Who is the beldam in coraline

And she currently lives next door-ish to Coraline, but we know that she made that world herself: she's probably been hopping from place to place, looking for vulnerable children. If there's anything else definite about the other mother's identity, we don't really hear about it.

Even the know-it-all black cat doesn't know about her or at least won't say :. Our brilliant author, Gaiman, wasn't just feeling tired when he opted not to answer questions about the other mother. The mystery actually makes her even scarier: we're afraid of her because we don't know who or what! Adding to the mystery of the other mother is that she's pretty much two-faced.

One side of her is the kind, breakfast-making type. She buys Coraline awesome toys and clothes, and unlike Coraline's real mother, she pays attention to Coraline and offers to play games with her. But this is all too good to be true.

The other side of the other mother is downright terrifying and completely manipulative. Most importantly, she tries to trick Coraline into staying with her, and she's pretty convincing:.

If they left you, Coraline, it must be because they became bored with you, or tired. Now, I will never become bored with you, and I will never abandon you.

As Coraline continues to fight back against the other mother, we get to see the real beldam. And the fact that Coraline doesn't buy into the other mother's manipulations shows us just how smart and mature Coraline herself is. And, despite herself, Coraline nodded. It was true: the other mother loved her.

But she loved Coraline as a miser loves money, or a dragon loves its gold. Love can mean a lot of different things. We at Shmoop love our moms, but we also love a good piece of chocolate cake. The other mother doesn't want the mushy kind of a love, she wants the "it's mine to enjoy" kind of love. The clever and utterly terrifying villain in Coraline , the Other Mother, is deeply rooted in Eastern European folklore. The Beldam, synonymous with "witch," is most often portrayed as a woman who lures children into her lair only to feast upon their flesh and souls.

She studies her victims, creating a perfect world to which they will be drawn. During the witch craze of the 17th century, a Massachusetts woman was accused of being a Beldam, and even went to trial and prison for her "crime.

Let's look a little but not too much! The nightmare-inducing Other Mother in Coraline is based on a 17th-century horror mainstay in Eastern Europe named the Beldam - literally meaning ugly, old witch. A shapeshifter whose true form is a giant spider, she is known to lure and then feast upon her victims, most of whom are children - though she will munch on the occasional gentleman caller.

This evil spider-witch pops up many times in folklore of the era, always scary and spikey, and with empty black eyes. There appears to be no specific connection between her appearance and the earlier Beldam stories, though a spider is appropriate for a being that sucks the lifeforce out of its victims. Gaiman intended the monster as a gentle lesson about the nature of love for children.

Figures like the Other Mother may offer candy and other treats but have far less benevolent intentions behind them. The Other Mother was a singular take on the concept, fed by folklore and poetry, but invested with a life fully her own. A native Californian, Rob Vaux has been a critic and entertainment writer for over 20 years, including work for Collider, Mania. The ghost children implore Coraline to escape and avoid their fate.

Coraline searches through the Other World and overcomes the Other Mother's obstacles by using her wits and Miss Spink's lucky stone to find the marble-like souls of the ghost children.

She also deduces that her parents are imprisoned in a snow globe on the mantelpiece. The ghost children warn her that even if Coraline wins, the Other Mother will not let them go, so Coraline tricks the Other Mother by announcing that she knows where her parents are hidden: in the passageway between the worlds. The Other Mother cannot resist gloating by opening the door to show Coraline that her parents are not there.

When the Other Mother opens the door Coraline throws the cat at the Other Mother, grabs the snow globe, and escapes to the real world with the key, and the cat quickly follows. While escaping, Coraline forces the door shut on the Other Mother's hand.

Back in her home, Coraline falls asleep on a chair. She is awoken by her parents who have no memory of the events. That night, Coraline has a dream in which she meets the three children at a picnic.

The children are dressed in clothes from different periods and one seems to have wings. They warn her that her task is still not done: the Other Mother will attempt to get her back and will try to get the key to open the door between the worlds.

Coraline goes to the old well in the woods to dispose of the key. She pretends to have a picnic, with the picnic blanket laid over the entrance to the well. The Other Mother's severed hand attempts to seize the key, but steps on the blanket and falls into the well. Coraline returns to the house, greeting her neighbors who finally get her name right , and getting ready for school tomorrow. The beldam demonstrates many abilities but is likely capable of much more, which are elaborated here.

The beldam's appearance wasn't specific until the graphic novel comic and the movie. In the novella book , it is written that she appeared like Coraline's mother but taller and thinner with the notorious button eyes, the graphic novel comic reflected on the novella book 's description; unlike in the movie, she is identical to Coraline's mother with the exception of a tidier look and the button eyes.

The Beldam demonstrates the ability to create life; such as other copies of people, which appear to be hand-crafted in the same manner as a sculpture artist and a seamstress does. She created other Wybie from sawdust and other father from a pumpkin. The Beldam does not appear to have complete control of this created life; some of her creations are capable of disobeying her. Control of her creations appear to be loyalty instilled by either punishment or rewards; she punished Other Wybie for failing to smile all the time by sewing his mouth stuck in a smiling position and had to kick other father 's leg to prevent him from accidentally startling Coraline by describing how sharp the button's sewing needle was.

The range of control of this created life seems to stem from the intelligence a creation has; for example, plants and flowers were completely controlled by The Beldam, whereas sentient creations appeared to have a choice; other Bobinsky , other Spink , other Forcible sided with The Beldam when other father , other Wybie sided with Coraline.

The only obvious factor to this decision is how attached the other creation is to the child victim. The Beldam demonstrates some but not complete control of the other world. The cat, an arch-enemy of sorts, has the courage to wander in the other world with no fear of the beldam, despite the beldam's disfondness for the cat, that is until a passageway to the real world closes as a result of the beldam.

The beldam appeared to rely on the key to the Pink Palace Apartments ' door to either open or close the door leading to the other world. When the key is located in the real world with the door locked; the beldam uses her devices to recover it, but these methods can be prevented which would leave the beldam sealed in the other world. The beldam also used the doll to spy and coordinate, in addition to rats, disguised as jumping mice from Bobinsky's mouse circus to direct and lead, Coraline to open the door to the other world for her, early in the movie.

The beldam shows signs of having weather-controlling powers, as seen when she suggested that they play hide-in-seek in the rain, she conjured lighting and rain. The Beldam is shown to kidnap and store the parents of her victims, as Coraline's parents were held captive by her in the snow globe.