Line #92 Main/HarpOfFemininity


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13	[[quoteright:240:[[Anime/SaintSeiya https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Pharaon-Pandore-Wallpaper_7472.jpg]]]]
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15	->''"French impressionism has left us with a rather limited version of the harp, as if its most obvious characteristic were that of lending itself to the attention of loosely robed girls with long blond tresses, capable of drawing from it nothing more than seductive glissandi."''
16	-->-- '''Luciano Berio''', in the liner notes for his ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK7Dt_gkWhg Sequenza II]]'' for solo harp
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18	The harp's crystalline and delicate tones, as well as its graceful shape, will emphasize the femininity of the woman playing it. Not to mention that it gives the harpist a definite air of [[TheHighQueen dignity and nobility]]. As such, harp-playing women in fiction are usually important to the plot.
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20	This trope is OlderThanRadio but not OlderThanSteam, and doesn't generally come in to play much in works from before the French Revolution. As such the WanderingMinstrel (a medieval trope) will often be male and play the harp, and playing the lyre also {{Gender Flip}}s this trope just as often as not (most of the 'inversions' listed below concern hand-held harps and lyres, rather than the sort of grand harp one would see in an orchestra). In the very, very rare occurrences where a man is shown playing the harp, he will be ''at least'' a particularly effeminate {{Bishonen}} or PrettyBoy.
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22	In ancient Western culture, the harp was if anything a masculine instrument. Thus we see figures such as [[Literature/BooksOfSamuel King David]] and the Myth/{{Greek\|Mythology}} god Apollo playing the harp (or lyre) without any loss of masculinity.
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24	If the harp is weaponised, see InstrumentOfMurder and MusicalAssassin.
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26	This trope is TruthInTelevision, since real-life harpists are mostly female. This started because in the 18th Century in Europe, it was considered highly improper for women to play most instruments: the harp was one of the few that wasn't considered scandalous for a woman to play (along with keyboard instruments).
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28	Also note who else typically plays the harp: angels, elves, and people who died and went to FluffyCloudHeaven.
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30	Almost always also an ElegantClassicalMusician. Compare FeminineWomenCanCook and TextileWorkIsFeminine for a much less refined way to show femininity. For a modern counterpart of this trope, see FemaleRockersPlayBass.
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32	----
33	!!Examples:
34	[[foldercontrol]]
35
36	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
37	* Apart from advising ''Anime/CaptainHarlock'', Mimay's favourite pastime is to play the harp while wearing a very feminine dress.
38	* In ''Anime/DokiDokiPrecure'', the Cures, all of whom are girly girls, get a MidSeasonUpgrade in the form of the Magical Lovely Harp, which lets them use their group attack and gives them angel wings.
39	* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', one of the celestial spirits that Lucy can summon is Lyra, a songstress with a lyre.
40	* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'': Yuria in the anime, who has come into possession of a harp and nothing else while in Shin's captivity and is playing it in nearly every scene where she makes an appearance. The harp sound plays any time Kenshiro thinks about her.
41	* In ''Anime/FreshPrettyCure'', the feminine [[spoiler:Cure Passion]] gets a harp as a weapon, which gives her the power to purify monsters.
42	* Haydee from ''Anime/{{Gankutsuou}}'' plays the harp (most notably in the opening), which emphasizes her graceful and feminine demeanor.
43	* In ''Anime/GrimmsFairyTaleClassics'', both Rapunzel and Briar Rose/Sleeping Beauty are very feminine girls who beautifully play their lyres. Rapunzel's musical skills are even a plot point: her Prince [[LoveAtFirstNote falls for her beautiful songs]] [[LoveAtFirstSight before properly meeting her]], and towards the end [[spoiler: the now blinded Prince finds her after he hears Rapunzel play the same song that she played when they met..]]
44	* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'': Jose's memories of his little sister Enrica (killed in a terrorist bombing) often have her playing the harp, as her brother remembers her as PurityPersonified (when we actually see Enrica in flashback chapters, she's more interested in playing soccer than her harp). Perhaps because of this Jose's ReplacementGoldfish for Enrica -- his cyborg Henrietta -- is not instructed in the harp but the violin (also the case is useful for [[SenselessViolins carrying her FN P90 submachine gun]]).
45	* In ''Anime/HealinGoodPrettyCure'', the elegant [[spoiler:Cure Earth]] has a harp weapon, which is connected to her wind powers.
46	* In ''Manga/HidamariSketch'', Yuno saw Hiro planting herbs and asked what she was doing. When Hiro explained, Yuno misheard her as saying "harp" and envisioned a harp-playing Hiro. Now, Hiro is already the motherly one of the group, so the feminine qualities are already there, just enhanced in Yuno's imagination.
