Feminism and Fantasy Literature

Females with agency in Fantastic Literature had typically been either wicked fairies (or witches), supportive sisters or good fairies, until the Alice books. Two elements that assisted women to go further in a man's world and a male-centred narrative, were the powers of the sword and magic. However, the power that are usually a male character reach his destiny. Feminist critics like Susanna Stingis have pointed out that "feminist fantasy is concerned with the female hero's attempts to ‘reintegrate' with her community after the successful completion of her quest (Stingis qt. in Clute 394).

In the 1970s, Feminists attacked Fairy Tales and tried to ‘fracture' them – rework them into more palatable and female-centric narratives. The fact that the way in which children's tales have been written since then, shows that "the old-fashioned passive princess is passé; even in retellings of older tales, in which her only role was the hero's reward, the heroine today is spunkier, depicted in more egalitarian terms, and given more to do - even if the plot isn't actually changed by it, as in Disney's Aladdin (1992). This trend continues till today, as is manifest in the Hollywood movie reformulation of the Alice tales in the latest film effort by Tim Burton (2010), starring actors Helena Bonham Carter (as the Red Queen), Mia Wasikowska (as Alice), and Johnny Depp (as the Hatter). The narrative twists Alice's helplessness around and changes her into a knight in shining armour, when Alice, now 19 years old and being coerced into a marriage she does not desire, re-enters Wonderland (named ‘Underland' in the movie). Here she encounters the same old characters but finds out that they have been awaiting her return for only she can slay the dreaded Jabberwock – which she eventually does . Thus, Alice redeems Underland from the cruel Red Queen and reinstates the White Queen as the rightful ruler.

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