Abstract

The Harry Potter series has been such a big aspect within my life but it has also become a huge cultural phenomenon in not just our society but around the world. The purpose of this paper is to examine how female characters are portrayed in the Harry Potter films. Through feminist analysis, I will investigate the representations of Bellatrix Lestrange, Molly Weasley, Minerva McGonagall, and Nymphadora Tonks. Past scholarship that takes a feminist analysis course, when looking at the depiction of women in the series, has mainly been focused on key female figures such as Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley. Other important and heavily featured characters like Minerva McGonagall, Nymphadora Tonks, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Molly Weasley have not received as much scholarly attention. While there are eight total films in the series, I will specifically be looking at the portrayals of these characters in: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2. These three films were selected because the four characters are all present and there is less scholarship on the newer films within the series. Hence, I will employ feminist analysis to explore the representations of older female characters in Harry Potter by looking at the emerging patterns of these representations.

Key Words: Harry Potter, Feminist Analysis, female representations, gender

Advisor

Atay, Ahmet

Department

Communication Studies

Disciplines

Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication

Keywords

Harry Potter, Feminist Analysis, female representations, gender

Publication Date

2015

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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