Saturday, April 9, 2011
Tolkien's ladies
I think it's interesting how Tolkien in some ways uses women to directly contrast the greatest evil. In LOTR, Eowyn destroys the Witch-King who is basically the essence of evil. In The Silmarillion, Melkor fears and hates Varda/Elbereth above all others. Although a lot of people complain about Tolkien's lack of female characters, I think he more than makes up for it in the way he portrays these women. Oftentimes, they do what the men cannot.
1 comment:
I see what you're saying but I still think women are underplayed in LotR. The majority of the text doesn't really talk about women in Middle-earth in general. I'm not saying Tolkien was sexist or anything, but their daily roles aren't ever really explained whereas we follow a group of men for the whole text. Obviously women didn't go to battle, unless they are cool like Eowyn, but I think woman play vital roles in wartime that Tolkien left out.
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.