why are all the women modern?

[Constance green]

ive been reading eddings for years now and i love them they give me that glowy feeling, but it really anoys me that the woman all seem to be americanised modrn women, i wish just for once that there would be a proper lady, lol

 

[the_faery_queen]

why should they not be modern women? it's a fantasy. i personally find modern women more interesting than 'ladies.' a tradional lady would't really do very much. she'd just sit there, look pretty and have lots of kids. not really what i'd want to read about

that's what i think a tleast.

 

[devilsgrin]

gotta agree Fairy Queen. Damsels in Distress and 'proper' Ladies are pretty boring...

I suppose Eddings had to decide when writing these books whether to do the tolkein thing and have no women in the story (other that brief appearances) or to actually include women that were capable of sharing the spotlight with the male characters.A proper lady could never be that kind of character. Indeed, in many cases Polgara and Ce'Nedra outshine all the rest. And even Ehlana has her moments of glory.

 

[Cloud]

well, I think it's hard for a writer to get away from what you know. But I don't think Polgara particularly fits the "modern American woman" image--too much time centered around hearth and home.

Of course modern American women can't turn into owls, either.

 

[The Technophobe]

Are we forgetting his wife's influence. I do not argue with my wife if i CAN HELP IT, I bet he is the same!!!!

 

[Urien]

History has a number of examples of extraordinary women; Boudicca, Catherine the Great, Elizabeth I, Elizabeth Bathory to name a few. In a world of magical powers where the women can be as strong as the men, an equality of sorts in attitude could easily develop.

 

[The Technophobe]

Woman are generally mentally stronger than men in my experiance - 3 sisters, so there is no reason in the current generation for there to be Ladies in the old sense of the word.

 

[j d worthington]

I have to agree with Andrew on this one. If you'll look back through history, you'll find that many a "lady" ran things when her "lord" was away at war, jousting, or at the king's court ... including militarily running things and fending off attackers, commanding her forces, etc. Just as pioneering women had to learn to shoot rifles to fend off attacking hostile forces (so did the children, for that matter). These were very capable individuals!

 

[Constance green]

oh im all for women in the spot light dont get me wrong, i just dont understand why they all have to act so much like people from today, you can be powerfull without behaving like your from the 21st century

 

[Constance green]

take grace o'malley for example, she didnt come out with a load of armerican sayings and the such, but she's still one of the greatest figuers in irish history.

Though i must admit i do have a slight soft spot for asrana

 

[j d worthington]

oh im all for women in the spot light dont get me wrong, i just dont understand why they all have to act so much like people from today, you can be powerfull without behaving like your from the 21st century

Quite true. If it's the idioms you're meaning, that's another thing, and no, it's not really excusable if you're not handling the entire story in that fashion (a la John Myers Myers The Harp and the Blade, Twain's Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, or Pratt & De Camp's Harold Shea stories -- though even there the fantasy characters talk in a manner that feels more appropriate to their milieu....)

 

[Constance green]

exxxxaaaactttly, that was what i was getting at, though slightly less elegantly, or inteligently, ar coherently, well, im glad sumone understood me anyway, lol, im not that gud at getting my point across without babling on for ages lol

 

[the_faery_queen]

if it's just about the way they talk, then they're going to talk that way because it's easier for us to understand it, and it's what the writer knows

how are these women acting like they're from the 21st century? what i see are women acting like the men, and as i said, that's to make them more interesting. if they acted like real ladies, they wouldn't do that much. i guess you could say, in some ways cersi and sansa in martin's song of ice and fire act like real ladies. even catelyn did. they stayed home, they had kids (well not sansa, but she was all dainty and pretty and worried about husband and that sort of lady things) but when the world goes into crap, they had to do SOMETHING and play a part, or they'd have ended up dead (well cat did)

i think that's something else to remember. if a woman acts the way tha a woman would have done back then, she'd either have not done very much, OR if the world had gone to war and so on, she'd have died, if she didn't adapt. it just isn't practical for women to sit around and be ladies in fantasy. and in honesty, i'd find it boring and offensive. to me it's bad enough that there are very few strong female characters who aren't whiney or self invovled, i really woudn't want to read about a hoast of them who can't do very much.

