Witches and Women in Genre


For this week I read Howl's moving castle by Diana Wynne Jones. It was a fun read and overall I liked the concept of it and the character building. The novel was definitely darker than the movie which I really liked. The main antagonist of this book is the Witch of the Waste, an old hag whose very self absorbed and wicked. Her actions don't follow any moral compass as she acts in very vindictive ways. Similar to Howl, the witch's power comes from a fire demon that consumes her heart and leaves nothing good in her. Although Howl has a softer heart and can be saved from being consumed, the witch's heart must've have not been as strong or kind to begin with. Stereotypically witches are shown to be evil and usually old and ugly. Howl's moving castle follows a similar trope. I personally like witches but I'm not a big fan of the same type of witch that's constantly being reused. It'd be more refreshing to see something that breaks that mold. Hopefully we get to see more stories with warlocks, am I right?  Where are the male witches at??

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