Witches have become a popular figure in modern visual representations such as films, novels, graphic novels and television shows. Many of these sources take different approaches to the way they represent the witch figure. In some of these sources the witch figure is represented as an old lady who is very ugly and uses magic for evil purposes. While in others, the witch figure is represented as a young beautiful woman with sexual appeal that uses her magical powers for helpful purposes. The modern visual representations of witches are sometimes historically accurate, but other times the witch figures are imbued with characteristics that are relevant to the context in which they are being displayed. For example, in the television show Charmed the witch figures are young, beautiful sisters with sexual appeal who use their powers for beneficial purposes. This representation is not historically accurate, but rather it was influenced by the feminist movement that was prevalent during the time period that Charmed was airing on television. A modern source that displays the witch figure with historical accuracy is Roald Dahl’s The Witches. The witch figures present in this source are imbued with many characteristics that are seen in the historical representation of the witch. Therefore, this paper will examine Roald Dahl’s depiction of the witch figure, the suspected reasons behind his decision to portray witches in this way, and how this represents both the historical and modern-day portrayal of this character.
The general narrative of Roald Dahl’s The Witches centers around a young boy and his grandmother, and their encounters with witches. At the beginning of this story the young boy is living with his parents in England, but when his parents tragically die, the boy moves to Norway to live with his grandmother. While he is living with his grandmother, she regularly tells the boy tales of the actions and characteristics associated with witches. It is brought to the attention of the boy’s grandmother that his parents requested that the boy continue living in England, because that is where he had built a life. Therefore, the boy and his grandmother pack up her house in Norway and move back to England.
During summer vacation the boy and his grandmother had planned to have a holiday in Norway, but when she falls ill, they decide to vacation at a hotel close to home in Bournemouth instead. To cheer the boy up, his grandmother buys him pet mice. Once the hotel staff realize that the boy has mice, they forbid him from taking them out of the cage. The boy wants to train his mice, so he decides to hide behind a curtain in the hotel’s ballroom, away from the prying eyes of the hotel staff. While the boy is hiding behind this curtain a group of women enter the ballroom, locking the door behind them.
The boy discovers that these women are witches and he is witnessing their annual meeting. At this meeting the head witch, also known as the “Grand High Witch,” announces a plan to kill as many children as possible. Her plan is to turn children into mice using a potion called the “Formula 86 Delayed Action Mouse-Master.” As part of this plan, the head witch demanded that the other witches open chocolate shops across Europe, in the hopes of attracting many children. Inside these tainted chocolates would be the formula, specifically concocted to have a delayed reaction. The delayed effect of this formula would prevent the children from immediately turning into mice, which would bring suspicion on the women running the chocolate shops.
The young boy is behind the curtain listening to their vile plan. Eventually, he is spotted by the witches and they use their formula to transform him into a mouse. In his new mouse form, the boy goes back to his room to find his grandmother. His grandmother knows it is him, because the boy still possesses the ability to speak and communicate. Together they hatch a plan to steal a bottle of the formula and use it to turn the witches into mice. At dinner, the boy pours the formula over the food made for the witches. This causes mass chaos because there are suddenly many mice running around the dining room floor. The kitchen staff exterminate these mice, ultimately killing every witch present in England.[i]
This source was written by Roald Dahl. Roald Dahl was a British author who was born on September 13, 1916 and died on November 23, 1990.[ii] Dahl lost his father when he was only four years old.[iii] This massive change in his family dynamic at such a young age would have had a major impact on Dahl.[iv] Furthermore, he was sent away to boarding school at six years old.[v] All of a sudden his loving mother was replaced with a grotesque authoritarian figure that was now his primary caregiver.[vi] Many of Dahl’s novels including Matilda, James and the Giant Peach and The Witches feature a cruel, sadistic and bigoted female authority.[vii] Dahl’s experiences as a child make it not surprising that The Witches centers around a group of women with grotesque characteristics who happen to hate children.
The physical characteristics that are imbued on the witch figure present in Dahl’s source are stereotypical of the common witch. For instance, Dahl’s witch figures always women. In his writing, Dahl states that there is no such thing as a male witch and that real witches are always female.[viii] This gendered stereotype was very common in the historical representation of the witch figure. This stereotype regarding witches and witchcraft emerged in the fifteenth century.[ix] At this time, there existed a pronounced association of witchcraft with women rather than men.[x] The ideas surrounding women and witchcraft during this time were intensified by the Malleus Maleficarum, written by Heinrich Kramer. This document was written in 1486 and served as a witchcraft treatise in Europe during the Early Modern Period.[xi]
In this document, Kramer associates the crime of witchcraft specifically with women. He links witchcraft entirely to women because he believes that they are more fragile than men.[xii] Furthermore, Kramer states that women are naturally more impressionable than men and are therefore more susceptible to the influence of demonic spirits.[xiii] The stereotype of women witches is built on deep historical grounds, and strongly influenced by Kramer’s, Malleus Maleficarum. What this shows is that Dahl’s belief that witches can only be women is historically accurate.
An emotional characteristic that Dahl associated with the witch figure present in his source is a deep hatred for children. In his source, Dahl states that a real witch hates every child with a hatred that is stronger than any hatred one could possibly imagine.[xiv] The witch figure in this source was said to spend all her time plotting ways to get rid of children. The witches in this novel were seen to gain immense pleasure from killing children and they set a goal to kill one child per week.[xv] These witches were very devious. Their evil plan was designed to avoid detection so that they could use their magical powers to kill children and never get caught by the police. What made the witch figures described in this source even more dangerous was that they were said to look the same as any other women. Therefore, a child would not be able to tell that they were witches simply by their appearance. The devious nature of these witches, along with the fact that they targeted children, are characteristics that are associated with the historical representation of the witch figure.
