Like Finwe, I see Eowyn as a very believable and realistic character in herself, and hardly at all as a paradigm of something. Her healing as symbolical Christian healing strikes no chord with me, because her love story with Faramir is -well laugh if you will,- cute and touching, and this sort of thing
does happen in real life. (I agree it is anything but passionate, but then again I think passion may sometimes demean the woman just as much as ignoring her does). Am I really the only one who finds that Eowyn's words
Quote:
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I will be a healer and love all things that grow and are not barren.
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ring oh so true? It is a woman's statement of her womanhood; the passing from rebel adolescent to the understanding of her rightful place in the world. Before, she was brave, now her bravery is not diminished, but she has added wisdom to it. There is bravery also in facing everyday life (I forget who said "Even an idiot an face a crisis, it's the everyday life that wears you down"); if bravery of a different kind (because women and men are indeed not equal in many respects; what would be the fun of it, if they were?
). Tolkien comes close to understanding women through Eowyn, well, as close as any man can. Seriously, what other male writer did a better job? DH Lawrence? C'mon....
