S.P.E.W As a Metaphor for Women's Liberation

Within the framework of the Harry Potter hides an underlying cause, missed by most young readers: gender equality. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, readers are opened to the world of the house elves, and their enslavement to magical families. Dobby, the house elf for the Malfoy household, informs Harry that house elves are unable to use their magical powers, enslaved, unpaid, beaten and mistreated on a daily basis. When questioned by Harry about leaving, Dobby states that a house elf can only be freed when their master gives them an article of clothing. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Hermione Granger sets out to liberate the house elves at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, by creating Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (SPEW). Her endeavor was to free the house elves from their domesticated enslavement, while demanding equal pay and magical rights. While creating this subplot with the fourth novel of the Potter Series, J.K. Rowling makes a bold statement on equality, particularly in regards to women, through the house elves. To the reader, SPEW may have seemed a silly plotline, but it was intended to educate the reader to the inequality suffered by women throughout the centuries. When explored further, it is undoubtedly that J.K. Rowling not only meant SPEW to be a subplot, but also was written to show the social importance of freedom for house elves: freedom of choice, career, property, finances, but was a thinly veiled statement on the feminist movement and the struggle of equality between the sexes.

While many view the enslavement of house elves as a metaphor for slavery, particularly in the United States, the theme of the house elves does not fully correspond with the plight of African-American slaves in America; similar, yes, but not necessarily identical. African slaves were sold to plantation owners as workers, a deed in which the slaves were not happy to oblige. They were foully treated, disrespected, and dehumanized from the moment they were captured and sold. Even after their emancipation, African Americans were treated unfairly. Yet, this history does not parallel the history of house elves. As discovered in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, house elves were once considered equals in the magical realm; they were imprisoned by wizards, which Professor Dumbledore admits was a cruel turn of events.

This is similar to the plight of the female within society. When compared to Eve in the Garden of Eden, she was once Adam's equal, but due to an unfortunate misjudgment of accepting an apple, she is forever seen of the downfall of man. House elves have a similar story.

Much of the importance of SPEW as a metaphor for feminine mystique, S.P.E.W. was actually J.K. Rowling's attempt to promote equality between the sexes. Hermione's need to form what Ron termed "The House Elf Liberation Movement," Hermione attempts to convince the house elves to begin to demand fair pay and equal magical rights. This movement is much like the Equal Rights Amendment, in that the liberation of the house elves mirrors that of the liberation of the female in the work force.

For many Harry Potter readers, they know that a house elf cannot be released from its master, unless s/he receives an article of clothing. When Harry manages to trick Lucuis Malfoy into giving Dobby, his house elf, a sock, Dobby was freed from his slavery. It is this aspect Rowling demonstrates how closely linked house elves are to women, prior to suffrage, where they were not allowed to maintain or own property, and were more or less considered property. By offering a house elf clothing, its master is giving it freedom. The same was true for women.

While Dobby is enjoying his new found freedom, though working at Hogwarts, because this is all that he knows; he joins Hermione into convincing the other house elves to demand more. Yet, the house elves of Hogwarts are split: many want freedom, but many are quite content with being house elves. This brings about the great debate of which lifestyle is better, particularly in a woman's life: is it better to be domesticated and a housewife or should she be able to have her own freedom and her own career? This split between the house elves is an interesting point to consider as a parallel to the ongoing debate between women: who is right, housewives or career women?

There is no doubt that SPEW requires further examination, on a deeper level. While Rowling may not have had all of these metaphors in mind while writing Harry Potter, it is interesting how much the plight of the house elf mirrors that of women.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. New York: Scholastic Publishing, 1998.

-Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. New York: Scholastic Publishing, 2001.