Gender norms according to witches : A survey of witches in three novels from the 1840s

This essay examines literary witches in three Swedish novels from the 1840s, with the purpose to show how these witches deviate from the gender norms existing in the Swedish society during this time. The novels analysed are I Dalarna by Fredrika Bremer, Hundrade minnen från Österbotten by Sara Wacklin and Tre fruar från Småland by Carl Jonas Love Almqvist. These contemporary novels depict the everyday life of characters where witches and magicians participate in different ways. The survey focuses on the inner and outer qualities of the witch-characters and discusses these in relation to the Swedish social norms regarding looks and way of living. To help with this, the study is inspired by a theoretical point created by Johanna McElwee’s research of American witch-literature and Sara Backman Prytz’s research of gender stereotypes. With these two, a witch-stereotype is created, where witches in the literature are stereotyped as ugly, old, uneducated, and evil. This theory is discussed together with the material which this survey analyses, and the results show that the witches in this literature does not fully confirm the stereotype McElwee has found, yet they differ from the contemporary gender norms.