Considering the Female Hero in Speculative Fiction
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University of Pretoria etd – Donaldson, E (2003) The Amazon goes nova: considering the female hero in speculative fiction by Eileen Donaldson submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Magister Artium (English) in the Faculty of Humanities University of Pretoria Pretoria December 2003 Supervisor: Ms Molly Brown 1 University of Pretoria etd – Donaldson, E (2003) Acknowledgements Ms Molly Brown for her unfailing tact, guidance, support and encouragement. Dedication To my grandfather who loves all ‘dishevelled wandering stars,’ And has shared that love with all of us, To my grandmother for countless ‘Once upon a times,’ And to my mother and father who saw a UFO in the harvest of 1978. 2 University of Pretoria etd – Donaldson, E (2003) Summary The female hero has been marginalized through history, to the extent that theorists, from Plato and Aristotle to those of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, state that a female hero is impossible. This thesis argues that she is not impossible. Concentrating on the work of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell, a heroic standard is proposed against which to measure both male and female heroes. This heroic standard suggests that a hero must be human, must act, must champion a heroic ethic and must undertake a quest. Should a person, male or female, comply with these criteria, that person can be considered a hero. This thesis refutes the patriarchal argument against female heroism, proposing that the argument is faulty because it has at its base a constricting male-constructed myth of femininity. This myth suggests that women are naturally docile and passive, not given to aggression and heroism, but rather to motherhood and adaptation to adverse circumstances, it does not reflect the reality of women’s natural abilities or capacity for action. Indeed, with the rise of contemporary feminist discourse the patriarchal myth of femininity is being demystified and, without the myth of femininity to constrain her, the female hero is now re-emerging in certain areas of cultural expression. The examples of female heroes discussed in this study are taken from speculative fiction, encompassing the genres of both science fiction and fantasy. Speculative fiction, which has a propensity for challenging the status quo and questioning common societal assumptions, provides the perfect platform for women writers to confront feminist issues and launch the female hero. The female hero challenges the patriarchal claim that all heroes must be masculine, she defies patriarchal power structures and she demands a re- evaluation of women’s capabilities. The female hero gives women an example of heroic 3 University of Pretoria etd – Donaldson, E (2003) activity to emulate, in place of the ‘angel in the house’ that women have had to bow to for so long. The works discussed in this thesis cover a range of authors, from those of outspoken contemporary feminist, Joanna Russ, to early speculative works like those of C.L. Moore. Lesser-known authors such as Vonda McIntyre and Tanith Lee are also discussed. Key terms: hero, female hero, Joanna Russ, C.L. Moore, Vonda McIntyre, Tanith Lee, Joseph Campbell, speculative fiction, archetypes, feminism. 4 University of Pretoria etd – Donaldson, E (2003) Table of Contents Introduction 6 Chapter One: The Light in the Darkness: Heroes in Society 22 Chapter Two: Arming the Damsel in Distress: Recovering the Female Hero 55 Chapter Three: Drawing the Virtuous Sword 97 Chapter Four: Wielding the Sceptre of Dominion 144 Conclusion 184 Bibliography 197 Appendix A: Lord Raglan’s template of the hero’s life. 206 5 University of Pretoria etd – Donaldson, E (2003) Introduction Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. Without that power probably the earth would still be swamp and jungle. The glories of all our wars would be unknown. … Supermen and Fingers of Destiny would never have existed. The Tsar and the Kaiser would never have worn crowns or lost them. Whatever may be their use in civilised societies, mirrors are essential to all violent and heroic action. That is why Napoleon and Mussolini both insist so emphatically upon the inferiority of women, for if they were not inferior, they would not enlarge. (Woolf, 2000:37) If Virginia Woolf is right, then it is to women that thanks are due for the figure of the hero: if women had not elevated men, encouraging glorious heroic status, and maintained them in such a position, the world might not have known a Beowulf, or a Superman. Although I do believe that this is an oversimplification of the hero’s story, it is certainly an interesting explanation for why there are so few recognised female heroes in history. Woolf suggests that it is because women have an inferior position to men that men have naturally assumed positions