Couple   Faramir   Éowyn   Media   Fans   Skins   Site   Links   Clear

Book!Eowyn and Movie!Eowyn; is there a difference? Unlike characters like Arwen and Faramir, there seems to be no question about the way Eowyn was portrayed in the films or Miranda Otto's performance. Everyone in fandom seems to hold the film representation and the book representation as the same character. I might honestly feel the same way, if it weren't for one key scene in Return of the King; before Aragorn leaves for the paths of the dead, and Eowyn does not ask to go with him, but asks him to stay. This didn't bother me much at first, but the more I thought about it, the more it got to me. The whole scene itself began to disturb me; just the way she seemed to beg, and the way the whole thing was so overblown; the crying, the pleading, the rejection. This was a scene that I felt was vital to Eowyn's character development and understanding her motivations. I felt that this scene, above all, should not play as a romance scene, and it did; it made it seem like Eowyn's love for Aragorn was her only motivation, and even Tolkien himself made a point of stating that it wasn't. It's at this point that I began to view Eowyn as two seperate characters; the book Eowyn and the movie Eowyn. But what were the differences between the two? In most cases, I tended to view them as one and the same; it was only in her later interactions with Aragorn that I began to see them as seperate. For example, the one key difference in the aforementioned scene. Instead of asking to leave with Aragorn, she asks him to stay. Why? Does she seem him as not only Rohan's hope, but also as her personal salvation? In Return of the King, it is said that Eowyn's love for Aragorn is only that of a soldier for his captain. In the theatrical release of Return of the King, they never say that; in fact, the failed romance of Aragorn and Eowyn has no real solid conclusion, other than Eowyn standing beside Faramir and smiling as Aragorn reunites with Arwen. How she was able to let go and be happy for them is never explained. Those who read the novels and those who inferred from that single scene in the film know what happened; Eowyn met Faramir. But things just don't quite add up in my mind; I don't think that they could honestly say that Eowyn's love for Aragorn was that of a soldier for their captain in the films and get away with it, since Eowyn's love of Aragorn is much less subtle and much more romantic in the films. And to me, that's where the key difference between the two lies. Eowyn's love for Aragorn in the novel's was all portrayed in subtle moments; the handing of the cup, their final scene together before he left for the paths of the dead; her love was just implied, and he never really rejected her. In the films, it was overblown. Perhaps they wanted a love triangle between Aragorn, Arwen, and Eowyn - although how they expected to have a love triangle when Arwen wasn't even there is beyound me - for more romantic drama, or they just needed more romance in general and didn't want to wait until The Return of the King to have something different than Aragorn and Arwen. But the fact that they changed something subtle and well, rather beautiful into this melodrama just upsets me. There is no question about Miranda Otto's performance here; I honestly think she did an amazing job. And as far as Eowyn in the movie goes, I think she's done well in many other areas. But it's her interactions with Aragorn, especially in The Return of the King, that I can't get behind; because to me, that simply isn't Eowyn.