(Download) "Finding Woman's Role in the Lord of the Rings (Character Overview)" by Mythlore ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Finding Woman's Role in the Lord of the Rings (Character Overview)
- Author : Mythlore
- Release Date : January 22, 2007
- Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines,Books,Professional & Technical,Education,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 191 KB
Description
IN The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien gives the 20th century a fantasy epic of medieval proportions. It is a story of the littlest person, a hobbit, overcoming the tides of war. In his trilogy, Tolkien fashions a narrative that forcefully asserts the idea that wars should only be fought to protect and preserve, not to conquer and destroy. While a number of critics have accused Tolkien of subsuming his female characters in a sea of powerful men, one heroine, Eowyn, the White Lady of Rohan, is given a full character arc in the novel. After being rejected by Lord Aragorn, Eowyn searches for meaning in life, choosing to follow her brother, Eomer, to fight in the War of the Ring. The White Lady of Rohan chooses as her fate to die in battle with glory and honor. However, after being wounded by a Ringwraith and restored in the courts of healing, she decides to give up life as a warrior and become a healer. Modern scholars have seen this as a choice to accept conventional female submissiveness. However, in choosing the path of protecting and preserving the earth, Eowyn acts in accordance with Tolkien's highest ideal: a fierce commitment to peace. Rather than submission, Eowyn embodies the full-blooded subjectivity that Tolkien posits as essential for peace. While other characters--most notably Sam--also embody this ideal, it is Eowyn who most successfully fulfills the role. In making this argument, I hope to show how modern criticism has misread the role of women in Tolkien's epic, and has thus overlooked much of the importance of his vast and compelling work. Many modern scholars discount this fantasy epic not only because of its genre, but for its mass-market appeal and its seeming lack of depth. Feminist critics, however, have been even harsher in their dealings with Tolkien. While a professor at Oxford, J.R.R. Tolkien formed a male literary club. The Inklings, including C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams, were the first audience to hear The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. This male-dominated institution inspired Candice Fredrick and Sam McBride in Women Among the Inklings to pose the idea that "Middle-earth is very Inkling-like, in that while women exist in the world, they need not be given significant attention and can, if one is lucky, simply be avoided altogether" (108). Tolkien's world of men seems, to most, very chivalric in its philosophy of leaving women behind, and some female readers feel abandoned by Tolkien's lack of women characters. There are only three significant ones: Galadriel, Arwen, and Eowyn. Hobbit women are mentioned, but only as housewives or shrews, like Rosie Cotton or Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. Tom Bombadil's wife Goldberry is a mystical washer-woman. Dwarf women are androgynous, while the Ents have lost their wives. When discussing male and female characters, it is important to note that only the real humans achieve emotional fullness, and the mythic individuals attain only romanticized futures.