Faculteit Letteren en WijsbegeerteMasterproef Taal- en LetterkundeMaster Taal- en letterkunde Engels

Feminism in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Ringsand Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire.

Dirk Vranken

Promotor: Vivian Liska

Assessor: Dr. Katrien Vloeberghs.

Universiteit Antwerpen

Academiejaar 2012-2013

Antiplagiarism statement

Ondergetekende, Dirk Vranken, student Taal- & Letterkunde,

Master Taal-en letterkunde Engels, verklaart dat deze scriptie

volledig oorspronkelijk is en uitsluitend door hemzelf

geschreven is. Bij alle informatie en ideeën ontleend aan

andere bronnen, heeft ondergetekende expliciet en in detail

verwezen naar de vindplaatsen.

Dilsen, 24 mei 2013

Handtekening

Acknowledgements

This dissertation could only be finished with the help of

Professor Vivian Liska. Her advice and corrections proved to be

invaluable for successfully finishing this dissertation. Her

lectures on feminism in the course Modern Literary Theories were

also of great use. I want to thank her for all her efforts. I

also want to thank every professor and teacher I ever had for

sharing their knowledge. It made me into the person who wrote

this dissertation today.

Special thanks goes out to Esther De Dauw, who helped me get

through this paper and had the endless patience to review each

chapter with me.

Contents

Introduction: The world belongs to them......................1

Part I: Overview of fantasy and feminism.....................3

Fantasy.....................................................3

Feminism....................................................5

History of fantasy..........................................9

Greek literature..........................................9Medieval literature......................................10Renaissance literature...................................13Nineteenth century literature............................13Twentieth century literature.............................14

Part II: Feminism in The Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire....15

Tolkien, a feminist?.....................................15

Martin, a feminist?......................................20

Female characters in The Lord of the Rings.................22

Eowyn, the androgynous warrior...........................23Arwen, last of the Elves.................................27Galadriel and the power of the ring......................29Evil in The Lord of the Rings............................30

Feminism in A Song of Ice and Fire.........................33

Daenerys, mother of dragons..............................33Brienne, Eowyn’s equal...................................35Stark, the strength of a family..........................37Cersei, mother and manipulator...........................42

Conclusion..................................................44

Introduction: The world belongs to them

In season 3 of A Game of Thrones, a television show based on

George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, a scene caught my

attention. Joffrey is walking with Margaery through the royal

crypt, while he is recounting the brutal deaths of his

predecessors. Two women are looking at them: Margaery’s

grandmother Olenna and Joffrey’s mother Cersei. Olenna sees

that Cersei is jealous: “We mothers do what we can to keep our

sons from the grave, they do seem to yearn for it. We shower

them with good sense and yet it slides right off like rain off

a wing”. Cersei replies: “And yet the world belongs to them,”

Cersei points out. “A ridiculous arrangement in my mind,”

Olenna replies.

For a normal viewer, this scene would not provide a topic for a

dissertation. For a literary student, the conversation provided

thoughts on how women were treated in the novels. It was

therefore a short step to look at how women were depicted in

fantasy in general. Fantasy literature has, since its

inception, enjoyed a wide and diverse audience, even though it

has often been dismissed as a niche genre with a distinct male

audience. Contrary to this notion, this dissertation will

discuss how fantasy and feminism intersect through analysing

works by J.R.R. Tolkien and George R.R. Martin. It is

interesting to see whether there are changes in the depiction

of women at two different moments in time. The Lord of the Rings

(1954) is considered to be the work that characterizes fantasy.

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His depiction of the secondary world Middle Earth and the

details of his characters are impressive. Next to this, he

manages to combine most of the characteristics fantastic novels

are made of. But did Tolkien take into account the role of

women during that era? And how did female characters change at

a later moment in time?

First, fantasy as well as female literature will be defined,

followed by a brief overview of the history of fantasy, in

order to discuss certain fantastic elements in both novels.

Throughout this history, a description of how feminism has been

portrayed at that time will be discussed. The second part of

this dissertation will discuss whether or not the writers can

be seen as feminist. Kate Millet feels that readers should

posit their own viewpoint and challenge the author’s authority,

which went against the received hierarchy of text and reader.

Like Millet, Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar’s The Madwoman in the

Attic (1979) discusses how the character, the madwoman, is the

author’s double, a reflection of her own rage. This constant

feminist rage, which transforms all text written by women into

feminist texts, appears to be one of the most recurrent themes

of Anglo-American feminist criticism.

It would seem more complex for men to display such rage, as

female characters often double as "the author's double, an

image of her own anxiety and rage. Indeed, much of the poetry

and fiction written by women conjures up [these characters] so

that female authors can come to terms with their own uniquely

female feelings of fragmentation, their own keen sense of

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discrepancies between what they are and what they are supposed

to be: " Therefore, in order to identity this rage in male

writing, we will have to look closely at their female

characters in order to see how they cope with this

fragmentation and the gender roles they are forced into”

(Gilbert and Gubar 78). In each of the feminist texts, somehow

the author’s rage against male oppression is represented. It is

therefore interesting to look whether these male authors

present the same rage against male oppression through their

female characters.

This will give a first impression of feminism at that time,

which will then be further discussed by how both male authors

depict female characters. As there is no clear list of

characteristics a text should posses in order to be called

feminist, I focussed on the female characters to determine

whether a novel could be called feminist. Feminism is concerned

with equal rights to all women, no matter what they do.

Housewives are feminists too. Therefore, a text can be

considered feminine if all its characters, whether male or

female, are equally well-rounded and thought-out. It can be

considered feminist if there are female characters in high or

powerful positions. It can be considered feminist if there are

female characters in care-giving positions without those

positions being dismissed or deemed unimportant. It can also be

considered a feminist text by including female characters who

wish to challenge the dominant social roles. For this

dissertation, I focused on the following characteristics: above

all, they needed to be strong, memorable characters. Secondly,

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they needed to possess a certain amount of goodness and concern

for the family. Finally, female characters needed to be aware

of the social order, and willing to change their status through

their own power. These are the characteristics that will be

used to discuss the female characters.

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Part I: Overview of fantasy and feminismFantasy

For Brian Attebery, the best way to define fantasy, is “to

line up a shelf of books and say, “There. That is what I mean

by fantasy” (Attebery 1). This would be a mix between

C.S.Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia (1949), J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord

of the Rings (1954), and George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire

(1996). In general, these novels feature certain events, place

or creatures that can’t exist in our rational life. There is a

violation of what is generally accepted as possibility. W.R.

Irwin expands on this description:

Whatever the material, extravagant or seemingly

commonplace, a narrative is a fantasy if it presents the

persuasive establishment and development of an

impossibility, an arbitrary construct of the mind with

all under the control of logic and rhetoric” (Irwin, qtd.

in Attebery 1).

Fantasy focuses on an exterior reality which it contradicts. A

world is consistently established with inherent rules and then

proceeds to violate these rules. It is commonly used to

criticise the society, or, important to this dissertation,

gender roles. There are various ways a story can depict its

fantastic nature: for instance, through non-rational

phenomena1. This includes fantastic beings such as mermaids or

1 Non-rational phenomena are also used in genres such as “Magical Realism”

or “Surrealism”, but to a different effect. In fantasy, the non-rational

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dragons, as well as magic objects, namely magic rings, or

fantastic events, like a walking tree attacking men. The Lord of

the Rings is clearly fantasy for most of the usual reasons. A

wonderful setting full of fantasy creatures and magic are

fantastic elements, as they do not exist. The One Ring of Power

was a magical creation by Sauron in order to dominate all the

races of Middle Earth. It was made to dominate the other Ring

users. In order to destroy this ring, Frodo had to toss it down

Mount Doom, as it was the scene of its creation. Next to these

elements, there are also Trolls, Orcs, Wraiths, Hobbits,

Dwarfs, Elves, Ents, and Wizards.

In A Song of Ice and Fire (1996), the last three dragons are raised by

Daenerys. She walks through the flames in order to become the

mother of these dragons. These large reptilian creatures can

fly and breathe fire, but also seem to have a higher form of

intelligence. Other strange animals include three-eyed crows.

Although there is less diversity in races, the biggest threat

to mankind are the undead creatures that lure on the other side

of the Wall. Important to fantasy is that it needs consistency.

Both the reader and the author need to maintain the illusion,

which Tolkien calls secondary belief. Because of his profession as

an Oxford professor, he knew the theatrical world. This concept

of secondary belief clearly resembles the concept of suspension

of disbelief. The genre invokes some sort of “wonder” by making

the impossible seem familiar and the known strange.

phenomena are framed as completely rational within the established universe

while in other genres non-rational phenomena are used to discomfit the

reader or establish a sense of ludicrousness.

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For Franz Rottensteiner, Horace Wallpole (1717-97) was the

founding father of gothic fiction, which was the forerunner of

fantasy. The Castle of Otranto (1764) is considered to be one of the

most influential novels in English literary history. Horace

himself described the novel as “an attempt to combine the

contemporary novel, now considered respectable, with the

marvels and wonders of medieval romance” (Rottensteiner 18).

The Castle of Otranto takes place in a little Gothic castle and is

filled with revenge. The main character, prince Manfred, wants

to leave his wife to marry his son’s fiancée Isabelle. The son

is crushed by the supernatural fall of a big helmet. Isabelle

therefore runs to the vaults where she meets a young man, from

humble origin. He turns out to be the rightful heir of the

throne. After certain supernatural incident, including Manfred

accidentally murdering his daughter, he becomes a monk.

Although the setting seems to suggest that it could take place

in a medieval period, certain events, such as the strange

deaths, make it a fantastic story. Sir Walter Scott agreed by

calling the novel “the first modern attempt to found a tale of

amusing fiction upon the basis of the ancient romances of

chivalry” (Rottensteiner 18).

Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire also shares this characteristic. The

novels are portrayed as medieval fantasy romance, in which the

harsh realities of society and social injustice is omnipresent.

Most fantasy stories would skim over unpleasant facts like rape

or the selling of women. The fact that A Song of Ice and Fire does

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not, helps to add depth to its characters by exploring not only

their positive experiences, but their fears and horrors as

well. The society Martin creates seems to reflect the reality

of our past and how women were treated. It allowed women to

exceed the position in society by using their determination to

manipulate the image that men have of women because of widely

held social belief of women’s inferiority. This however could

result in punishment by other characters, ending in gruesome

torture or even death.

Feminism

In order to give a proper definition of the notion of feminism,

it is important to look at the mother of it all, namely Mary

Wollstonecraft (1759-1797). Her life was characterized by an

Enlightenment-inspired passion for women of her era, which

resulted in the creation of her most famous work, A Vindication of

the Rights of Woman (1792), a classic of feminist thought. In this

work for instance, she argued that girls and boys should be co-

educated. Furthermore, she argued that women and men should

share parenthood. Hélène Cixous, a well known feminist, refuses

the concept purely as “feminists are woman who want power, ‘a

place in the system, respect, social legitimation” (Cixous,

qtd. in Moi 101). This does not mean that she rejects the

women’s movement, on the contrary she strongly favours it. In

addition, her works certainly stress this political commitment

against the patriarchal oppression. However, many feminists

regretted her rejection of the word feminist, as it politically

damaged the women’s movement as well. Historically, some women

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have refused to use the word “feminist” because feminism has

consistently been informed by white, middle-class women and has

primarily dealt with issued faced by white, middle-class women.

Historically, it has often ignored the needs of working class,

non-white and non-heterosexual women. Therefore, many of these

women, marginalized by a movement that claimed to bring freedom

to all women, refused to identify as feminist.

Next to Cixous, theorists such as Luce Irigaray and Julia

Kristeva also worked on écriture feminine in the 1970s, which

was picked up on by Bracha Ettinger in the early 1990s. Whereas

Cixous rejects the term feminist, Kristeva refuses to define

woman. She feels that, by giving meaning to the word woman, you

automatically differentiate from the word man. To believe that

one is a woman, would give rise to the notion of a superior

man. Therefore, she states that a woman is simply something

“which cannot be represented, that which is not spoken, that

which remains outside naming and ideologies” (Kristeva, qtd. in

Moi 162). As she struggles with the notion of a sexual identity

such as woman, she challenges the concept of identity in general.

