國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
many of the former models he adopts: “when anyone today attempts to conjure up the image of a castle, it is the one in Sleeping Beauty that comes to mind,
supplanting and effacing all its prestigious ancestors” (Girveau 235). Disney’s castle impresses audience so much that modern people immediately connect a castle with fairy tales. A castle is thus turned into, arguably, a prerequisite of a fairy tale.
Disney extends the role of a castle from its traditional functions in reality to its symbolic meanings in the realm of fairy tale.
A castle as defense architecture in the past and symbolic background in the contemporary forms the rough outline for its development. Although the castle architecture seems to be developed to its extreme by Disney, it is still just a backdrop no matter where it appears.
II. The Fantastic Castle
In British culture, “A man’s house is his castle” (or “an Englishman’s home is his castle”), the English jurist Sir Edward Coke remarked in 1623:
the Englishman has right to defend his home against unlawful entry by the state, in an age when the royal will was often
enforced—illegally—by troops of soldiers who billeted themselves in private houses, demanding food, drink and shelter from the owners.
(Fry 12)
To Englishmen, a castle, referred to a man’s home, is to defend against outsiders.
Howl’s castle, however, displays a reversal of sorts to this remark. As David Rudd points out, “Howl’s castle seems impenetrable, but really it is permeable, welcoming anyone in need of shelter” (265). Sophie and Michael enter this castle when they are in dire need for help. Even though Howl’s house is his castle, the building does not function to turn away visitors. Rather, Howl’s castle is “overturned,” or “turned
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
inside-out” (Rudd 264). In what follows, I will focus on Jones’s Howl’s Moving Castle and Castle in the Air, in terms of the unconventional nature of Howl’s castle and its relation with the characters. I will also show how the parallel between the castle and each group of characters contributes to Jones’s play of language.
Jones’s reference to a fantastic castle in the title of both novels—Howl’s Moving Castle and Castle in the Air—points out the unconventional nature of Wizard Howl’s castle. A traditional castle would not move because it is built to defend its inhabitants, and immovability is the fundamental quality for this particular purpose. In addition to its military function, a castle was the center of administration, in which a feudal lord controlled the inhabitants in the surrounding areas. A
traditional castle’s immovability therefore ensures its lord to administer his people and shelter them during war times. To defend its inhabitants from attack, a castle should be impenetrable. The moving castle, however, is partially vulnerable:
although the castle is equipped with various functions to evade detection from the outside, it welcomes harmless people inside, especially those in hardship. Moving around constantly and appearing less defensive, Howl’s moving castle violates the nature and function of a traditional castle:
A tall black castle suddenly appeared on the hills above Market
Chipping, blowing clouds of black smoke from its four tall, thin turrets […] the castle did not stay in the same place. Sometimes it was a tall black smudge on the moors to the northwest, sometimes it reared above the rocks to the east, and sometimes it came right downhill to sit in the heather only just beyond the last farm to the north. You could see it actually moving sometimes, with smoke pouring out from the turrets in dirty gray gusts. (Jones 3)
A traditional castle symbolizes the owner’s superior status, his authority, and
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
power. The castle in fairy tales even embodies a dream coming true. However, Howl’s castle reflects the negative aspect of a medieval castle. As the feudal lords use their castles to imprison villagers and country people without trial, the castles were “loathed even more by the ordinary people to whom they represented terror and violence” (Fry 15). The terror resonates in Howl’s Moving Castle, the opening of which shows their fear the castle invokes from the town folks of Chipping.
Because of Howl’s wicked behavior to girls and his notorious reputation, the villagers regard the castle as equal as wicked Wizard Howl and call him
“bluebeard,” which registers the terror induced by the castle’s owner. While the castle moves around Chipping, people fear that it may “come right down into the valley before long, and the Mayor talked of sending to the King for help” (Jones 3).
The castle also frightens Sophie while it shoots out blue flames above the town on May Day (Jones 14). Howl’s castle therefore does not symbolize status, authority, or power. It is indeed nothing but the source of terror for the onlookers. Although it is revealed later that to Howl the acts, including moving and shooting flames, are meant to “impress everyone with my power and wickedness,” it is not the power associated with royal or aristocracy (Jones 59).
