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| “ | We will do better! We'll do much better! | „ |
| ~ Pamela among the Grand High Witch's followers. |
| “ | NOT, YET! | „ |
| ~ Pamela as she rebukes the witch next to her. |
Pamela, also known as The Woman in Black, and Zelda, is a supporting antagonist in the 1983 Roald Dahl novel The Witches, and it's movie adaptations. She is an evil witch who is one of the Grand High Witch's followers. She is the first actual witch to appear in the story, as the other witches that appeared before her were only in flashbacks.
In the 1990 film, she was portrayed by Anne Lambton. In 2020 film, she was portrayed by Josette Simon.
Biography[]
In the book, she only appears once when she tries to offer the main character, a pet snake, saying it is tame while it is implied to be deadly. She tries to get him to come down, either so the snake could bite him or she could kidnap him. Having learned about witches from his grandmother, the protagonist hides up in the tree until she goes away.
In the movie, she has a larger role, even being one of the film's primary antagonists. She first appears in the same way in the book, offering to give Luke a venomous snake. But unlike in the book, rather than going away after her unsuccessful attempts to give him the snake, she then offers him a (presumably) poisoned bar of chocolate, although she soon leaves after his grandmother appears. Her snake is shown to be her familiar; she can make it vanish and reappear at will and is shown laughing evilly to it whilst walking away from Luke's house.
Again, unlike in the book where it said that Luke never saw her again, in the movie he does as she is one of the witches at the annual meeting. Another witch is shown about to take her wig off when Pamela stops her. The Grand High Witch comes onto the stage and tells the witches to remove their disguises. She then reprimands the other witches for not killing enough children, and Pamela says they will do better. However, the Grand High Witch is not impressed and demands the maximum results.
When one witch by the name of Beatrice quietly says they are incapable of killing every child, the Grand High Witch incinerates her alive. While most of the witches are shocked and upset, Pamela actually finds Beatrice's death amusing. When one witch smells Luke as the witches are leaving she along with the others beings to hunt him and after a long chase the Grand High Witch captures him. She helps holds Luke down while the Grand High Witch pours the Delayed Action Mouse-Maker into his mouth. She has a look of satisfaction on her face as he turns into a mouse.
She was seen again sitting beside the Grand High Witch about the be served a special soup. However, Luke had poured the Delayed Action Mouse-Maker into the soup, and the chef Jacqueline, who was a witch, turned into a mouse from testing it. She snuck into the room to tell them what happened. However, Pamela assumes that it is a child turned into a mouse and kills Jacqueline. Because of this she and the other witches eat the soup and the potion takes effect. As the witches turn into mice, Pamela is shown with mouse ears and nose, clearly horrified. She attempts to grab the Grand High Witch, apparently trying to ask for help, but the Grand High Witch runs away. Pamela turns into a mouse with her black dress still attached to her. The guests and the hotel staff presented there most likely killed her and the other witches.
In the 2020 film adaptation, the Woman in Black first appears while the boy and his grandmother are grocery shopping. In one of the aisles, the boy meets the Woman in Black (he doesn't know she is a witch). She tries to give him a candy and the boy also sees her pet snake. However, the grandmother appears and the witch retreats. This causes the grandmother to tell the boy all about witches, while the Woman in Black stands on the street and later outside their house. She later appears when the Grand High Witch enters the hotel with all the other witches. She is one of the witches in the meeting, where the Grand High Witch introduces Formula 86 and she is delighted as she watched Bruno transform into a mouse. The Woman in Black is also present when the boy is transformed into a mouse. However, the boy (as a mouse) managed to get the Formula into the soup that the witches were eating at dinner and the Woman in Black was transformed into a mouse.
Trivia[]
- Near the beginning of the book, the narrator mentioned that he encountered witches twice. The first time he escaped unharmed, but the second he got turned "peculiar". So, the reader knows that when he encounters this witch, he'll be fine but then "harmed" afterwards.
