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Victoria League

Tison Pugh

LIT3482

19 February 2015

Feminist CritiqueView of Ginny Weasley etc etc

In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,

J. K. Rowling constructs Ginny Weasley’s as a feminine character displaying “typical” female

behavior, placing her firmly in the gender role of “female.” Her character has no developed

personality, existing only as a love interest for Harry, and . J. K. Rowling, the author, constructs

her her as a very feminine character displaying “typical” female behavior, placing her firmly in

the gender role of “female..” Ginny’s importance in the second novel builds her as a betrayer, a

weakling, and a damsel in distress, which serves to enforce her gender and her romantic relation

to Harry, instead of furthering her character development.

Ginny Weasley is extremely feminine in the Harry Potter novels. Elizabeth E. Heilman

describes Ginny as “the archetypal girl” who is “deeply passive, weak, and receptive” (230). In

the reader’s first encounter with Ginny, she starts to cry as the train leaves with her older

brothers (The Sorcerer’s Stone 97), already starting her characterization as a girlish child. Crying

is typically associated with females, which makes her femininity much stronger because it is one

of her first actions in the series. Ginny continues to cry throughout the second book; Percy tells

Ron that Ginny has been “crying her eyes out” and that he has “never seen her so upset” (The

Chamber of Secrets 157). Tom Riddle tells Harry that Ginny, upon entering the Chamber of

Secrets, “struggled and cried and became very boring” (The Chamber of Secrets 313). When

Harry wakes her, she “[draws] a great, shuddering gasp and tears [begin] to pour down her face”

(The Chamber of Secrets 322), and Rowling goes on to mention multiple times in the next ten

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pages that Ginny is still crying: “tears were still flooding silently down Ginny’s face” (326);

“tears were still coursing silently down her cheeks” (328). Such persistent characterization of

Ginny as a crying girl indicates that this is an important action or trait of hers.

In The Chamber of Secrets, Ginny “shriek[s] that she’d left her diary” in the house as her

family tries to leave for the Hogwarts train (66), an action that readers would expect from a girl

because of both the shriek and the diary. Later she is described as “wailing” (The Chamber of

Secrets 210), a verb that is not often used to describe boys. When a cat becomes the victim of the

monster in the Chamber of Secrets, Ron tells Harry that Ginny is “a great cat lover” (146). Cats

tend to be linked with women, and Heilman notes that “doting” on cats is “effeminate” (232);

this association is a way to further feminize Ginny. Once her classmate is attacked, Ginny acts

“distraught” and one of her brothers says that she has been “having nightmares” (The Chamber

of Secrets 185). The diary returns near the end of the novel; the reader learns she has been

writing in Tom Riddle’s diary all year. Tom Riddle says that she “opened her heart and spilled

all her secrets to an invisible stranger,” writing about “all her pitiful worries and woes” (The

Chamber of Secrets 309). These are actions that readers would expect from a girl, but not from a

boy, further placing Ginny in the limiting box of “female.” Riddle, although bored with Ginny’s

writings, is kind to her and writes back, leading Ginny to tell him that she’s “so glad I’ve got this

diary to confide in” (The Chamber of Secrets 309), a statement typical of a girl.

If Ginny is a typical female, then an important part of her character will logically be

romance. Rowling introduces and Ginny is introduced, and tthereafter always noted,s Ginny

based on her interest in Harry, immediately defining her based on a male. When we readers first

see her in The Sorcerer’s Stone, she is beggingbegs to see Harry for herself: “Oh, Mom, can I go

on the train and see him, Mom, oh please….” (97). Still too young to be thinking romantically

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about Harry, she’sher curiosity stems from interested in him because of his fame and reputation.

