Character Analysis
Sure, she wears the disguise of a lowly handmaiden and lets her doppelganger Keira Knightley masquerade in her finery. But there's no mistaking Queen Padmé for being exactly what she is: dang royalty.
Queen Padmé Amidala is the Naboo head of state and was elected queen mere months before the Trade Federation's invasion of her planet. Now, if you just read that sentence and thought, "Wait! You don't elect queens; that's a societal leadership role based on familial relations," then let us inform you that in the Star Wars universe queens are elected because, um… reasons.
Padmé is brave and strong-willed and cares immensely about her people's safety—all positive qualities to have in a leader. But as we'll see, she's also young, and her inexperience will ultimately lead the galaxy down a dark path.
Kids today, eh Grandpa?
The Princess of Another Castle
Padmé begins the story as a classic damsel in distress. Joining the ranks of Princess Peach, Mary Jane, and a legion of Bond girls, her kidnapping spurns the heroes into action and gets the story moving.
In this way, she provides The Phantom Menace its Princess Leia parallel. Like her daughter-to-be, Padmé is kidnapped because the villains want something from her. In A New Hope, Darth Vader wants the plans for the Death Star. In The Phantom Menace, Viceroy Gunray wants Padmé to sign a treaty to make his invasion legal.
Both distressed damsels show their grit by not giving into the demands of their captors, even when what they care about most is threatened. For Leia, it was the destruction of Alderaan; for Padmé, it's the killing of her people and the death of her culture.
Finally, both women are eventually rescued by Jedi Knights—okay, Leia only gets a Jedi-in-training. But rather than swoon over such a harrowing ordeal, once freed, both women take the fight to their enemies.
Yas, Queen
Padmé and her court are freed, and she shifts roles from damsel in distress to woman of action much sooner than Leia. After escaping Tatooine, Padmé shifts her focus to helping her people.
She initially tries to go the political route—which we'll go into more detail about in a minute. When politicking fails, she shifts gears and takes command of the situation. As she tells Palpatine:
"I will sign no treaty, Senator. My fate will be no different than that of our people."
Both Qui-Gon and Panaka are unsure how to win the war against the Trade Federation, so this one is all on Padmé's shoulders. And she rises to the occasion like a boss.
Padmé travels to Naboo, gathers scattered Naboo resisters to her cause, and even brokers a peace with the Gungans. She then goes full-on General Amidala and devises a battle plan for retaking the planet.
Rather than stay in the backlines, Padmé leads the assault on the Naboo palace, putting herself at risk alongside those who would risk their lives for her. In the end, Padmé captures the viceroy, clinching an important objective in her victory… and showing once and for all that you do not mess with the Queen.
Deceived Debutante
If you've ever wondered why high-schoolers aren't elected President, then Padmé will answer that question. While she's got a lot going for her in the kindness and bravery departments, she is also pretty naïve and innocent about the darker aspects of the universe.
We get a glimpse of Padmé's innocence when she visits Mos Espa disguised as a handmaiden. She admits to Anakin that she doesn't understand the place or its customs. She is even more startled to discover that something as vile as slavery still exists in the universe:
PADMÉ: I can't believe there's still slavery in the galaxy. The Republic's antislavery laws—
SHMI: The Republic doesn't exist out here. We must survive on our own.
To her credit, she's eager to learn and expand her knowledge of the universe, as evident by her accompanying Qui-Gon in the first place. Unfortunately, she is unable to shed her naïveté before Senator Palpatine finds a use for it:
PALPATINE: If I may say so, Your Majesty, the chancellor has little real power. He is mired by baseless accusations of corruption. The bureaucrats are in charge now.
PADMÉ: What options have we?
PALPATINE: Our best choice would be to push for the election of a stronger supreme chancellor, one who could control the bureaucrats and give us justice. You could call for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum.
PADMÉ: He has been our strongest supporter.
PALPATINE: Our only other choice would be to submit a plea to the courts.
PADMÉ: The courts take even longer to decide things than the Senate. Our people are dying, Senator. We must do something quickly to stop the Federation.
Young, inexperienced, and in a hurry, Padmé can't see that Palpatine is planting the seeds of doubt to directly benefit himself. During the senate session that follows, Palpatine whispers in her ear about corruption, and Padmé calls for the vote of no confidence in Valorum, Palpatine's own words flowing from her mouth.
Even after Palpatine is nominated for Supreme Chancellor and it's evident he can't help her people in an expedient manner, Padmé still doesn't realize she has been duped by the dude.
Her innocent mistake doesn't harm her current predicament, but it's the first in a series of events that will lead to some horrible, horrible results. But that's another discussion for another film.
Padmé's Timeline