User:Jpatlas24/Women warriors in literature and culture

Women warriors in literature and culture (edits)[edit]

Introduction:[edit]

The portrayal of women warriors in literature and popular culture is a subject of study in history, literary studies, film studies, folklore history, and mythology. The archetypal figure of the woman warrior is an example of a normal thing that happens in some cultures, while also being a counter stereotype, opposing the normal construction of war, violence and aggression as masculine. This convention-defying position makes the female warrior a prominent site of investigation for discourses surrounding female power and gender roles in society.

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Oil painting of Joan of Arc by John Everett Millais in 1865.

Joan of Arc was a warrior in the 15th century and considered a heroine in France for her role in the Hundred Years' War. Joan of Arc alleged that she had a connection to the saints of her church and that they communicated with her to tell her to join the war effort of the French in 1429. She effort in the battle of Orléans in May 1429 contributed to the retreat of the English from the city. She was later canonized as a Roman Catholic saint. In modern popular culture, Joan of Arc has been depicted many times, including in The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928 film), a silent historical film from Danish director Carl TH. Dreyer. The film depicts the real trial of Joan of Arc leading up to her execution.

The narrative of the woman warrior sometimes involves the motif of crossdressing or disguising herself as a man or a male soldier. These stories belong to the cycle of La Doncella Guerrera, or The Warrior Maiden. One popular instance of this is the legendary heroine Hua Mulan of Chinese history. Mulan's earliest records date back to the time of China's Northern and Southern Dynasties era (4th to 6th century AD). In the ballad, Mulan disguises herself as a man and takes her father's place in war to protect him. The original story has been written multiple times since it was first written by different authors. Hua Mulan was further popularized, especially in the United States, through Disney's 1998 feature film Mulan.

The woman warrior is part of a long tradition in many different cultures including Chinese and Japanese martial arts films, but their reach and appeal to Western audiences is possibly much more recent, coinciding with the greatly increased number of female heroes in American media since 1990. Films have brought women warriors to the silver screen, such as such as in King Arthur (2004 film), in which Kiera Knightly plays heroine Guinevere, originally the love interest of King Arthur. In this iteration, Guinevere is portrayed as a warrior of equal strength as her male counterparts.

Women warriors have also grown in recent years in part due to the popularity of comics and franchises inspired by them, most notably films by Marvel Studios and films within the DC Extended Universe. Characters such as Captain Marvel, Wasp, Black Widow, and, more recently, Jane Foster, a female iteration of the hero Thor, originally were superheroes in popular Marvel comic series, as well as others. These heroines have since been portrayed in films helmed by Marvel Studios and are a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.