Female Heroes In Arthurian Movies

It seems that Fiona is frustrated that the princesses instinctively dropped to their typical position based on their fairytales, when clearly that is the most hopeless thing they could do for themselves. Then the queen stands up for Fiona and head-butts the brick wall, busting it down, freeing the trapped princesses. Fiona responds, “Okay girls, from here on out, we’re gonna take care of business ourselves” (Price 95). This then leads to the princesses combating the guards outside the Castle Gardens. The princesses are portrayed in a way that have not been seen before. They gang up on the guards, attack anyone who advances toward them, and manage to get to the rooftop, distracting the guards to successfully get inside the castle. This not only shows that they don’t need a man to rescue and fight for them, but also indicates that the females in the movie and trilogy are capable to assume a “traditionally male role” as their own warrior in physical combat.

These women typically only have their beauty, “a chancy weapon at best” (Fries 15). This leaves them virtually helpless and teaches the young audience that women are incapable of doing anything themselves without the help of a male counterpart. Further, Arthurian women are essentially ancillary to the male actors, and must therefore be considered in relation to the male heroic roles as they complement or defy: as heroine, female hero, or counter hero (Fries 7). As a step in the “right” direction, Shrek the Third does allow women to have these characteristics that aren’t normally seen in the fairytale genre, nor in Arthurian literature. This can be related to the blurring of the lines of heteronormativity and challenging traditional “gender norms” that the movie incorporates into the