Howl’s castle not only appears unique in terms of its basic features and symbolic meaning, but it is also “built” unconventionally. It reflects and manifests the close connection between Howl and his fire demon Calcifer. A product of fantasy, Howl’s castle is created by magic rather than built (in a normal way). It is invented by Howl and Calcifer, who is responsible for keeping it working. This is how this castle differs from a typical fairytale castle. Controlled by Calcifer, Howl’s castle bears “human” features. It embodies Calcifer the character, who is responsible for its constant movement. Jones describes that the castle “sit[s] in the heather” or
“shed[s] anxious puffs of smoke from all four turrets” (Jones 3, 116). When Calcifer
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
is in danger, the castle stops moving. Therefore, Calcifer can be equated with the castle building: it is not merely a “castle” but a character who can express emotions or act like a living being.
Howl, the owner of the castle, has connections with Calcifer, which creates a complex triangular relationship between Howl, Calcifer, and the castle. The bond derives from Howl’s contract with Calcifer. Originally a shooting star, Calcifer agreed to a contract proposed by Howl: Howl gave Calcifer his heart to sustain its life. In return, Calcifer strengthens Howl’s magic power. Calcifer thus owns Howl’s heart, becoming part of him. We can even argue that Calcifer is Howl, as Calcifer knows everything Howl knows; no one understands Howl better than Calcifer.
Michael states once that Howl “goes by Calcifer” (Jones 76), who can detect the intention of whoever that wishes to enter the castle and determine whether to allow an entry or not. Once Calcifer lets somebody in, Howl accepts the visitor without suspecting him or her. Sophie thus recognizes that “only people who understood Calcifer were really welcome in Howl’s house,” as Sophie points out (Jones 266).
Take Michael as an example. Howl lets him indoor while he, as an orphan, can go nowhere and nobody wants him. He talked to Calcifer at that time and it was quite nice to him so that Michael thinks Howl was impressed by it so as to let him stay (Jones 132). Similarly, how Calcifer feels applies to Howl: when the antagonist Miss Angorian grips Calcifer, Howl also feels the pain and screams along with Calcifer (Jones 321).
Since Calcifer controls the castle, the castle—the exterior and interior—reflects Howl’s personality. Although the castle looks gigantic, the castle has only two stories: “just Howl’s old house in Porthaven, which is the only real part” (Jones 59).
Its interior by no means corresponds to its exterior in terms of size. Since the real part of the castle is small, the remaining space is illusory. Like the rumors about
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Howl the wicked wizard, the illusory size and appearance of the castle serve to scare people away. Its ugly and huge exterior symbolizes Howl’s notorious reputation, while the friendly entry opened for people in need reflects Howl’s positive
personality. He is kind, patient, and polite to the poor. Like “the only real part” of the castle, in which, though small, Howl’s true character hides in the horrible and ugly-looking castle (Jones 59).
The castle’s door as well as the castle’s changing outlook, which leads to four different places, reflects Howl’s vanity. The square, wooden knob of the door is
“with a dab of paint on each of its four sides” (Jones 59); each color represents different entrances and places. The variety of color corresponds to Howl’s clothes and hair. Throughout the story, he changes into attires of various colors to attract girls’ attention, and he dyes his hair to match his clothes. Besides, viewed from the four different places, where the door leads, Howl’s castle changes its appearance.
The changing appearance of the castle matches Howl’s different identities in each of the four places. For example, through the black entrance, the castle looks like “a house of yellow brick with large windows” (Jones 155). Through the red entrance to Kingsbury, it appears to be a disused stable: “[the castle door is] a big, arched gateway surrounding a small black door. The rest of the castle seemed to be a blank stretch of plastered wall between two carved stone houses” (Jones 174). Howl’s identity changes in each of the four locales: “he loves giving false names and posing as things […] he’s Sorcerer Jenkin in Porthaven, and Wizard Pendragon in
Kingsbury, as well as Horrible Howl in the castle […] ” (Jones 86). Like the scary appearance of the castle and his reputation as a wicked wizard, Howl’s changing identity allows him to be constantly in disguise.
