6. Influential Female Characters
In Harry Potter, female characters have much more of a central impact and an important place in the story than in The Lord Of The Rings. Hermione Granger (a female character) is one of three leading characters in the series, however unfortunately, the same can't be said for Tolkien's Middle Earth. Just tell me this, how many females are present in the Fellowship? The World Of Middle Earth seems very much like a masculine-based society and the only purpose of female characters in Middle Earth, such as Eowyn and Arwen is as love interests for Aragorn, rather than as main aspects of the plot. Is this stereotype true of Harry Potter? Of course it isn't. The main purpose of leading female characters such as Hermione Granger and Professor Mcgonagall is not as love interests but as leading roles, whose attributes of brains and authority are faraway from the national stereotype of women whom appear in literature. In this sense Harry Potter is very much a nonconforming book series. Because of this fact, in my opinion Hermione Granger has to go down as one of the greatest literary heroines of the 21st Century. Furthermore, the
extent of female characters in Potter is like no other. Other major female characters include Prof. Trelawney, Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood. I just wonder how many focal female characters one could name in the Lord Of The Rings franchise? 2,3 perhaps 4 at a push. This just proves my point. The Lord Of The Rings is far too much of a testosterone fest and Tolkein simply does not give enough time for the female components of the story.