In Chapter 16 of HMC there is a vivid and exciting set-piece in which Howl and the Witch of the Waste engage in a full-out no-holds-barred magical duel that in its violence and power scares the daylights out of everybody for miles around. For reasons that we later learn, the two are so evenly matched it’s impossible to tell which fanged monstrous illusion is which, and at the end of it not even Howl is certain who won. [239]
The Witch of the Waste is not the only sorceress/witch against whom Howl’s powers are tested (I count six in all). From the moment he enters his castle on the 9th of May to find that Sophie has “bullied” Calcifer into letting her cook on him, the two of them lock horns, enter the crucible, and are pitted against — and for — one another for keeps. (Have I missed any clichéd metaphors?) Even funnier, neither of them can figure out what the hell is going on.
First off, Sophie recognizes Howl at once as the young man she saw on May Day. He seemed so kind and concerned then, even though she was mortified by his pity and her own panic. To think that if she’d gone off with him he might have made mincemeat of her! Not that she’s so far found any evidence in his castle of mincemeated young girls, despite getting some heavy-duty snooping in before breakfast.
Howl recognizes her too, though not with the same clarity with which she can see him. He’s a little less dandified than he was on May Day, but he’s made no radical change in either his appearance or his outfit.
Sophie, on the other hand, has been altered and aged by not one but two (per Calcifer on p. 44) heavy-duty spells. And she’s a powerful spell-caster herself, as we have seen from the results she got from talking to hats!
“Who on earth are you?” said Howl. “Where have I seen you before?”
“I am a total stranger,” Sophie lied firmly. [56]
A masterful line of dialogue, that — an absolute give-away that she’s NOT a total stranger, and yet it’s Sophie saying it, and whatever Sophie says, IS. It comes true. She’s just offered Howl a lame evasion and a confounding spell all in one helping. The irony meter in his brain must be over the red line. If he weren’t running for his life from the Witch of the Waste, he might be delighted and intrigued by it all. As it is, however…
As it is, Sophie is emphatic in her determination that he is NOT going to know that she is the girl he pitied on May Day. Are her thoughts powerful enough to cast Howl into further confusion, even if she hasn’t spoken this particular one aloud? Hearts and souls have nothing to do with it, she vows inwardly. He can eat my heart, he can steal my soul, he can go full-metal Bluebeard on me, but he is NOT going to know that I was that poor pitiful mouse of a girl. If only things had gone better on May Day! And yet, and yet, he’s turned out to be none other than Wizard Howl. It’s possible that Sophie is concealing from herself the very real heart-ache and crushing disappointment she must be feeling.
Because, you see, hearts and souls have got EVERYTHING to with it.
Ooooh, it never occurred to me that Sophie was disappointed on finding out the nice young man was Bluebeard-Howl! But it makes perfect sense. It’s happened to me. =P Some nice handsome guy in class sat down and made conversation with me, and I was girl-happy about it until he got going and filthy things started coming out of his mouth. It’s an awful moment to find out how ugly some people are inside, when you had hoped for better things from them.
It’s embarrassing, as well as crushing — I almost cried on the way home (and the whole time I was scolding myself for being so affected) — and we see later how embarrassed Sophie is to learn that she was wrong about Howl literally eating girls (the “aunts are terrible; they go for you with hatpits” conversation). How much more humiliating to learn that your crush is actually Jack the Ripper. So she’s disappointed, AND embarrassed. Of *course* she’d hide all that away before one could say Mad Hatter.
Who are the other witches Howl fights? There’s Miss Angorian… I’m trying to remember any others, but I loaned out my copy of HMC. ^^; Are they in the other two books, the sortaquels?
It’s been difficult watching my own child navigate the shoals of finding the right mate, so I feel ya, Triple! One day you both will find the right one — or else you won’t, but you’ll go on to have full and happy lives anyway. No matter how well things turn out, though, there’ll always be a few moments of wondering about and yearning after what was down the other fork in that road. But in the meantime the disappointment, the what-might-have-beens, can be so crushing. :(
My statement about Howl testing his powers against six powerful/magical women may be a bit hyperbolic, but I *have* been thinking pretty hard about this story for several years now, so I’m prepared to argue my case, for the last three in particular. :D Here they are: *drumroll*
1) The WotW
2) Miss Angorian
3) Sophie
4) Lettie
5) Mrs. Pentstemmon
6) Megan
Lettie, because she adamantly refuses to be one of the girls who heretofore have fallen for him. Her stubbornness moves the plot along, but it frustrates Howl, whose customary charm and glamor fall flat with her.
Mrs. Pentstemmon, because although she gives Howl her maternal love, her knowledge, and in the end her life, she still is helpless discover what has gone wrong with him, and, once she learns of it from Sophie, she is helpless to break what she considers the evil contract he has made.
Megan, because there are people like her walking around in broad daylight (every family, every workplace has got ’em) who with every word they utter cast a spell of innuendo and negativity over everyone they meet.
Heh, I’m close enough to my use by date that I make a point of not worrying about it anymore. Either it happens, or it doesn’t; as you said, I intend to have a worthwhile life either way. I’ve seen enough unions break apart on the rocks to know that “I do” doesn’t equal “we did” anyway…
I have to credit my Dad at this point for keeping me more or less grounded relationally. If it weren’t for him I would probably have been a teen mom and possibly suicide stat. So, any male who doesn’t measure up to him in some way is out; kids need a dad. Not to mention he scares most boys spitless. With reason, I guess; he’s been willing to use his wrench on things other than cars if his daughters were threatened. ^^ But he’s awfully nice to me.
Gack, Megan is the worst of the six, definitely. There’s whole books about dealing with people like her… my favorite is probably “Foolproofing Your Life” by Jan Silvious.
One last random thought: do you think Megan might be a kind of anti-Sophie, showing us in reverse why it was a good thing that Sophie got that boot out the hat shop door?
Presumably Megan had gifts similar (not necessarily identical) to Howl’s, which would parallel Sophie and her sisterss all being gifted (and Mrs. Fairfax comments that “it” often runs in families, though not always, IIRC). But it seems like she buried her talent, whatever it was, in the ground, since she can’t think of anything better to do with Howl than berate him for being talented enough to do what he pleases instead of being shackled to a proper 9-5.