The castle’s mobility in space further reflects the shifting of identities by various characters in Howl’s Moving Castle. Transformed from a girl to an old
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
woman, the protagonist Sophie is viewed as a different person by those who knew her. As an old woman, her identity keeps shifting during her stay in the moving castle. She is “Mrs. Witch in Porthaven and Madam Sorceress in Kingsbury” (Jones 69). She becomes Howl’s old mother to meet Howl’s teacher Mrs. Pentstemmon and then to the king to blacken Howl’s name. After moving house, she becomes known as Aunt Jenkins (Howl’s another identity in Chipping town) in the flower shop.
Similar identity shift also occurs to Sophie’s sisters. Lettie and Martha exchange their identities to take over each other’s future. They become each other by casting spells but recover their original appearances gradually. The disguise cloak, one of Howl’s magical objects, can change one who wears it into the other person. In Howl’s battle with the Witch of the Waste, both characters conjure up various monsters, which serve as their camouflage. The castle visually reveals the general feature of the characters. Like the castle’s mobility, the characters keep shifting their identity. While moving constantly, the castle remains a castle; though changing constantly, the characters remain their roles in this story. The mobility—both
physical movement of the castle and the characters’ shift of identity—is the message Jones conveys in this novel through the title Howl’s Moving Castle.
The floating castle in Castle in the Air includes none of a traditional castle’s basic features: neither is it solid, nor is it built to defend its inhabitants. The castle in the air, however, is not solid enough for defense. Made of clouds, it is not of solid basis, in the first place. Yet its position high above the clouds makes the issue of security a non-issue. Accommodating a great number of captured princesses from various countries, this castle functions as a harem. Such a function refers to such stories as “Hasan of Basra” from Thousand and One Nights. As Richard van Leeuwen points out, “castles inhabited only by women represent a special category […] The castle […] is not meant to function as a stronghold, but as a place of exile
‧
and segregation.” The castle in the air therefore symbolizes “patriarchal authority,”
just like the father imprisons his daughters in the castle in “Hasan of Basra”
(Leeuwen 16). The princesses in Castle in the Air are imprisoned by djinn, who intends to marry them all. His “patriarchy authority” resembles that in Thousand and One Nights.6 The castle’s inaccessible location enables it to function as a place of segregation.
The floating castle in essence bears no physical feature. It maintains none but the shape of a castle. Its configuration changes constantly, as the castle is made of clouds. The protagonist Abdullah repeatedly mistakes it as “another castle” due to its changing appearances:
There, on the nearest cloudy headland, stood a castle, a mass of proud, soaring towers with dim silvery windows showing in them. It was made of cloud. As they [Abdullah and Sophie] looked, several of the taller towers streamed sideways and shredded out of existence, while others shrank and broadened. Under their eyes, it grew like a blot into a massive frowning fortress and then began to change again. But it was still there and still a castle. (Jones 222)
We see how any part of this castle, be it a tower or a turret, can vanish and transform into what appears to be “another castle.” Its initially common form is changed into a luxurious Arabian palace with the features like “domes” and “a dim gold minaret”
(Jones 223). Whatever shapes it changes into, though, the castle remains in the same location. This immobility differs from Howl’s moving castle. Yet the changing configuration extends the degree of the mobility—as Howl’s moving castle does—to
6 Although the castle implies the symbol of “patriarchal authority,” Jones overturns it by housing a group of strong-minded princesses who plan their escape by outwitting the djinn, who holds the authority in the floating castle. The similar reversal is also happened in Howl’s Moving Castle, as discussed by David Rudd (259).
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
the fluidity, which completely transforms the “castle” in essence.
Compared with Howl’s moving castle, the interior of the castle in the air changes constantly. Its garden remains unchanged, but the surrounding parts are changed and enlarged constantly. For example, the fountain appears to be “crystal or possibly chrysolite”; later it is turned to “gold, glinting wine dark with rubies”
(Jones 226). The size of the interior is increased radically: the main room is blown up into a big hall; the broom cupboard turns into a large and well-lit room; a tiny alcove becomes a wardrobe for princesses. Recognizing that the castle in the air is in fact Howl’s moving castle, Sophie claims that “They [the djinn] must have blown it up like a balloon” (Jones 228).
