The Finwë/Miriel Dilemma

[dawn_felagund]

Today has so far been a depressing day for me, and so I am compensating by becoming momentarily lost in a dilemma I have discovered that has absolutely no bearing on real life. Friends are losing friends (and pets--my condolensces to you, Juno) and my boss and I just had a long discussion about the state of the United States. Another hurricane is brewing in the Gulf of Mexico. I am pissed off at a group of friends right now for behaving in a heathenish, inconsiderate manner. I tried to do a flip jump on foot last night, in my parents' driveway, and got a sharp pain in the knee of my landing leg...the problems range from petty to profound, and so I am doing what any good writer does: losing myself in unreality.


Yesterday, I posted a new short story called "Lament the Morning", set on the evening of Miriel's "death" and from Finwë's point of view. It has been very interesting to read the comments I have gotten, especially those pertaining to people's perceptions of Miriel's character. I have had discussions with some of you before about Finwë's character and how he negatively impacted Fëanor with his decisions, but this is the first time that I have done a serious piece centered on Miriel, and so I was interested in people's responses to her.

What I have noticed is hardly new to me: Having been quite immersed in reading Silmarillion fiction prior to publishing my own, I have noticed, often, a certain attitude towards the character of Miriel that I find interesting. Thinking beyond that, I see that attitude also among other female Sil characters.

My own thoughts on Miriel? I like her. As I told Jenni earlier today, without Miriel, you don't have Fëanor. Without Fëanor, you have no Silmarillion.

Miriel's Choice?
Of course, I am not blind to the perceptions: Miriel caused all of the troubles that ensued with Fëanor. That if she'd just mustered herself to getting up and getting better and being a mother to her son and a wife to her husband, then everything would be okay. Miriel could have recovered, if she'd just tried a little bit harder. She let despondency take her. She deserted Finwë; she deserted Fëanor. Things could have been different.

I ask you: Could they?

Turning to my handy-dandy ever-present copy of The Silmarillion:

But in the bearing of her son Miriel was consumed in spirit and body; and after his birth she yearned for release from the labour of living. And when she had named him, she said to Finwë, "Never again shall I bear child; for strength that would have nourished the life of many has gone forth into Fëanor.
-"Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor"

It seems to me that Miriel's actual spirit was depleted. Now, of course, I use The Silmarillion as a historical text to get out of things all of the time, and so it hardly seems fair to simply label these words as fact without considering the fact that they might be wrong.

But I don't think that they are wrong, for once. Many times, this issues I take with the truth of The Silmarillion comes back to the fact that none of its acknowledged authors (those being, as far as I know, Rumil and Pengolodh) would have been present for some of the events described. Many such events happened to persons not favored by the Houses of Fingolfin and Finarfin--to whom Pengolodh and Rumil were loyal, respectively--I cannot see loremasters from the House of Fëanor eagerly sharing their lords secrets, nor can I see Pengolodh being very interested in getting the true facts and making waves when accepting the "word on the street" would be a more politically popular thing to do. (And one that would allow him to keep his job!)

In this case, though, the events transpired in Valinor, and so I imagine loremasters would certainly be present with more than enough time on their hands to give an accurate recollection. Nor is there--unless you want to dismiss the canon entirely, take the route of conspiracy theory, and give the main players odd motives--a reason why Finwë, the Valar, or the loremasters would wish to lie. At this point, all of the Eldar get along; in fact, deep friendships are acknowledged as existing between the Noldor and the Vanyar and the Noldor and the Teleri. Certainly, before Fëanor's arrival, those within the Noldor seem to get along. It seems to me that Miriel's demise would have grieved and alarmed even those outside of Finwë's close confidences.

Because of the nature, too, of Miriel's demise, it seems something that would have received great attention and research. The Valar are acknowledged as having some pretty heavy involvement: "But when Miriel languished still, Finwë sought the counsel of Manwë, and Manwë delivered her to the care of Irmo in Lorien" ("Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor"). Because the Valar would understand better the nature of the fëa and how it responds to the bearing of a child, in this case, even I--decidedly not a huge fan of the Valar, as many of you know--must envision their involvement as bringing an "expert opinion" to the issue.

