'Ello from Oxford

Hello everyone,
As you can obviously see from the title, I am currently blogging from the University of Oxford.  Technically, I am blogging from the Gladstone Link, the underground connecting tunnel between the Radcliffe Camera building and the Old Bodleian Library.  I know, I sounded ridiculously pretentious there, didn't I.  There is a point to this snobbery, however, which is to say; since I will be frantically writing about twelve pages of essays a week for the next eight weeks, please do not be disappointed if I don't take the time to write another page or two for you, my lovely readers, during that time.  Oxford being Oxford, I am planning on devoting as much time to making my genius come out on paper instead of online.  If I do find I have extra time over the course of the next term, I will of course, try to get something up for you about Les Miserables, however, with my schedule, just realize there are no guarantees.  Well, I really have to get back to my paper on Tolkien's concept of the eucatastrophe as applied to George MacDonald's novel Lilith.  By the way, if anyone has a chance to read Lilith, or Tolkien's essay On Fairy Stories, it is well worth it to do so.
Well, back to reality.

The Hobbit and a Poor Feminist Criticism

Hello all,
So earlier today I was on facebook when I found a link to an article: The Hobbit: Why are There No Women in Tolkien's World?  Being the curious student that I am, I clicked the link, looking forward to a stimulating feminist criticism of The Hobbit, a well developed, if somewhat biased look at the film and the text.  Instead I was greeted by a vacuous opinion piece that attempted to disguise itself as feminist criticism.  I was so enraged by this article that I spent the rest of the afternoon writing a letter to the editor criticizing the poor writing, low academic quality, and utter lack of respect for the story displayed in the piece.  I am going to throw that letter up here because I want my thoughts out there, even if the actual letter does not get published. If anyone actually want to look up the article to see what I am talking about, the link is http://ideas.time.com/2012/12/31/the-hobbit-why-are-there-no-women-in-tolkiens-world/, however, I do not recommend reading the thing.

Without any further ado:

When I saw a link to the article The Hobbit: Why are There No Women in Tolkien’s World?, I was immediately interested.  The general lack of women in fictional literature is fascinating to me, and I was looking forward to seeing another person’s view on the problem.  I was appalled by the quality of thought represented in the article, however, as well as the obvious lack of respect or concern for an accurate portrayal of the subject matter.  I was very hopeful that Ms. Konigsburg would elaborate on what is a striking problem in film and literature, namely the lack of emotionally realized and well developed female characters, but instead I grew more and more frustrated with the lack of substantial thought displayed in the writing. 

The majority of the piece was a poorly written summary of the plot deliberately designed to infuriate those who are familiar with the story and to be off-putting to those who are not.  When finally reaching the main point of the argument, which is supposed to be a feminist criticism of the piece, Ms. Konigsburg does not develop an argument at all, but instead flouts the fact that she has never read the books, before spouting off nonsense about “dwarf fathers” who “beget dwarf sons” and “hobbit uncles” who “pass rings down to hobbit nephews”.  Leaving aside the contempt she shows for the story itself by refusing to enlighten her criticism with any research, Ms. Konigsburg’s comments display an utter disrespect for the art of story telling and the creation of the worlds in which the characters live.  Thorin and company are setting out on a quest for revenge, a motivation which does not drive women in the same way as it does male characters; it makes sense that there are very few women in the story.  Furthermore, when Thorin identifies himself as “Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror” because he is a descendant of kings, and he is associating himself with his royal lineage. Furthermore, Ms. Konigsburg’s lack of research creates an argument for the “asexual reproduction” of the characters that disintegrates with a quick look at the highly developed family trees and histories that are developed for each of the characters in the course of the story.  Bilbo Baggins is willing to leave on his adventure because his mother, Belladona Took, came from a family of hobbits that was much more active and willing to do on adventures.  Fili and Kili, two of the dwarves in the company, are the sons of Thorin’s sister, a dwarf princess in her own right.

Ms. Konigsburg’s criticism and ignorance of the film and text are at their most appalling in her analysis, or lack thereof, of the character of Galadriel.  First, her disparaging dismissal of Galadriel as “an elf princess” demonstrates a lack of attention to the scene.  The meeting of the White Council at first glance appears to be governed by Saruman, every femimist’s arch enemy, the old, white man.  A closer look at the situation, however, reveals that Galadriel is truly the most powerful person in the room, as Elrond looks to her and Gandalf is answerable to her command.  Only Saruman himself is unable to appreciate the power of Galadriel, and he comes across as foolish or potentially evil in his lack of appreciation for Galadriel’s wisdom.  Not only is Galadriel portrayed as an empowered woman, she is not there simply to alleviate the weight of the thirteen dwarves.  While that may be part of the purpose of her character, she is also there because Tolkien put her there.  Anyone who has read The Lord of the Rings knows that the White Council was very active during the course of Bilbo’s journey.  Gandalf is always disappearing in the Hobbit, with very little explanation given in the actual text, however, supplemental reading shows that he was meeting with Saruman, Elrond, and Galadriel in an attempt to address the menace of the Necromancer in Dol Guldur.  Galadriel’s inclusion in the story therefore, is not merely an attempt to add someone “without a Y chromosome,” but is instead an elaboration on the story that embraces the broader history of Middle Earth.

            

Finally, this piece displays an ignorance of the history of The Hobbit that is disgraceful.  Of course there are few women in the course of the story, it was written by a man, during the nineteen thirties!  It is incredible difficult for an author to accurately portray someone of the opposite gender accurately, thus, it is natural that Tolkein gravitated to writing about men.  Second, the cultural atmosphere of the time was not as oriented toward female characters as it has become in modern times, thus the lack of female characters in the book, while maybe disturbing, is perfectly understandable.  Peter Jackson’s decision to not radically change the course of the text shows a respect for the cultural artifact that is admirable, and an appreciation for the beauty of a story that may not be politically correct.  Is this not the due of the artist, to be appreciated for the quality of the work, not for how well or how poorly it subscribes to the ever changing tide of popular opinion?

            

I consider myself a feminist, and I do find it mildly disturbing that Tolkien and other authors often struggle to create believable empowered female characters.  I would welcome a feminist criticism of the books that addresses the fact that the women in the stories are either homebodies or extraordinarily powerful.  This sort of vacuous analysis based on nothing more than opinion, feminist catchphrases, and a superficial portrayal of the story is both offensive and disheartening.  It is this sort of thoughtless drivel that gives feminist criticism everywhere a bad name.

Well, I feel better now.  I have said my piece, and hopefully my rant did not bore anyone too seriously. I will hopefully be coming back soon with another piece on The Hobbit, and one of Les Miserables.  But until then... Back to Reality!