47 The Women of Harry Potter: Seen But Not Heard – Kacie Scales

The Women of Harry Potter: Seen But Not Heard

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has had an undeniably large impact on pop culture and young adult readers since it was published, which means the messages within the story of young Harry carry a great deal of weight. Readers focused their attention to the details in the world they were diving into, and that meant the details beyond just the main character. Early on in the series, there is much groundwork being laid to create such a fantastically in-depth wizarding world, and part of the appeal Hogwarts has had on young readers is the fact that though it is a fantasy world, it is relatable and the characters are realistic. Though Harry is the main character in the series, many literary criticisms spend their time focusing on background characters and the roles they play in his world. One such criticism is feminist theory, and the women, particularly early on in Chamber of Secrets, feed into that relatability of the wizarding world. Though the main character is male, and many of the supporting characters are also, does not mean that Rowling did not include female characters into Harry’s life. However,  J.K. Rowling, whether intentional or not, writes the groundwork of her female characters in a very stereotypical light for the sole purpose of serving the main male characters, and affords them presence in the story with minor impact or credit, leaving the seemingly feminist characters to fall under the radar and making Chamber of Secrets an anti-feminist novel.

Harry Potter as a character has several holes in his life and as a person, and some of those holes can only be filled by women, much like the one Molly Weasley steps into. One of the aspects of Harry’s life that makes readers more sympathetic to him is the loss of his parents, and his subsequent loss of a motherly figure in his life. However, Rowling is quick to supply him with another one in Molly Weasley. The article “From Sexist to (sort of) Feminist” says “ It was clear that the Harry Potter books featured females in secondary positions of power and authority and replicated some of the most familiar cultural stereotypes for both males and females” (Heilman 139). Molly Weasley fit directly into the stereotype of the loving motherly figure Harry so desperately craved in the first novel, satisfying readers expectations of what Harry deserved. One familiar scene in which Molly Weasley plays this role is when she takes Harry “back-to-school” shopping. This familiar occasion is something many of Rowling’s young adult readers would have experienced, and Molly Weasley acting as the vehicle for Harry to experience it for the first time places her in the box of a stereotypical mother in a stereotypical scenario, which denies Molly Weasley her own separate life from the boys she must be constantly looking after.

Another box Molly Weasley gets put into is the over-emotional mother in charge of reprimanding her children. This particularly stands out as, for the most part, her disciplinary actions are taken against male characters, as the majority of her children are boys. Ron ends up stealing the family’s flying car twice, the first time with some of his siblings in order to rescue Harry from his mistreatment at the Dursleys. Upon arrival home, Molly says “‘Have you any idea how worried I’ve been?’” (Rowling, 33). She continues to yell at them for what seems like hours until “Mrs. Weasley had shouted herself hoarse” (Rowling, 33). After Harry and Ron steal the flying car a second time, notably made by Ron’s father, Molly sends Ron a “Howler” , a letter that yells at him in front of all the other students. This course of action publicly solidifies her as the sole reprimander of her children. Heilmann also says “ Nuclear families such as the Weasleys and the Dursleys have stay-at-home mothers and employed, head of the household type fathers. The mothers are bossy and . . . over-involved with their children” (153). Ron’s father’s reaction to the situation is not one of anger or punishment, but instead one of astonishment and curiosity. As the established “head of household” at the Weasley’s, his reaction juxtaposed with Molly’s allows her to appear too emotional in the situation and overreacting to the danger the boys did put themselves in.

This creates another stereotype for Molly to fall into, as her anger and humiliation of her son give her the image of being bossy and emotional as her children are her sole purpose as a stay-at-home mother. This emotional motherly side of her also makes an appearance at the end of the novel, when she tearfully thanks Ron and Harry for saving her daughter, thus showing two different emotions in an over exaggerated way, and two of her main appearances in the novel focus on that type of behavior. This reiterates the stereotypical ideology that women are either more emotional or less capable of handling their emotions in comparison to the reaction of the men in these situations, or any of the situations in the novel.

Since Molly Weasley is surrounded mostly by male characters, the sole female character in the family also stands out when looking at the Harry Potter series through a feminist lens. Up until this point in the series, not much has been said about Ginny Weasley, and unfortunately, the portrayal of her character in the second book isn’t one of grace and power, but also a stereotype that places her in a position of powerlessness over her emotions and outside forces. Her entrance into the realm of Hogwarts in this book remains minor compared to her brother’s despite the fact that she is the only female Weasley sibling and the last. Her main defining factor as a character after her introduction is her very clear and debilitating crush on Harry. Heilmann writes, “ Ginny is the archetypal girl and is presented as deeply passive, weak, and receptive. She has a crush on Harry, which disables her. She becomes literally mute and still” (154). Any agency Ginny might possess as a person is completely overshadowed by her lack of being able to handle her emotions around Harry. Since Harry acts as the novel’s protagonist, this lack of control leads to her minimal significance throughout the majority of this second novel because she is of no significance to Harry as she cannot interact with him. This not only reiterates her stereotype of the love-struck young girl, but also serves to denounce any importance in her character should it not be related to the male main character.

Ginny also works in this novel to demonstrate the ideology of women being weaker and in need of male assistance. She becomes the target for Voldemort to gain access to Hogwarts, and her seemingly fragile state is what puts her at risk to become said target. Despite her best efforts, she succumbs to the power of Voldemort and requires aid from the two main male figures of the story. Her weakness is a direct lead into what makes Harry, the main character, the hero of the story. Therefore, not only is her inability to protect herself from Voldemort a sign of her shortcomings, but also adds to the superiority of the male characters who inevitably have to help her.