This interest develops into a romantic attraction by The Chamber of Secrets, where her siblings

rescue Harry from his family and bring him into their home. Upon seeing Harry, Ginny runs out

of the room, presumably from shyness. Ron Weasley says to Harry that Ginny ha’s “been talking

about you all summer,” and Fred adds, “she’ll be wanting your autograph, Harry” (The Chamber

of Secrets 35). Already Rowling is building Ginny’s attraction to Harry and setting the stage for

their future romance. As Harry’s stay in Ginny’s home continues, he notes that Ginny is, “Ginny

seemed very prone to knocking things over whenever Harry entered a room” and continually

blushes around him and she continually blushes in his presence (The Chamber of Secrets 43). All

of her appearances culminate in a girly reaction to Harry that indicates her romantic attraction

and nothing else about her personality.

At Hogwarts readers hardly see Ginny and when they do, she continues to act shy and

nervous around Harry, continually doing things like “carefully not look[ing] at Harry” while in

his presence (The Chamber of Secrets 286). When Harry receives her valentine “in front of a line

of first years, which happened to include Ginny Weasley,” Draco Malfoy accuses Ginny of

sending it by saying, “I don’t think Potter liked your valentine much!” (The Chamber of Secrets

237-9). Ginny runs away, embarrassed, leading the reader to believe that Ginny did indeed send

the valentine. Readers do not doubt Draco’s accusation because Rowling has constructed Ginny

entirely on her girly attraction to Harry and this is certainly within the scope of her interest for

him. Draco is not the only one to tease Ginny about her obvious intentions; Ron, her own

brother, proclaims, “You’ve got competition, Ginny!” when another girl shows interest in Harry

(The Chamber of Secrets 326). Ron’s comment, said in front of both Ginny and Harry, enforces

the reader’s conception of Ginny as a lovesick young girl and nothing more.

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The first time we hear Ginny speak while Harry is around, she is defending him from

Draco’s insults while glaring at Draco: “Leave him alone, he didn’t want all that!” (The

Chamber of Secrets 61). Draco takes this chance to taunt Harry further, saying, “Potter, you’ve

got yourself a girlfriend!” and Ginny turns “scarlet” (The Chamber of Secrets 61). This is the

first indication of Ginny’s personality further than simply shy and blushing, but her bravery only

appears when defending Harry. This characterization plays off her attraction and interest in

Harry instead of developing her personality. When Tom Riddle rattles off a paragraph about the

boring things Ginny wrote in his diary, he emphasizes that Ginny did not think the “famous,

good, great Harry Potter would ever like her….” (The Chamber of Secrets 309). Her other

concerns are what the reader would expect an eleven-year-old girl to write,unimportant; but as

even Riddle could deduce, her crush on Harry defines her. Otherwise indistinguishable from any

other girl of her age, save for her near-obsession with Harry, Ginny does not haveRowling does

not give Ginny a a personality of her own.

One could argue that Ginny’s flat character construction is a logical result of her status as

a minor character; Hermione, a character readers see very often in the novels, would of course

possess a stronger, rounded personality of her own. However, the fact that Ginny’s character

creation completely revolves around Harry, and the fact that all notable personality traits relate to

her feelings for him, indicates that Rowling had no other purpose for Ginny besides acting as

Harry’s future love interest. Heilman explains that Ginny’s attraction to Harry “disables her”

instead of allowing her character to grow (230). Her importance in The Chamber of Secrets

actually actually enforces this, because she is a damsel in distress, a young girl easily tricked by

dark magic and in need of a hero to rescue her. This familiar trope gives her a stronger romantic

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tie to Harry instead of increasing her importance as a character of her own right, and is

problematic because women should not be defined by, or created for, men.

