Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother?: Mothers and Witches in Harry Potter

Author

Mary-Eileen Rankin Rankin, University of Mississippi. Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors CollegeFollow

Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

English

First Advisor

Mary Hayes

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This thesis aims to analyze the importance of maternal nurture and the witches as mothers trope in the Harry Potter series. This nurture is traditional as well as perverse and appears in characters besides the adult women. Rowling creates characters who appeal to paradigms of the Early Modern bad mother witch who harmed children among other accusations associated with female sexuality and motherhood. Additionally, Rowling challenges the negative stereotype of associating witches and bad mothering by presenting witches as good mothers. The power of maternal nurture in the series is best seen through the good mothers. This theme plays such a significant role that it even presents itself in non-mothers like men and children.

Recommended Citation

Rankin, Mary-Eileen Rankin, "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother?: Mothers and Witches in Harry Potter" (2015). Honors Theses. 667.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/667

Accessibility Status

Searchable text