To give a definition would therefore be almost impossible, as

feminism changes according to the wave it is going through.

Therefore, the notion of feminism cannot be made clear.

The French feminist theorist Irigaray discusses that women are

being used by men. Theorists like Jean Baker Miller and Mary

Daly agree with this notion, but not all in the same way.

Daly’s view is surprisingly close to Irigaray, as she

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identifies masculinity with an envy of the female qualities,

which leads men to abuse the women’s energy. She regards men as

harmful creatures abusing women, whereas the female qualities

should be celebrated. Although Baker Miller agrees to this

celebration, she adopts a less radical approach. She celebrates

the female emotions, but attacks men as they lack essential

humanity. Wollstonecraft was associated with the Enlightenment

thought of revising institutions like family and education.

Reason needed to be at the centre of human identity and equal

rights. But these thoughts were not realistic. Abuse of women

was not uncommon, and legal actions were hardly taken.

Theorists such as Betty Friedan and Kate Millet draw on the

topic of gender-role stereotyping in the early 1970s. This

approach drew attention to the oppressive nature of how women

were represented, for example as a sex object, a wife and a

mother. These particular roles demonstrated how women were

relegated to the private sphere of both family life as well as

sexual relations. Likewise, they were left out of the public

and professional life. Numerous novels during the end of the

nineteenth century referred to women’s unhappy marriages and

their struggles to find work and education. However, most of

these novels could only end in a pessimistic way, for example

the heroine falls, or she remains caught in the web of her

time.

Heterosexuality is pervasive and ubiquitous; every one in our

western society is heterosexual until proven otherwise. This

10

implies that heterosexuality is institutionalized through

marriage: it’s a self-perpetuating, over-arching tradition that

lies at the foundations of our society as a whole. As such,

heterosexual marriage defines the structure of our society; in

particular it determines the prevalence of the family-unit;

mother, father, children. Heterosexuality, in part, creates the

gender divide and in doing so, generates gender inequality.

Heterosexuality determines the masculine and feminine traits

necessary to maintain the traditional gender-divide and

therefore, those masculine and feminine traits are normalized. 

Women are considered primary care givers, empathic and suitable

for housework because this serves the family-unit. Men are

considered breadwinners and thus, they must be assertive and

emotionally distant. It's like a vicious circle;

heterosexuality stresses a difference in gender (supposedly

based on biological sex), which creates an institution of

marriage in which strict gender roles must be adhered to. In

turn, these strict gender roles perpetuate the notion that

heterosexuality is natural, and this in term perpetuates the

notion that gender roles are natural. 

In short; the institution of heterosexual marriage serves to

suppress women. It turns them into breeding mares with no

outside agency. In the past, this meant that women were often

sold for political or financial means by fathers to future

husbands. These husbands had absolute control over their wives,

both in a financial sense as any money or property they had on

11

entering the marriage legally became the property of their

husband. Legally, husbands were also allowed to discipline

their wives, which was code for beating them. Marriage was

often seen as a contract or a matter of convenience that

benefited the wife’s father and husband. The romantic ideal is

a very modern notion.

“Thus married women were economically dependent on their

husbands with little ability to challenge their power –

which two male British sociologists of the [1970S]

characterized as the power of the purse supplemented with

the power of the fist’ (Rahman and Jackson 63).

In both The Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire, marriage is

overtly present. Marriage is supposed to be a means of taming

women. It turns them into breeding mares with no outside

agency. In the past, this meant that women were often sold for

political or financial means by fathers to future husbands. I

agree with Enright, who quotes Fredrick and McBride by summing

up the transformation as a triumph of patriarchy: “an unruly

impulse to transcend prescribed gender roles has been

successfully thwarted” (Enright 105). Marriage in The Lord of the

Rings is however by no means an indication of women sacrificing

their powers for a man.

In A Literature of Their Own (1977) , Elaine Showalter discusses how

every literary subculture develops in a similar way:

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First, there is a prolonged phase of imitation of the

prevailing modes of the dominant tradition, and

internalization of its standards of art and its views on

social roles. Second, there is a phase of protest against

these standards and values, and advocacy of minority rights

and values, including a demand for autonomy. Finally,

there is a phase of self-discovery, a turning inward freed from

some of the dependency of opposition, a search for

identity. An appropriate terminology for women writers is

to call these stages, Feminine, Feminist and Female (Showalter,

qtd. Moi 54).

Especially the second and third phase were important to

feminist literature. Throughout history, feminists have fought

for different causes related to the position of women in

society. During the nineteenth century, feminists were involved

in the abolition of slavery and the fight for equal rights.

This fight continued in the twentieth century, were feminists

fought for the civil rights movement and later also as female

protesters against the war in Vietnam. But although women

actively fought together with men, they could not yet fight for

their own rights. According to Toril Moi, this political change

needed to reach its goal both through the medium of literary

criticism and through political change. They only had two

choices: To reform those criteria from within while maintaining

its feminism, or to reject the criteria and receive less

attention. Although the second choice is problematic, the first

choice brought with it difficulties as well. As feminist

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critics had to work from within the academic institution, they

depended on men for jobs and promotion. Although it appears

that this was a negative phenomenon throughout the 1970s and

early 1980s, some feminist critics, like Kate Millet, succeeded

in bringing together institutional and non-institutional

criticism. Millet’s role in feminist criticism is crucial, as

she is considered to be the mother of all later works in this

field. Her criticism targeted the ideology of American New

Critics, because she discussed that, to understand literature,

social and cultural contexts must be studied, a view shared by

later feminist critics.

As women only have the right to have a proper opinion since the

late twentieth century, they were also refused to have a

dominant literary image in the representation of fantasies.

Gilbert and Gubar discuss how, during the nineteenth century,

women were given the image of angelic beauty by patriarchal

men. The perfect woman was depicted as being passive and

selfless. But opposite of the angel lies the monster, the

personification of the woman the man fears. This monster is the

representation of the feminist from a male perspective , who

refuses to be a subservient individual. According to Gilbert

and Gubar, the author’s self-image could also be represented by

the madwoman in the attic, next to the sweet heroine or by the

angel and the monster. These figures were important to the

nineteenth-century female fiction. These binary oppositions,

the angel and the monster or the madwoman and the sweet

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heroine, emphasize the use of the image of confinement and

escape.

Throughout history, identity in feminism has been very

important. Based on Simone de Beauvoir’s portrayal of women as

the ‘other’ of man, French feminists such as Hélène Cixous,

Julia Kristeva and Luce Irigaray examined the role the binary

opposites play in dealing with the women’s position with

regards to men. Throughout history, women have been reduced to

objects by men. As De Beauvoir states, women have been depicted

as men’s Other. Women were denied taking responsibility for her

own actions, or as Moi states: “Patriarchal ideology presents

woman as immanence, man as transcendence” (Moi 90). This was

represented in all aspects of social, political and cultural

life. Although women had little chance to change their role

throughout life, De Beauvoir refuses this notion, by stating

that “one is not born a woman; one becomes one” (Moi 92).

Social and political oppression existed throughout time, and it

has caused women a lack of freedom. But this does not mean that

women can not change, or that oppression is unavoidable. This

oppression is not absolute, so women are still able to become

free from their sexist blindfold, which was given by men.

History of fantasy

Greek literature

The brief history of fantasy that I provide in this

dissertation, is based on the research of Dennis M. Kratz and

Brian Stableford. The first notion of fantasy began in Greece,

15

with classical Greek literature. From the Homeric epic on, the

nature of Greek literature was focused on the epic tradition

initiated by bards. According to Stableford, it is Homer’s Iliad

and Odyssey, and especially the second part the Odyssey, which is

considered to be the first “self-conscious fantasy in the

Western literary tradition, for marvels are central to its

design” (Stableford, qtd. in Barron 4). Although it is not

certain when the Odyssey was written, or by who, it is presumed to

be written in the mid-eight century BC by the same person that

wrote the Iliad. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey is concerned with the gods

and what the consequences are for their interference. The story

focuses on Odysseus, who is known for his cleverness and his

ability to deceive, rather than power. It is on his adventures

that he encounters fantastic creatures, such as Circe, the

witch that can turn people into animals, or the one-eyed

Cyclops. According to Baron, Homer introduced three prominent

elements of fantasy: the travels to fantastic lands, the theme

of transformation, and a critical eye for mistaking the

apparent for the real. The contribution of classical literature

to fantasy is complex, but also substantial. Greek literature

was heavily influenced by fantasy and had a strong effect on

Western literature.

Feminism in Greek literature was certainly present. The wise

Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, bears her husband’s absence during a

period of twenty years. During this time, she maintains his

authority and is not eager to step down when Odysseus returns

from his voyage. He calls the nurse to make up a bed, and goes

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to sleep by himself. He describes him woman as having a heart

of iron. Nausicaa, another female character in Greek

literature, does not feel shy when Odysseus sees her half-

naked, as she is in control of what is visible to Odysseus from

behind a tree. Helen, the wife of King Menelaus, however is

depicted as the faithful housewife. She is forced to clean the

palace and perform all the domestic duties. Her flight to Troy

can be interpreted as the housewife fleeing enforced

domesticity and an controlling husband; the feminist rebelling

against the patriarchy. Women during that time were depicted in

numerous ways: as housewives, as harem women, but also as god

and priests. From the Greek tradition to the Middle Ages, there

is a significant change in the attitude towards women . There

is a clear misogynistic tradition in literature from the Middle

Ages onward; which could be explained by the emergence and

dominance of Christian beliefs which, through its creation

myth, develops the Madonna/whore dichotomy.

Medieval literature

Kratz discusses that, during the Middle Ages, fantasy was

considered to be part of the mainstream of Western literature.

Most of the narratives from the Western literature created a

fictional world wherein impossible events took place. The old

English Beowulf (ca. 725) and the German Nibelungenlied (ca. 1200)

were oral traditions originating in different periods of time,

but written down by a single person. Perhaps one of the most

infamous women of medieval literature is Grendel’s mother. Her

only desire is to wreak vengeance. In fact, she is even more

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dangerous than her son Grendel. As a monster, she is framed to

be inferior to other, mortal men. Thryth, another unusual

woman, uses her sword to rid her halls of intruders. She is

contrasted by the respectful women in the saga. When she later

takes a husband, the narrator states that she finally starts

behaving like a woman should.

Two other developments also took place during the Middle Ages:

the beast epic and the divine love in the genre of romance. The

beast epic was popular in Western Europe throughout the Middle

Ages. The major medieval beast epic, the Ysengrimus, is a long

epic story from the twelfth century. It discusses the fall of

Ysengrimus the wolf, after a run-in with Reynard the fox. It is

also an example how fantasy could be used to covertly criticize

the current society. The story is a satire on monks but also

selfish humans.

Next to Reynard, another form of the beast epic became popular,

namely the werewolf theme. The transformation from human into

animal was extremely interesting for medieval writers, as there

was a lot of theological discussion on whether lycanthropy was

real or not. It was the general thought during that era that no

act committed by a werewolf was sinful, as they did not have

any rational consent. The transformation from human into animal

is also present in Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Beorn, a man of immense

size and strength, has the ability to assume the appearance of

a black bear. He spends his days in a wooden house amongst

horses, dogs, and others animals. He belongs to an entire race

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of men who have the ability to change shapes. He swore his

revenge on the Orcs, as they murdered the entire race of

shapeshifters. When Gandalf, Bilbo and thirteen dwarves pass

by, he decides to help them and get his revenge. At the end, he

kills the Orc leader, thereby ending the war. His acts were

never seen as sinful.

During the Middle Ages, the most significant contribution to

the fantasy genre took place in the genre of the romance.

According to Neil Barron, the most important change emerged

“from a momentous shift in theology that emphasized the

humanness of Christ and the divine love expressed in his

willingness to assume human form” (Barron 17). Both researchers

and writers focussed on human love as a manifestation of divine

love. At the same time, humans were also on a quest for

salvation. Stories about King Arthur and his court soon

increased in popularity as more writers contributed to a

growing Arthurian tradition2.