of power and leadership in the various spheres of human endeavour. If women have magnified men to twice their natural size, it stands to reason that women are always only half a man’s stature themselves; because of this, it seems natural that men should achieve heroic status, while women both cannot and should not. Women, who have had their gaze directed solely at men as subjects worthy of hero- worship, have not paused to look at themselves until fairly recently. But this change in perspective is a vital one. Female academics and revolutionaries have, in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, produced a vast amount of philosophy and literature in which the position of women (in the past and in the present) has been subjected to much criticism. In these writings the direction of the female gaze has changed somewhat, 6 University of Pretoria etd – Donaldson, E (2003) from being directed to and by the male, to being far more truly self-reflective. Because of this, an interesting re-evaluation of the female, and the female as hero, is taking place. In fact, women are no longer willing to accept their status as ‘half-a-man’, instead they are beginning to resurrect ancient images of powerful females from history and myth to construct their own contemporary images of female heroes. (Larrington, 1992:441) And that there are powerful female images to which women can look is telling. Obviously, woman has not always been half the size of her male counterpart; there have been times in the past when she seems to have overshadowed him. Antonia Fraser, in her book The Warrior Queens, cites the Ptolemaic creed of Isis, which is a marvellous invocation of undiminished female power: I am the queen of war. I am the queen of the thunderbolt. I stir up the sea and calm it. I am the rays of the sun. (Fraser, 1999:27) This creed evokes an awe of the sovereignty of the goddess. There is no suggestion here of a Ra to whom one may do obeisance, there is only Isis, herself the sun. Similarly, one has only to consider the energetic figures of armoured Athena on the battlefields of Troy, Diana, Acteon’s brutal judge, Kali and the bloodthirsty Celtic Morrigan to recognise that there are powerful female figures in world lore. These figures often appeal more than the less spectacular male gods in their respective pantheons. These are the queens of war and they evoke more terror and inspire more action than their male counterparts. A testimony to this is the modern western world’s adoption of the female warrior as an icon: Artemis, Athena, Isis (and even Medusa) appear everywhere as Britannia, La Liberte, Victory and 7 University of Pretoria etd – Donaldson, E (2003) so on. It is the female warrior who adorns houses of parliament and courts of justice the world over. (Warner, 1996:87) As Antonia Fraser writes Whereas woman on the whole, taking the rough with the smooth, the good epochs with the bad, has been considered inferior to man throughout history, the arrival of the Warrior Queen, by whatever accident of fate, descent or sheer character, has been the signal for a remarkable outburst of excitement and even awe, sometimes accompanied by admiration and enthusiasm for her cause, beyond the ability of a mere male to arouse. (Fraser, 1999:6) Fraser suggests that this power of the warrior queen to inspire her society (to fear or admiration) is ‘undoubtedly due to the fact that woman as a whole has been seen as a pacifying influence through history, this pacifying role being perceived as hers by nature and hers in duty.’ (Fraser, 1999:7) The warrior queen’s actions are contrary to those expected of a woman by patriarchal society, and this is what makes her powerful. She has the audacity to defy various patriarchies and claim agency. Thus, even while women have been considered incapable of heroic action, for whatever reason, there are those who have battled against society and overthrown patriarchal taboos to claim the status of Warrior Queens. These women demand recognition of the fact that women’s position as pacifier and maternal nurturer is certainly not all they are capable of; women can be bloody warriors and uncompromising heroes as well. The female hero has been vilified for a long time. Possibly because the female warrior queen, or Amazon, has for so long threatened patriarchal society, that society has had little recourse but to actively undermine her power. Lane and Wurts write that To ancient patriarchs (the Amazons) were moon-worshipping Artemesians who boldly embodied the Female Principle and were prepared to thrust its most dreaded manifestation – full-blooded matriarchy – onto the men who ran the world. … To patriarchs, Amazons represented one type of woman warrior: an outsider, a disrupter, a terrifying force for unmanaged change, a serious threat to 8 University of Pretoria etd – Donaldson, E (2003) both domestic tranquillity and the evolution of European civilisation.