Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a rare film where the actions of the main female characters drive the narrative to its tragic conclusions. The characters of Shu Lien, Jade Fox and Jen Yu are all engaged in a struggle for personal liberation from the constraints of the society to which they belong.

Shu Lien is the leader of Sun Security and a master of the martial arts. The respect she enjoys is earned through both her personal qualities and the role she undertakes as a protector of both life and reputation. She is the only person that could be entrusted with delivering the Green Destiny Sword to its new owner.

Despite the independence she displays as a woman running her own high-risk business, her attitudes are often expressed conventionally. She describes marriage as the most important step in a woman's life, stresses obligations to family and tries to dissuade Jen Yu from an independent life in the Giang Hu underworld through words and then combat. It is clear that she is not merely maintaining the status quo and can also advise Jen Yu to turn away from the arranged marriage that has been forced upon her. Her attitudes are pragmatic and a result of making her way in a patriarchal society. More than one character in the film espouses the need to be subtle and flexible in order to be a successful leader.

Shu Lien is also engaged in an internal struggle between her love for Li Mu Bei and their agreement to honour the sacrifice of her fiancé Meng Si Zhua. It is not merely the case of a woman abiding by tradition, but a deliberate denial by both Shu Lien and Li Mu Bei of their desires for a higher ideal. The final result of Shu Lien's own journey is best expressed when she exhorts Jen Yu to be true to herself near the film's end.

The character of Jade Fox is the most contentious. A victim of male prejudices, is she a feminist guerilla fighter whose methods are extreme, or does her thirst for revenge have no justification? Her murder of Li Mu Bei's master is explained by his rejection of her in any role except that of concubine. Her embracing of the criminal lifestyle and remorseless killing show her to be a monster, but is she a monster created in part by a society that has marginalized her?

If circumstances were different, would she be content to remain the governess of the Yu household, safe from prosecution? While this is stated, her years of violence have shaped her true character. Jen Yu soon becomes the object of her hatred and another potential victim, when the role of pupil and master are shown to be a fiction. She is the villain and extreme in dealing with those who she sees as betraying her, but without her presence what choices would Jen Yu have to make.

The film is concerned to a large extent with the way in which the aristocratic Jen Yu's life will be shaped. Her behaviour swings wildly from dutiful submission to an arranged marriage, to her role as the masked thief who steals the Green Destiny Sword. The choices she must make are given physical form, does she learn the secrets of Wudan with Li Mu Bei, do her duty as Shu Lien would wish, roam wild with Jade Fox, or live happily with the bandit Lo.

It is significant that despite the plans of others she will make her own decisions. She ultimately rejects submission to any master, will fight but not kill for her freedom, will go to almost comic lengths to do what she believes is right and surrenders her love for Lo.

Her path is often punctuated by the excesses of youth. The excitement she feels when first seeing the Green Destiny Sword is palpable, her adventures have more bravado than bravery and her willfulness will often lead to pain. It is interesting that the only time she is physically alone during the film, she adopts male clothing to undertake an androgynous escapade in which she easily defeats a large number of armed men. The ease of this later victory is highlighted by the fact that she composes a poem to herself as the sword goddess who will overcome the corrupt Wudan culture. It is her role in the deaths of Li Mu Bei and Jade Fox that show her how unfettered independence is a hollow goal.

The most striking thing about the three main female characters of this film is that they all exist in situations that set them in opposition to the constraints of society. The aristocrat, protector and master criminal have more in common than a mastery of fighting skills. While none of them represent the epitome of a feminist hero and all exhibit considerable personal failings, collectively they show the necessity to challenge convention and seek change in order to create a better society. The ultimate tragedy of their situations and their struggle to assert individuality in a culture of conformity is more poignant because of their shortcomings.

Finally the film asks a fundamentally important question. What will you believe in when you make your own leap of faith?