47	* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Conis likes to play a harp in her spare time and is even known as "the beautiful lady who plays the harp" among the boys of her village.
48	* Played with when it comes to Nando from ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearl''. He's a man who always carries around a harp but he's one of the most effeminate male characters to appear.
49	* In ''Manga/RGVeda'', the beautiful and talented [[FourStarBadass Lady Kendappa]] is never seen without her harp.
50	* ''Manga/SailorMoon'': Played with. [[WaterIsWomanly Sailor Mercury]] uses a lyre as a [[InstrumentOfMurder weapon]], to cast "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody", but she's still rather [[GirlyBruiser feminine]].
51	* ''AudioPlay/SaintBeast'': The {{Uke}}, Shin, went to the extent of crafting his own harp to play.
52	* Pictured: Pandora in ''Anime/SaintSeiya''. To emphasize the "lady" in the LadyOfWar, she often plays the harp in her free time.
53	[[/folder]]
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55	[[folder:Fan Works]]
56	* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': Both Chapters 23 and 30 feature a moment where Kyril visits Celestine's personal quarters. She is shown playing the harp, which accentuates her grace as [[OurElvesAreDifferent High Elf]] [[TheHighQueen Queen]].
57	[[/folder]]
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59	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
60	* Duchess in ''WesternAnimation/TheAristocats''. Made more impressive by the fact that she's a ''cat''.
61	* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'': Kronk's (male) [[GoodAngelBadAngel shoulder angel]] carries a harp, prompting his shoulder devil to mock the "sissy, stringy thing".
62	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'''s orchestra solely consists of men... save for the harp players, who are women. [[EnforcedTrope Enforced]] due to [[ValuesDissonance gender expectations of the era the film was released in]].
63	* Princess Camille's introductory scene in ''Anime/LittleNemoAdventuresInSlumberland''. Shortly after done playing, she begins to tease Nemo about how unrefined he's dressed in comparison.
64	[[/folder]]
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66	[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]
67	* PlayedforLaughs in ''Film/TheHobbitAnUnexpectedJourney''. The male Elves of Revendell are so {{Elfeminate}} that Kíli mistakes a male elf who plays a harpy for an elven maiden and even develops an instant crush before the revelation.
68	* The EvilMatriarch of the girls' boarding school in ''Film/ALittlePrincess1995'' is shown playing a harp at moments when she's not actively working to make Sarah's life miserable. Her musical ability is arguably the only likable trait the character has.
69	* In ''Film/ThePrinceOfThieves'', beautiful DamselInDistress Lady Christabel is introduced playing the harp while imprisoned in her room awaiting her ArrangedMarriage.
70	[[/folder]]
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72	[[folder:Literature]]
73	* In ''[[Literature/AuntDimity Aunt Dimity and the Duke]]'', Grayson's grandmother played a harp, and its removal for sale prompted the crisis that opens the book. There's also a painting depicting the twelfth Duchess of Penford seated at the instrument, and it is among the items Grayson repurchased [[spoiler: after making a fortune portraying crass rock star Lex Rex]].
74	* The world of ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' has a StereotypeFlip for nearly every gender role, as "masculine" in that world codes very close to what "feminine" is in this world, and vice versa. All the same, it's specifically noted in one scene that dulcimers, harp-like instruments, are being played by women.
75	* Aversion: Flewddur Fflam in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' was a consummate badass, a [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething king]], and a [[TheBard wandering bard]]. He played a ''magic'' harp, which could be more accurately said to play itself, but harping is not regarded as particularly feminine in Prydain.
76	* Averted in ''Literature/DragonBones'', both [[GentleGiant Ward]] and his younger brother Tosten play the harp. Tosten is better at it, and earns his bread as WanderingMinstrel, minus the wandering part. While Tosten ''is'' rather [[LongHairedPrettyBoy pretty]], he is a WarriorPoet and decent swordfighter (except that he has to throw up after his first kill, but that happens to the best).
77	* Averted in ''Literature/TheHobbit'': Thorin is a badass, grey-bearded dwarf, and a highly skilled harpist. Though, Creator/JRRTolkien likes to play with this trope. He does use it to soften the killer Maglor, and as part of Finrod's semi-intentional gender-bending aesthetic. On the other hand, he also makes it the instrument of choice for the manly Rohirrim. Tolkien likes playing with gender tropes, because he did intend his stories to reflect the real world: and people in the real world play with and subvert gender tropes all the time.
78	* Creator/RudyardKipling talked about "When Homer smote his bloomin lyre" (not his most inspired passage).
79	* Averted with the bard in ''Literature/TheLastHero'', who starts off as a bit of a pretty-boy, but plays a lute. His journey to badassitude is completed when he replaces it with a lyre that uses a ''human skull'' as the soundbox.
80	* Limerick guy Edward Lear has two limericks about young women playing harp...one of them with her chin.
