Cinderella syndrome

[hermione1956]

No: HPFGUIDX 31622

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "jenbe_me" <jenbea at s...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "viola_1895" <viola_1895 at y...> wrote:
> > 
This is a re-send, as I forgot to sign the first one and it looked 
like jenbea wrote her own response.

> > >  I found this post incredibly thought provoking. I found it so 
for 
> these reasons: because 1. The main character of the book is not 
> Hermione, it's Harry, and secondly, 2. I'm willing to bet that the 
> majority of the this list is not female. Even if it is an even 
50/50 
> split between the sexes, it still would not explain this 
> extraordinary interest in who Hermione ends up with romantically at 
> the end of the books. Not all of us can be identifying with 
Hermione 
> and her brainy, bushy-haired character.
> 
>   Giving it a bit of thought, I think some of it might be 
attributed 
> to a kind of... Cinderella syndrome. 

       I was surprised here . . . I have always thought that Harry 
was the Cinderella character here.  At least when he's with the 
Dursleys, living under the stairs and being forced to do all the 
yardwork etc., especially noticeable in CoS when he has to work so 
hard to prepare for the dinner with the Masons, then get lost.  But 
it turns out he's rich and a wizard (the counterpart of marrying the 
prince).  Of course, this analogy has nothing to do with romance.  
But it's one more example of how JKR uses so many elements of the 
plots and characters from literature and twists them into her unique 
universe.
> 
>    What would you have thought if Ron had not been 
> able to find a date for the Yule ball, but had gone anyway? 
Perfectly 
> acceptable, right?  What if Hermione hadn't been able to find a 
date 
> for the Yule ball? Should she have gone anyway or stayed in her 
room? 
> There's a double standard there. 

     I'd certainly like to believe that Hermione would have gone by 
herself anyway.  I'm sure there were students of both genders without 
dates.  (After all, Cinderella went to the ball without a date, and I 
don't think she went looking to marry the prince; she just wanted to 
have fun.)
> 
>   > I think perhaps she may end up alone at the end of the three 
books- she 
> doesn't necessarily need anyone to lean on and if she's not ready 
or 
> doesn't want a relationship, she might not have one. This post may 
> come across to some as radically feminist but I assure you it's not 
> meant in that way; I'm just trying to figure out if we've been 
> holding some stereotypes about male and female characters in the 
> books. 
> 
>     My instinct is that everyone tries to match up Hermione because 
she's the only female character we know well enough for that.  And 
that's not necessarily anti-feminist.  Certainly my feminism doesn't 
prevent me from being an incorrigible romantic at times, and wanting 
well-loved characters to end up happy.  But as adults I think we 
sometimes forget how young they are; they're not being set up for 
life, but exploring relationships with the opposite sex is a normal 
occupation for teenagers.  By throwing this into the books JKR has 
added an element of depth to their characters.  But personally I'd 
rather see the trio look elswhere for relationships at this stage 
because I'm concerned that a relationship within the trio could 
destroy the unique balance of their friendship.  I'd like to see the 
books end with their friendship intact.  And this probably means I'd 
like to see not just Hermione, but all three of them alone at the end 
of the books.  And the fanfic writers can take over from there.> 

djd