Ginny Weasley is more feminized than other important female characters, like Hermione. She

displays more “typical” female behavior. In the reader’s first encounter with Ginny, she starts to

cry as the train leaves with her older brothers (The Sorcerer’s Stone 97), already starting her

characterization as a girlish child. [QUOTE FROM ARTICLE ABOUT GINNY BEING

QUINTISSENTIALLY FEMALE] Crying is typically associated with females, which makes her

female-ness much stronger because it’s one of the first actions she does in the books. Ginny

continues to cry throughout the second book; Percy tells Ron that Ginny has been “crying her

eyes out” and that he’s “never seen her so upset” (The Chamber of Secrets 157). Tom Riddle

tells Harry that Ginny, upon entering the Chamber of Secrets, “struggled and cried and became

very boring” (The Chamber of Secrets 313). When Harry wakes her, she “[draws] a great,

shuddering gasp and tears [begin] to pour down her face” (The Chamber of Secrets 322), and

Rowling goes on to mention multiple times in the next ten pages that Ginny is still crying: “tears

were still flooding silently down Ginny’s face” (326); “tears were still coursing silently down her

cheeks” (328). Such persistent characterization of Ginny as a crying girl indicates that this is an

important action or trait of hers.

In The Chamber of Secrets, Ginny “shriek[s] that she’d left her diary” in the house as her family

tries to leave for the Hogwarts train (66), an action that readers would expect from a little girl

because of both the shriek and the diary. Later she is described as “wailing” (The Chamber of

Secrets 210), a verb that is not often used to describe boys. When a cat becomes the victim of the

monster in the Chamber of Secrets, Ron tells Harry that Ginny is “a great cat lover” (146), and

cats tend to be associated with women.[MAYBE FILCH IN HERE? FAILED MASCULINITY?]

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Once her classmate is attacked, Ginny is “distraught” and one of her brothers says that she’s

been “having nightmares” since the attacks started (The Chamber of Secrets 185). The diary

comes back near the end of the novel; the reader learns she’s been writing in Tom Riddle’s diary

all year. Tom Riddle says that she “opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible

stranger,” writing about “all her pitiful worries and woes” (The Chamber of Secrets 309). These

are actions that readers would expect from a girl, but not from a boy, further placing Ginny in the

limiting box of “female.” Riddle, although bored with Ginny’s writings, is kind to her and writes

back, leading Ginny to tell him that she’s “so glad I’ve got this diary to confide in” (The

Chamber of Secrets 309), a statement typical of a girl.

Rowling and the other characters consistently treat Ginny as a little girl, even

though she is only a year younger than Harry, Hermione, and Ron. She is continually

characterized as a child throughout the first two novels. When Ginny notices Harry Potter and

“squeals” his name, Mrs. Weasley interrupts her and scolds her by saying, “Be quiet, Ginny, and

it’s rude to point” (The Sorcerer’s Stone 308). This diminishes Ginny because she is treated as

though she hasn’t been fully raised yet; such a basic correction is rarely given to anyone other

than a child. In The Chamber of Secrets, Ginny is a year older but still Rowling describes her as

“a small, red-headed figure in a long nightdress” (35), or “a small, black-robed figure” (307),

enforcing the reader’s view that she is a small child. When the Weasleys enter Diagon Alley to

shop for school supplies, Harry notices that Ginny is “just clinging onto” Mrs. Weasley’s hand

(The Chamber of Secrets 56), and later sees Mrs. Weasley take her hand again before leaving a

shop (67). None of the other characters are holding their mother’s hand, a behavior typical of

little children, so readers can see quite easily that Ginny is a little girl. Granted, she is the

youngest character readers see in this section, but in the previous book when other characters had

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been her age, none of them were holding Mrs. Weasley’s hand. Tom Riddle even characterizes

Ginny the same way, calling her “stupid little Ginny” (The Chamber of Secrets 311). This

consistent characterization as a little girl lessens Ginny’s intelligence, maturity, and growth. She

is unable to display traits and actions that would round out her personality because she’s just a

little girl, regardless of the fact that she’s only a year younger than Harry, Ron, and Hermione,

all of whom were quite capable and well-rounded at her age.

