Re: Mostly, yes, but there are a few exceptions - Galadriel, Eowyn, and above all Luthien. - Edit 1
Before modification by lyringlas at 09/04/2010 05:29:28 PM
But of course, as Jen says, it has a lot to do with the dominant mentality of the time - obviously there were people with more progressive views already, but then all of Tolkien's work feels rather conservative.
That's all I meant by my statement. His writing reflects the times, but moreso in a very conservative community. I feel like he has as many influential women in his story as there are powerful women in classical history.Luthien, Galadriel, Eowyn to history's Cleopatra, Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, Octavia Augusta, Elizabeth...I mean, the goddesses are almost nonexistent in his mythology. With how heavily influences pantheotic writing is by ancient Greece and Rome, you'd think he would have a couple of goddesses that stand out a bit; the best that can be said for most of the women (namely the goddesses, because we don't see many others) in the series is they serve as companions to powerful/influential men. Sad really.
Don't get me wrong though, I love Tolkien.