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Child of the 7th Age · 02-10-2006, 02:35 AM

Lush,

I can sense your frustration and I am not unsympathetic.

The greatest frustration for me is this: we know JRRT could do better. There are female characters in the Silm, most notably Luthien, who are miles above any of the depictions of women in LotR. And what about Andreth in Morgoth's Ring: a stong woman by any standard?

If it worked in the earlier renditions of the Legendarium (and some of the later ones as well), why wouldn't it work in LotR? Here is my take. Lord of the Rings began as a sequel to the Hobbit. It took a long time for the plot and writing to advance beyond that initial mindset and language. But there are certain aspects of LotR which still strongly mirror its Hobbit birth. Some of these are delightful, but others perhaps less so. While the Legendarium as a whole may have had strong female characters, The Hobbit did not. In fact there was not a single female in The Hobbit. I believe that was because he was reading it to his two sons. (Priscilla is not mentioned.)

Lord of the Rings only went a small way beyond the mindset of the Hobbit in terms of its depiction of strong female characters. When Galadriel is imported in from the wider Legendarium, she comes off as the strongest of the lot. Arwen is largely relegated to the Appendix. (Some of her experiences could have been incorporated, I'm convinced of it.) The one exception is Eowyn. Yet there is a curious ambivalence here since she must turn away from her duty to her own people to fulfill herself in a personal sense. This has provoked endless debate and fanficton. The plain fact is that I know of no other "good" character who has this dilemma.

It's not that I don't enjoy the story as it is. But, to be truthful, when I reflect on Middle-earth, I mentally add in the strong female characters who are missing from the written page. When I look at the fanfictions and RPGs on this site, I can see that I'm not the only one to do this, however far outside "canon" such a viewpoint is. (Ooh! There's that awful word again.)

02-10-2006, 02:35 AM	#2
Child of the 7th Age Spirit of the Lonely Star Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 5,133	Lush, I can sense your frustration and I am not unsympathetic. The greatest frustration for me is this: we know JRRT could do better. There are female characters in the Silm, most notably Luthien, who are miles above any of the depictions of women in LotR. And what about Andreth in Morgoth's Ring: a stong woman by any standard? If it worked in the earlier renditions of the Legendarium (and some of the later ones as well), why wouldn't it work in LotR? Here is my take. Lord of the Rings began as a sequel to the Hobbit. It took a long time for the plot and writing to advance beyond that initial mindset and language. But there are certain aspects of LotR which still strongly mirror its Hobbit birth. Some of these are delightful, but others perhaps less so. While the Legendarium as a whole may have had strong female characters, The Hobbit did not. In fact there was not a single female in The Hobbit. I believe that was because he was reading it to his two sons. (Priscilla is not mentioned.) Lord of the Rings only went a small way beyond the mindset of the Hobbit in terms of its depiction of strong female characters. When Galadriel is imported in from the wider Legendarium, she comes off as the strongest of the lot. Arwen is largely relegated to the Appendix. (Some of her experiences could have been incorporated, I'm convinced of it.) The one exception is Eowyn. Yet there is a curious ambivalence here since she must turn away from her duty to her own people to fulfill herself in a personal sense. This has provoked endless debate and fanficton. The plain fact is that I know of no other "good" character who has this dilemma. It's not that I don't enjoy the story as it is. But, to be truthful, when I reflect on Middle-earth, I mentally add in the strong female characters who are missing from the written page. When I look at the fanfictions and RPGs on this site, I can see that I'm not the only one to do this, however far outside "canon" such a viewpoint is. (Ooh! There's that awful word again.) __________________ Multitasking women are never too busy to vote. Last edited by Child of the 7th Age; 02-10-2006 at 08:25 AM.