Howl’s Moving Castle

“But she wanted to do something – she was not sure what – that had a bit more interest to it than simply trimming hats.”

As Sophie begins her apprenticeship in the hat shop, she is quickly disappointed by the isolated and monotonous life she sees before her. She does not believe she is entitled to a more exciting life because of her destiny as the eldest sister: She will ultimately fail to seek a fortune.

“I’ve heard of you, Miss Hatter, and I don’t care for your competition or your attitude. I came to put a stop to you.”

The Witch of the Waste casts a spell on Sophie out of jealousy for her presumed closeness to Howl, though Sophie does not know the reason behind the Witch’s actions. Following the curse, Sophie’s appearance turns into that of an old woman and confirms her fear of living a misfortunate life.

“How about making a bargain with me? I’ll break your spell if you agree to break this contract I’m under.”

When Sophie first enters Howl’s moving castle, she begins talking to the fire demon, Calcifer, who offers Sophie a bargain. Neither is allowed to speak about the particular contracts and curses they are under, so Sophie and Calcifer must work out the mystery surrounding each other’s circumstances before they can help each other.

“As a girl, Sophie would have shriveled with embarrassment at the way she was behaving. As an old woman, she did not mind what she did or said.”

As an old woman, Sophie finds it much easier to express herself, to feel more self-confident, and to take risks. This quote corresponds to Sophie’s character development in that it shows how Sophie needs to use the disguise of an old woman until she is confident enough to be herself again.

“You’re a dreadfully nosy, horribly bossy, appallingly clean old woman.”

Though hired as the castle’s cleaning lady, Howl takes issue with Sophie’s fervent cleaning. He calls her these hurtful names while trying to stop her cleaning the yard and his bedroom. Though Howl acts critical of Sophie, the two are growing closer.

“’Miss Angorian,’ said Howl. ‘if you have heard all those things about me, you must know I wrote my doctoral thesis on charms and spells. You look as if you suspect me of working black magic! I assure you, I never worked any kind of spell in my life.’”

In Wales, Howl tries to convince Miss Angorian that he is a respectable man to whom she should give attention. However, Sophie immediately realizes this statement is a lie and Howl is merely trying to impress Miss Angorian. Afterward, Sophie’s jealousy toward Miss Angorian intensifies until she realizes the reason for it is her own love for Howl.

“Even the good woman is untrue in the last verse, isn’t she?”

Howl responds to Miss Angorian’s reading of John Donne’s poem “Song” with a melancholic comment on the lack of a “good woman” in his life. With his heart given to Calcifer, Howl struggles to fall fully in love with the women he courts and is continually disappointed to find himself alone.

“Demons do not understand good and evil. But they can be bribed into a contract, provided the human offers them something valuable, something only humans have. This prolongs the life of both human and demon, and the human gets the demon’s magic power to add to his or her own.”

Mrs. Pentstemmon explains the nature of fire demon contracts to Sophie. The contract between Calcifer and Howl mirrors this statement and causes Sophie to consider what Howl could have given to Calcifer. Because of the gravity of Mrs. Pentstemmon’s statement, Sophie begins to believe that breaking the contract will destroy both Howl and Calcifer.

“Tell Wizard Howl, Mrs. Pendragon, that I am appointing him Royal Wizard as from now, with our Royal Command to find Prince Justin, alive or dead, before the year is out.”

The King orders Sophie to convey this message to Howl. Though she was sent to the castle to blacken Howl’s name and persuade the King to do the exact opposite, Sophie fails to convince the King. Sophie blames her being the eldest daughter for causing this failure.

“But I brought it on myself by making a bargain some years ago, and I know I shall never be able to love anyone properly now.”

Howl is sick with a cold and feverish, causing him to be more truthful with Sophie when Sophie visits his bedroom. By giving his heart to Calcifer out of pity for the fallen, frightened star, Howl is unable to fully fall in love with another person. He courts women continually in an attempt to find a way to assuage this loneliness.

“There’s an empty shop for sale down in Market Chipping. It used to be a hat shop. Do you think we could move the castle there?”

Michael offers this suggestion to the group when they are in the process of moving the castle’s locations. Michael has a double purpose in proposing they buy the hat shop, as it allows him easy access to Martha nearby at Cesari’s.

“The castle room seemed to wriggle itself into place inside the parlor, pushing it out here, pulling it in there, bringing the ceiling down to match its own beamed ceiling, until the two melted together and became the castle room again, except perhaps it was now a bit higher and squarer than it had been.”

