Abstract

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, “father of western fantasy literature”, makes great contribution to world literature--- his trilogy The Lord of the Rings opens the age of fantasy literature. It is worth mentioning that The Lord of the Rings not only influences the following western literature such as J. K. Rowling’s series of Harry Potter, but also music, films, and video games, such as The Star Wars and World of Warcraft. Till now, it has been translated into 25 languages and influenced generations of people. After the Second World War, The Lord of the Rings even becomes a must book for American college students, for many readers believe that this is a book against wars. But as a classic and the greatest book in the 20th century in western literature, The Lord of the Rings is not so welcomed by scholarship. Critics take this work as epic saga. They say that Tolkien has neglected the female characters in a men’s world.
 But in the work, Tolkien describes three main female characters――Galadriel, Lady of Lorien; Arwen, Evenstar of Elves; Eowyn, Lady of Rohan, from whom we can sense Tolkien’s praise and appreciation toward women: they are clever and elegant, strong and courageous, responsible and loving. This article focuses on these three female characters. In them, we can trace the influence from Tolkien’s mother and wife. What is more, his own experience of war in the Second World War also has influence on the creation of Eowyn. This article is to recover the status of females in The Lord of the Rings and to find the deep meaning of them, which can help readers overcome their prejudice that Tolkien looks down upon women and neglects them in The Lord of the Rings. Therefore, we will have a better understanding of Tolkien and his greatest work.

Key Words:  Tolkien  The Lord of the Rings  female characters

摘要

《魔戒》开创了西方奇幻文学的先河，而作者托尔金也因此成为了“西方奇幻文学之父”。《魔戒》不仅仅影响了西方文学的创作,如罗林女士的《哈利波特》系列，同时也影响了游戏、电影创作，如《魔兽世界》、《星球大战》等。到目前为止，《魔戒》已经被翻译成为了25种文字，影响了几代人。第二次世界大战之后，《魔戒》在美国成了大学生的必读书目。但是《魔戒》在作为经典文学的同时也饱受批评，批评家们认为这本书是男人的史诗，认为作者忽略了女性的地位。
但是小说中托尔金却刻画了三位主要的女性角色――萝林女王盖拉德利尔，精灵公主阿尔温以及罗翰公主伊奥温。从她们的身上我们能感受到作者对于女性的赞美：她们高贵聪明、无畏艰险，充满爱与责任。。本文主要探讨的就是《魔戒》中的这三位女性角色。从这三个角色的形象中，我们能看出托尔金母亲、妻子以及他自己在二战中的经历给他的深刻的影响。本文研究的意义在于揭示这三位女性形象在作品中所处的地位及深层含义，反驳大部分读者对于《魔戒》中作者歧视女性的偏见，帮助读者全面了解《魔戒》及托尔金本人。

关键字： 托尔金  《魔戒》  女性人物