and i dont' actually thinkg women have ever been 'ladies.' they may apepar that way, because of social custom, but it was rarely that way. even the ancient greek women, who were so protected they weren't really allowed out on their own, who had kids and weren't wanted for much else, ran their husband's household.

so yeah, it really depends wht you're talking about. if it's the way that they speak, well the men also speak like they're from this century. if it's the way that they act, well they have to act that way, if they didn't they'd end up dead or left behind. you wouldn't take a dainity princess on a quest with you. if the women were like the sterotyped idea of ladies, they'd not be in the book. if they were like the real way that women, percieved as ladies, behaved, well that is how they're potrayed. as women who will fight back when they need to, stand their ground when they have to, and so on.

 

[Cloud]

since this is in the Eddings forum, I assume you are specifically talking about the way David Eddings writes his characters. Do you have an example of what's bugging you?

 

[d66]

Mayaserana, and the wife of king Anheg, and Merel, and the wife of Lelldorin, and Adara, And certainly the sendarian queen are more time-appropriate perhaps. Only the heroines not, but thats what makes them stand apart.

 

[Toby Frost]

"Modern" in the sense of wielding power and influence, in their personal mannerisms and dialogue or modern in their general attitudes to life?

Personally I found it irritating how one of the main forms of social sophistication among Eddings' ladies is to regard all men as irritating children. "Huh, men!" Seems a bit childish to me.

 

[DarkRaven]

Are we forgetting his wife's influence. I do not argue with my wife if i CAN HELP IT, I bet he is the same!!!!

That has to be a huge part of it. I remember reading something on another forum, that his wife pretty much wrote all of his female characters. I'm dead sure she couldn't handle the ''women look after the home'' type characters.

Mayaserana, and the wife of king Anheg, and Merel, and the wife of Lelldorin, and Adara, And certainly the sendarian queen are more time-appropriate perhaps. Only the heroines not, but thats what makes them stand apart.

Well it depends from country to country. The Arends are Chivalric, Anheg is a total chauvinist. I'm not sure about Merel though - she is quite capable of bossing Barack around. An example of this is when she calls him a ''child'', when he claims that the Earl of Jarvick would never dare to break his exile.

 

[ghost8772]

I might be simplistic here, but I'd say that the main female characters were all characterized by Leigh Eddings, a point I've held to since her name was added to Belgarath the Sorcerer. the secondary characters were likely written by David Eddings, it fits the profile I seem to see in most authors I've read. Members of the opposite gender are stereotypes, fantasies, or (shudder) the author cross-dressing. The collaboration of the Eddingses made for a much more diverse read. I will say that yeah whoever wrote in the characters of Ce'Nedra, Polgara, Liselle, Sephrenia, and Ehlana definitely did not conform to the apparent eras involved, They did come across as the modern American Woman, dealing with men on equal terms, and the men in the stories allowing that power, instead of what it would have been like in that era of exercising a "rule of thumb" etc... Since it was fantasy to start with, and not this planet involved, literary license is perfectly alright... in my book at least. Hey they had fun. even if Polgara took herself way too seriously.

 

[Eugotur]

If you consider the main ladies, let's go for Polgara, Ce'Nedra and Liselle, it rather makes sense for them to be similar to the strong women we see in the 21st century.

Polgara: Second oldest woman alive and a legend to all the people of the world, not only has she had time to consider how best to do thinks but she even led the Wacite Arends in becoming one of the most modern and practical countries in those books before the were destroyed in the civil war, not only this but she basically formed the entire sendarian viewpoint, she also has to appear to strong and wise as she is Garion's mother figure and Durnik his father figure, no matter what Chamdar says, hell I actually think that in the Malloreon they should be named The Parents of Light or something to that effect seeing as how they raised the two most important people in a universe.

Ce'Nedra has to be a smart and strong willed character for her to be Garion's foil and in order for her to play her part in the Belgariad had to be able to swerve round the intracities of semi medieval politics.

And Lisele well she had to beat kheldar at his own game she had to be the most current and best that anything could be in order to keep on top of him.