I imagine the investigation must have been thorough. After all, one of the deathless Elves was dying. What was happening? Could it happen again? I believe the Elves and the Valar would have been alarmed by Miriel's sudden malady.

Given all of these facts, it is hard for me to find reason to doubt what The Silmarillion says on the issue. (Although I am willing to entertain angles that I might have missed and that are spotted by my ever-astute LJ friends!) And so my conclusion is that Miriel was depleted in spirit as well as in body by the birth of Fëanor.

So, if Miriel had a damaged spirit after Fëanor's birth, did she have a choice in relinquishing her body? She, of course, tells Finwë to "...hold me blameless in this, and in all that may come after" ("Of Fëanor and the Unchaining of Melkor"). Was she blameless? Or was this simply a line she gave him to avoid having to make an effort towards recovery?

Avoiding the question of why she would want to not recover (given that her marriage to Finwë was acknowledged as being blissful), I think the real issue was could she recover? I always envision a damaged spirit, for an Elf, whose body is stronger and recovers more quickly than those bequeathed to we mere mortals, as a grave injury. Imagine someone involved in a terrible accident, their organs damaged and much blood lost, their brain injured and their neck broken. Now, imagine standing beside their hospital bed and saying, "Just get up, damn it!"

There is something essential damaged that prevents them from being able to get up, and that is how I envision a damaged Elven spirit. So, long story short, I don't believe Miriel had a choice in the matter.

"Hold me blameless...."
What interests me more, though, than considering Miriel's choice in the matter is to look at people's responses to her character, especially versus their perception of the character of Finwë.

I should begin by saying that I like both the characters of Finwë and Miriel. I'm not sure either is eligible for a Parent of the Year Award, but I like their characters. They are essentially good people--but flawed--and you all know that this is a big flag to me, begging me to write about them.

But I am going to play Devil's Advocate, just to make my point.

Lot's of people disregard the character of Miriel. People are not fond of her. Let's consider what the character of Miriel did:

-She died.
-She died because her spirit and body were badly weakened while bearing her son Fëanor.
-So Miriel died to give life to the one who would later be known as the greatest of the Noldor. She didn't die because she was lazy or inconsiderate but because she wanted her son to have life.

Now, what the character of Finwë did:
-He remarried.
-He had to seek approval first because such a thing was unknown to his people.
-He remarried because he wanted more children. No, having the greatest of the Noldor for a son wasn't enough.
-He remarried knowing that it grieved Fëanor.
-His remarriage was the chief cause of the strife in his House, later. If you don't have Fingolfin and Finarfin, then Fëanor has a hard time hating them.

Of course, Finwë's remarriage was preceded by Miriel's death, so people often argue that Miriel, not Finwë, caused the strife in the House of Finwë.

Hmm...interesting, I think. If we continue to assume that Miriel had no choice in her death, then we are blaming the involuntary death of a woman for a man's voluntary choice to remarry?

And that woman's involuntary death is the cause of all the later problems in her family (versus, again, the man's voluntary choice to remarry)?

Interesting....

I see, in fan fiction, a lot of stories that portray Miriel negatively. Yet, I have never seen a story portray Finwë negatively. (If one of you can find one, I'm interested to see it!) It cannot be Finwë's charismatic personality, as he has very little "stage time" in the book, especially compared to other characters, and his character is essentially undeveloped. It cannot be sympathy for his death because Miriel also died, and both died "in service" of Fëanor. Perhaps it comes back to people's perception that he loved Fëanor devoutly despite Fëanor's flaws, but as discussions with some of you have revealed, Finwë's unquestioning devotion to his overly proud son near the end may not have been a good thing. Furthermore, there is nothing to indicate that Miriel did not also love Fëanor. After all, she gave her life for him.

A Common Trend?
I suppose that, given the similarities of these characters and their fates--with favoritism going to Miriel, who had less a choice in hers--I find it interesting the difference in peoples' reactions to them.

