The Feminist Review

Everyone talks about the trilogy’s religious implications, what about gender? It sure seems like a fantasy series with a female main character would be a clear triumph for feminism. But Will still dominates - in part because he is older, but he is also a better fighter, and more of a controlling, traditional leader. While Lyra is the center of the story, her role in the metaplot is completely dependent on Will. Mrs. Coulter is an incredibly powerful woman, but her power is completely dependent on her sex appeal. She is an unoriginal archetype, and her “transformation” to caring mother is as predictable as her character.

Gender dynamics in all of the human societies described are similar to my own culture. There are amazing opportunities for envisioning new paradigms in fantasy and science fiction, but The Golden Compass trilogy doesn’t even try. The concept of daemons offer interesting questions. For example, most people’s daemons are the opposite gender, though not all. This probably says more about sexuality than gender, but I’m curious about the implications.

The trilogy revisits the story of Eve and Adam, but eating of the tree of good and evil is the moment of salvation that all of creation is waiting for. This subversion of an ancient and foundational myth is incredibly profound with positive implications for sexuality. Therefore it is particularly disappointing that the meaning of gender and traditional gender roles are never explored.

Filed under: books on March 8th, 2008 by Anna Lisa