The first appearance of King Arthur originated in a Welsh poem,

and was soon picked up on by Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia

Regum Britanniae (1130). Arthur is part of an old oral tradition,

which Geoffrey finally wrote down. In doing so, he re-invented

the figure of Arthur into the figure widely known today.

Geoffrey’s work possessed many of the elements which later

defined Arthurian legend. Arthur is described as a noble king,

who protected his citizens against attacks from the Romans and

2 Arthurian myth emerged early in history and is a continuation of ancient Welsh myth.

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the barbarians. His downfall is orchestrated through the

treachery of his nephew Mordred. One of the earliest, and

therefore perhaps the most influential Arthurian romances were

by Chrétien de Troyes. According to Barron, the five romances,

for example Lancelot (ca. 1180), are linked with mythic origins

as well as with the “[p]latonic nature of his narratives, which

exist simultaneously on two levels: the mutable world of

experience and the unchanging world of transcendent truth”

(Barron 19). It is the knight’s quest to spread out the ideals

of the court he is fighting for, which is actually an analogy

for his spiritual quest. Next to a fictional king, Chrétien de

Troyes uses other fantastic elements, such as a lion in Yvain: Le

Chevalier au Lion (ca. 1180). A knight is in love with a girl, but

when she refuses his advances he turns mad and needs to be

rescued by a lion, whose quest is to fight the serpent.

Whatever the story, the medieval romances took place in an

imaginary world. The Arthurian legends had their inspiration in

Celtic myths, in which they believed in an Other World that

humans could enter and where they could enjoy fairy women.

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (late 14th century), the main

character is tempted by Lord Bertilak’s wife. She woos Sir

Gawain shamelessly every night. On the one hand, King Arthur’s

wicked half-sister Morgan instigates these advances. Both women

are pure evil, and are clear examples of how not to behave. On

the other hand, The Virgin Mary plays a role as his patron

saint. Her presence is a reminder to the reader what a proper

woman should be. A woman should be a Christian and not a

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temptress. It is the knight’s quest to spread out the ideals of

the court he is fighting for, which is actually an analogy for

his spiritual quest. Full of Christian imagery, Arthurian myth

is full of oppositions. The two most prominent characters are

Guinevere and Morgana le Fay. Through these characters, the

Madonna/whore opposition is clearly depicted. Women are either

whores who rebel against the patriarchy and male power. As

such, they are evil and should be punished. On the other hand,

you have Guinevere, who has no characterization whatsoever.

She's pure, docile and beautiful; in others words: she fulfils

all the basic tenements of Christian womanhood and is thus

framed as the "good woman."  When she begins her affair with

Lancelot; she falls from grace and it is her fall that causes

Arthur's kingdom to collapse. It gives Mordred the leverage he

needs to start a war. Guinevere is a re-write of the Garden of

Eden myth, where the fall of the good woman dooms all of

mankind. Therefore, women3 have to be policed severely because

their fall, their evil is pervasive and has huge consequences. 

Renaissance literature

During the Renaissance, Arthurian romances remained popular,

especially in Spain and in Italy, where elements of fantasy and

the supernatural were important. In Renaissance England

3 The male characters in Arthurian myth don't have any real development

either because they are archetypes. But the male characters do have action

based plots, some evolution to becoming better people in their search for

the grail and, they have personalities. Unlike, Guinevere who is just the

vapid trophy wife and Morgana who's an evil temptress. 

21

however, the fantastic and supernatural was especially

represented in drama and fiction. The introduction of the

supernatural ghosts in theatre, as well as sorcery gave fantasy

a new boost. Fantasy was therefore maintained on the stage

because of sensationalism.

Fantasy did receive attention through the emergence of Gothic

romance. The emergence of Gothic romance is considered to be

part of the horror novel, rather than to fantasy. Gothicism was

written and read mostly by women as it was an outlet for them

to express their feelings of entrapment, depression and doom.

But the Gothic also represented “an attempt to return the

irrational to nature” (Barron 32). Until recently, fantasy in

the nineteenth century was considered to form the mainstream.

Realism however was a younger tributary of literary expression.

An important theme of this tradition was the rejection and

transcendence of limits. Fantasy literature refused to be

constrained, which explains why it took different forms, like

epic, romance, beast fable, fairy tale, and Gothic novel. From

the tales of Odysseus to Chrétien de Troyes, fantasy uses the

power of the imagination to transform an ordinary creation to a

fantastic being in an alternative reality.

Nineteenth century literature

In the nineteenth century, the element of the Secondary world

takes precedence. Accroding to Brian Stableford, Jonathan

Irving was one of the first American writers interested in

fantastic stories. Although Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allen

22

Poe, and Herman Melville also wrote works of fantasy, the major

works of these authors were not considered to be fantasy, but

“romances”. For both Hawthorne and Margaret Fuller, feminism

meant something different than it does nowadays. Like her

predecessor Mary Wollstonecraft, they believed that women

should have more rights in society. Women deserved a more

important role in life, next to their domestic functions and

should be respected as rational individuals. Nevertheless, they

also supported that women needed to stay at home with the

family. Social expectations during that century taught women to

be subservient. When taking this into consideration, Hawthorne

can be considered a nineteenth-century feminist.

Edgar Allen Poe’s stories, like Irving, are full of dreams and

hallucinations, which add fantastic events to the story. Poe

stands out because “[his monsters] are expressions of the only

really credible demons in existence: the monsters lurking in

men’s minds” (Rottensteiner 38). His demons and horrors are

more real than other monsters in Gothic fantasy, which makes

him an important author for fantasy. In most of the stories

however, the characters must move from their own world into

this Secondary World, and will have to move back and forth

between the two.

Twentieth century literature

Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings changed the fantasy genre

completely. In his essay On Fairy-Stories (1947), he discussed that

there are three functions in fantasy: Recovery, Escape and

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Consolidation. The ability to take up a fantastic viewpoint, to

help us put everything in the right perspective, is what

Tolkien calls “recovery”. It is a clearer way in viewing the

world, because our view is less narrow. It is the role of

fantasy to let the readers, and especially the young readers,

move outside their bounds and see what is real and unreal.

Escape is seen in more or less the same light. Fantasy can be

used to escape the narrow world. It is a liberation, like the

escape of a prisoner from oppression. According to Tolkien, it

is not only a limited escape, as it also has to lead to some

result or answer. The third function of fantasy, Consolidation,

contributes to this escape. The goal which fantasy should have,

is called “eucatastrophe.” The goal that is reached, affirms

the feeling of joy and righteousness. To Tolkien, it means that

“fantasy should not be despairing (as speculative fiction and

horror fiction sometimes are); in this view, the work of

fantasy is essentially committed to the cause of moral

rearmament” (Stableford qtd. in Berron 65). Tolkien’s three

features of fantasy offer an instrument which can be used on

more fronts than Tolkien originally set out. This could help

make the genre of fantasy a little clearer.

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Part II: Feminism in The Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire

The second part of this dissertation consists of two parts. The

first part will deal with Tolkien and Martin. After a brief

introduction to both authors, the dissertation will then focus

on feminism. One of the statements this dissertation set out to

deal with, is whether Martin and Tolkien could be seen as

feminist and if they would represent rage against male

oppression through their female characters. The second part of

the dissertation will further discuss this notion,

specifically with regards to the female characters. As

mentioned in the introduction, I focussed on the female

characters in order to determine whether a novel could be

called feminist. Above all, they needed to strong, memorable

characters . Secondly, they needed to possess a certain amount

of goodness and concern for the family. Finally, female

characters needed to be aware of the social order, and willing

to change their status through their own power.

Tolkien, a feminist?

The writers I shortly discussed depict the progression from

folktale to fantasy. Each was influenced by their predecessor

or myths to create a “better and complex” fantasy novel. The

Lord of the Rings combines all the characteristics of fantasy from

the Greek culture until now. Like most fantasy writers, Tolkien

liked a happy ending. To Tolkien, the “eucatastrophe”, or the

25

happy turn of events, is the most important part of the fairy

tale, like the death of the antagonist.

Tolkien was born in South Africa, but quickly returned to

England in 1896. When he was three, his father died and his

mother needed to look after him and his younger brother. Young

Tolkien loved drawing landscapes and he enjoyed learning about

languages. When Tolkien was twelve, his mother died of acute

diabetes. At the age of sixteen, he met Edith Mary Bratt, but

was prohibited to meet her again until he was twenty one. The

two married not so long afterwards. Tolkien served in World War

I as a signals officer. In 1920, he became a professor at the

University of Leeds. In 1925, he returned to Oxford University

as a professor. During this time, he wrote The Hobbit and the

trilogy The Lord of the Rings (1954). In 1937, he published The Hobbit,

a fantastic children’s novel which was fairly successful.

Tolkien was also part of a literary discussion group known as

the Inklings, a literary discussion group situated at the

University of Oxford. Many of them were academics who

encouraged writing fantasy and valued narrative in fiction.

Among them were authors such as C.S. Lewis, R.A. Havard, and

Lord David Cecil. It is often said that this exclusive male

club therefore suggested that the members did not take feminism

into account. His next and most famous trilogy took him

fourteen years, The Lord of the Rings (1954). Although he wrote it for

his own amusement, the novel would later be considered as the

essence of fantasy. At the age of 77, he died in 1973.

26

The Lord of the Rings starts in a little town, in which hobbits are

living a peaceful life. When Gandalf, the wizard, arrives,

looking for the hobbit Bilbo, who is in possession of a

powerful ring. Like in the Arthurian myth, the normal every-day

life is disturbed by the introduction of a magical element, a

ring. When Bilbo hands the ring to Frodo, the real story

unfolds. Four hobbits carry the most powerful ring in the

world, and are on the way accompanied by five other people. The

group of Nine Free People consists of Aragorn, the rightful

heir to the throne of Middle Earth Aragorn, Gimli the dwarf,

Legolas the elf, Boromir the human, and Gandalf the wizard.

These nine represent the Free People, who fight against Sauron,

the Dark Lord. Frodo’s ring needs to be destroyed in order to

save Middle-Earth. When he succeeds and Sauron is destroyed,

the natural order should be restored. The era of men is at

hand, but the era of elves, ents, hobbits and wizards seems to

have come to an end.

According to Attebery, most fantasy novels share five

characteristics: “setting, structural framework, role and

character of the protagonist, types of secondary characters,

and ways of tying events to values and ideas (Attebery 12)”.

Both The Lord of The Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire share these five

characteristics.

Nearly all fantasy takes place in another world, in which the

fantastic becomes the normal. It is not the story which makes

The Lord of the Rings a classic amongst fantasy, but the way in

which the “other world” is fully realized, with its own elven

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language, people, traditions, and histories. Before Tolkien, no

writer had ever created a world from scratch the way he did.

Similar to Tolkien, Martin created a world with opposing

forces, cultures, languages, etc. Martin seemed to create a

society in which he criticizes the brutality of its characters.

The Western civilization faces numerous challenges to their

patriarchal-feudalistic culture. Both from the free folk north

of the Wall, to the Barbarians of the Eastern civilization, the

world Martin has created fully challenges the Western way of

life. For most readers, it would seem that Martin depicts the

Eastern cultures as savage and barbarian. The Western culture

seems more sophisticated, and the fighting that takes place is

more like a game of chess. But Martin shows a Western arrogance

in his writing. His western characters certainly feel that they

are more civilized, but the experiences of Danaerys seem to

negate this. She’s given to her “Eastern” husband like a price,

much like Cersei was given to her “Western” husband. Western

society as well, is in fact completely based on physical wars.

The strength of your army decides the strength of your claim to

the crown. The strength men display in tournaments is valued

and celebrated while people like Little Finger whose strength

lies in intelligence and civilization is often ridiculed by the

other hyper-masculine characters. West and East are different

because East does not cover its violence with a veneer of

civilization. The wars occurring in the west also show a

complete collapse from civilization. In fact, the whole series

seem to be galloping towards an explosion of violence. As the

story progresses, the chess pieces are blown away by brutal

28

war. Later on, I will discuss how the female characters deal

with this constant violence, as well as the physical and

mental strength.

