Research Paper on:
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and Strong Women

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
perfection of outward appearance in The Lord of the Rings. The good, powerful women are tall and blond and beautiful. It is the classic stereotype of the model in todays  society. Tolkien writes: "And we love them: tall men and fair women, valiant both alike, golden-haired, bright-eyed and strong" (Tolkien 663). That is Tolkiens mantra. It exists throughout the intricate  epic that is called Lord of the Rings. Indeed, Tolkien uplifts women but not perhaps as feminists would like. In fact, they might object to the work and suggest that  Tolkien does not do a service for women. But it also may be argued that Tolkien values women and portrays them as strong in their own right, and in their  own way. In part, he does this by accentuating both inner and outer beauty and he does this with the use of a variety of characters to represent the female  of the particular race or society. Gender is always an issue it seems in literature today and when J.R.R. Tolkien wrote Lord of the Rings some think  he forgot about women altogether. In fact, in this epic tale, there are very few women and while that is the case--at least compared with the number of male  creatures--the women that did exist were indeed powerful. In fact, one could argue that had there been a preponderance of women in Lord of the Rings, it would have taken  on an almost eerily potent aura. As they say, the proof is in the pudding, and in evaluating Lord of the Rings, the female characters demonstrate that indeed, they  are strong. Powerful women do exist in The Lord of the Rings. Galadriel or the Lady of the Golden Wood, for example, is perhaps one of the strongest characters in