tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post7483060645656763575..comments2023-11-07T06:20:12.181-08:00Comments on Tolkien: Medieval and Modern: Is Tolkien Sexist? "Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"http://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-35814949936363427172018-09-21T08:58:21.929-07:002018-09-21T08:58:21.929-07:00I think you are wrong about the male characters ha...I think you are wrong about the male characters having their cake and eating it too. Aragorn is something like 90 years old when he finally marries the woman he loves, and has had to hold off until he is king and has completed his task. The male characters don't get a free ride to double happiness, they get to marry if they don'T die on the quest, or at war! They must risk death and win in order to have even a chance at a family life, and then, they work and raise their families until they die! Furthermore some never recover from their role in the quest. Frodo and Bilbo never recover fully, never marry, never have normal lives at all. Neither do Legolas nor Gimli go back home to their previous lives. Boromir dies unwed too. And Eowyn trades fighting for healing, not becoming a housewife, and we cannot presume motherhood, as Tolkien has lines fasiling all the time!<br /><br />so a little off base, I think, on the sexism thing, if only because it seems too close to a PC agenda. If anything, the female characters are TOO powerful.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01625368475369942320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-62802943989555895762017-05-21T14:34:48.752-07:002017-05-21T14:34:48.752-07:00I would have liked to hear more about Galadriel. I...I would have liked to hear more about Galadriel. It is true she does not take the Ring when Frodo offers it to her, but it is she, not Celeborn, who rules in Lorien. Her marriage does not entail any sacrifice of her public power. Another test case: Aegnor chooses not to marry Andreth and dies fighting Morgoth. Eowyn and Arwen are obviously the characters at the front of most people's mind in thinking about what roles Tolkien gave his female characters--we will talk more about Eowyn next class. Arwen is complicated, as is her model Luthien. But I repeat what I said in class: Dorothy Sayers struggled in her novel "Gaudy Night" with exactly this dilemma and was writing at about the same time Tolkien was (1930s). And she has Harriet decide to marry Lord Peter. Although Peter is adamant that Harriet not give up her career as a writer, Harriet also thinks of herself as needing to give herself wholly to him as her husband. RLFB "Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"https://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-7373919133354845112017-05-19T13:06:21.357-07:002017-05-19T13:06:21.357-07:00I am seeing that I forgot to put my name on this. ...I am seeing that I forgot to put my name on this. It is mine. I apologize.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01560059724642727592noreply@blogger.com