The hero in fantasy embodies the reader’s desire of being a

hero. The hero takes part on an extraordinary journey. Although

he meets fantastic beings, the hero himself at first seems

ordinary. Frodo is supposedly ordinary, in hobbit terms he is

nobility. Aragorn is the last heir to a mighty empire. Legolas

is the prince of Mirkwood. Gimli is the son of Gloin, who was

part of the mission to recover Erebor, and thus must prove

himself to be worthy of his father’s legacy. If we take

Attebery’s characters into account, Sam would be the real hero

of the trilogy. Sam is the everyday man whose non-ambition

saves the day. Samwise Gamsee is an everyday man whose non-

ambition saves the day. The reader meets Sam as he is working

in Frodo’s garden. As a gardener, he takes care of nature and

wants to preserve it. Galadriel realizes Sam’s power, and

provides him with seeds of the trees that grow in Lothlorien.

When the war is over, he plants these seeds in the Shire, to

respect nature and to further nurture and heal it.

As the second member to have joined the Fellowship of the

Rings, Sam looks out for Frodo throughout the entire journey.

When the Fellowship was separated at the Falls of Rauros, Sam

went after Frodo to accompany him until the end. Whereas Frodo

became weaker as the journey progressed, Sam became stronger.

He carried most of the luggage, cooked, and gave his own food

29

to Frodo. He nurtured and took care of Frodo, actions that were

mostly assigned to female characters.

Not only did he take care of his friend, he also protected him

from creatures such as Gollum and Shelob. When a group of Orcs

took Frodo, Sam carried the ring for a brief time. Like

Galadriel, he was briefly tempted to use its power, but he

refused. Sam then saves Frodo from the Orcs and willingly gives

back the ring to him. He cares for Frodo in sickness and in

health. The relationship between them resembles a knight and

his princess. He vows to protect Frodo from all the dangers,

while risking his own life. Like Brienne, Sansa and Catelyn,

there is a strong bond between the two.

When Sam returned home from the war of the ring, he went on to

marry Rosie Cotton and they had thirteen children. Like Arwen

signifies Aragorn’s hope when he was struggling, Rosie was

Sam’s hope when he was struggling with the Ring. Sam loved

Rosie from when he was young, and she is the only woman Sam

trusts to become his wife. As Sam marries Rose, he marries the

woman that can heal him from the horrors of carrying the Ring.

Rosie is therefore the character who, through marriage, is able

to nurture Sam. He is finally home, where he belongs. At the

end, he makes the domestic choice of staying home, instead of

leaving to the Grey Heavens with Frodo. He becomes Mayor of the

Shire and will be known as Samwise Gardner. When Frodo leaves

Middle Earth, he gives the Red Book of Westmarch for Sam to

continue. Like Eowyn, he becomes known as the preserver of the

30

history of the War of the Ring. As the last of the Ring-

bearers, he was able to be reunited with Frodo in the Undying

Lands.

Samwise Gemsee therefore can be seen as a character with

feminist qualities: as a gardener, a healer, and a preserver of

written tradition, he possessed plural qualities which

Galadriel, Arwen and Eowyn also posses. But although Sam’s

agency is seen as an act of heroism, Eowyn’s and Arwen’s

progression will be seen as submissiveness.

The gender-based violence is not only reflective of the world

Martin creates, but also our real world. Martin wanted to write

fantasy books that reflected life in the Dark Ages. The gender-

based violence is therefore appropriate, but nevertheless

disturbing. At best, it confirms that Westeros is misogynistic

and that female characters are presented in a realistic way.

The last characteristic, the ways of tying events to values and

ideas, discusses how different parts in the story work together

to form a whole. The actions of the protagonists, the helpers

and the antagonists reflect a coherent order. They are not a

group of individuals, but a group with moral standards. There

is a strong cohesion between good and strong, so that the

hero’s quest is not only a coming of age, but also a quest that

determines the fate of the kingdom.

In Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, the main character Frodo, the

smallest of hobbits, has to overcome the tides of war, while

31

being joined by a Fellowship. If we consider that The Return of the

King was written in 1955, Tolkien must be applauded for

depicting the under appreciation of women so accurately.

Although there is no female presence among the presence of the

Fellowship, it does not imply that there is no female power. On

the contrary, the female characters depict Tolkien’s critique

on the traditional and masculine power. Unlike most wars,

Tolkien depicts the idea that wars should be fought to protect

rather than destroy. Tolkien has a lack of female characters,

which is problematic. However, the few female characters he

does have seem to rebel against patriarchal force, but not

against domesticity in general.

According to Michael Skeparnides, The Lord of the Rings praises

women as maidens who are influenced by the male gaze. He uses

the character of Eówyn to discuss this notion. As Eówyn tries

to rebel against the male society, she lays aside her feminism

to disguise as a male soldier. According to Skeparnides,

Tolkien is obviously emphasizing the gender role in her story,

and in particularly during the confrontation with the Nazgul

lord. However, in this example Tolkien clearly contradicts the

male gaze, as he strongly believes in the role of women.

Although not explicitly feminist, Tolkien expresses a

perspective on gender which certainly expresses the pain a

woman like Eówyn feels in a male-dominated world. As a woman,

Eówyn was banned from activities that have been considered a

male occupation, although she clearly had the skills to perform

them. Her confrontation with the Nazgul shows to everybody the

potential women in general posses. Although she proves to all

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that she is a worthy warrior, she rejects this male power and

creates her own power which is based in her womanhood. She

creates a female power instead of appropriating male power.

When she recovers from her injuries, she meets Faramir and they

fall in love. Both wounded by a culture that has devalued them:

Faramir because he is considered to be a lesser warrior than

his brother Boromir and Eówyn because she is a woman. Two

marginalized people find understanding with each other as they

are both rejected by powerful symbols of the established order.

Eowyn is rejected by Aragorn, who is the ultimate male hero and

Faramir is rejected by his father, Denethor who symbolizes the

patriarchy. Although both possess strength in battle, it does

not provide peace. Both need to heal the other in order to

receive wholeness. Faramir needs to heal Eówyn, whose heart has

been broken by her unanswered love for Aragorn. By confessing

his love to her, her heart changed.

Faramir needs to heal Eówyn, whose heart has been broken by her

unanswered love for Aragorn. By confessing his love to her, her

heart changed. Eowyn’s coming of age is clearly depicted in

this trilogy. When she was young, she wanted to become a

powerful queen who would be respected for her warrior skills.

But when she finally has the chance to fight for her people,

her father refuses. She defies her father figure and achieves

greatness by killing the witch-king of Angmar. When she

recovers from her injuries, she meets Faramir and they fall in

love, during which she achieves domestic bliss.

33

Like Linda Greenwood, I agree that in Tolkien’s work, love

transforms defeat into victory. Characters, both male and

female, who posses these characteristics are the most powerful.

Those who willingly lay down their own power, and even their

lives, are depicted as the most inspiring and strongest

characters. Arwen, by sacrificing her immortality, Galadriel,

by blessing and healing the Fellowship, and Eówyn, by

sacrificing her armour for healing, are all representations of

this strong power. Through the eyes of Gandalf, Tolkien’s

vision on feminism is clearly depicted:

“My friend … you had horses, and deeds of arms, and the

free fields: but she, born in the body of a maid, had a

spirit and courage at least the match of yours. Yet she

was doomed to wait upon an old man, whom she loved as a

father, and watch him falling into a mean dishonoured

dotage: and her part seemed to her more ignoble than that

of the staff that he leaned on” (The Lord of the Rings

906).

Martin, a feminist?

George R.R. Martin was born September 20, 1948 in New Jersey.

He has two sisters, Darleen and Janet. He began writing very

young, selling his stories for pennies. Later he became a comic

book fan and collector. He went to study journalism at

Northwestern University, Illinois. During this time, he wrote

his first science fiction story, The Hero. He started writing

part-time throughout the 1970s, while working as a teacher. In

34

1975 he married Gale Burnick. After their divorce in 1979, he

became he full-time writer. As a fan of fantasy, horror and

science fiction, he signed on as a story editor for Twilight Zone

1986, after which he successfully worked in television until

1993. At present, he is living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a

member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America.

Although much of his work is fantasy or horror, he started his

writing career with the genre of science fiction. In 1991,

Martin started writing on his epic fantasy A Song of Ice and Fire. The

first novel, A Game of Thrones, was published in 1996. In 2012, he

wrote the fifth book, A Dance with Dragons, which is still not the

final novel from the series. He is currently writing on the

sixth novel, The Winds of Winter. Martin’s work is described as

having fascinating characters, great dialogues and complex

story lines. He is also known for killing off important

characters if it is necessary for the story’s depth.

Unlike Tolkien, Martin creates a novel in which numerous female

characters have a part in the plot: Cersei Lanister, Daenerys

Targaryen, Arya Stark, Brienne of Tarth, Catelyn Stark,

Melisandre of Asshai, Sansa Stark, Margaery Tyrell, Arianne

Martell, and others are fully rendered human beings. Despite

the numerous female characters, Martin still receives criticism

because of his depiction of women and his frequent use of sex

as a plot device. Sexual scenes with 14-year-old children or

even more specific the sex dance in A Dance with Dragons are clear

examples of this. Women are subjected to physical and mental

raping on a regular base, and are used as pawns for

35

childbearing and marriage. Marriage appears to be a weapon used

as a tool by both male and female characters. Women are being

used by fathers to climb up the social ladder, or to strengthen

their power. A shocking example is Craster, a wilding beyond

the Wall. This man marries his own daughters in order to birth

more daughters, who he then marries again. These women are

isolated in a barren land and have no means of escape. However,

women can also use this power to their advantage. Both Jeyne

Westerling and Margaery Tyrell use marriage as a power, rather

than a constraint.

Feminists in support of the novels argue that this exploitation

of women reveals how women are subjugated. Martin presents this

exploitation in a way to make the reader empathise with the

female characters. The hardships that women are forced to

undergo, shape their characters and makes them stronger and

more powerful. Some characters become stronger by being

compassionate, conniving, by turning in to warriors or

princesses. But does this mean they have access to power?

It is interesting to see that Martin treats his female

characters the same way he treats his male characters. Whereas

Tolkien lets his female characters live in harmony, but

separated, Martin chooses to confront his women with one

another. Cersei for example does not like young women, as she

feels they are a threat. She torments Sansa because she is

young and beautiful, but she also sees parts of herself in

Sansa. Their relationship is complicated, and their

conversations are more confusing than helpful to Sansa. Catelyn

36

and Brienne have a strong relationship, based on male

traditions. Brienne offers her sword to Catelyn, to protect her

at all costs. There is a strong bond between these two women.

This bond further grows when Sansa is involved. The readers

clearly see a bond of three ages: Catelyn the mother, Sansa the

daughter, and Brienne the protector. Although the general idea

of Westeros appears to be that women are worthless, the female

characters still form relationships and connections that can

both empower them and make them stronger in order to survive

the corrupt world they live in. Martin allows his women to

establish female bonds of friendship and/or sisterhood to

counter the prevalence of male friendships and brotherhoods;

symbolized through the importance of knighthood.

Each female character possesses her own range of weapons, in

order to overcome her struggles and to look for her own

identity. Some strong women manipulate men in order to get what

they want and it seems that they are no longer second class

citizens, but citizens in the upper levels of society. In a

world that is extremely sexualised and patriarchal, women will

use what will work to get to a certain point. It was long

thought that their body and emotions were their weak points,

but Martin uses these weaknesses in order to become powerful.

Women use their body and their emotions in order to get what

they really want. Some want to be queen, others want their

religion to become supreme, and even others want their sons to

be powerful. Via their archetypical roles, these women become

powerful.

37

Female characters in The Lord of the Rings

The main research question of this thesis paper was whether

Tolkien and Martin could be considered feminists. Whereas the

previous section of this thesis paper dealt with the identity

of the author, this section will deal with how both Martin and

Tolkien depict feminism through their female characters. I will

look at certain characteristics which most of the female

characters possess. Whether Martin and Tolkien will represent

rage against male oppression through their female characters,

will also be discussed.

