Power vs powerlessness

• 'My ancient closeness to the manor' - ch 1


  • Thirsk has long-standing relationship with Kent
  • complex relationship with power - once to close to the Manor House (place of power/ authority) but now estranged to this
  • sense of having no real place in either ruling class or peasant class
  • internal conflict between loyalty to master Kent & to villagers
  • steps in & out of community
• ‘Master Kent may own the fields. His titles, muniments and deeds are witness to the truth of that... But what are documents and deeds when there are harvests to be gathered in?’ - ch 2

  • kent has deeds to property - rights to own it
  • deed is also an action - contrast in terms of privilege
  • kent never dirties his hand with deeds to harvest but owns deeds to the property - irony
• ‘No, our ancient understanding is that, though we are only the oxen to his halter, it is allowed for us to be possessive of this ground and the common rights that are attached to it despite our lack of muniments’ - ch 2 


  • contrast with ancient understanding that makes them possessive of land - they have an emotional attachment to the land & Kent's deeds & muniments that allow him to own the land
  • kent controls them
• 'they surveyed her, hoof, horn and tail' - ch 2 


  • objectifying mistress beldam
  • power dynamics of men & women - men have power whilst women are powerless
• 'The local were like land - fenced in, assigned and spoken for' but mistress beldam 'like any pigeon, any hare, she was fair game' - ch 2 


  • contrast between women who are freehold land (possessed by father/ husband) and mistress beldam who is a women in common ground
  • she is reduced to a level of prey
• 'we are at His fingertips. He touches us, but only just' 'You never find Him planting crops for us..... we have to suffer from His fleas and gnats and pests'- ch 3 


  • they feel abandoned by God
  • sense that God does nothing to help them and Kent ('god' of manor) does nothing - it is up to them to save themselves
  • God has created a world in which they suffer yet they don't see God standing next to them working - protest against authority and powers of people over the peasants
• 'that shaven, blacked-haired women is behind it all' - ch 9 


  • present her as sinister, almost supernatural force - echoes historical associations of women who defy norms with witchcraft
  • language is deliberately othering - visually distinct
  • misogyny works in hand with scapegoating - woman presents female autonomy & power that challenges patriarchal order - need to punish
• 'We're the majority, they protest' 'Dissent is never counted; it is weighed. The master always weighs the most' - ch 9


  • the villagers fix a petition to the church in attempt to oppose Jordan's plans, thinking their collective voice might hold sway but Thirsk's reflection undercuts that hope w brutal realism
  • they do not live in a democracy, majority does not matter - power is measured by whose voice carries the most weight - real power lies with those who control land & law
  • in terms of power they only have numbers & this is powerless numbers mean nothing without influence
  • what the master wants to happen will happen
• 'I hear there is witchery about' 'He said we'd better go away and start collecting faggots for their fire' - ch 10


  • John Carr tells Thirsk what happened with the women
  • shows they are willing to burn a witch - women in Manor House are at risk of being burned alive
  • powerless women being burned alive - reflects vulnerability of 'witches' in society - women vulnerable to being blamed for anything that goes wrong
• 'We should not mention them again' (witchcraft accusations) - ch 12 


  • makes it clear that accusation was merely used for control & justification for assault on women
• Thirsk becomes 'new master's ears and eyes' - ch 12 


  • no longer part of village community
  • co-opted into system of authority
• 'the prisoners come out, in a line, and tied at wrist and waist' 'they are not the women I have known' - ch 13


  • physically bound reflects forced submission & domination by Jordan's authority
  • emotionally, psychologically transformed by violence
  • oppressive power crushes resistance by breaking people down physically & emotionally, leaving them vulnerable & isolated - warning to others about defying power - reinforces Jordan's total control over village
  • helplessness reflects consequences of new regime & how it destroys individual dignity & identity
• 'Lizzie Carr is not the girl. She still wears her green sash, surprisingly. She has it tied round her throat. It’s dirty now, I see, and torn' - ch 13


  • green sash, a symbol of hope & renewal, now evokes constraint & restriction
  • trauma has shattered previous identity - remnants of past have become twisted & oppressive rather than celebratory - sense of complete loss of hopeful future
• 'There's no one else can help you now' 'I am the master of the keys' - ch 14 (pg 218)


  • offers to free Mr B but does it in a degrading manner
  • shift in power dynamics - key & sword = symbols of authority - Thirsk, once passive, now exerts control over others - arrogant with new power
  • although he offers to free Mr B, he does so in a degrading, almost mocking manner - man has suffered at hands of Thirsk's complicity yet Thirsk teases & intimidates him
  • offers liberation for man, releasing him & inviting him to plough land - however, motives seem less interested in justice & more by self-interest, needing labour to complete his act of rebellion
  • still feels no remorse for man's suffering - failure to acknowledge violence & injustice he has been part of