He often also positions adults and adulthood as the antagonist(s) in the books, and The Witches is no different. Children and childhoodĭahl seems to enjoy writing books both for children and about children, as evidenced by his many successful books that have children as the protagonists. Jenkins, who hardly says anything even when told that her son has become a mouse-or incredibly fearful and shrill, like the many women who scream and yell whenever a mouse appears. Women are generally portrayed as either quiet-like Mrs.

The witch tries to lure him down from the tree by showing him a snake, much like the story of the garden of Eden, again making women seem dangerous, evil, and sinful.įurthermore, normal human women are shown throughout the book, especially during the boy and Grandmother's stay at the hotel. Dahl also uses an allusion to Eve and the garden of Eden during the boy's first encounter with a witch. The issue of gender in the story goes beyond witches. Others feared the presentation of the witches promoted a rebellion against all adults, not only females' (Oliver). Many adults, fearing the perpetuation of sexist order, protested The Witches. The Witches was published in 1983 when second-wave feminism was robust and prosperous, fighting issues of unofficial inequalities and sexist structures. Even though males are ghouls, they are not half as evil as the female witch however, such strong reactions against the female-only witches were due to the time of release. In 'Boil, Boil, Toil and Trouble: a critical look at the controversy over The Witches, Elizabeth Oliver analyzes early reactions to Dahl's novel, writing of the above quote, 'This statement does split the sexes, and provides readers with the viewpoint of evil only inhabiting the female sex. But neither of them is half as dangerous as a REAL WITCH' (3). On the other hand, a ghoul is always a male. But the fact remains that all witches are women. 'I do not wish to speak badly about women. Most of the criticism the book has received on the topic is due to Dahl's definition of witches as women. Gender is an incredibly important aspect of The Witches, and has led to continued criticism of Dahl and of the work, despite its popularity and success as a children's book.

The witches of roald dahl