Gender Roles In Pan's Labyrinth

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Recommended: Pan's labyrinth characters analysis

Jossely Avila-Matamoros
February 09, 2016
ENG 112
Spring 2016
Pan’s Labyrinth: Feminism in a Rather Dark Fairy Tale It is not often that a strong and significant female character is introduced in a movie and/or book as the main character. Pan’s Labyrinth, though not the typical fairy tale, introduces the viewer to three females that prove controversial and necessary to the plot, which passes the Bechdel Test, designed to identify gender bias in the media. There is Carmen, the loving mother, Ofelia, the supposed princess/innocent girl, and then there is Mercedes, Captain Vidal’s maid and rebel spy. These three women show different portrayals, different characterizations, of how women should defy the gender bias in films. The story, with its …show more content…

Her mother gave her hope and was the one who introduced her to fairy tales. So having that ripped out of her by Captain Vidal made her dislike him more. All she saw in him was a domineering, almost inhuman man who only serves to make her current situation miserable all the more. So, wondering into the labyrinth of her own accord and at the same time going against what she was told not to do. This is where she encounters the faun who gives her a book that shows her the three tasks she must accomplish in order to return to her rightful world. This, in turn, empowers her to become her own hero, and distancing from the stereotype that every princess needs a prince to rescue her. So, when the faun came to her asking her to bring her recently born brother to the labyrinth, which she obeyed in spite of her nature to go against what is usually mandated of her. Here, one can speculate that Ofelia is her own person, having finished all tasks on her own without help from a male lead, which most films monopolize on nowadays in order to validate its success. Ofelia is choosing her own path through her own choices. She is not a pretty girl in need of a man to save her because she is saving herself, as shown by the outcome when Captain Vidal shoots her. As she lays dying, a small, fading smile plays on her lips as Mercedes hums a lullaby, holding Ofelia; her return to where she originated from certain when she decides not to “shed the …show more content…

Not only has she served as a second mother figure to Ofelia, but she is also a spy who infiltrated Captain Vidal’s station and fed information to the rebel forces situated in the forest before getting caught with Ofelia, trying to run away from Captain Vidal’s suffocating grasp. The captain orders that Ofelia be kept in her room under constant surveillance while he “takes care” of Mercedes. It is in these scenes where the viewer is able to analyze more in depth Mercedes’ role. She has taken over the motherly role after Ofelia’s own mother passed away, as shown when she is caught running away from her and when attempting to protect her from Vidal: “Don’t you dare touch the girl… You won’t be the first pig I’ve ever

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