Feeling guilty about being disinterested in or disliking Rowling's female characters

[torchedsong]

The title is self-explanatory. After rereading HP, I realized how let down I was about the dearth of interesting and/or likable female characters. As someone who has a long list of favorite female characters from various books, movies, TV shows, and video games, the women in the Harry Potter books leave me cold or bored

Comments

[torchedsong]

Her female characters usually lack character arcs or subplots of their own. And they usually have a lot less backstory or interesting details that you can use as a springboard for imagination. It's harder to imagine what they're like when Harry isn't in the room.

I think more often, the male characters get to exist for themselves, and the female characters react to them. It's very unbalanced.

Yes, I agree with you. The men have a stronger presence in the story and seem to have interesting lives separate from Harry. Even if they aren't written to their full potential, they do provide something beyond merely existing in Harry's world. They also have more of an emotional impact on Harry in general, whether positive or negative. Harry has numerous male mentor figures, father figures, teachers, friends, acquaintances, and enemies, in contrast with the few important female figures in his life.

I agree with the rest of your post and the comparisons to be made between male and female characters, such as Narcissa and Lucius. Even though Narcissa gets to accomplish a few things of her own, she's still strongly connected back to her son and defined by her role as a mother in a way that Lucius isn't defined by his role as a father. I understand JKR has a lot of respect for motherhood, but sometimes through her female characters, it comes across as if being a mother is the greatest achievement for a woman, more so than being a father is for a man.

Even in the Trio, Harry gets his whole attempt at a hero's journey, Ron fights to overcome jealousy and his feelings of inadequacy, and Hermione... well, she gets more ruthless, I guess? Er, gets a boyfriend? But she pretty much fills the same role, so you have to really work to knock her story into any kind of journey.

I think Hermione is considered one of JKR's best characters and is often placed on the top of "Most Popular HP Characters" lists. Despite her popularity in comparison to Harry and Ron, she does get pushed to the side sometimes in the books. Harry considers her like a sister, but it's his friendship with Ron that takes precedence in the trio.

And, as you've said, Ron and Harry at least attempt to have their own emotional hardships. With Hermione, the closest we get is when she has to Obliviate her parents. But we don't know her family or care for them, so her choice to follow Harry over her parents lacks impact for me. Hermione can be driven and ruthless, but it sometimes seems like her ambition is more important when it can help Harry and serve Harry's life instead of her own.

[sunnyskywalker]

Hermione's case is especially frustrating because there's so much that could have made for a coherent arc. Trying to find her place in the magical world as a Muggle-born, for instance. There's a lot of material, and hints at her struggle (the whole SPEW thing definitely showed a different cultural mindset, e.g., and you could probably do a lot with how she sometimes works through Harry, as with starting the DA, rather than in her own right). But what was her arc? How did this develop over time? Ron's and Harry's were pretty clearly defined. Hermione was very hard done by, I think. Maybe she got stuck delivering so much exposition that she didn't have time to have a fully-developed character arc. It's so unbalanced.