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By Root 363 0

as Idea and the maiden typology. The phrase ‘woman as Idea’ is derived from the Platonic world in which Forms exist in their perfect state. Eternal and immutable, they are then instantiated in less-than-ideal versions in our world. Within this Platonic framework, different essences are possessed by man and by woman, and this explains the differences between the two. Beauvoir’s account of woman as Idea refers to an ideal of femininity that individual women try to emulate. Though she personally rejected this view, this is why the myth of woman can be interpreted as the myth of femininity. While no permanent feminine ideal exists, many women and men act as if it does, and the ideal of femininity, or the Platonic woman, can be roughly sketched from Beauvoir’s thoughts and comments on the Idea of woman that she disperses throughout her exploration of myths.

Cultural variations regarding standards of beauty are one source of difficulty in describing the feminine ideal. But even so, Beauvoir is committed to the necessity of the ideal’s beauty, which can be determined by cultural norms. As well as being beautiful, she’s also expected to be youthful and in good health. These traits appear in all known accounts of femininity. When virginity is added to the list, the result is that men find this combination constituting the feminine ideal erotically attractive. Zelda is young and beautiful, and she also seems healthy, or at least healthy enough to hold or hide the Triforce of Wisdom, defy Ganon, and survive imprisonment. While Zelda’s virginity or lack thereof is never addressed, it seems reasonable to think of her as a virgin. Zelda is essentially virtuous, acting as the bodily representation of good throughout the Zelda games. In legends, these are generally attributes of the characters that are pure and virtuous, and virginity has long been associated with the notion of the pure and virtuous female.

The final feature Beauvoir discusses is that of the feminine body’s possession of qualities of inertness and passivity. In contrast, masculinity is marked by fitness, strength, and action. Masculinity and femininity share an oppositional relation with one another in that what one has, the other lacks. Hence, the man is active, and the woman is passive. Yet again, this is observable in Zelda. There are few ways to make a character more passive than by having her locked up in a distant castle, waiting for her hero to rescue her.

Given the dominance of the male perspective in historical and fictional accounts, it is unsurprising that stories from all epochs reflect this relation between man and woman. As the active figure, man is the hero of the story, and woman is the special prize that awaits him after he emerges as the victor. Her significance cannot be denied, since it is through her that the hero is allowed to succeed, and she serves as the driving force of his actions. But within the ideal of femininity, woman accepts man’s dominance and submits to him. Consequently, victory involves woman’s recognition of man as her destiny. This ideal is also reflected in Zelda, since she has been established as wise and with great foresight, yet passively and patiently waiting for Link to defeat Ganon and rescue her, and fulfilling her destiny.

So woman is essential to the hero’s journey insofar as she provides him with the vehicle to project his transcendence. At the same time, her passivity likens her to an object and she is little more than a mere thing. A result of this is that she ceases to be regarded as a living being, and instead resembles an ideal or glorification. This objectification can be seen in the Zelda games, both literally and metaphorically. Without the tasks of rescuing Zelda and piecing the Triforce of Wisdom back together, there would be no journey for Link to embark upon. Because of Zelda, Link can become a hero; and without Zelda, there would be no games at all. In The Minish Cap Zelda is literally an object, since her body has been turned to stone. In The Adventure of Link, Zelda spends the entire game in a