Many call him the master of fantasy. Throughout his career, he wrote hundreds of poems and stories. J.R.R. Tolkien was a pioneer of fantasy literature during the mid-1900’s and continues to be one of the most famous writers to this day. As a young boy, Tolkien loved to learn about words and languages. As he grew older, he came to enjoy not only learning about words but also writing them.
Before Tolkien became famous as a writer, he helped work on The New English Dictionary where he researched the history and origins of words starting with the letter W. He also translated many stories from Anglo-Saxon, Middle English, and other languages. But Tolkien’s most famous work is as an author. His best known works are The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Despite his great success, some critics believe that there is something considerably wrong with Tolkien and his work. These people claim that he is sexist. This is because there is a lack of female characters in many of his stories and the few that do exist do not play any major roles. They also suggest that many of the female characters play the part of a stereotypical housewife, staying at home cooking and cleaning while the men go off to war. Candice Fredrick and Sam McBride, the authors of Women Among the Inklings: Gender, maintain that,
Males operate within a system that is overtly patriarchal. Men are the doers, workers, thinkers, and leaders. Women are homemakers, nurses, and distant love interests. (109)
They argue that this could be because Tolkien had very few female influences in his life. His mother died when he was a young boy, he only had one wife with whom he hardly interacted with later in life, and the vast majority of his colleagues were male scholars. In...
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...ications, 1992. Print.
Conrad-O'Briain, Helen. "Overview of 'Lord of the Rings'." Epics for Students. Ed. Elizabeth Bellalouna. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 22 Mar. 2010.
Enright, Nancy. "Tolkien's females and the defining of power." Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature 59.2 (2007): 93+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 22 Mar. 2010.
Fredrick, Candice, and Sam McBride. Women among the Inklings: Gender, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams. Wesport (Conn.): Greenwood, 2001. Print.
Hatcher, Melissa McCrory. "Finding woman's role in The Lord of the Rings." Mythlore 25.3-4 (2007): 43+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 22 Mar. 2010.
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Fellowship of the Ring. New York: Ballentine, 2003. Print.
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Return of the King. New York: Ballantine, 1983. Print.
Tolkien, a man who shaped so many lives, his story gave so many people meaning, passion and love. He alone created a world for us few who choose to escape to it. Tolkien's writing is as deep as the world he created, purely descriptive and imaginative creating a tale that will forever be remembered and loved by generations to come.
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) gained a reputation during the 1960’s and 1970’s as a cult figure among youths disillusioned with war and the technological age. His continuing popularity evidences his ability to evoke the oppressive realities of modern life while drawing audiences into a fantasy world.
For years upon years women have been looked at from all different lights and perspectives. In the past, for most cultures, most of these views placed women in less important household and societal positions as opposed to men. Women were most commonly seen as wives, mothers, and housekeepers, depending on their social class, whereas men took the head role as husband, father, provider, and protector. Men had and still have, in the majority of cases, all the power in the family. In Homer’s epic poems, The Odyssey as well as The Iliad, gender roles are very much established. I believe that in both of the epics women are not only portrayed unfairly they are portrayed inaccurately to an extent.
In C.S. Lewis’ sixth book, our heroine Jill Pole sets out on her first adventure into Narnia. She sees giants, evil witches, a green serpent and many more creatures. Accompanied by Puddleglum and Eustace Scrubb, the trio set out on a journey to find the Prince Rilian. Although the three friends go on their adventure together, Puddleglum, Scrubb, and other male characters do most of the grunt work. The Chronicles of Narnia have been criticized for being sexist over recent years. The slander that this book has received is happening now because societal definitions of sexism have changed since this book was written. The Silver Chair was published in 1953, while all accusation of sexism started in the 1990’s. There are small instances of sexism in C.S. Lewis’ novel, The Silver Chair.
It is often misread that women in Beowulf are presented as compliant to men, displaying them as the weaker gender of the human species. In the world of Beowulf, women serve as peace-weavers, cup-bearers, gift-givers and even monsters, all of which at first glance appear as inferior roles. Many examiners of Beowulf, who have touched on the role of women, have criticized on the words of Gillian R. Overing who believes they are "marginal, excluded figures." Although the women in Beowulf aren't as prominent as men are, they are not "excluded" from the picture as a whole. In fact, the roles these six women presented in Beowulf have, can be compared to real Anglo-Saxon women who held together nations, bring heirs and future generations into the world, all qualities that are necessary for the Anglo-Saxons to continue to strive. Wealhtheow and Hygd play the role of cup-bearer along with the political stance of queen allowing them to have equality among men. Freawaru and Hildeburh are what Anglo-Saxons consider peace-weavers which mend together nations if handled the right way. Then there are Grendel's mother and Modthryth who are described as monsters due to their aggressiveness as women, which is sought to be an unnatural trait that only males should hold. Lastly we have the few unnamed women that play roles similar or equal to the ones mentioned above but with little coverage or knowledge from the author for them to have no name. This essay will go further into the world of women in Beowulf and how their roles play in not only the poem, but also in Anglo-Saxon culture using Seamus Heaney’s translation.
Gender plays a role in literature, often reflecting the culture at the time of their creation. In such cases, it is also easy to tell the expectations of men and women in society. Gender roles in the works The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh are similar to which there is an obscure line between the two genders. Although most women are presented as maternal figures in both works, they are mainly seen as tools at the disposal of men.
