Dress any broad in black, give her a pointed hat, and you've got a witch. Put an old lady on a broom with a black cat at the handle and you've got a witch. Take a woman whose kindly exterior harbors a fantastical ability for magic and you've got the modern witch.
Witches with two-faced lives is not an uncommon subject. That happens to be one of the bases for Harry Potter's entire mythology. Add that to the very idea of sweet and charming masking the dreadful and you've got more than the lion's share of similarities with other media. This is not a negative aspect of Aunt Maria, just another proud example of the contemporary wicked old witch. Interestingly enough, if you were to strip her of her powers and reset the story with her as say...an office executive, you could very well wind up with quite a similar story.
This brings us to the contemporary depiction of women with power, wether it be magical or otherwise. Storytelling adores this character archetype of the corrupt woman with power; a stone-cold bitch who takes no prisoners. We've seen it in The Devil Wears Prada, Harry Potter, and even 101 Dalmatians. You don't tend to find many Business MEN wanting to skin a bunch of puppies to make a coat. They have principles apparently.
Hell, while we're at it, strip her of her powers, make her attractive, give her a crown and a magic mirror. Maybe this isn't as restricted to contemporary literature as I thought...
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