Sowing change through the elderly herbalist: The country of the pointed firs (1896) and Rosemary's baby (1968)

Cheyenne Alexis Corty
Wed, 22 Apr 2026 17:51:46 PDT

This thesis focuses on Sarah Orne Jewett and Roman Polanski's elderly herbalists as reactionary tropes to feminist movements in either era. Jewett creates elderly herbalist and town scholar, Almira Todd in Country of the Pointed Firs (1896), and Polanski personifies author Ira Levin's Satanist cult member Minnie Castevet (Ruth Gordon) in his film Rosemary's Baby (1969). Jewett's Almira Todd focuses on the positives and negatives inherent within her profession--holistic healer and town matriarch--placing her in the role of the benevolent herbalist. Polanski's Minnie Castevet, in contrast, presents a malevolent herbalist, one who seeks to harm the title character of the film. Both characters exist within the height of the feminist movements of either era and by being elderly herbalists, each character acts as a response or reaction to the movements via the trope.