Even more interesting is people's reactions to other female characters with similar circumstances.

Indis loved Finwë before Miriel's death, but her love was a secret. Presumably, she knew less of Fëanor's displeasure with Finwë's remarriage than did Finwë, yet she is often the "wicked stepmother" whereas Finwë is ever the angelic father.

Even my beloved Nerdanel, it seems, catches some criticism. The woman married Fëanor, restrained the worst of his pride in their youth, and gave him seven sons. But that is not enough. She is also a disloyal wife and mother. She deserted her husband and sons. If she had stuck around, perhaps things would have turned out differently. She should have tried harder to restrain Fëanor's pride.

Of course, one could argue that Fëanor, Fingolfin, and their sons also receive their share of criticism. The difference, I see, is the active role of the male characters versus the passive, background role of the female characters. Fëanor chose to threaten Fingolfin. Maedhros chose to swear his father's Oath. Fingolfin chose to follow his half-brother into exile. The three main female players in the Years of the Trees, as I see it--those being Miriel, Indis, and Nerdanel--on the other hand, are often charged with making some effort on behalf of the male characters, doing something unnatural or undesirable in order to stay the impetuous or stupid actions of their husbands and sons. For example, Miriel is expected to live when she is clearly dying. Indis is expected to deny the love that she feels for Finwë, on behalf of a child she likely doesn't even know. Nerdanel is expected to remain in a marriage that grieves her.

That Tolkien often places his female characters in passive versus active roles is a criticism that I have seen before. (Of course, this criticism is directed more to LotR than The Silmarillion, where strong female characters are more numerous. Nonetheless, the "Laws and Customs among the Eldar," which dictates that women must sacrifice their bodies and spirits to create children whereas the males do not--to such a drastic extent, anyway--has been criticized on grounds of sexism. This work is quite prevalently used and referenced by Silmarillion writers.) I find it interesting that people's perceptions in fan fiction based on these works--people who will often openly criticize Tolkien for misogynism in his world--are keeping with this: That the female characters are amiss for pursuing love or happiness in their own right. They are "heroic" if they choose instead to make a sacrifice that will (possibly) remedy a blunder made by an impetuous or thoughtless male character, a blunder that would better be resolved by not being committed in the first place. They need not even know, at the time, that their choice to do otherwise will result in grave consequences. (I have trouble envisioning, for example, Nerdanel choosing to leave Fëanor, even were she aware of her sons' fates. Nor can I imagine Indis dooming an entire people for the sake of a romance. Fëanor and Finwë, though, I cannot hold so naively blameless.) Male characters, such as Finwë, who seek love and happiness--even against the traditions of his culture or the wishes of his only son--are not likewise scathed. People will defend the actions of Fëanor and decry Nerdanel in the same breath, blaming her or Indis or Miriel for his downfall when really, Fëanor's downfall is Fëanor's downfall.

Of course, these are only my impressions and observations. They are in no way fact. I have conducted no studies nor done any concrete research on this subject, only to report what I have seen as a common trend in some fan fiction. Furthermore, my education was in social science and I am quite familiar with research methodology and problems encountered in such studies. I acknowledge that I--as everyone--am guilty of confirmation biases. My observations might be nothing more.

I am heartily interested in my fellow Tolkienites thoughts on this. Do you think that female Silmarillion characters are portrayed differently or held to different standards than male characters in fan fiction? If so, why do you think this is? If you totally disagree with me, likewise, I welcome your thoughts and opinions. Like I said, these thoughts are very abstract (although I must admit to a temptation to do further research) and based only on my impressions, after reading an unhealthy amount of fan fiction :)

Lastly, thanks go to my fellow Fëanatics, for the wonderful discussions we have and the thoughts they provoke.

Comments

[kaikias.livejournal.com]

...though if you're talking about real-world humanity that's something else again and yes, difficult to cross with the unreality of the Tolkienverse, whether or not there are elves involved in the question under consideration.