What I would say about the female characters in general is just that the male characters tend to...drive the story more, somehow, often by being fuck-ups.
I like how you put this. Something that makes me uncomfortable when people try to hold up Rowling's writing as feminist is that the characters with the most visible arcs, for the good or the bad, are males. Though I actually have high hopes for Hermione in book 7: both for a take on her character that touches on the good and bad sides alike -- I think that stuff about Marietta will come up, and I think Rowling isn't actually pushing her as "mature" in the text, just competent but socially stunted -- and for being the drive behind a big subplot (House-Elves.) Ginny is a character where you have the seeds for a good arc, but the execution seems to have failed the premise. And even then the big plot-related role she has (Tom's diary) puts her in the position to be saved by Harry.
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Date: 2007-06-03 09:42 am (UTC)I like how you put this. Something that makes me uncomfortable when people try to hold up Rowling's writing as feminist is that the characters with the most visible arcs, for the good or the bad, are males. Though I actually have high hopes for Hermione in book 7: both for a take on her character that touches on the good and bad sides alike -- I think that stuff about Marietta will come up, and I think Rowling isn't actually pushing her as "mature" in the text, just competent but socially stunted -- and for being the drive behind a big subplot (House-Elves.) Ginny is a character where you have the seeds for a good arc, but the execution seems to have failed the premise. And even then the big plot-related role she has (Tom's diary) puts her in the position to be saved by Harry.