[HPforGrownups] Hermione; strong female characters

[Peg Kerr]

No: HPFGUIDX 5031

Kelley wrote:

> This is me chiming in on Penny's and DrMM's 'strong female character'
> conversation.  When people ask for strong females, perhaps they're
> referring to adult characters.

Yes. The point has been made before: we're watching a story of character
FORMATION.  And that's what I find so interesting.  We see these little
character bits: Harry's wariness around adults, Hermione's obsessiveness
over her studies, Ron's prickliness about his family's poverty.  When these
children are put through the events detailed in JKR's plots, how do those
little character bits change as they grow?  Will Harry grow more trusting?
Will Hermione's obsessiveness moderate itself into a balanced but strong
drive to continue learning?  Will Ron achieve some kind of inner peace about
his portion of material wealth?

> That's what I mean when I say that,anyway.  I think Hermione is a
> wonderfully strong character--smart, brave, loyal, sensible, adventurous,
> compassionate, etc.  I'd like to
> see more of her 'inner' self, but don't expect that to happen.

I do! I think that's exactly what we're seeing, for all three of the major
characters.  We're watching the shaping of Hermione's character, as well as
Ron's and Harry's.

> I would just like a female [adult] who's as vivid and charismatic as those
> men.  <snip>
> I'd love to see what she [Rowling] does with a strong, _adult_ female.

Which is why I'll be very curious to see what she does with the female DADA
teacher she's going to introduce (it was going to be the next book, wasn't
it?  Did she say that specifically?)  I'd be particularly interested to see
how Hermione will interact with her.

Peg
(who is strong and female)