The castle and Calcifer move into the old hat shop Sophie grew up in. This quote symbolizes the merging of Sophie’s old life with her new life with Howl and the castle.

“When Howl offered to keep me alive the way humans stay alive, I suggested a contract on the spot. Neither of us knew what we were getting into. I was grateful, and Howl only offered because he was sorry for me.”

Once Sophie guesses that Calcifer was once a fallen star, Calcifer is able to speak openly about his contract with Howl. Five years prior to the start of the novel, Howl agreed to give Calcifer his heart out of pity. Howl’s character, though vain and unreliable in Sophie’s eyes, is revealed to be generous, warm, and loyal.

“People Sophie had known all her life came and bought flowers by the bundle. None of them recognized her, and that made her feel very odd.”

Working in the new flower shop in Market Chipping puts Sophie in contact with neighbors and friends that do not recognize her as an old woman. Sophie’s mood darkens during this time, as she struggles with an internal conflict of wanting to be recognized but still being afraid of being herself.

“She told herself she had never been happier in her life. This was not true. Something was wrong, and Sophie could not understand what.”

Sophie’s defining character trait is her adeptness at stubbornly refusing to acknowledge her own emotions, abilities, or strengths that she does not yet have the confidence to embrace. Sophie must acknowledge both her love for Howl and her talent with magic.

“’It may be the curse hovering to catch up with Howl,’ she sighed to the flowers. ‘but I think it’s being the eldest, really. Look at me! I set out to seek my fortune and I end up exactly where I started, and old as the hills still!’”

Like the previous quote, Sophie continues to convince herself that she is not worth an exciting, romantic, adventurous future. Her repeated blaming of the perceived dullness of her life on being born the eldest daughter allows Sophie to escape the responsibility of acknowledging her talent for magic and love for Howl.

“Only people who understood Calcifer were really welcome in Howl’s house.”

Howl judges newcomers to the castle based on how they interact with Calcifer. Sophie picks up on this and does likewise. This quote shows Sophie gleefully judging Miss Angorian for not acknowledging Calcifer, as Sophie is secretly jealous of Howl’s affection for the Welsh schoolteacher.

“’What nonsense! Howl’s not only heartless, he’s impossible! Besides,’ she added. ‘I am an old woman.’”

Sophie, through prompting from Percival, finally acknowledges that she has feelings for Howl but that a relationship between them is impossible. This quote further foreshadows the revelation that Howl is literally, physically heartless, with his heart resting amidst Calcifer’s flames.

“I came to the conclusion that you liked being in disguise.”

Howl reveals that he has known that Sophie is cursed to look like an old woman for quite some time. Though he tried to break the curse on her every way he could, Sophie perpetuates the Witch’s curse out of an instinctual desire to remain hidden.

“Howl showed his kindness rather strangely, but, considering all Sophie had done to annoy him, he had been very good to her indeed.”

After Sophie persuades Fanny that Howl is not like the rumors in Market Chipping, Sophie finally admits to herself that she admires Howl for his generosity and kindness. Appearances and rumors, which prevented Sophie from acknowledging her feelings, are replaced with true feeling.

“’Michael Fisher,’ it said. ‘tell your master, Howl, that he fell for my decoy. I now have the woman called Lily Angorian in my fortress in the Waste. Tell him I will only let her go if he comes himself to fetch her.’”

The Witch of the Waste sends a message to the inhabitants of the castle threatening Howl. The message is a trap, as Miss Angorian is actually the Witch’s fire demon. Sophie takes this message as a challenge and goes herself to confront the Witch as a way to protect Howl.

“This body is a perfect mixture of Prince Justin and Wizard Suliman. It is waiting for Howl’s head, to make it our perfect human. When we have Howl’s head, we shall have the new King of Ingary, and I shall rule as Queen.”

In her fortress in the Waste, the Witch reveals her scheme to Sophie. Her quest after Howl, as well as the disappearances of Wizard Suliman and Prince Justin, are revealed.

“’Get in there and work!’ And she pushed and pushed. The heart began to sink in, and to beat more strongly as it went. Sophie tried to ignore the flames and scuffles by the door and to keep up a steady, firm pressure. Her hair kept getting in her way. It fell across her face in reddish fair hanks, but she tried to ignore that too.”

After talking a thousand more years of life into Calcifer, Sophie returns Howl’s heart back to his chest. As she does so, Sophie fully embraces not only her own identity but also her magical abilities. This changes her appearance back into that of a young woman.