81	* Mary Crawford has quite the skill on the harp in ''Literature/MansfieldPark''.
82	* Featured in ''Literature/TheMistsOfAvalon,'' which Morgaine (as the viewpoint character) combines with ElegantClassicalMusician to assure herself that she could have any man who heard her play the harp.
83	* Averted in ''Literature/TheRiddleMasterTrilogy''; of the three protagonists, the two harpists are the men, Morgon and Deth, while Raederle, the woman, is a flutist.
84	* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'''s Sansa Stark is stated to be skilled at playing the high harp as part of the list of feminine virtues she's mastered; although she's never seen actually playing one.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder: Live-Action TV]]
88	* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' plays with this somewhat: Amy Farrah Fowler plays the harp in spite of being the least feminine of the female characters, but she sees her non-femininity as a result of social exclusion and has a strong desire to become more feminine, making her harp playing possibly represent [[WishFulfillment wish fulfillment]] or escapism.
89	* ''Series/GilmoreGirls'': Subverted. Season 1 includes Drella (played by Creator/AlexBorstein), the harpist at the Independence Inn. She is supposed to provide calming ambience but is notable for her acerbic attitude and her impatience with guests, as well as her inappropriate song choices.
90	* In ''Series/GreenWing'' the impossibly girly and infuriatingly perfect Angela plays the harp to Grade 7, while her more [[{{Tomboy}} tomboyish]] housemate Caroline struggles to get a sound out of her flute.
91	* Lily, matriarch of ''Series/TheMunsters'', plays one and is for the most part a perfect lady, even with her temper.
92	* ''Series/{{Rome}}''. Agrippa falls in LoveAtFirstSight with Octavia after seeing her play a stringed instrument, though we're reminded she's hardly TheIngenue when she misses a note and shouts, "Piss and blood!" in frustration.
93	* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. Subverted in "Prime Factors". While enjoying himself on a friendly planet, Harry Kim sees a beautiful woman playing an alien instrument resembling a harp, only it turns out to be an atmospheric sensor that works via sound. That doesn't bother Harry much as he immediately deduces how it works and [[GeekyTurnOn they start bonding over that instead]].
94	* In ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'', The decidedly unfeminine Xena has an IdenticalStranger in PrincessClassic Diana, and impersonates her to ward off some would-be assassins. When asked to play the harp by the villain suspicious of her identity (as Diana is supposedly a master harpist), she intentionally breaks some of the strings to avoid having to play it, and then uses it to [[{{multishot}} fire off some arrows]] when the fight eventually breaks out.
95	[[/folder]]
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97	[[folder:Music]]
98	* "I Took My Harp to a Party" by Gracie Fields is about a woman who takes her harp to a party in hopes of being asked to show off her musical talents, only for no one to ask, despite other guests being asked to play increasingly unlikely instruments, including a mouth organ, a concertina and a set of bagpipes.
99	-->''For I took my harp to a party but nobody asked me to play;\
100	The others were jolly and hearty but I wasn't feeling so gay!\
101	They might have said, "Play us a tune we can sing",\
102	But somehow I don't think they noticed the thing!\
103	For I took my harp to a party but nobody asked me to play,\
104	So I took the darned thing away!''
105	[[/folder]]
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107
108	[[folder:Radio]]
109	* ''Radio/ThePhilHarrisAliceFayeShow'' had Barbara the harpist in a few episodes.
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
113	* The ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' TCG has Spirit of the Harp, a delicate woman playing a harp.
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115
116	[[folder:Video Games]]
117	* ''Franchise/DragonQuest'':
118	** Ishmahri of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'' is the {{Bishonen}} version of this.
119	** Serena is easily the most traditionally feminine of the party members in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'', and she also plays the lyre.
120	* [[PlayingWith Played with]] in ''VideoGame/DualHearts''. [=McTuve=] (a male) plays a small harp, contributing to his ViewerGenderConfusion mystique. Doesn't help that the game is not dubbed (save for battle cries).
121	* Cai Wenji in ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' is [[TokenGoodTeammate a serene, compassionate and kind woman]], [[TokenWholesome not to mention modest]] found in the faction of [[DesignatedVillain Wei]]. She uses her harp and whatever tone she plays as her weapon.
122	* [[TheBard Edward]], the very feminine Prince in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' is a harp specialist, and used it during regular [[ImprobableWeaponUser battles]] as well as to aid the party in their [[PowerOfRock battle against the dark elf]] while hundreds of miles away.
123	* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'', the girlish-looking bard Elphin uses his MagicMusic to boost up the other characters and give them a second turn.
124	** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', Cordelia and Phila are said to be very talented harpists.