In Nancy Enright’s Tolkien’s females and the defining of power (2007),

Jessica Yates argues that all major characters can be placed

into archetypal roles: “ we have Aragorn the Hero, Arwen the

Princess, Éowyn the Amazon, Galadriel the Enchantress, and

Gandalf the Wizard” (Enright 95). There are other readers who

suggest that our three feminine heroes can be described as

Arwen the Fairy Bride, Galadriel the Good Witch, and Eówyn the

Shield Maiden. A Princess or a fairy bride, an amazon or a

shield maiden, I will discuss that these characters are more

than just archetypes.

Eowyn, the androgynous warrior

According to Jessica Yates, Éowyn has all the criteria needed

to be seen as a classic woman warrior: “sense of identity and

purpose, military training, armor, good weapons and a horse,

38

magic powers, and a due regard for chastity and modesty”

(Hatcher 46). To me, Éowyn is a self-realized woman. The

archetype amazon does not suite her, as she is not simply a

warrior, but most of all a healer. We first meet Éowyn through

Aragorn’s eyes:

The woman turned and went slowly into the house. As she

passed the door she turned and looked back. Grave and

thoughtful was her glance, as she looked on the king with

cool pity in her eyes. Very fair was her face, and her

long hair was like a river of gold. Slender and tall she

was in her white robe girt with silver; but strong she

seemed and stern as steel, a daughter of kings. Thus

Aragorn for the first time in the full light of day beheld

Jowyn, Lady of Rohan, and thought her fair, fair and cold,

like a morning of pale spring that is not yet come to

womanhood. (The Lord of the Rings 510)

She is depicted as a strong women, stern as steel. Through her

strength, she tries to fight in order to change the society and

her status in the social order. In one of the first chapters,

Éowyn rides along the Riders of Rohan towards battle. When she

tries to talk to Aragorn, he tells her to defend her homeland

while the men go to battle. However, he tells her that these

actions are less important because they are not equally

rewarding. Éowyn responds by saying that “[Aragorn’s] words are

but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house”

(The Lord of the Rings 784). This indicates that Éowyn is

39

fighting against the traditional woman’s role in Middle-Earth,

but also against the role of women throughout the 20th Century.

Not satisfied with the power she has by defending Edoras, she

wants to ride and fight with both her father and brother. She

states that she is “of the house of Eorl and not a serving-

woman. I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either

pain or death” (The Lord of the Rings 784). She has been

trained like the men of Rohan and should therefore be

qualified to ride towards battle.

She seems to represent the androgyny Virginia Woolf discussed.

Masculinity was always regarded as the norm, whereas femininity

was seen as a disease from which women need curing. Feminists

such as Virginia Woolf and later Catherine Clement therefore

looked to end this gender difference, by discussing the model

of androgyny, with men and women taking on a combination of

masculine and feminine attributes. Recently, however, this

androgyny model is being questioned. Although women were

striving to have masculine attributes, masculine, phallocratic

schemes existed unchallenged. After the early feminist

movement, the feminine qualities are looked at in a positive

way by both male and female authors. These qualities include

sensitivity, the ability to cooperate and to nurture. The re-

evaluation of femininity occurred at the same time that

masculinity was linked with aggression. In a way, masculinity

was seen as a distortion, while femininity became the

behavioural norm.

40

When Aragorn agrees with both her father and brother, she falls

to her knees and begs. The phallic woman feels castrated by her

father, her brother and Aragorn. Her begging does not represent

a woman in love, but rather a warrior who desperately wants to

battle. Because she is a woman, she is being refused. Aragorn

is pained to leave Éowyn behind because of social pressure.

When Aragorn asks her about her greatest fear, she replies “a

cage […].” Like the female characters in Gothic novels, Eowyn

is afraid to be imprisoned. “To stay behind bars, until use and

old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is

gone beyond recall and desire” (The Lord of the Rings 784).

Her desire is not to be caged like an animal. This cage

represents the social order of women in the society.

Eówyn dreams of changing her social status, of doing great

deeds, of tales later generations will tell of her. When she

discovers that this cannot be done as Eówyn, she disguises as a

soldier to enter the battle field. According to Hatcher, this

suggests that, in order for Éowyn to be truly successful,

Tolkien needed to “transform her into a man” (Hatcher 48).

Éowyn does not fit into an assumed gender role. To me, it seems

that she does not need to turn into a man to become a warrior

and to be successful, but she rather disguises as a man to

infiltrate the war and remain a woman. When Merry meets Éowyn,

he says “she wore a helm and was clad to the waist like a

warrior and girded with a sword” (The Lord of the Rings 804).

She is not described as a man, but as a warrior. Her disguise

as a man is an example of cross-dressing to defy the

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established gender role. She embodies the androgynous ideal put

forward by Virginia Woolf. She does however stand out by

connecting to Merry, as she is the only soldier willing to take

the little hobbit with her: “I will bear you before me, under

my cloak” The Lord of the Rings 804). This posture gives the

reader a pregnancy image, a caring feeling. She will give new

symbolic life on the battlefield. Under her cloak, both Éowyn

and Merry will rise as a warrior.

After her father, King Théoden, is defeated by the Lord of the

Nazgûl, Merry and Éowyn throw of their disguise. When Merry

looks around, he sees Eówyn fighting the Nazgul. He hears a

person screaming to the Ringwraith to leave at once, with a

voice that seemed strange. The Nazgûl replied by saying that

“No loving man may hinder [him]” (The Lord of the Rings 841).

The emphasis on man is already clear, but becomes even more

clear when hearing Éowyn’s reply: “But no living man am I! You

look upon a woman. Éowyn I am” (The Lord of the Rings 841). The

answer shocked the Nazgûl, who did not understand what it

meant. This suggests that culture in general overlooked women

in general. Crucial to the fight is that the Nazgûl is

destroyed by a woman. Éowyn’s struggle and her victory on the

battlefield shows her worth as a woman to battle the stereotype

that women do not have a place on the battlefield. She does not

simply fight against the Nazgûl, but against patriarchy itself.

Although she does not manage to kill it, she can reconcile with

it through love. It is clear that Éowyn did not need to change

into a man to accomplish her mission, it was her being a woman

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that changed the tide of war. Tolkien showed that the smallest

and neglected creatures are needed to win a war.

Unlike Boromir or Gimli, Merry and Éowyn are not simply

fighting for the thrill. They are rather striving for peace,

preservation and cultural memory. Éowyn herself assumes the

role of preserving cultural memory. She takes on the role of

writing Middle Earth’s future, and can therefore be seen as

versions of the author himself, who does not want his story to

be forgotten. In fighting both to participate in and to recount

the story, Éowyn embodies the persistent struggle of women in

the West to assert their voices and presence, to avoid erasure,

and to figure in history as they do in life. Whereas Eówyn’s

desire originally was to become a warrior, her desire changed

to wanting to heal and to help things grow. She says: “ I will

be a healer and will love all things that grow and are not

barren… No longer do I desire to be a queen” (The Lord of the

Rings 966). As she does not want to be a queen anymore, she no

longer feels the desire to possess the strength that lies in

the external world; in a position of power to desiring strength

that comes from within. This change is brought about by her

confrontation with the Nazgul, because that is the moment where

she exchanges male power for female power; where she fully owns

being herself. The power that was originally owned by the

Elves, was now possessed by men, and more particularly by Eówyn

and Faramir.

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After she was wounded by a culture that devalued her, Eowyn

fell in love with Faramir and eventually got married. Through

marriage, Faramir healed Eowyn’s broken status. As they come

down from the high walls, people finally see “the light that

shone about them” (The Lord of the Rings 966). For the first

time, we see Eówyn enjoy life. Faramir respects her, and is by

no means trying to dominate Eowyn: “I do not offer you my pity.

For you are a lady high and valiant and have yourself won

renown that shall not be forgotten” (The Lord of the Rings

964). Their marriage is linked with the healing of Middle

Earth. As they wait for news, they sense that the ring is being

destroyed:

And so they stood on the walls of the City of Gondor, and

a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and

golden, streamed out mingling in the air. And the Shadow

departed, and the Sun was unveiled, and the light leaped

forth, and the waters of Anduin shone like silver, and all

the houses of the City men sang for the joy that welled up

in their hearts from what source they could not tell. (The

Lord of the Rings 965).

Her evolution towards a healer is a logical step, as she wants

both to help maintain peace, as well as to save as many people

as possible to pass on the story. Her love for Faramir, the

Steward of Gondor, is important to this evolution. In the House

of Healing, both heal from their wounds and spend time together

while waiting for news of the Great War. Slowly Faramir is

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seducing Éowyn by offering her his love. Whereas Aragorn pitied

Éowyn, Faramir respects her skills on the battlefield, next to

her being a lady. He does not attempt to oppress her, but sees

her as an equal. Immediately after this profession of love,

“the heart of Éowyn changed, or else at last she understood it”

(The Lord of the Rings 965). After the shadow on her heart is

gone, she declares that she will become “a healer, and love all

things that grow and are not barren” (The Lord of the Rings

965). Éowyn realizes that she is able to fight against evil in

a different way, by protecting and preserving her piece of the

earth. As Hatcher states, “she has engaged in battle and will

now grow life from the barrenness left by war” (Hatcher 52).

Tolkien could have depicted her as a twentieth century woman,

as a wife and mother. However, he decided to actively change

Éowyn into a healer, a restorer. She leaves her glory days of

battle to preserve Middle-Earth. Her ability to express many

emotions like grief, pride, love and fear distinguishes her

from many other characters. Tolkien provided Éowyn with a full

range of emotions, whereas characters like Gimli or Aragorn do

not have that much expressions. I therefore agree with Hatcher,

who presumes that Tolkien has chosen to put Éowyn at the

forefront of this preservation. Unlike one-dimensional

characters like Gimli and Boromir, Éowyn is an expansive

character who is allowed to change. She is equipped with the

most important characteristics: peace, preservation and

cultural memory.

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Arwen, last of the Elves

Tolkien utilizes Arwen with the same powers. According to

Enright, Arwen can be seen as an archetypical princess, in love

with her prince Aragorn. When the hobbits first meet Arwen, she

has already met Aragorn. As the readers read into the story,

they find out that she is in love with him. Conversely, Aragorn

is enchanted by her beauty. This beauty recurs when Frodo looks

at her and feels that her beauty is so high that he is abashed

to look at her:

... and there sat a lady fair to look upon, and so like

was she in form of womanhood to Elrond that Frodo guessed

that she was one of his close kindred Young she was and

yet not so. The braids of her dark hair were touched by no

frost; her white arms and clear face were flawless and

smooth, and the light of stars was in her bright eyes,

grey as a cloudless night; yet queenly she looked, and

thought and knowledge were in her glance, as of one who

has known many things that the years bring. (The Lord of

the Rings 227)

Next to her beauty, her inner power is present throughout The

Lord of the Rings. Like her father, she remains at Rivendell to

inspire events from afar. When Aragorn is suffering, her

thoughts are with him and she supports him from a distance.

This act even becomes physical when Aragorn receives the banner

she has woven for him, with the words “The days now are short.

Either our hope cometh, or all hopes end. Therefore I send thee

46

what I have made for thee. Fare well, Elfstone” (The Lord of

the Rings 797).

Next to her support from afar, her true strength is shown in

the moment when she renunciates the Elven immortality for true

love. She decides to give up immortality to stay with Aragorn.

By becoming a mortal, she will remain behind when the elves

leave, and must work through this personal loss alone. The last

example of her inner power, is visible when she heals Frodo

from the results of his bearing of the Ring. At the end of the

story, Arwen offers her jewel and her passage to the West to

Frodo. She sees Frodo’s suffering and decides to give her

passage to heal him. Her loss becomes another way of salvation

for someone else. Her loss also represents the loss of “the

old”, the world of Elves and Dwarves, as well as Orcs and

Nazgul. Their age has ended, and the human era has begun.

Her choice to take mortality out of love, is very Christ-like.

