Revolting bodies : abjection and the monstrous feminine in The Witch

Drawing primarily on Julia Kristeva's theory of "the abject", as well as Barbara Creed's novel The Monstrous Feminine, this paper serves as an exploration of the various functions of the female body in the horror genre—specifically, in the context of Robert Eggers' 2015 horror film, The Witch. Through an examination of pyschosexual and socio-historical constructions of the female body as 'other', in conversation with several key themes, scenes and characters from The Witch, I attempt to illustrate many of the complex connections between horror and the female body/female sexuality.