Feminist Literary Criticism In The Lord Of The Rings

In the movie Beowulf, the women are depicted differently than in the poem. The women in Anglo Saxon culture had more power than demonstrated in the movie. For example, the servant in the Mead Hall is clearly objectified. She is wearing a tight dress with her breasts showing, wanting to gain attention from the men. While she is washing the table, she is bending over so her breasts are exposed. All the men are surrounding her and staring. The main reason for the servant being at the Mead Hall is so the workingmen can look at her. The men are only interested in the servant in a sexual way. An example of this is when a working man states, “…No wonder my loins are burning.” He wants his sexual desires to be completed by the servant. He

Feminist theory, though contrary to what the statement may suggest, is not simply one theory but consists of branches of various critical approaches that target specific aspects of literature in terms of the representation of female writers (and other artists) and the feminine

As stated by Tim Gillespie in his text Doing Literary Criticism, the concept of literary criticism is the field of “interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating” literary works. Thus, literary criticism is not objective; rather, it varies subjectively depending on the critic and the lens, or school, they choose to view the work of literature through. Though the actual content of literature is of extreme importance, the way it is approached is of nearly equal magnitude, as varying approaches open new and insightful views texts previously regarded as static. The feminist lens is one major school of literary criticism.

The men throughout the Old English era played a very prevailing role in society. Men were the persons in society that were portrayed as the central leaders; being in charge of their homes and representing wisdom and strength. Because the men’s role in the Old English era was so dominant, there is a vast amount of literature about them, thus allowing women to be outshined. In fact, restrictions were placed on the majority of women during this period. However, as time evolved, the roles of women also evolved. In the Old English texts, The Wife’s Lament and Beowulf, the roles of women are seen as peace weavers, motivators, cupbearers and memory keepers, compared to the women in the Middle English text, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, who now play the roles of being protective, seductive and manipulative.

Analyzing the ways in which a piece of literature includes feminist ideologies can bring out the potential messages that the creators of these productions were attempting to portray, while allowing the reader to critique the literature from a feminist perspective.

To better understand the role of women in this epic, we need to recognize the impact that each female character has on this story. The first woman we meet, Shamhat, is a smart and beautiful woman held in high regard in the city of Uruk. She is a temple priestess/prostitute and her sexuality is the link between civilization and wild that causes Enkidu to become a normal person. Shamhat having sex with Enkidu changes him right away

In the Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, there were four main groups of women: “ Queens, sorceresses, a freeman’s loyal daughter and an elfin woman and her daughters” (Anon, Introduction). As stated in the Introduction of the book, the “important events turn on decisions made by women.” Throughout the book, this quote came to represent the fact that almost all the wars/fights within the saga was caused by some action of a woman. Almost all these actions of the women in this saga was the root cause for all the wars/fights in this book. Because of this, the women are actually seen to be what is connecting all the saga’s different episodes/chapters, despite the fact the whole book revolves around King Hrolf (Anon, Introduction). So within the Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, the primary role of women is steer and further progress the saga as the connecting characters.

texts filled. Eowyn role at Edoras is similar to Welahtheow, wife of Hrothgar, when “she graciously saluted/ the men of the hall, then handed the cup/ first to Hrothgar […] went on her rounds/ queenly and dignified, decked out in all rings,/ offering the goblet to all ranks” in Beowulf (614-22). Since the culture of Rohan is based on Anglo Saxon culture, in would make sense that Eowyn is filling a role similar to women in Anglo Saxon culture. This is a case where Tolkien is writing Eowyn to fit with Anglo Saxon like culture of Rohan. Yet later we see that there is more to her character, to show that she is not just placed in a traditional role to be powerless pawn of men.

This unit also ties in with Eowyn’s heroic opposal to societal norms for females on Middle Earth. Eowyn’s character and identity is relegated by the community and how the race of Men expect women to act. Although she understands that she is supposed to be demure and stay among other women, she is still given some power by the community. During both the encounter with the wargs, wolves of Isengard, and during the Battle of the Hornburg at Helm’s Deep, Eowyn was given power to lead the citizens, particularly women, of Rohan by two distinct men in power. She eventually goes into battle to help Gondor as her desires to fight to help society are more important than staying with the women and children to conform to society’s beliefs.

Feminist theory aims to understand the nature of inequality and focuses on gender politics, power relations and sexuality. To do Feminist Research is to put the social construction of gender at the center of one 's inquiry. Feminist theory is about seeing gender as a basic organizing principle which profoundly shapes/mediates the concrete conditions of our lives. In the play The Tempest, by William Shakespeare Miranda is a perfect example of a woman 's role in literature from a feminist theorist perspective. In The Tempest, Miranda 's prescribed gender role and physical stature account for her naturally being subordinate to males.

    Feminism as we know it began in the mid 1960's as the Women's Liberation Movement. Among its chief tenants is the idea of women's empowerment, the idea that women are capable of doing and should be allowed to do anything men can do. Feminists believe that neither sex is naturally superior. They stand behind the idea that women are inherently just as strong and intelligent as the so-called stronger sex. Many writers have taken up the cause of feminism in their work. One of the most well known writers to deal with feminist themes is Margaret Atwood. Her work is clearly influenced by the movement and many literary critics, as well as Atwood herself, have identified her as a feminist writer.

I really enjoyed reading Shiloh by Bobbie Ann Mason, which was a great short story that signified feminist criticism. Feminist criticism is known to be portrayed as criticism formed and based of a feminist theory, in other words it's the way society sees gender roles. In this case, in the short story Shiloh, they mention many points and examples throughout the story on how one of the main characters Norma Jean, has to face many issues and overcome obstacles based on her gender, being a woman. They basically imply the way society sees woman playing only certain roles but at the same time challenging the idea of it.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s works have been analysed for decades and have often been criticised for the lack of female characters. Arguably his most cherished publications, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, in particular has been condemned for the passivity of his relatively few female characters. Having said that however, throughout the three books, there are a number of female characters who combat the stereotypical role of women and subvert the norm of submission to a patriarchal authority. Arwen, Éowyn and Galadriel in The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return

Feminist Criticism is described as literary criticism to presents different perspectives on how literature discusses issues of gender, focusing on education, financial and social difference in a male dominated society. Critics revolve around power relation between the two genders. They also review how females are represented in different texts and literature and how such representation is sufficient. In addition, feminist critics in politics present literature that seeks to raise consciousness about the important role of women and highlight how language is misused to marginalize women. Influential figures of this form of criticism are George Eliot and Margaret Fuller. They are two who mainly came up with the idea of Feminist Criticism and the basic principles followed by others today. Some famous authors who wrote through the lens of Feminist Criticism are Ellen Moers, Alice Walker, and Tillie Olsen... These writer’s focus on inequality between women and men. Many stories have been written using this thought process as the catalysts for the work.

Feminist criticism scrutinizes the ways in which literature reinforces or undermines the economic, politic, social and psychological oppression of women. One of the tools used