Like Christ, who lays aside the privileges of divinity, Arwen

lays down her immortality. By choosing Aragorn, she chooses her

own domestic situation. She strengthened her agency through a

personal sacrifice; giving up her immortality. In a way, this

is a rebellion against the established order. Enright sees this

act of power as the “eucatastrophe”, the good catastrophe

powerful enough to save Middle Earth. Instead of sailing for

the Undying Lands, as expected of her, she asserts her own

personal love and goals as above societal expectations. At the

same time, she also becomes queen and mother to the new

generation kings and queens of men. Above all else, Arwen’s

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choice is a romantic choice. Instead of an immortal life, she

wants to spend her days with the soon-to-be king of her dreams.

By marrying her prince, she becomes the queen of Middle Earth.

Eowyn lays aside her dreams of becoming a queen in order to

become a healer. Arwen on the other becomes a queen without

even explicitly mentioning this agency. Eowyn can therefore be

described as a radical feminist, Arwen as a feminist housewife.

This ties in with the argument that reproduction is an

important part of Tolkien’s philosophy in his novels. Through

Arwen’s agency, and her procreative power, she sustains the

future of Gondor.

The marriage of Arwen and Aragorn also signifies the healing of

Middle Earth as it symbols the start of a new, peaceful

generation. It also meant a new heir to the throne and the

survival of the line of Earendil. Earendil was a Half-elf, who

had the option of becoming an Elf or a Human. Whereas he chose

to become an Elf, his two children had different ideas. Elrond,

Arwen’s father, chose to be an Elf, whereas his brother Elros

chose to be Human. It is his blood that is mentioned here. By

marrying Arwen, Aragorn’s blood is mixed with Elven blood,

therefore strengthening their lines in terms of generic

material. As demonstrated by Denethor’s madness, the lack of

renawel causes decay.

Galadriel and the power of the ring

The last female character in The Lord of the Rings that I will

discuss, Galadriel, is arguably the most powerful female elf. As

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the Lady of Lothorien and Arwen’s grandmother, she possesses

great power. Although she owns one of the three Elven rings,

she uses her power for healing. This further supports Tolkien’s

notion that healing and peace are more important than war and

fighting. The kind of power Galadriel possesses however, is an

alternative to traditional male-oriented power4. Throughout the

novel, there are several instances that reveal her true

strength. When the Fellowship arrives at Lothlorien, Haldir the

Elf tells Frodo and Sam that “[they] can feel the power of the

Lady of the Galadrim” (The Lord of the Rings 342). It is the

Lady whose power can be felt, not Lord Celeborn. It is also

Galadriel who realizes that, although Gandalf is part of the

Fellowship, he is not with them when they arrive. The second

example takes place at the same location. When Celeborn is

having harsh words with Gimli (The Lord of the Rings 348-9),

Galadriel corrects her husband by stating that he should

forgive, understand and be tolerate. She possesses the power to

unify, which is important throughout the trilogy. One of the

recurring themes in The Lord of the Rings is the need for the

peoples of Middle Earth to be united under one banner. Only

then will they be able to defeat Sauron.

She is also capable of mentally testing the members of the

Fellowship. She offers them a choice between the danger that

lies ahead, or something they really desire. Enright also

states that Galadriel is important, “not only as a queen among

Elves, but as a mover and planner of the great things in

4 This passive, nurturing power is supposed to be an attribute of a woman.However, Tolkien depicts Lord Elrond as a great healer to, thereforeequipping him with female attributes.

49

Middle-Earth, affecting all its peoples” (Enright 99). This is

made clear when Galadriel summons the White Council. She has

the power to gather the most important wizards.

Galadriel knows the dangers of her powers, should they be used

wrongly. When Frodo offers her the ring, she is aware of the

temptation towards power and domination. Although she is aware

of the power, she still admits her desire for it:

I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired to ask

what you offer. For many long years I had pondered what I

might do, should the Great Ring come into my hands, and

behold! It was brought within my grasp… And now at last it

comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the

Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be

dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the

Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the

Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning!

Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love

me and despair! (The Lord of the Rings 365)

Had she given in to this temptation, she would have become

dominated by the power of the ring. The Ring, because of its

round shape, is the most obvious symbol of femininity. The

circle is associated with the woman because of its ability to

be penetrated. But although it therefore seems to suggest that

it can be dominated, the ring is uncontrollable. Every man

wants to wear and penetrate it, but nobody can control it. Only

a couple of characters are able to refuse it, like Galadriel

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and Sam. These characters, as I have suggested earlier, both

posses very feminine powers and are therefore capable of

refusing the call of the Ring.

This power, normally most tempting to males, tries to fully

empower Galadriel. However, Galadriel rejects the ring and its

temptation. She then “led her hand fall, and the light faded,

and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! She was shrunken, a

slender Elf-woman, clad in simple white, whose voice was soft

and sad. ‘I pass the test.’ She said. ‘I will diminish, and go

into the West, and remain Galadriel’” (The Lord of the Rings

366). Like her granddaughter Arwen, Galadriel is prepared to

refuse power out of love, and it is this renunciation that

proves her spiritual and moral strength. It is fitting that

both Arwen and Galadriel, being female, understand Frodo’s

suffering. In the man-dominated world, they empathize with his

suffering and burden by offering him help and consolation. This

is only capable through the wisdom and power they posses.

Evil in The Lord of the Rings

There is however one female character who does not use her

power for healing and caring: Shelob. Shelob, the giant spider,

attacks Frodo and Sam on their journey to destroy the evil

ring.

'And quick! ' Sam panted. 'There's something worse than

Gollum about. I can feel something looking at us.' They

had not gone more than a few yards when from behind them

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came a sound, startling and horrible in the heavy padded

silence: a gurgling, bubbling noise, and a long venomous

hiss. They wheeled round, but nothing could be seen. Still

as stones they stood, staring, waiting for they did not

know what. (The Lord of the Rings 719)

If we are to describe her as an archetype, she would be

considered to be a devouring mother, sadistic and entrapping.

She is the only female character in the story that destroys and

takes rather than honouring life. But although it could suggest

that Tolkien uses Shelob to depict the dangerous mother, he

chooses to end her life by first blinding her with the light

Sam received from Galadriel, then by throwing herself on Sam’s

sword.

Both the tower and the staff of Saruman can be seen as phallic

symbols. The other tower, Saruon’s tower is also a tall phallic

symbol of masculine strength. Interesting to note is that on

top of the tower, the eye of Sauron looks over the land. The

strange form of the eye resembles a vulva, is searching for the

Fellowship. It seems to suggest that the eye, the symbol of

feminism, dominates the tower, the male symbol.

Overall, the feminine power is represented by the choice of

love and healing, like a Christ-like power. The characters who

represent this protection, are mostly women. A number of

critics, like Candice Fredrick and Sam McBride, have accused

Tolkien of creating a fantastic setting consisting of merely

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powerful men. To a certain extent, I agree that most women in

the novel tend to be depicted as housewives. The hobbit women,

like Rosie Cotton, are a clear example of this. Goldberry,

although she clearly possesses great powers, is still depicted

as a washer-woman.

But I also agree with Bargate, who argues that femininity is

the behavioural norm, while men are regarded as a disease. To

her, it is men who suffer from gender roles. The distinction

between gender and biological sex is central. Like Bargate,

Frances Swiney stresses that individuals are separated by their

biological sex. Her starting point is nature, indicating that

the “fallacy that woman is the inferior being” (Felski 159).

But unlike the other critics I have discussed so far, Swiney

discusses that women are superior to men. She supports this

notion by referring to discoveries in the field of biology and

embryology, in which proof is found that man is actually

inferior to woman, with man being a “waste product of nature”

(Felski 160). Other biological as well as medical discoveries

seem to further suggest that women are superior, for example

women’s greater hardiness, her greater resistance to insanity

and many more. Science therefore changes from destructor to

saviour for feminism. The elves, although they are immortal,

are no longer able to produce children. The same fate is in

store for the Ents, as the women have disappeared. Finally,

the female dwarves are so like males that almost nobody can see

the difference. Michael D.C. Drout discusses that although

Middle Earth is beautiful, it is dying for lack of

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reproduction. Although these women seem to have little

importance to the story, only real humans seem to represent

Tolkien’s ideals. I therefore believe that the most powerful

characters are women.

Éowyn starts her journey in search for glory. Her search for

glory represents her own evolution, as she transforms into a

loving friend, a loyal companion and a healer. Lady Galadriel

is depicted as an all-seeing Mother Nature, who gives gifts to

the fellowship after foreseeing their future. At the start of

the novel, Arwen possesses a great deal of power because of her

Elven race. But as the story progresses, she decides to

sacrifice this power in order to fulfil the role that was set

out for her, the Queen of Middle Earth. She forfeits her place

on the ship to the Grey Havens to stay with Aragorn. In a way,

all three take the same steps as Sam does. But whereas Sam’s

progression is seen as an act of heroism (as I discussed

before), Éowyn’s and Arwen’s transformation are seen as an act

of submissiveness.

Although Arwen, Galadriel and Eówyn are true heroines, they

seem to excel in feminine functions, such as the ability to

counsel and to heal. All of these functions are in the service

of life. I agree with Hatcher who states that Tolkien’s highest

ideal was a commitment to peace. As Tolkien wrote The Lord of the

Rings from 1937 to 1948, it is not hard to imagine that Tolkien

is discussing the role of women during the Second World War.

Next to taking over “male” jobs, they were also nursing the

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wounded . While other characters like Sam may also embody this

ideal, Éowyn, Galadriel and Arwen represent the protective

power Tolkien set out to create the most. All three of them

choose to reject power in order to protect in their own way.

Arwen, Eówyn and Galadriel are all crucial to the meaning of

The Lord of the Rings. The story is so much more than a story of

battle and adventure, even more than a spiritual fight between

Good and Evil. Next to all this, it is a story about power. By

making the right choices, the female characters posses the

power of love and healing, the most important power throughout

the novels. Aragorn, Gandalf, Faramir, and many more, also

posses this kind of power, but it is striking that Tolkien

chooses the female characters to explicitly exhibit this power.

Feminism in A Song of Ice and Fire

A Song of Ice and Fire is one of the only fantasy novels in which a

wide variety of complex female characters are depicted as being

equal to men. I want to look at several characters in

particular: Daenerys Targaryen, Brienne of Tarth, Cersei

Lannister and the Stark family. They do not resemble many of

the one-dimensional characters other fantasy novels use, nor do

they look like any of the archetypes such as the warrior, the

evil queen or the tomboy. These labels vaguely describe some of

the characters, but it would be inaccurate to narrow the

characters down in such a way, because for every weakness the

female characters possess, they also posses equally important

power. Although Cersei is a pawn in the hands of her father,

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she does rule the kingdom through her son Joffrey. She usurps

her husband’s procreative power and power-enhancing status as

father by not allowing him to father her children; but choosing

another man to do so, the only man she considers her equal.

Brienne lacks the beauty of a woman, but has the power of a

man. Catelyn Stark is clever and rules the kingdom as a proxy

for her son. She does lack the power to save her children. Arya

Stark is a powerful child, but she has to pretend to be a boy

in order to survive. Daenerys Targaryen is a powerful mother

and the heir to the Targaryen throne, but she receives this

power after being raped and treated terribly. Each female

character has a weakness that makes her vulnerable to rape.

Sansa is a female prisoner, Arya and Brienne are open to

violence as they travel the lands, and Daenerys is a political

pawn, used for trading power. In a way, it would be more anti-

feminist if Martin would brush over this facts, as A Song of Ice

and Fire is dark and bleak. His commitment to fully exploring

these positions is feminist as it accurately portrays female

existence.

Daenerys, mother of dragons

Daenerys Targaryen is the last descendant of the noble kin of

Targaryen. While her family was slaughtered in King’s Landing,

she and her brother fled. She starts out at a small girl of 14,

controlled by her brother. Through marriage, her brother hopes

to strengthen his position in society:

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It was also said that he’d never had a friend he wouldn’t

cheerfully sell for the right price. Dany listened to the

talk in the streets, and she heard these things, but she

knew better than to question her brother when he wove his

webs of dream. His anger was a terrible thing when roused.

