Feminist Theory in Literature Work: Novel The Queen Gambits by Walter Tevis

Feminism must be closely related to women against the patriarchy system, women empowerment, and gender equality. Women, for a long time, have been stereotyped by the words weak, powerless, untitled, etc. But, everybody will agree that women are beautiful and pretty, being opposed by men or we can call it Feminine and Masculine. Even though, discrimination against women still exists because of the negative stereotype about them. So, Feminism is a way for women to break the negative stereotype and Patriarchy system that has been rooted for a long time.

The Queen of Gambits by Walter Tevis has a women protagonist character in it. This novel told a story about Elizabeth Harmon, or Beth Harmon, an orphan chess prodigy. The novel told the biography of her, a woman who loves to play chess and dedicated her life to becoming an elite chess player but struggling with emotional problems, drugs, and alcohol dependency.

The story begins in the mid-1950s and proceeds into the 1960s. Elizabeth Harmon is orphaned at age 9 when her mother dies in a car crash on New Circle Road. She is taken to an orphanage, where the children are given tranquilizing pills to make them more calm and compliant. The story began while she was cleaning erasers in the basement, she discovers the custodian, Mr. Shaibel, studying chess on his own. After repeated requests, and demonstrating that she has already learned how the pieces move by observing him, he reluctantly agrees to teach her the game. She becomes obsessed and improves quickly, thanks to her spatial intelligence and abuse of the mind-altering tranquilizers, which allow her to focus and visualize chess games on the ceiling above her bed.

Her obsession with chess, lead her to join the various tournaments and beat many high rating chess players in many countries and she decided to dedicate her life to beating the world’s best chess player at the time. She, being a woman and must face another chess player that mostly is men, sometimes face discrimination and must break the stereotype about women that cannot play chess just like other men. She proves it by winning the world’s chess tournament in Russia beating the best player at the time named Burgov. Even though, because of her intelligence, courage, and ambition, she was supported by many people who care about her.

The stereotypes begin when Beth is adopted by a couple named Mr. Wheatley and Mrs. Wheatley. Mrs. Wheatley asked her if she had any hobbies, and Beth said she likes playing chess and asked Mrs. Wheatley if there is someone who can play with her,

“Is there anyone I could play with?”

“Play chess? I have no idea.” Mrs. Wheatley peered at her for a moment.

“Isn’t it primarily a game for boys?”

“Girls play,” she said.

“How nice!” But Mrs. Wheatley was clearly miles away.

Mrs. Wheatley clearly said that chess is just for a boy, and Beth argue her and said everyone include girls can play chess just like boys. The gap between Mrs. Wheatley’s era and Beth’s era show that patriarchy was boldly exist in Mrs. Wheatley’s era, the era that thought women cannot do what men does like chess. Meanwhile chess is a game that was measured by brain strategy not gender. So, Beth thinks that chess can play by everyone, men and women.

Beth join the tournament and once again she experiences an uncomfortable moment,

“Have you ever played in a tournament before?”

“No.” The man pointed to Beth’s money. 

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I’m sure.”

“We don’t have a woman’s section,” he said.

She just stared at him.

“I’ll put you in Beginners,” he said.

“No,” Beth said, “I’m not a beginner.”

            It clearly shows that Beth is being doubtful because she is a woman. But, because of her confidence, she doesn’t want to put in the beginner and keep forward to the first-class tournament. She will show her skills that are better than men. Her ambition about chess eventually rise her Feminist spirit to show the world that chess is genderless, it’s all about strategy, intelligence, and skill.

After Beth’s first tournament, Mrs. Wheatley, in that time she was divorced, support her to do chess and company her to join every chess tournament in many countries. Beth is recognized and some magazine likes to interview her. The person who interviews her is Miss. Balkes, a women reporter. During the interview she said,  

“When I was a girl,” the reporter said,  

“I was never allowed to be competitive. I used to play with dolls.” The photographer backed off and began to study Beth through his camera.

She remembered the doll Mr. Ganz had given her. 

“Chess isn’t always competitive,’” she said.

“But you play to win.”

Beth wanted to say something about how beautiful chess was sometimes, but she looked at Miss Balke’s sharp, inquiring face and couldn’t find the words for it.

            This conversation, clearly show the limited space for women. Women cannot be competitive, should play a doll. Beth cannot agree with that, that’s really a contradiction toward her views. Beth really wants to tell other women that they can do anything they like, even if it’s unusual for women just like the patriarchy system said. Beth makes an analogy that chess is beautiful because she enjoys doing that.

The last quote that will be analyzed is the result of the interview. Beth doesn’t satisfy by the result because it doesn’t show the story about her enthusiasm about chess, it just fill with how a GIRL like her can do chess tournament, it just about her looks and her gender, Mrs. Wheatley read the magazine for her,

She began reading aloud: “With some people chess is a pastime, with others it is a compulsion, even an addiction. And every now and then a person comes along for whom it is a birthright. Now and then a small boy appears and dazzles us with his precocity at what may be the world’s most difficult game. But what if that boy were a girl—a young, unsmiling girl with brown eyes, brown hair, and a dark-blue dress? It has never happened before, but it happened recently. In Lexington, Kentucky, and in Cincinnati.”

And this is Beth’s reaction,

Beth had bought her own copy. 

“And it gives one of my games. But it’s mostly about me being a girl.”

“Well, you are one”

“It shouldn’t be that important,” Beth said. 

“They didn’t print half the things I told them.  They didn’t tell about Mr. Shaibel. They didn’t say anything about how I play the Sicilian.”

“But, Beth,” Mrs. Wheatley said, “it makes you a celebrity!”

Beth looked at her thoughtfully, “For being a girl, mostly,” she said.

            Beth was sad, the highlight of the article is just about her being a girl who plays chess. Her ambition about chess is just getting faded just because they highlight the fact that she is a woman. She thinks it must be normal for women to do chess because chess is genderless. She wants to encourage other women too to fight for their dream and don’t limit their space just because they are women. But Mr. Wheatley is impulsive and gives speculation the most important that she is being a celebrity.