The Power of the scream and the release of female rage

the aesthetics of the monstrous and the grotesque in Everybody Scream by Florence + The Machine

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34019/2237-6151.2025.v22.50675

Keywords:

Witchcraft, Femininity, Grotesque and monstrous, Exorcism

Abstract

The article proposes a symbolic and aesthetic reading of the music video Everybody Scream, by the English band Florence + The Machine, as a representation of the creative and liberating power of the feminine. Drawing on the concepts of the monstrous (Cohen, 1996), abjection (Kristeva, 1982; Creed, 2024), and the grotesque (Russo, 1995), the analysis investigates how the work subverts the historical imaginary of the demonization of women associated with witchcraft, transforming the once-exorcised body into the one who performs the exorcism. Directed by Autumn de Wilde, the video evokes symbols and archetypes of witchcraft and Puritan religiosity, constructing a narrative in which femininity is exalted as an ancestral and untamable force. The approach combines symbolic interpretation with a historical-discursive perspective to understand how the aesthetics of the grotesque, trance, and ritual performativity become instruments for re-signifying the sacred feminine in contemporary culture. Thus, Everybody Scream revisits the persecutory past of the witch figure and reconfigures it into a rite of liberation: the body that was once silenced becomes voice, presence, and power, transforming pain and stigma into creative and spiritual force.

Keywords: Witchcraft; Femininity; Grotesque and monstrous; Exorcism.

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Author Biography

Anna Flávia de Almeida Figueiredo, Universidade Metodista de São Paulo

Mestranda em Ciências da Religião pela Universidade Metodista de São Paulo (UMESP), onde desenvolve pesquisas com o apoio da CAPES. Graduada em Teologia pela UMESP (2023), é licencianda em História pelo Centro Universitário UNA. Integra o Grupo de Pesquisa Rastros Memórias e Tradições Cristãs e Judaicas, registrado no CNPq. Seus estudos concentram-se nas interseções entre religião e literatura no mundo bíblico, com ênfase em linguagens religiosas, ciência da religião, religião comparada e egiptologia. Sua trajetória acadêmica inclui experiência nas áreas de ciência da religião, teologia e história, explorando temas que envolvem tradição, memória e manifestações religiosas ao longo do tempo.

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Published

2026-02-21

How to Cite

DE ALMEIDA FIGUEIREDO, A. F. The Power of the scream and the release of female rage: the aesthetics of the monstrous and the grotesque in Everybody Scream by Florence + The Machine . Sacrilegens , [S. l.], v. 22, n. 3, p. 58–79, 2026. DOI: 10.34019/2237-6151.2025.v22.50675. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ufjf.br/index.php/sacrilegens/article/view/50675. Acesso em: 24 feb. 2026.

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 3 (2025): Religião e estética: experiência, imagem e linguagem

Section

Dossiê: Religião e estética: experiência, imagem e linguagem

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Copyright (c) 1970 Anna Flávia de Almeida Figueiredo

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons License Sacrilegens is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.