Viserys called it “waking the dragon.” Her brother hung

the gown beside the door. “Illyrio will send the slaves to

bathe you. Be sure you wash off the stink of the stables.

Khal Drogo has a thousand horses, tonight he looks for a

different sort of mount.” He studied her critically. “You

still slouch. Straighten yourself” He pushed back her

shoulders with his hands. “Let them see that you have a

woman’s shape now.” (A game of throne 26)

She is sold to the Dothraki Drogo, so her brother can become

the king once more. Drogo becomes enamoured of her when she is

willing to have sex with him in public (in accordance with his

customs) and when she is pregnant with his son. Daenerys uses

her marriage with Drogo to climb up the social ladder. She

overcomes her barbaric treatment and takes a role normally

reserved for men in the Dothraki society. She sets herself

apart by trying to save5 whatever person she can. Daenerys is

depicted as a male saviour. In a way, she could easily fit in

The Lord of the Rings. As a depiction of a Christ-figure, she shares

some characteristics with both Arwen and Galadriel.

5 Daenerys is also depicted as a white saviour in several of the books.

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She has power and influence and uses these weapons to save

enslaved people. In the third book she liberates the slaves in

Astapor by killing the masters. She used her power and dragons

to destroy the entire city and to save thousands of people. Yet

Daenerys is also a lost girl finding a place to belong. She is

searching for a culture in which she can feel at home. She has

a strong sense of right and wrong, and is not just storming

into foreign cities to make them her own. She is searching for

her own identity and develops her own character. Although she

is considered to be the male saviour, it will not be an easy

path.

She is constantly gazed upon as a beautiful woman wielding

power. She is a wife, an un-mother and a widow and is therefore

not limited to one female archetype. She is an un-mother

because she has lost her child. Un-mother is a term to describe

a person who has lost her child(ren) to famine and war. It is a

personality that is born through the grief of a mother’s

suffering. The Un-mother seeks to fill the void within herself

by taking the souls of others. She destroys cities and slave

owners to set thousands of people free. She is the perfect

example to break through the traditional female role. Daenerys

has won the followship of the Dothraki and has become the

mother of dragons. At any time however, Martin emphasizes that

she is still a woman:

When she went to the stables, she wore faded sandsilk pants

and woven grass sandals. Her small breasts moved freely

beneath a painted Dothraki vest, and a curved dagger hung

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from her medallion belt. Jhiqui had braided her hair

Dothraki fashion, and fastened a silver bell to the end of

the braid. (A Clash of Kings 637)

It seems that Martin uses Daenerys to emphasize the role of

women in contemporary society. The female characters

demonstrate their power through their gender. For Martin, it is

important that the readers see that Daenerys is a woman and

strong. That she still has a weak point, is not due to her

being a woman, as men also have weaknesses.

Brienne, Eowyn’s equal

Brienne of Tarth seems to resemble Tolkien’s Eówyn. As a

gender-bending knight, she has to fight in order to find her

place in society. She is described as ugly on numerous

occasions. In comparison with other female characters, she is

not described as beautiful, but she is however stronger

physically and mentally. As she is consistently denied a place

in the gender divide (and thus being refused a place in

society), she has developed a different and unique perspective

on the world; thus allowing her to see things others do not.

Born a noblewoman, Brienne of Tarth prefers a man’s garb and

would rather become a knight than a princess:

“Your Grace,” Brienne answered, “I ask the honor of a

place among your Rainbow Guard. I would be one of your

seven, and pledge my life to yours, to go where you go,

ride at your side, and keep you safe from all hurt and

harm.”

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“Done,” he said. “Rise, and remove your helm.” (A Clash

of Kings 311-312)

Because of her unattractiveness, she does not have the female

power other characters possess:

She did as he bid her. And when the greathelm was lifted,

Catelyn understood Ser Colen’s words. Beauty, they called

her... mocking. The hair beneath the visor was a

squirrel’s nest of dirty straw, and her face... Brienne’s

eyes were large and very blue, a young girl’s eyes,

trusting and guileless, but the rest... her features were

broad and coarse, her teeth prominent and crooked, her

mouth too wide, her lips so plump they seemed swollen. A

thousand freckles speckled her cheeks and brow, and her

nose had been broken more than once. Pity filled Catelyn’s

heart. Is there any creature on earth as unfortunate as an

ugly woman? (A Clash of Kings 311-12)

She is however loyal, a characteristic typical of women.

Brienne is one of the characters Arya seems to imagine when she

thinks of a true knight. Brienne is a true knight, in search

for a fair maid, Sansa, to return to her family. She seems to

be the only character who values honour and promise above all

else. She respects life and wants to protect the weak. She is

perhaps the character that most resembles the characters in The

Lord of the Rings. She is however an unattractive woman, mocked

by everyone she encounters. She is therefore not a real knight,

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as she does not posses the external qualities, but she has the

heart and courage of one. In a world where looks are very

important, she does not really seem to have a place. She is not

beautiful enough to be accepted by men, but she is still a

female. Her physical strength and power are a joke to men, but

her lack of attractiveness as well. Both her male as her female

traits are reasons why she does not fit in the Westerosi

society. She meets Jaime Lannister, in many ways her complete

opposite. He is handsome and ruthless on the outside, but

corrupt and unattractive on the inside. Brienne lets Jaime

realize the importance of honour and loyalty, but conversely he

crushes her dream of being a true storybook knight. Although

she is constantly mocked by other warriors, Jaime and Ser Hyle

recognize her abilities and respect her for her determination.

She constantly has to fight for her position. She must believe

in the importance of honour and protecting others, because

these ideals drove her to be a knight, to form her own

identity. But despite being a warrior and being unattractive,

she is still very romantic. She falls for a princely man who is

impossible to love. Like Sansa, she believes in the stories of

chivalry and is there for desperate to find emotional

understanding. She doesn’t see herself as either a son or a

daughter to her father, and therefore has no real home or

family to belong to. She must search for her identity through

her beliefs in knighthood. If she follows the rules, she will

find her place in society. But in a society like Westeros,

there is no space for a true knight, because no one can be

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trusted. If Brienne cannot be a true knight, she will however

become a different kind of hero. She swears fealty to a woman

because she respects that woman’s strength. She goes on a quest

to save the beautiful maiden not to marry her, but to return

her to her mother. It is the story of a woman saving another

woman for the sake of another woman. Brienne uses her strength

and skill to help other women in ways that men would never even

think to attempt, because she recognizes these women as

powerful individuals worth risking her life for.

Stark, the strength of a family

The Stark family consists of the female characters Catelyn,

Arya and Sansa. Catelyn Stark is one of the characters that has

the most chapters in A Song of Ice and Fire. As a wife of Eddard

Stark, she has increased her status in the North. She was

arranged to marry Eddard’s brother, but was forced to marry

Eddard:

That brought a bitter twist to Ned’s mouth. “Brandon. Yes.

Brandon would know what to do. He always did. It was all

meant for Brandon. You, Winterfell, everything. He was

born to be a King’s Hand and a father to queens. I never

asked for this cup to pass to me.”

“Perhaps not,” Catelyn said, “but Brandon is dead, and the

cup has passed, and you must drink from it, like it or

not.”

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Ned turned away from her, back to the night. He stood

staring out in the darkness, watching the moon and the

stars perhaps, or perhaps the sentries on the wall.

Catelyn softened then, to see his pain. Eddard Stark had

married her in Brandon’s place, as custom decreed. (A game

of thrones 45)

Although the above scene does not depict it, they do however

love each other and treat each other as equals. Through her

eyes, the reader witnesses several major developments: the

murder of Bran and Rickon by Theon Greyjoy, the release of

Jaime Lannister, and even Robb Stark’s story. She adds empathy

to the story, because she is the mother who is worried about

her children. These events fill her with anger, which makes her

even more determined to end the war. Catelyn has a distinct

story of her own, as she goes to parley with Renly and sees his

death:

A Lannister victory was ill tidings, but Catelyn could not

share her brother’s obvious dismay. She still had

nightmares about the shadow she had seen slide across

Renly’s tent and the way the blood had come flowing out

through the steel of his gorget. “Stannis was no more a

friend than Lord Tywin’ (A storm of swords 35)

She also brings back Brienne and frees Jaime. Next to this

feminine characteristic of caring, she is also a strategist and

pragmatic. Like Arwen in The Lord of the Rings, she is one of the few

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characters who oversees the war and its consequences. When

Catelyn is eventually killed, she will reappear as “Lady

Stoneheart … Some call her other things. The Silent Sister.

Mother Merciless. The Hangwoman.” (A feast for crows 510) She

becomes a brutal woman in search for vengeance. She is one of

the only characters with continuity.

Arya Stark is Sansa’s little sister. Unlike her sister, Arya

takes sword lessons and is always in trouble. When her father

is killed, she escapes by disguising herself as a boy. By the

age of ten, she has already killed several men and is driven by

revenge. Arya is a brave, determined and quick-witted child in

a world filled with evil powers. Despite her naïve ways, she

manages to survive in a world in which more experienced players

have been killed. She is naivety about how she treated Prince

Joffrey without thinking about the consequences. (A game of

thrones 107-8) Readers love her because she treats Joffrey how

everyone wants him to be treated. But she cannot escape the

oppressive nature of Westerosi expectations. The women of

Westeros must either bend to expectations, or be broken. When

Arya’s father talks to her about marriage, she immediately

realizes that marrying a great lord and having his children is

not for her and how then her continued rebellion, her continued

resistence to feminine traits or behaviours is also a rebellion

against the patriarchy. If she is not meek and feminine, she

will not be seen as a suitable bride for anyone and might be

able to escape marriage.

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Although Arya is a fierce future-assassin, she is still a nine-

year-old girl swinging her thin sword. She survives because

everyone underestimates her, a characteristic she shares with

Brienne. This is even explicitly mentioned when Brienne thinks

back on her sword training. Her trainer tells her that men will

underestimate her because she is a woman. They will want to

beat her quickly because they want to embarrass her for daring

to take up the sword. Arya also has the advantage by using her

small size. She manages to flee King’s Landing, but it does not

offer her a solution for her problems. She cannot keep running

away and continue surviving in a world as brutal as Westeros.

Arya is therefore a vengeful little girl who is lost in the

harsh world that surrounds her. Her father is beheaded in front

of her eyes and she receives news that her family members are

being killed. She becomes traumatized by torture, pain and

death wherever she goes. Because of these losses, she feels

that life has very little meaning, and she is willing to

sacrifice hers if necessary.

She changes from the rebellious girl into the vengeful girl.

She jumps from name to name and disguise to disguise. She seems

to have finally found her identity when she joins the Faceless

Men and becomes “No One” in order to become an assassin.:

The blind girl rolled onto her side, sat up, sprang to her

feet, stretched. Her bed was a rag-stuffed mattress on a

shelf of cold stone, and she was always stiff and tight

when she awakened. She padded to her basin on small, bare,

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callused feet, silent as a shadow, splashed cool water on

her face, patted herself dry. Ser Gregor, she thought. Dunsen,

Raff the Sweetling. Ser Ilyn, Ser Meryn, Queen Cersei. Her morning

prayer. Or was it? No, she thought, not mine. I am no one. That is

the night wolf’s prayer. Someday she will find them, hunt them, smell their

fear, taste their blood. Someday. ( A dance with dragons 511)

The hatred needed to search for her own identity becomes the

reason why she looses that identity. By turning into “No One”,

she hopes to achieve her goals. This is fascinating because men

are seen as the universal. Male experiences are universal

experiences. This negates women’s experiences and identities;

therefore in the patriarchy, women are no one. As a girl, Arya

would not have had access to the things she wanted, like being

a knight or having the power to defeat her enemies. The male

experience and identity (made divine by the holiness of

knighthood) is closed to her. Through her girlhood, she becomes

No One, from which, ironically, she draws strength and power.

Her old identity is only kept alive through her connection with

the wolf she owned from when she was young and both Sansa and

Jon Snow.

