A Feminist Analysis of Snow, Fire, Sword

Snow, Fire, Sword is an epic fantasy novel written by Sophie Masson. It tells about the quest of the main characters of the story, Dewi and Adi, for Snow, Fire, Sword which is the only thing that can save Jayangan from the terror of the Hantumu. While other novels of the same genre rarely portray the importance of women, this novel, on the contrary, shows the great value of women’s contribution to the success in the quest journey. The passivity, weakness, and little contribution of the male characters in the story (especially the main male character Adi), compared to the activeness, power, and great contribution of the female characters, make the main female character Dewi appear to be the hero.

Epic fantasy novels, such as Stone of Tears, The Lord of The Ring, and Harry Potter are often dominated by male heroes. Campbell (2006) states that epic fantasy novels often portray male heroes as “unflinching warriors, righteous defenders of nations, virtuous and wise wielders of justice, revered conquerors, and rightful kings”. Female characters are often marginalized. Although there are also some main female characters in the story, however the actions of the female characters, often times, only contribute to the adventure of the male protagonist. Like in the case of Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series. Hermione is portrayed as an intelligent girl. Although her knowledge is important, but it “only contributes to Harry’s adventures and not hers” (Heilman, as cited in Mikulan, 2009).

One of the reasons for the lack of female heroes in epic fantasy novels is perhaps because epic fantasy requires its characters to get involved in a quest journey. The quest journey is often associated with masculine heroic activity. Therefore, male...

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...ild Protagonist in the Epic Fantasies of George, Macdonald, C.S. Lewis, and Philip Pullman.

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