Tolkien- For the Love of Eowyn!

[Lyta_Underhill]

It's a pretty fair bet to say that Tolkien felt that a woman's place was as a wife and mother- not her only place, however, as can be seen by the assortment of 'professions', if you will, above.

It might be interesting to put the shoe on the other foot for a moment; keep in mind that it is physically impossible for a man to bear a child! Women are uniquely positioned to make the choice between following the man's path (i.e. warrior princess, leader, wise woman, etc.) and the "traditional" role of wife and mother and home protector/healer. Eowyn's story is interesting in her final apparent turnaround, when she beholds the Shadow departing in the East and suddenly decides she will seek death no longer. She decides to take on the role of the healer and wife to Faramir because the shadow departs from her heart. In effect, she "chooses life." All stereotype aside, I think that there is a palpable theme of the woman signifying the life force, the future of Man in Middle Earth. I seem to remember a lot of talk on these threads concerning just what Arwen meant to Aragorn, and that he fought mainly for her, for the promise of life and future, rather than for destruction and death alone. It is an admirable quality and one reason I have a creeping fondness for Aragorn.

In a way, I find the dogged determination of some women to assume the man's role simply because of the cultural superiority attributed to the man in the popular view to be a sickness of the soul, a reaction to a cultural state rather than a choice made of free will. Eowyn's sickness is the sickness of many women--to seek death out of despair of one's position, the loss of hope for a desire that is not necessarily healthy. I hope I haven't stirred a vat of controversy!

Cheers!
Lyta