The Witches: The Roald Dahl Controversy

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    Written in 1983, The Witches is a children’s novel written by British author and acclaimed "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century," Roald Dahl. Targeted at children aged 7-10, the novel is rather dark and dense. Set in Norway and England, the story follows an unnamed seven-year-old English boy, who goes to live with his Norwegian grandmother after his parents are killed in a car accident. Here, he learns of the child-hating societies of witches that secretly exist in every country. The witches are ruled by the vicious and powerful Grand High Witch, who arrives in England to organize her plan to turn all of the children there into mice.

The Witches Original Publication Cover

    The novel was inspired by Dahl's own childhood and his Norwegian heritage. It received a Whitbread Award upon publication and praise for Quentin Blake's sinister illustrations. The Witches still remains one of Dahl's most popular titles. In 2012, it ranked #81 on a list of all-time best children's novels, and the sinister Grand High Witch character was even featured on a Royal Mail stamp. The book continues to capture imaginations with its vivid characters and themes of good vs evil.

    However, The Witches also garnered controversy for its frightening content and alleged misogynistic depictions of witches. Feminist critics accused Dahl of promoting negative stereotypes about women, leading to bans by some libraries. In 2023, following Dahl's death in 1990, the book sparked an intense debate when publisher Puffin Books, a division of Penguin Books, announced its plans to rewrite portions of the novel to remove these potentially offensive references. For instance, the 2023 rewrite removed many insulting references to women's appearances, such as descriptions like pimply, filthy, hag, and fat. This censorship was praised and attacked by critics around the world. 

The Witches 2023 Puffin Books Cover

    Over the years, The Witches has been adapted into two major film versions. The first was a 1990 film directed by Nicolas Roeg and starring Anjelica Huston, which Roald Dahl himself strongly disliked for differing too much from his original story. In 2020, Robert Zemeckis directed another remake featuring Anne Hathaway as the Grand High Witch. This version aimed to stay more faithful to the book’s unsettling ending. More than 30 years after publication, Dahl's grotesque vision of secret witch covens still elicits strong reactions. Regardless of controversies past and present, the novel remains a macabre fantasy classic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Witches_(novel)).