The castle in the air is closely related to Abdullah’s daydreams. It appears in different shapes, thus mistaken as different castles throughout his adventures. Since his daydreams dominate his adventures, the castle symbolizes and manifests his daydreams. The castle, however, demonstrates a reversal compared to Disney’s castle. The castle in the air projects Abdullah’s daydreams, in which he is a prince, living in a castle. The djinn mock him by turning his daydreams to reality, producing this castle in the air. As Abdullah comments that “all my dreams came true, not only the pleasant ones” (Jones 284), the difference between Disney’s and Jones’s castles is revealed. Unlike the castles in Disney’s animations, which symbolize the
realization of the characters’ dream, the castle in the air reflects Jones’s humorous take of the fulfillment of a daydream. Different from the fulfillment of the only pleasant dreams manifested by Disney’s castle, Jones’s castle embodies Abdullah’s desire deep in his mind:
In Castle in the Air even Abdullah’s most far-fetched fantasies are given substantial form, much to his discomfort and embarrassment.
These embodiments are not just part of the comic effect, but through
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
that effect also function as a comment on the production of fantasy, especially as it transforms the familiar into fantastic forms and gives overt expression to deep human desires. (Stephens 276)
The fantastic form and the expression are conveyed through the castle in the air.
Besides, Abdullah’s transformation is also embodied by the transformation of the castle, which finally comes down to the earth: it becomes smaller and smaller while it descends from the air; its magnificent but illusory interior returns to its plainer, more practical original. Like the castle’s transformation, Abdullah transforms from a daydreaming obsessed to a practical man: he takes actions to rescue his beloved Flower-in-the-Night.
Symbolizing Abdullah’s transformation, the fluidity of the castle also mirrors other characters’ changes. In Howl’s Moving Castle, the characters merely change their identities, just as the moving castle changes from place to place. In Castle in the Air, the characters change into completely different characters, like the castle, which is turned into “another” different castle(s) in appearance and configuration.
Howl, Sophie, and Calcifer, the main characters in Howl’s Moving Castle appear as different characters in Castle in the Air. Eventually, they resume their identities.
Howl is revealed to be a genie in a bottle; its flexible shape as smoke demonstrates its fluidity. Transformed into a cat, Sophie can enlarge herself; her fluidity manifests in terms of her physical shape. Calcifer, a flame like an upside-down teardrop, is interwoven into the shape of a carpet and becomes the magic carpet; the fluidity is suggested both on its original teardrop shape and its malleability as a magic carpet.
Not moving and without a fixed shape, the castle in the air is constantly mistaken as a different castle. The fluid nature of the characters therefore echoes the fluidity of the castle.
Jones deviates from the fundamental elements of a traditional castle, which is
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
solid for defense and fixed to a place, to display the fluid qualities of a castle in every aspect. The mobile qualities of the castle are further projected on Howl and the other characters. Similarly, the fluid quality of the cloud-made castle resonates with the fluidity of the characters’ identities and shapes. The double parallel conveys a strong sense of mobility and fluidity, which is also the theme of Howl’s Moving Castle and Castle in the Air. The mobility and fluidity of the castle echo the uncertainty and ambiguity in language. Howl’s castle moves around, constantly changing its location. The mobility parallels to the literal meaning in language: the castle literally changes its location in the same dimension. The castle in the air changes its configuration. The fluidity parallels the metaphorical meaning in language: the castle changes its structure, appearing as different castles. It is like a metaphor which conveys meanings different from the literal words. The image of the castle in each context displays the double nature of language. Along with the characters in each novel, each castle’s image and the vacillation of
solid for defense and fixed to a place, to display the fluid qualities of a castle in every aspect. The mobile qualities of the castle are further projected on Howl and the other characters. Similarly, the fluid quality of the cloud-made castle resonates with the fluidity of the characters’ identities and shapes. The double parallel conveys a strong sense of mobility and fluidity, which is also the theme of Howl’s Moving Castle and Castle in the Air. The mobility and fluidity of the castle echo the uncertainty and ambiguity in language. Howl’s castle moves around, constantly changing its location. The mobility parallels to the literal meaning in language: the castle literally changes its location in the same dimension. The castle in the air changes its configuration. The fluidity parallels the metaphorical meaning in language: the castle changes its structure, appearing as different castles. It is like a metaphor which conveys meanings different from the literal words. The image of the castle in each context displays the double nature of language. Along with the characters in each novel, each castle’s image and the vacillation of