The only redeemable aspect of Ginny falling victim to Voldemort in Chamber of Secrets is the underlying evidence that she did not go down without a fight. There are several instances in the novel where we can see the foreshadowing in her efforts to escape the evil of Tom Riddle she has encountered. One of the obvious things she tries to do to get out of the grasp of Tom Riddle is flush the diary down the toilet in order to get rid of it. Though her efforts were unsuccessful here, it does show that she had clarity about what was going on and was trying to escape it. Her bravery is also shown when she takes the diary back from Harry in order to keep it farther away from him to keep him safe, even if that meant she was going to continue to have to fight her battle against Tom Riddle alone. Though this drive and fight in her may seem like a step in the right direction for female representation, it is completely overshadowed by the fact that she does not succeed.

Examining how women are presented in the Harry Potter series would be incomplete without looking at the main female character: Hermione Granger. Hermione does have a stereotype of being a “geek”, however this is used as a strength for her character. Her anti-feminist characteristics lay in her emotional side and her lack of being able to participate in the physical action that keeps her from getting her recognition as being a “heroic” member of the trio. Rowling does not start Hermione off strong as a character in the series because of her non-magical background. Hermione, being a “mud-blood”, is established as something that is looked down upon by some others in the wizarding world. Before readers are even introduced in the series to her character or personality, they are introduced to the idea that she is different from the other main characters, and that this difference in her enables others to see her as “less than”. This is something that she as a character carries shame in, and it brings out an aspect of her emotional side as she is bullied for it, thus boxing her into the same stereotype as Molly and Ginny in being easily upset.

One of Hermione’s defining characteristics is her incredible intelligence and her knowledge of the wizarding world, despite her muggle upbringing. However, similarly to Ginny, this does not make her immune to feelings of childhood crushes that fight back against that logic. Gilderoy Lockhart, Chamber of Secrets Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is described as “a deeply conceited man, whose bravado and mannerisms serve to hide his utter incompetence and fearfulness” (Heilmann 154). As Hermione is extremely bright and put into the Hogwarts house known for bravery, an aspect she has actively admired in Harry throughout the series, Lockhart seems as if he would be the last recipient of her admiration. Hermione, who considers herself logical, is heavily influenced in her feelings towards Lockhart to overlook the fact that he is exactly the things she doesn’t actually like. This categorizes her, like Ginny, as a love-struck young girl and negates all the intelligence her character has displayed thus far into the series, making her seem as though her emotions will overcome her logic whenever it is present.

Hermione’s emotions impacting her logic is not the only flaw presented in her character–defining intelligence. Heilmann says “Hermione’s advanced knowledge of magic shows potential beyond other students, but she has only ever exercised her gift to aid Harry’s quest rather than focusing on her own career. He is the hero, she is the assistant” (145). Her knowledge not only sets her above other female characters, but it also sets her above other wizards in general, which is demonstrated as common knowledge in the wizarding world through the conversation Harry overhears between Draco and his father about how Draco should be ashamed that she is a better wizard than him. However, her powers are only a benefit to Harry and Ron, and even when attempted, are not helpful to herself. Hermione gave Harry and Ron the idea for using Polyjuice potion to spy on Draco Malfoy, which ended up working out when Harry and Ron were the ones to carry out the plan. Hermione herself was unsuccessful in using Polyjuice potion on herself and mistakenly and embarrassingly turned herself into a cat. Whether or not she realizes it, her contribution to the adventures of the trio begins and stops at her knowledge, and she mostly serves as a catalyst for Ron and Harry to go on adventures without herself being an adventurer (Heilmann 146).

The ideology of Hermione being useful to the trio only for her knowledge and not as an acting brave adventurer is reiterated in the plot of Chamber of Secrets. Her knowledge gets them fairly close to discovering the truth about what is really going on at Hogwarts, but she doesn’t get the chance to be part of putting that knowledge to use. As the only girl in the main trio, it is an obvious problem when she becomes the only one of the three of them to become petrified in the process of discovering the cause of the troubles at Hogwarts. Though her knowledge is a direct lead to Harry and Ron being able to save Ginny, she is left out of the gratification for having saved her because she was not there to be able to do it. The story also shows her as unable to be an adventurer or hero when it was when she ventured out on her own without Harry and Ron that she became petrified in the first place.

Though it would make sense that a novel with a strong male protagonist and a strong male antagonist would not be very woman-centered, Harry Potter as a series, especially in earlier novels, does a disservice to its female characters by using them only as vehicles to make the male characters stronger. The three largest female characters in Chamber of Secrets have all displayed harmful stereotypes about women that make them seem smaller and not as dynamic as the other male characters in the novel. Even Hermione gets no credit in her contributions to the resolution of the novel which would not have happened without her. Though these stereotypes in these women are part of the comforting familiarity of the novel, they create an anti-feminist novel that perpetuates harmful ideology for women and maintain the idea they are only tools to advance and support men.

Works Cited

Heilman, Elizabeth. “From Sexist to (sort of) Feminist: Representing of Gender in the

Harry Potter  Series.” In Heilman, Elizabeth E., ed.  Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter.

2003. 2nd ed.  NY and London: Routledge, 2009.

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. NY: Scholastic, 1998.