The Three Eastwick Witches:
Alexandra Spofford:
In the novel, while all three women have children, Alexandra is most often described as the mother and uniting force of the group. She is the character who both of the women look towards for guidance however, towards the end of the novel both Sukie and Jane seem to have lost this connection towards Alexandra, as if like children they have outgrown their parents guidance, we learn towards the end of the novel, that "more and more, Alexandra has the sensation that Jane and Sukie talked then one or the other called her out of duty." (331) Besides Jane and Sukie, while in some ways sexual,Alexandra's relationship with Jennifer becomes a motherly one as well. When scared and in dire need for rescue, it is Alexandra who Jennifer calls. Unlike Jane who becomes increasingly spiteful and cruel throughout the novel, Alexandra becomes more and more worried as she notices these fluctuations in character between her friends and herself, and their relationship with Daryl Van Horne and Jennifer when she comes on the scene. Alexandra consistently is the one who is the most cautious towards using magic to harm others. In one example Alexandra makes a comment about Felicia Gabriel, the wife of Sukie's lover Clyde Gabriel, meaning no harm, Jane however, takes it literally.
"oh that awful wife," Alexandra exclaimed. "She should be put out of her misery." She was scarcely minding what she was saying, for to tease Coal, she had put the writhing spoon on the floor... "Lets do it," Jane Smart briskly replied. Distracted by this new wickedness in Jane, and a bit frightened by it Alexandra let the spoon unbend; it dropped its head and clattered flat on the linoleum. "Oh I don't think it's for us to do," she protested mildly."(138)
Jane Smart:
Jane Smart can be described by the music she plays. Like her music, she has the same " somber and undivertible pitch." Jane while seemingly a minor character compared to Alexandra, becomes darker and darker in nature. She becomes more malicious, and as the powers of the others weaken, she becomes stronger. While musically inclined and capable of playing several instruments, Jane is known for her love of the cello. " it's vibratory melancholy tones, pregnant with the sadness of wood grain and the shadowy largeness of trees, would at odd moonlit hours on warm nights come sweeping out of the screened windows of her low little ranch house." (21) Until the end, I did not read into the following line as if it held any meaning beside the obvious. " Jane was no Gardener, and the neglected tangle of rhododendron, hydrangea, arborvitae, barberry and box around her foundations helped muffle the out pour from her windows." Originally, I thought that this was meant only to show a contrast between the other witches, which it does. However, I think that it also can be inferred that Jane's character is not suitable to promote life. She lacks in the nurturing capabilities and compassion that come innately to a gardener.
Sukie Rougemont:
Out of the three characters, Sukie is understandably the most childlike. "Sukie was the most recently divorced and the youngest of the three"(24) Also while Alexandra, the sculptress, and Jane, the cellist, both clearly had artistic talent, "Sukie had nothing of what she could call an artistic talent but she loved social existence." (22) In addition to her sociability according to Alexandra, Sukie has the most beautiful figure. (According to today's social norms.) While she observed Sukie's conversation with Darryl Van Horne, " Alexandra experienced a wish to stroke that long flat stretch from the other woman's breasts to below her waist, the way one longs to dart out a hand to stroke the belly a cat on it's back elongates in stretching, the toes of its hind paws a-tremble in this moment of muscular ecstasy." (51)
