The Relegation of Female Characters in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Abstract: This essay examines how J.K Rowling´s tendency to draw on intertextuality creates a relegation of female characters in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2014). By examining the link between intertextuality and the creation and portrayal of certain female characters in the most selling book series in history, Harry Potter, it is clarified how the use of intertextuality relegates female characters to retrogressive social constructs of gender. The three characters studied in this essay are Fleur Delacour, Molly Weasley and Petunia Dursley. The approach used is mythological criticism, an approach focused on the search for universality in a multitude of modern and historical texts. The main concepts used in this essay are the archetypal woman, postmodernity, gender performativity, myth, and intertextuality. Judith Butler´s concept of gender performativity is combined with Graham Allen’s definitions of intertextuality and postmodernity to understand how and why female characters in Harry Potter are relegated. Evidence has been collected from published journals, books, and encyclopedias. This essay explains how relegation is caused by shining light upon the link between character creation and the myths that the character builds upon. J.K Rowling has used archetypical female roles, such as the siren, the wicked stepmother or the mother, when creating her characters, thus relegating them to past beliefs of femininity, such as the woman as being exotic and dangerous. By examining both myth and postmodern texts such as Harry Potter one can gain a deeper understanding on how intertextuality can cause a postmodernist text to reflect past notions of femininity that would be viewed as retrogressive in a postmodern and postcolonial society.