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The Shift In Protagonist Depiction

As a manga or “manhwa” reader, I am seeing villainesses, which is a genre that mainly target female reader with features such as reincarnation and fantasy are being represented more and more in Korean’s long strip manga. “The Villainess’ Stationary Shop”, “Step Aside, I Will Choose The Ending” and “Villains Are Destined To Die” are just a few works under the stated genre. Usually, villainesses are often depicted as the undesirable antagonists with bad ending storyline while the heroines are the one who deserve the good ending.

However, we are increasingly seeing that villainesses are being position as the protagonists of the story as they are more independent and with more power. In contrast, the position of heroines as antagonists of the story, depict them with qualities such as dependent, less power and always dressed and behave in a feminine way. According to the paper, such an act shows a clash of modern vs. the traditional notion of femininity, and it also implies how such representation of femininity are more favorable in the modern context.

The Modern Femininity

In the paper, a study was conducted on two webtoons: “Villainess Reverses the Hourglass” and “It Looks Like I’ve Fallen into the World of Reverse Harem” to examine the meanings and implications behind the represented characters traits and attributes. Result shows that the differences in the femininity of the villainesses can be further examined from the thought, speech and symbolic processes (protagonists and antagonists as carriers of specific values with certain traits):

  • Protagonists: Aria, Yeldyria
  • Antagonists: Mielle, Yuriel

Thought Process

Protagonist Antagonist
Aria: Intelligent and sharp observation. Invest in prospective business to gain money and power so that she can be independent. She takes more action on her own. Provide detailed considerations from economic and commoners’ perspective Mielle: Only express opinion without going into details. Heavily relies on Lady Isis and sister of her love interest to secure a higher position and power. Mostly on the receiving end.

Speech Process

Protagonist Antagonist
Yeldyria: Attempt to survive and avoid getting killed. Use power to foresee Yuriel;s actions to dismiss Yuriel from the castle. Keeps thoughts to herself and act independently. Yuriel: Relies on other characters to act on Yeldyria. Attempt to win affection of Yeldyria’s concubines.

Symbolic Process

Protagonist Antagonist
Aria and Yeldyria: Wear trousers at least once throughout the story. Engage in economic and administrative activities. Yuriel and Mielle: Always wear dresses and never wear pants.

Since both story are situated in a European monarchy where very few women wear pants, this shows Aria and Yeldyria dominance and courage to look different. From the comparison, Mielle and Yuriel are depicted to be the carries of traditional femininity while Aria and Yeldyria are the carriers of modern femininity, and they are positioned as evil as they do not adhere to the mainstream social norm.

However, Aria and Yeldyria show that they can be independent women that do not rely solely on others to achieve their goals. Such case promotes and emphasizes the modern notions of femininity that allow more social, intellectual and sexual freedom where these qualities are more favorable than the traditional feminine ideals as Aria and Yeldriya success in their endeavors in the stories.

The Changes & Transition

In a nutshell, villainesses’ traits are shifting from the traditional traits they tend to possess in the past. Qualities such as domestic, passive and submissive are being replaced with freedom, empowerment and independent. These qualities are now being celebrated as the new ideal feminine which are in fact aspects that are heavily restricted in Korean traditional beliefs. Admittedly, such a case also serve as a soft critique as traditional femininity are still prevailing in the South Korean culture.

Reference

Chertian, V. G. (2022). Villainess protagonists’ performative acts as the representation of modern femininity. Lingua Cultura, 16(2), 133-140. https://doi.org/10.21512/lc.v16i2.8375