Aragorn and Arwen: More than kissing?

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Parmawen

I just wanted to point out that Tolkien was a very religious man, and sex out of wedlock is highly frowned upon in it...so I'm pretty sure that HE certainly never put nor hinted it in the books.

Parmawen, it is possible that authors, even very highly ethical ones, don't always share contemporary understandings of sexual mores or ethics. You might want to read more in Tolkien's letters and his other texts for his concept of chastity and sexual ethics. For instance, in Tolkien's theory about elven marriage, "sex out of wedlock" is not possible. For elves, the very act of sexual intercourse constitutes marriage. In fact, for him, the social or cultural control is very much the less important aspect, as Tolkien disliked any wiff of imposed authority. Thus, he made the personal and private choice or decision the determiner of the state of marriage. I suppose one way of saying this is to suggest that for Tolkien sexual intercourse was not fallen, and so that the act of sexual intercourse was the act of marriage. You slept with someone, you were married to that person. Desire for elves was apparently pure in this way.

Originally Posted by Fordim

That the movie should acknowledge this, and perhaps even celebrate it, does -- I think -- PJ great credit for having had the nerve to make his Elven Princess a creature of flesh and blood and desire, rather than a distant and idealised figure carved from cold stone.

Well, I'm going to take a slightly different tack here. It's not that I disagree with Fordim, but I want to consider Aragorn and Arwen from a different perspective, one not so completely based on psychological realism.

One type of hero in old mythologies was the hero who underwent his battles and quest in order to earn the love of the goddess. Only by proving himself could he take full possession of his bride. It is a mystical marriage and made possible only after he has demonstrated his right to be called hero or king, to turn aside egotism, pride, vanity, and submit himself to the journey. Seen in this light, Aragorn and Arwen are less characters in a realistic novel and more figures of an ideal in fantasy. They each must earn their Heart's Desire by denying themselves at first. This aspect of the novel I think Jackson missed in his--albeit somewhat legitimate--desire to turn Arwen into a more modern woman. The concept of chastity, not simply physical chastity, but that of the entire body, mind, and spirit, is a hard sell these days.