For one, Tolkien is not a sexist because he illustrates his female characters as growing individualists. Three of the most prominent of these female characters are Eowyn, Galadriel, and Arwen from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Once Eowyn is knocked on her back from the rejection of Aragorn, she “must search for healing” (Enright 93). Because Eowyn is forced away from a companionship, she must learn to become an individual in order to be successful. The power of leadership is a motif throughout the stories of the Lord of the Rings and “Galadriel is a stronger embodiment of this power than her husband Celeborn” (Enright 93). In this time period, this is looked upon as a rarity, but back in the time period where Tolkien wrote it, it must have been an absolute outrage that a female character could be more dominant than the male king of a society since women did not have much power or choice. With the third character, Arwen, she is able to overcome the separation between herself and...
Women, on the other hand, play many more roles than men in this classic. Take Ninsun, the mother of Gilgamesh, for example. She plays the role of the loving, caring mother and also that of the wise counselor that provides guidance. From the very beginning of the book, Gilgamesh seeks guidance from his mother. When he has two dreams about an axe and a meteor, full of concern, he seeks the advice of his mother. At this point, she plays the role of the guiding, comforting mother by analyzing his dreams and relating the two objects to something good, Enkidu, that will soon come into Gilgamesh's life. "My son, the axe you saw is a friend...and I, Ninsun, I shall make him your equal. A mighty comrade will come to you, and be his friend's saviour..." (George, I, 288-291).
The characterizations of women have, throughout history, been one of the most problematic subjects in literary tradition. An extraordinary dichotomy has existed with women as being both the paragon of virtue and the personification of evil. Ancient Greeks feared women, and poets such as Hesiod believed the female sex was created to be the scourge of the gods and the bane of men (Fantham 39). Romans, on the other hand, incorporated tales of brave and virtuous women as an intrinsic part of their legendary history (219). Many Catholic saints, revered for their piety, were notoriously misogynistic (Dollison 106), and yet the church counted legions of holy women in the rosters of saints alongside their male counterparts. Despite much historical controversy as to the precise nature of women, none of this confusion seems to seep into the writings of George MacDonald, and there appears to be no conflict to MacDonald’s regard towards women in his female characters in The Princess and the Goblin. The character of the Grandmother in particular is one of the most complimentary fabrications of the figure of the mature female in literature. MacDonald created this fascinating construct of femininity by steeping the Grandmother not only in the arcane feminine symbols such as spinning, pigeons, and the moon, but also in his own concept of the ideal woman, as wise and compassionate as she is mysterious.
The roles of women in Beowulf are varied and non-stereotyped; some are peaceful and one at least is a killer, is warlike. The women of royal blood have considerable freedom of choice, range of activity, and room for personal growth and development.
Bryan E. Conversion and Canversence The Role and Function of Women In Post-Medieval Icelandic Folktales. Sandinawain Studies 83.2(2011): 165-190. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 March.2014.
Due to traditional stereotypes of women, literature around the world is heavily male-dominant, with few female characters outside of cliché tropes. Whenever a female character is introduced, however, the assumption is that she will be a strong lead that challenges the patriarchal values. The authors of The Thousand and One Nights and Medea use their female centered stories to prove their contrasting beliefs on the role of women not only in literature, but also in society. A story with a female main character can be seen as empowering, but this is not always the case, as seen when comparing and contrasting Medea and The Thousand and One Nights.
Throughout history women have always been considered lesser than men. Women were portrayed as property to men, nothing more. They were supposed to be seen and not heard, and were basically servants to their husbands and fathers. In order for women to even be considered more than property their father or spouse had to be established in the community or a man of high rank. Despite their subservient roles women in British literature have always been depicted as obedient or unruly, from William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, to Beowulf, to Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market.” For example, women have always been portrayed as being housewives, and care takers. Women were supposed to tend to the men and all of the house hold duties and chores; however some women broke away from that stereotype. They became more and curious and aware of their worth, so they were viewed as temptresses or “rebels” against the social norm. Despite the fact that women have evolved throughout history, British literature has always characterized women in two different lights, one being obedient and submissive and another being powerful and strong willed.
Since the beginning of human civilization, women have often occupied inferior roles in society while the dominant role has been played by men. In Homer’s The Odyssey gender roles in Greek society are emphasized showing how men controlled society while women were undervalued and constantly disrespected. Although it may be argued that Homer poses some rather feminist views, it is evident by several elements that The Odyssey is a misogynistic text. First, women in the Odyssey were continually oppressed by men never having true free will. In addition, Women were depicted as symbols of lust, seduction, and evil who bring destruction to men, undermining the true values of women. Furthermore, Women were expected to remain loyal to men while men have no expectation for themselves which promoted gender inequality. Exemplified by these three elements, it is evident that The Odyssey is a misogynistic text depicting a society where women occupy subservient and inferior positions.
Throughout literature, authors employ a variety of strategies to highlight the central message being conveyed to the audience. Analyzing pieces of literature through the gender critics lens accentuates what the author believes to be masculine or feminine and that society and culture determines the gender responsibility of an individual. In the classic fairytale Little Red Riding Hood, the gender strategies appear through the typical fragile women of the mother and the grandmother, the heartless and clever male wolf, and the naïve and vulnerable girl as little red riding hood.