Sansa Stark must be one of the characters in A Song of Ice and Fire

that is most frustrating to readers. Because she is a pre-teen

girl, she appears to be spoilt and naive. She puts her trust in

the wrong characters and is lost in her dreams of being saved

by a knight. She falls victim to the infantalization of women.

She believes in what her parents have taught her, she believes

in marrying a prince when she is old enough and she believes

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that she will have his children. She has spent her life in a

castle of the North, dreaming of tournaments and knights

fighting for her hand in the South. People in the North wanted

her to be that way, because they think the ideal young woman

should be a princess waiting in her tower. But this almost

leads to her downfall.

Manipulation, for many women, is a source of strength and

power. Because of her early naivety, people underestimate her

when she begins to understand how the game is played. She is

seen as the hyper-feminist, infantilized woman and she draws

strength from this image men have of her. It does however lead

to her downfall, which shows that forcing women to adhere to

strict gender roles is detrimental to their understanding of

the world and the development of their mental capacities. She

never gives in, not even when she is forced to marry Tyrion:

My claim, she thought, sickened. Dontos the Fool was not

so foolish after all; he had seen the truth of it. Sansa

backed away from the queen. “I won’t.” I’m to marry

Willas, I’m to be the lady of Highgarden, please...

“I understand your reluctance. Cry if you must. In your

place, I would likely rip my hair out. He’s a loathsome

little imp, no doubt of it, but marry him you shall.” (A

storm of swords 271)

Due to this marriage, she is being even more imprisoned in

King’s Landing. It is also a message to Catelyn, that she has

lost control of her own daughter, which is now a puppet in the

hands of the Lannister family. If they are able to kill Rob

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Snow, they would then have claim to Winterfell in Sansa’s name.

But Sansa never gives in. Her father, although he kneeled, was

destroyed. Although she smiles and nods, she never kneels. She

will remain strong and determined because she knows her day

will come. Arya would not last long in this world, because Arya

is rash, provocative and has a big mouth; all qualities usually

assigned to men and thus, usually seen as positive. Instead of

rash and provocative, it would be seen as assertive. The

feminine façade of meek and vapid, allows women in situations

like Sansa’s to observe quietly and to act after taking the

time to think. Throughout the entire story, she maintains her

kindness, a feminine trait. Despite all the horrors she goes

through, she still manages to remain gentle and caring. During

the Battle of the Blackwater, she is the one who cares and

calms the inhabitants of King’s Landing, despite that few of

them have done anything to help her. Sansa Stark demonstrates

that traditional femininity is not inferior. She has her own

kind of strength and power. She is not fierce like Brienne or

rebellious like Arya, but she is strong and she survives.

Both Sana and Arya struggle to retain their identities. Sansa

must pretend to love Joffrey and Arya must become nameless to

stay alive. Neither path is better, because they both have

little options. Sansa does not choose to be kind and please

everyone around her, and Arya does not choose to prefer

fighting. Both suffer for their personalities. The Stark girls

are both nothing more than pawns, trading goods with little

concern to their identities. Although Arya wants to be more

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than that, Westeros leaves little space for her to become a

real actor.

However, the most important part in the series on marriage, is

called “The Red Wedding”. It is an example of how important a

marriage pact is in terms of patriarchal power. The Red wedding

is a name for the event in which Robb Stark, Catelyn Stark and

most of his men were slaughtered. The massacre was orchestrated

by Lord Frey. Robb Stark was supposed to marry his daughter,

thus increasing Lord Frey’s social status in exchange for an

alliance with Robb against King’s Landing. However, Robb Stark

broke the marriage pact by marrying Jeyne Westerling. With the

support of Tywin Lannister, Lord Frey secretly starts plotting

against Robb. He invites to his fortress him under the pretense

of another marriage pact between Edmure Tully and Walder Frey’s

daughter Roslin Frey, which would forgive Robb’s broken vow.

During the feast, Robb’s men are made too drunk to fight, and

Lord Frey is able to attack them without a loss to his own men.

Most of the northmen are slaughtered at the spot:

For a moment it seemed as though the king had not heard.

Stannis showed no pleasure at the news, no anger, no

disbelief, not even relief. He stared at his Painted Table

with teeth clenched hard. “You are certain?” he asked.

“I am not seeing the body, no, Your Kingliness,” said

Salladhor Saan. “Yet in the city, the lions prance and

dance. The Red Wedding, the smallfolk are calling it. They

swear Lord Frey had the boy’s head hacked off, sewed the

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head of his direwolf in its place, and nailed a crown

about his ears. His lady mother was slain as well, and

thrown naked in the river.”

At a wedding, thought Davos. As he sat at his slayer’s

board, a guest beneath his roof. These Freys are cursed.

(A storm of swords 498)

After the battle, the Freys cut off Robb’s head and that of

his direwolf. Catleyn has her throat slit and is thrown naked

into the river. Because Robb broke the marriage pact, he caused

his whole family to be slaughtered. It brought an end to the

northern rebellion. A marriage, or a refusal to marriage,

killed more than 3,000 men. It is a clear example of how

marriage was important in Martin’s series of novels.

Cersei, mother and manipulator

Cersei Lannister is seen as the evil person in A Game of Ice and

Fire. She raises monstrous children, and can therefore be seen as

Shelob, the evil spider in The Lord of the Rings. As a spider, she

has multitudes of eggs and therefore be considered a monstrous

mother. Cersei can also be seen as a monstrous mother. On the

one hand, her children are the product of incest, which is a

massive taboo. On the other hand, Joffrey, her son, is a

monster. She is depicted as an archetypical evil queen, because

she is ruthless and cruel. She seems to possess no redeeming

qualities. Cersei’s depiction can be interpreted in various

ways. She can be seen as a woman climbing the social ladder

through marriage. She can however also be seen as a girl used

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to serve her father’s purpose of remaining the strongest

family. Even as child, she tormented Tyrion and is portrayed as

cruel. A young Cersei at that point can be described as

fearless.

She is not the only Lannister with ambition and a need for

power. She seems to have the rebelliousness of Arya Stark. But,

like Sansa, her dreams are destroyed by her life as a woman.

While Jaime and the father rake in the glory, Cersei is used as

a pawn. Although she obtains her dreams of power through

queenship, she does have to marry Robert in order to do so. She

is sold to a man that hits her and does not want her, simply

for her father’s political gain. Marriage in this example is

not the cause of her lack of her power, but Robert is. He did

not love her, and refuses to give her any say in the marriage.

Because of his sexist views, she is denied any direct power.

She needs to manipulate her son in order to have indirect

power, and is therefore blind to her son Joffrey’s evil

character. And although she wants to make the best of the

situation, she is bitter and wounded. She trusts no one and is

incredibly paranoid.

The more power she gains, the more enemies she sees and the

more paranoid she becomes. She cannot stop fighting, even when

her son is on the throne and she is Queen Regent, because she

is afraid that if she stops playing the game of manipulation,

she will lose. She must use her intelligence and her female

characteristics, like her smile and body, to follow the path of

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power. Because she is a woman, she does not have the physical

strength to put someone aside. She is despised for seducing,

controlling and threatening people. At the end of A Dance With

Dragons, she is however punished for her crimes. She is stripped

naked and has to walk through the streets as a punishment. As

she walks through the streets deprived of her clothes, her

female body is clearly visible to all. Her womanhood is

clearly framed as a source of shame.

The only thing she does care for, are her children. Although

there are several chapters in which the reader sees her train

of thoughts, she is never depicted as likeable. Whereas Tyrian

is depicted in a way that readers sympathize with him, Cersei

is never perceived as sympathetic. This does not mean that she

is not interesting. From a feminist perspective, she is very

fascinating. Her entire personality reflects the misogynistic

nature of the Western society. She is an ambitious woman who is

faced with failure and is therefore made cruel and bitter. This

is a clear example of internalized misogyny and of the

patriarchal woman.

For feminist readers, George R.R. Martin’s book series A Song of

Ice and Fire depicts a fantastic but brutal world in which war and

raping is omnipresent. Women appear to be treated as second-

class citizens through arranged marriage, rape and public

humiliation. If these readers were to look further, they would

see that this public humiliation, like Cersei’s Walk of Shame,

does not exemplify the inferiority of women. Although it seems

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that the walk of shame is an act to re-establish the male

dominance over the female, this would not explain why Tyrion

should take his own walk of shame.

Tyrion Lannister, a dwarf, is a complex character. His height

is a clear disadvantage, as he lacks the physical strength of

normal men. Because of his height , he is never really seen as

a Lannister. He deals with his powerlessness by dominating

others who possess even less power, such as women. His attitude

towards women is complex: he both envies and hates them. This

started from birth, when his mother died while giving him life.

As a child without a mother, he looked for love and hoped to

find it in his sister Cersei. He sees her as a surrogate

mother, and desires for her love. Unfortunately, this love is

never answered, as Cersei is cruel to him for most of his life.

He therefore developed a strange relation towards women from

the start.

He searched for this love and seemed to have found it in the

arms of prostitutes. He pays for their love, but it does not

matter to him. He finds love, but also power. By paying for

sex, he receives the power to control women. Until he meets

Sae, a prostitute like no other. He realizes that she has her

own character and he is afraid of her. Although he pays her and

should therefore be in control, she uses him in order to

progress in society. Because of her changing status, she now

has the power to betray him. Tyrion does believe that women are

equal to him, as soon as he meets Sae. She has the mental

strength to at least match his. He also realizes that Cersei,

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Catelyn, Shae, and Sansa all have powers he does not posses.

They all have a beautiful physical appearance, but also have

the mental strength to be called powerful. They can use their

intelligence or even naivety to survive and to progress in

society. He is however misogynistic because he constantly

wants to dominate them. First he wants to control Sae. He is

then forced to marry Sansa. Although he will not sleep with her

at first, if she does not want to, he soon is frustrated that

she will not sleep with him. The person he wants to get his

revenge on the most, is Cersei. He wants to rape and kill her,

because she attempted to kill him multiple times and betrayed

him. Tyrion wants nothing more than to re-establish his

authority over her.

Conclusion

Until recently, fantasy was a male-dominated genre. Women like

Sylvia Townsend Warner, Joan Aiken, Mary Stewart, Vera Chapman,

and Tanith Lee dominate the field and must be considered a

great development. Another benefit is the amount of media

attention the fantasy genre has received. The fantasy film has

never been more popular. Some of the many examples are: The

cinema adaptation of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit,

the J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter-series, and the fantasy show

based on George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. These were the

result of the popularity of fantasy, but have also further

promoted the genre. But according to Maxim Jakubowski, this is

also the reason why the genre lost its status as a literary

74

genre, and also its individual identity. According the Marshall

B Tymn, the popularity of fantasy is based on the age: Our age

is a frenetic age. Nowadays, people need to escape the daily

life and search for the wonders to “regain a fresh perspective

on this world” (Tymn, 38).

Although the general convention seems to be that masculinity

will progress, Swiney holds on to her statement that

modernization is equal to feminization of the race. As

industrialization made men and women equal with regards to

physical strength, the emphasis in the future will be on more

mental qualities, qualities which are mostly female. Whereas

most critics state that women will turn into men, Swiney states

that men will become more feminine, as they drop their sex

obsessions. Femininity is at the origin of all life, even male

life. An organic life starts with a single mother cell which

develops in the mother’s womb. This mother’s womb can also be

seen in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. This dissertation argued how

Tolkien emphasizes procreative power as the source of long-

levity, cultural survival and happiness.

Therefore, Tolkien argues for the equality of women. Tolkien is

feminist in the way that he frames traditional feminine

qualities in a positive light and in the way his female

characters rebel against patriarchal figures successfully.

Tolkien’s focus on procreation is a product of his time, while

Martin’s more diverse representation of women is very

contemporary. There is still a focus on motherhood and

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procreation, but there is a focus on the complexity of women

beyond their procreative power. Martin is feminist in the way

that he gives his female characters fully developed

personalities and backstories and treats them the same way that

he treats his male characters. Both Tolkien and Martin were

dedicated to depicting realistic and truthful accounts of

women’s experiences. Those experiences are also framed in such

a way that it does not seem odd for female characters to rebel

against them, to seek their own path in the world.

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