Eowyn: was Golden Compass

[kempermentor]

> > Kemper earlier:
> > Does JRRT show Man (not a Hobbit, Dwarf, Elf) as possibly clinically
> > depressed?  I don't know.
> 
> Ann:
> Well, most of the Quenta Silmarillion is tragic; look at Turin
> Turambar, for instance, who has it far worse than Eowyn. But Theoden
> himself is a far more obvious example, and so is Wormtongue. 

Kemper now:
I've only read LotR and the Hobbit.
I don't recall Theoden being /clinically/ depressed, rather I see him
as more situationally depressed which is brought on by Wormtongue's
deceitful whispers.  As soon as Theoden discovers the truth of
Wormtongue, doesn't his mood change to someone more... kingly?

I did not get out of the read that Wormtongue was depressed.

> Ann:
> I don't think that Eowyn is made out to be "weak" for especially
> feminine reasons. Wormtongue has poisoned other minds, and I don't
> think her problem is that she's rejected by Aragorn so much as she
> constantly externalises her problems, which is why she wants him in
> the first place. 

Kemper now:
I agree with you that Eowyn may be externalizing.  Even though /we/
might not think her problem is Aragon's rejection, /she/ thinks it is
and it is this thought/feeling which JRRT wrote that is weak... at
least to me.

> Ann:
> In any case, depression is an illness, and doesn't mean she's weak.
> Note that her "weakness" takes the form of running away from home to
> become a soldier...

Kemper now:
No, depression doesn't mean she's weak.  What she does with the
depression (or rather, what JRRT has her do with the depression) is
weak.  Again, imhysao.


Kemper