The Witches

Though the boy and his grandma present witches as devilish villains that should be tracked down and terminated, some have a contrary perspective and argue that Dahl’s witches are empowering. The witches have an unmatched amount of authority. No one is more dangerous than them. They also possess style and intelligence. In “7 Feminist Lessons From ‘The Witches’,” Caroline Kepnes calls Dahl’s book “a hilarious, feminist commentary on women, work, and family.” She praises the Grand High Witch as a “brilliant scientist and marketing whiz” (Kepnes, Caroline. “7 Feminist Lessons From ‘The Witches’.” Bustle, 26 May 2016).

Others might view the witches as sexist. Dahl’s editor, Stephen Roxburgh, “was concerned about the portrayal of women.” Dahl replied: “The nicest person in the whole thing is a woman”—Grandmamma.” As Dahl also told Roxburgh: “I must keep reminding you that this is a book for children, and I don’t give a bugger what grown-ups think about it. This has always been my attitude” (Roxburgh, Stephen. “Gobsmacked! Memories of Editing ‘The Witches’.” Publishers Weekly, 13 July 2013). Dahl further complicates gender dynamics involving the witches by having Grandmamma tell the boy: “You don’t seem to understand that witches are not actually women at all” (32).

What bothers novelist and cultural critic Dara Horn about the story isn’t sexism but antisemitism. Connecting the witches to Dahl’s antisemitic comments, Horn sees the witches as perpetuating antisemitic tropes, like the bigoted belief that Jewish individuals infiltrate communities and corrupt them. Horn thinks the Grand High Witch speaks in a Yiddish accent—the language spoken in some Jewish communities (Horn, Dana. “Who Doesn’t Love Roald Dahl?“ Jewish Review of Books, Winter 2021).