powers of nature, such as are shown in the electrical appliances of the day, which a few centuries since would have been termed witchcraft.”
We wondered how the director and set designers chose that image to put in Teen’s room and they let us know how this happened!
John Collins responded to our email with the following explanation:
”My set decorator, Monica Monserrate, and our producer, Mary Livanos, and I all compiled a list of strong women AND Wizard of Oz references to sprinkle throughout Billy's bedroom, and it so happened that Matilda checked both of those boxes! It's nice that several people have picked up on these references in his bedroom as we spent a great deal of time layering in so many key people, places, and events, only a small portion of which were captured on camera.”
We certainly enjoyed the series. What did you think?
Want to read more of Matilda’s writings?
Copies of Woman, Church and State as well as shorter booklets are available in our SHOP.