125	* In ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'', Orpheus uses a harp as his instrument of choice. As a figure from Classical Mythology he would ordinarily not qualify, but somewhat coincidentally, he also has an extremely soft voice and features that make him look and sound very feminine.
126	* In ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', Sona uses an instrument called "etwahl", which looks more like a Russian gusli or a Chinese guzheng. Also, she's a gorgeous and graceful mute woman who uses her etwahl songs to buff her allies or damage enemies.
127	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series:
128	** Marin from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' is shown to play the harp in official art (though she never does so in the game itself, and never mentions that she can, either). A harp is also one of the eight magic instruments Link has to acquire throughout the game.
129	** Sheik in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', who plays the lyre. Of course, Sheik [[LateArrivalSpoiler turns out to be female]] even though she [[{{Bifauxnen}} looks male]]. The harping here is important to the plot, as Sheik teaches Link [[MagicMusic songs which he needs to succeed]].
130	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'' has the Harp of Ages, which is normally played by Nayru, but after she's possessed by the villain, Link (who is obviously male) has to do it himself.
131	** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', the two female Earth Sages, Medli and Laruto, are harpists.
132	** Zelda (again, [[AnachronicOrder for the first time]]), in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', the same one that would later be used by Sheik, in fact. [[spoiler: Link gets his hands on it during the events of the game]].
133	** Spin-off game ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'' has Sheik again, this time using the harp as a weapon. In this game, her movements are more fluid and graceful compared to [=OoT=]. [[spoiler:No prizes for guessing she's Zelda again, though the characters in-game act surprised.]] The story mode's intro scene also shows Zelda playing a harp during her DreamSequence, before being interrupted by the shadows creeping in.
134	* In ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'', Jansen hears Ming playing her harp and guesses that the musician must be a beautiful woman: [[LampshadeHanging "No dude plays a harp."]]
135	* Kongōka Bosatsu "Uta" in ''VideoGame/NamuAmidaButsuUtena'' is a LongHairedPrettyBoy who plays the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konghou Chinese harp]].
136	* The Comet Observatory theme from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy''.
137	* Larks, a class from ''VideoGame/UltimaIII'' which functioned as a hybrid of thieves, fighters and sorcerers, were depicted in the NES port as a woman in a tunic playing a lyre.
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Western Animation]]
141	* One gag in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' had [[InkSuitActor an animated version]] of Elizabeth Smart (a RealLife teenage girl who was kidnapped, sexually abused, and recovered alive a few months before that episode aired). She was, just like her real-life version, playing the harp, and another character comments, "Although all the songs she sings are about [[BrokenBird rape.]]"
142	* At least one animated version of the ''Literature/{{Rapunzel}}'' fable has the title character playing a harp. It's hearing her "special song" that allows the blinded Prince to find her again.
143	* ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'': The titular character's stepsister, Princess Amber, is an aspiring ProperLady who is seen playing the harp in the episode "A Royal Mess" to distract Roland and Miranda from seeing the shattered stained glass window.
144	[[/folder]]
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146	[[folder:RealLife]]
147	* Samuel Milligan of Harp Column considered the historical reasons for the view of the harp as a feminine instrument. It is believed to have originated from revolutionary France: Marie Antoinette played the harp, meaning that many female aristocrats took it up, and during and after the revolution many women of the newly created middle class also did so because of the association with culture and high social standing. The huge size of the harp was also significant, as the highly visible presence of a harp in a house indicated that the owner had a cultured wife and/or a cultured and possibly marriageable daughter. However, because it was seen as a fashion statement, few of these women learned to play the harp very well, meaning that better composers rarely wrote for it; thus gradually the harp was seen as a mere fashion statement not just by social climbing women but by musicians in general, which reduced men's interest in learning the instrument. After all, budding professional musicians (who, apart from singers, were always men, as any family who could afford the children taking music lessons would consider the wives and daughters working for money a humiliation) would not usually come from especially well-off homes -- musicians were considered akin to skilled tradesmen.
148	** In fact, the harp has so little music to truly exhibit skill on that most professional harpists are more likely than other classical musicians to also compose for their instrument.
149	* Once upon a time the Vienna Philharmonic was noted for excluding women members, until 1997. The first female member they hired was harpist Anna Lelkes, who'd already been performing for them in an "associate" capacity for some 26 years, because they couldn't find any male harpists to fill the role.
150	* Music/AngelaJuly took an entire continent by storm in 2018 with her unique act of singing and graciously playing the harp simultaneously as she landed the second place in Asia's Got Talent.
151	* The idea of femininity and submissive decorum inherent in a harp player is subverted when it is taken into account that two Harpists to the British Royal Family lost their "By Royal Appointment" status for criminal misdemeanours. One was imprisoned because of the theft and fraud offences carried out to support a drug habit, and a second because of sexual offences against underage boys.
152	[[/folder]]
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