While it’sit is true that Ginny has a central role of importance in the second novel, her

importance is only as a weakling tricked by Tom Riddle and a damsel in distress. Riddle explains

to Harry that Ginny was the culprit the entire year because he’dhe had been able to control her

from the diary, opening the possibility that Ginny is easily tricked, immature, and needy for

pouring her soul into an unknown diary enough to be controlled by it (The Chamber of Secrets

310). Heilman agrees, saying that Ginny “is weak enough to be fully possessed and used” (230).

Riddle forces Ginny to “write her own farewell on the wall and come down [to the Chamber of

Secrets] to wait” for Harry Potter to come and save her (The Chamber of Secrets 313). This

places Ginny in the position of damsel in distress, waiting for a hero and not taking her safety

into her own hands. This further diminishes her and flattens her character into quintessentially

female. After Harry finds Ginny and brings her back to safety, fulfilling his role as the hero, Mrs.

Weasley exclaims, “You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?” (The Chamber of

Secrets 327). All of the success is due to Harry as the savior, while Ginny is merely an object to

be saved. The relationship between hero and damsel in distress often leads to romance, which

reemphasizes Ginny’s attraction to Harry and foreshadows a future relationship between them.

Upon her rescue, Ginny can’tcannot stop crying out of guilt, and this typical female response

reminds the reader thatreader that she’ is a girl and a child.

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As a final insult, Ginny’s own father blames her for her actions even though she is the

victim of a trick by the most powerful dark magician wizard in history. She sobs to him,

explaining with fear, “I’ve b-been writing in [his diary], and he’s been w-writing back all year–”

and her father’s response is,: “Haven’t I taught you anything? What have I always told you?

Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see where it keeps its brain? Why didn’t

you show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of

Dark Magic–” (The Chamber of Secrets 329). Rowling’s italics and Mr. Weasley’s attitude

indicate that he is deeply angry withat Ginny for allowing herself to be tricked by Riddle, when

in reality she is the victim. Some readers will recognize this as a form of victim-blamingvictim

blaming, a phenomenon rampant in our society, especially in situations where women are

attacked and others blame the women for bringing on the attack. For Ginny to be blamed as a

victim by her own father is a deeply troubling act, yet this further solidifies Ginny as a little girl

who would be dumb enough to write in an unknown diary.

Ginny Weasley is certainly an extremely feminized character whose only character traits

revolve around her romantic interest in Harry Potter. From a feminist viewpoint, this is a

disappointing construction of a female character that could have been well rounded and

worthwhile for more than just a man. However, readers must ask themselves: is it such a bad

thing that Ginny is so very girlish? Is it bad to have archetypal characters that conform to

stereotypes and do not demonstrate the “ideal”? Perhaps these archetypal characters should not

be banished because they might serve an important purpose; if all the characters in a novel were

what readers wanted them to be, there would be no variety (Pugh). Another argument could be

that this is Harry Potter’s story, not Ginny Weasley’s story. Just as “Hermione and her

intelligence are simply part of Harry’s entourage,” can readers see Ginny as merely a part of

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Harry’s development and life? (Nikolajeva 131). Can Rowling throw her to the side because this

is Harry’s story, or does she deserve to have her own, fully developed character? There is no

right answer, but readers would do well to consider the implications of a character that fulfills so

many degrading female stereotypes and what the story loses by omitting her growth.

Works CitedCONCLUSION:

is it such a bad thing that she is so entirely GIRL? what can be gained from such a

characterization? what do we lose?

Heilman, Elizabeth E. “Blue Wizards and Pink Witches: Representations of Gender Identity and

Power.” Harry Potter's World. N.p., n.d. 221-239.

Nikolajeva, Maria. “Harry Potter – A Return to the Romantic Hero.” Harry Potter's World. N.p.,

n.d. 125-140.

Pugh, Tison. “Harry Potter Class Lecture.” 10 February 2015.

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Scholastic Inc., New York: 1997. Print.

-- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Scholastic Inc., New York: 1999. Print.