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Howl’s Moving Castle as New Mythology
Many scholars have referred to Howl’s Moving Castle as New Mythology. New Mythology is largely defined by the emergence of a new heroic archetype that transcends old cultural contexts and confronts them with modern ideals. Proponents of classifying Howl's Moving Castle as New Mythology present Sophie Hatter as one such heroine who follows this archetype. While Howl’s Moving Castle builds on its successor myths such as Cupid and Psyche, Cinderella, Bluebeard, and Beauty and the Beast, it often subverts many of the tropes within them. For example, in the first few lines of the novel Jones situates Sophie’s position in mythology as being born the eldest of three and is doomed to “fail first”. This contrasts with the sisters of Cupid and Psyche, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast where the youngest prevails in each tale. An additional characteristic of New Mythology that is also present in Howl's Moving Castle is its proximity to the real world. Jones often depicts this by using heterotopia as a feature within her stories. One such example is the door in the castle opens to what is eventually recognized as Wales. This gives the opportunity for characters within the story to view our world from an outsiders perspective.

Inversion of the Crone Archetype

Traditionally, the binary typology of the characters in fairy tales is strictly based on representations of good and evil. In Howl’s Moving Castle, both Howl and Sophie’s distinction between being good or evil is often blurred. This is exemplified in Jones reversing the roles of ‘Beauty’ and ‘Beast’ within the novel by depicting Howl as young and handsome, while having Sophie be cursed and transformed into an old crone. Representations of the witch or crone in western European mythology have been stereotypically negative as they are often depicted as ugly and malevolent. Sophie at one point in the story is even misidentified as villain, The Witch of the Waste. In having Sophie take on the role of an old crone, she is freed from several traditional myth archetypes such as maiden, wife, or mother. Many moments in the novel highlight Sophie’s newfound freedom in old age. One such example noting she would have been “shriveled with embarrassment” at her actions if she were still a young girl. Rather, it is the loss of her girlhood that empowers Sophie to recover her own agency and start her heroine’s journey. Unlike stories of the past, Howl’s Moving Castle presents the role of witch/crone in a heroic light. Though Sophie breaks her curse and returns to normal, the power and insight she has gained throughout the story remains with her.