Child Giftedness as Class Weaponry: The Case of Roald Dahl’s Matilda

Abstract

Roald Dahl’s Matilda (1988) is one of the most entrancing accounts in children’s literature of the changes that passionate educators, good literature, and an intrepid disposition can bring to the life of a child whose home environment is not conducive to learning. However, the novel rests on a denunciation and caricature of a specific socioeconomic category and its practices: the petty bourgeoisie. This class-based antipathy, this article argues, goes mostly unnoticed because it is filtered through an alluring portrayal of Matilda’s giftedness that justifies condescension toward the Wormwoods and what they stand for.

Wisdom, Mystery, and Dangerous Knowledge: Exploring Depictions of the Archetypal Sage in Young Adult Literature

“…In terms of mentorship relationships, Beauvais (2015) explores how class and giftedness function in Roald Dahl's Matilda (1988). She hints at the notion that giftedness could be considered a magical property in that a child is bestowed the trait similar to how magic is bestowed upon protagonists in fantasy fiction.…”

The Representation of Feminist Ideologies in Roald Dahl’s Matilda

“…Erhart (2017) also analyzed the novel from educational perspectives and argued that the illustration in novels such as Matilda could help children succeed in dealing with anxiety. Beauvais (2015), Hansson (2012), Martens (2015), and Yeni & Ariska (2018) focused on the representation of heroism values in Matilda. In terms of feminism, it has been analyzed by Dickinson (2017), Maynard (2019), Pordadottir (2019), and Shaw & Fard (2018) with different focuses.…”