Aunt Maria

First I had to do some research on stereotypes vs archetypes. My research lead to the answer that the difference is that the archetype uses the basic knowledge of the character type as a starting place, while stereotypes add nothing extra, using it as the end point. I would argue that the witches in Aunt Maria are archetypes. They are not stereotypes, they are not oversimplified. They don’t run around on brooms simply causing chaos.  They are more archetypes. In Aunt Maria the witches are never even called witches, they are just assumed to be so. They don’t seem to have any particular spells, but the only thing Aunt Maria is really seen getting up to is turning people into their “pure” animal form. In a sense that isn’t creating something from nothing. Is there a limit to her abilities? I didn’t get to the ending but in what I did get to read they didn’t go around creating potions in cauldrons or flying on brooms. When I think of witches my mind always goes to the Disney movie Hocus Pocus. I believe the witches in that movie could be the most common and influential portrayal of witches I can remember from my childhood. They fly around on brooms, are purely evil, and try to eat children so they can regain their youth. I realized that she also wrote The Tough Guide to Fantasyland which was an option for a few weeks ago which I took a peek at. There she really delves into the many stereotypes of fantasy. So I believe Diana Wynn Jones has a very strong understanding of character, and the good and bad that can come from stereotypes.

As for the way our culture models women with power, if you look directly at Aunt Maria who has most of the power, she put in the position of a witch. She is an evil woman who manipulates the men into submission and the women around her into a following. The classic witch coven so to speak. She doesn’t earn her power fairly, but manipulates the system to get it.