In historical representations of the witch figure, it is not uncommon to see reference to killing and eating babies and children. In Europe during the Early Modern Period children were described as tragic victims of a witch’s evil acts.[xvi] Seeing children as victims of witchcraft was simple due to their youth, vulnerability and innocence.[xvii] These characteristics of children were in stark contrast to the characteristics of the typical historical witch figure.[xviii] Throughout the historical witch-hunts, accusations that a witch had caused the illness or death of a child were frequently made.[xix] As we know, infant mortality rates were extremely high in most parts of the world during this time period. This high infant mortality rate was also paired with a society that was not scientifically advanced. The cause of most illnesses, beyond the common cold, remained a mystery. Therefore, when children fell seriously ill or died, it was easier to blame the witch figure than to speculate about what really may have occurred. In Dahl’s source, there is a similar situation. The witches present in his novel kill children using their magical powers in a way that ensures they will not be caught. This would cause widespread panic and disbelief throughout society because many parents would be unaware of how their children died. Therefore, the hatred of children imbued on the witch figure present in Dahl’s source, and the actions that come along with this hatred, are characteristics that are historically accurate.
Dahl’s witch figures partake in an action that is characteristic of the historical witch figure, namely the making of potions. In Dahl’s novel the “Grand High Witch” concocts a potion that will turn children into mice. This potion is formulated to have a delayed reaction and to turn the children into mice the day after ingesting the potion while they are at school. If the children were turned into mice at school it would be the responsibility of the teachers to kill them, not the witches. This potion includes many typically vile ingredients and requires the witches to put a lot of time and effort into preparing it. Although this potion is not mixed in a cauldron, the action of concocting a potion is typical of the historical witch figure.
A primary source that was present in the year 1600 discusses the witches’ use of fine powders. This source was written by Del Rio and emphasizes the use of powders by witches to cause harm or death on their victims.[xx] These were very fine powders that witches would mix in food or drink, rub on a naked body or scatter over clothes.[xxi] Powders or potions made by witches were made to either kill their victims or to cause them harm or illness.[xxii] Although there is no mention of these powders turning a witch’s victim into a foreign entity, the simple act of making a powder with the intent of harming another individual is similar to the actions taken by the witches in Dahl’s source. Therefore, by partaking in the magical act of making potions, the witch figures present in Dahl’s source share similarities to the witch figure present throughout history.
The witch figure is becoming a popular character in many modern mediums such as movies, novels, graphic novels and television shows. Sometimes these figures are presented with historical accuracy, while other times the features imbued on these characters are shaped by the context in which they are created. In the case of Roald Dahl’s, The Witches, it is a source presented with historical accuracy. The gendered stereotype surrounding women and witchcraft was present in Dahl’s source and throughout history. These ideas were present in the fifteenth century and were intensified by the opinions presented in Heinrich Kramer’s document the Malleus Maleficarum. In this document Kramer emphasizes that only women can be witches because of their wicked nature and because they were feebler than men in both their minds and the bodies. The emotional characteristic present in Dahl’s writing regarding the killing of children was also historically accurate. Throughout many witchcraft treaties, there was a focus on witches stealing children away from their families and killing them. Finally, the actions partaken by the witches in Dahl’s modern representation of witches were again historically accurate. These actions included the making of potions, and the use of these potions on humans to cause harm. As seen in Del Rio’s source throughout the Early Modern Period in Europe, witches were accused of using potions to inflict harm on their victims. Since many of the characteristics imbued on the witch figure in Dahl’s source are present in the historical representation of witches, it can be said that this novel is presented with historical accuracy.
[i] Roald Dahl, The Witches (London: Jonathan Cape, 1983).
[ii] “Roald Dahl,” Biography.com, April 2, 2014, https://www.biography.com/writer/roald-dahl.
[iii] Eileen Donaldson, “Spell-Binding Dahl: Considering Roald Dahl’s Fantasy,” Children’s Literature Review 111, no. 1 (2006): 131.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Ibid, 132.
[vi] Ibid.
[vii] Ibid.
[viii] Dahl, 19.
[ix] Michael Bailey, “The Feminization of Magic and the Emerging Idea of the Female Witch in the Late Middle Ages,” Essays in Medieval Studies 19, no. 1 (2002): 120.
[x] Ibid.
[xi] Ibid.
[xii] Heinrich Kramer, Malleus Maleficarum (Speyer: 1486), 98.
[xiii] Kramer, 101.
[xiv] Dahl, 17.
[xv] Ibid.
[xvi] Julian Goodare, The European Witch Hunt (New York: Routledge, 2016), 292.
[xvii] Ibid.
[xviii] Ibid.
[xix] Goodare, 292.
[xx] Martin Del Rio, “The Maleficia of Witches 1600,” in The Witchcraft Sourcebook Second Edition, ed. Brian Levack (New York: Routledge, 2015), 99.
[xxi] Ibid.
[xxii] Ibid.
Writing Details
- Jennilee Slaney
- June 8, 2020
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This work by Jennilee Slaney is licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY Attribution 4.0 International License.- Tweet
