Does Earthsea pass the Bechdel test?

Question

Does Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin pass the Bechdel test? (I was just told by a fan that it did; but they weren't fan enough to have proof from the books, and I vaguely recollect it had a mostly-male wizard cast).

The movie book has to have at least two [named] women in it,
who talk to each other, about something besides a man.

I'm mostly interested in "A Wizard of Earthsea" but for extra credit, other works in the series can be included.

Since there are non-human characters (I vaguely remember dragons, but it's been years since I read so don't know if they are gendered), any sentient being counts towards the test, not just humans.

Answer 1

I don't have my copies handy, but, off the top of my head, no, the first book does not, as it has precious few named females, and as far as I recall, none of them spend time talking to each other. (The Phallocentric nature of the Wizardling part of the world actually becomes much more plot-central to some later novels, as well as the prequel stories; it is a men's club in A Wizard of Earthsea, but wasn't always like that.)

Thinking back on female characters from WoE:

• His aunt, who gives him an (albeit limited) intro to magic
• The daughter of the Lord of Re Albi (well, an enchantress, as I recall, really)
• Various non-speaking female filler characters (vendors, etc.)
• Vetch's sister who wears a small dragon on her wrist

Those being the only ones I remember from that book, I would think it fails the test.

That said, the second book does pass the test; the Tombs of Atuan has a female protagonist (Tenar), and several other female characters. Most conversations have nothing to do with a man; Tenar being a priestess overseeing a dark tomb, there are many other subjects, but rarely do they talk about men.

Tenar's next starring book, Tehanu, also likely passes the test, although it's been years since I've read it. The later supplemental works certainly pass the test, especially since some of them address the apparent misogyny found in the early works.

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Now, for some external support, since I don't have my copies to cite:

• Supporting book 1 failing: This article
  

  "I realize things were different in 1968, but this book is kind of sexist. Actually, it’s not kind of sexist, it is sexist. It’d be nice if a book written by a working woman included any female characters of substance. If A Wizard of Earthsea were a movie, it’d absolutely fail the Bechdel test. The few women/girls we meet briefly are simplified stereotypes: The Witch, The Virgin, The Crone. It’s awesome that Le Guin was ahead of her time in featuring characters of color, it’d just be that more awesome if the school had been co-ed or “witch magic” wasn’t an object of scorn by the male wizards."

• Confirming that #2 passes: This article
  

  "The book passes the Bechdel test with flying colors, surpassing that minimum requirement and going on to make female characters important, to make their choices matter, to make important plot points and even the continuation of the book, or the universe. Also, to make this not a big deal."

Answer 2

The second book, The Tombs of Atuan, has multiple named female characters who speak to each other at length about daily life and about the titular "tombs", mentioning men only in passing in a few short passages ("The priest-king puts on his pants one leg at a time." is a rough paraphrase, from memory).

I don't recall either of the other books of the original trilogy passing the Bechdel test; Earthsea wizards believe women to be unsuited to proper magic ("Weak as woman's magic, or wicked as woman's magic" was a catchphrase quoted internally), and the one example in the first book of a powerful female magician was indeed evil to the core (the other example of a female magic worker, Duny's foster mother, had very little power).