# "Great Books" that no one seems to like...what are we missing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [July 29, 2021, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-books-that-no-one-seems-to-like-what-are-we-missing/947575 "2021-07-29T06:26:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 228
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2021, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-books-that-no-one-seems-to-like-what-are-we-missing/947575/228 "2021-08-03T04:53:20Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > Tolkien’s females are barely there. Basically tokens. It doesn’t matter if Galadriel is the most powerful being in the history of the universe - she’s barely in the book. Oh, please! Look it’s the tale of a quest. The questers are male, as probably would have been the case in patriarchal times of the type portrayed. From the get go that means others in the book can only be “side characters” met along the way. Eowyn has a small but important role, and not only that it is _not_ the classic, highly limited female fantasy role of the type DrDeth mentions, but instead a role as a woman who will not accept being pigeonholed, and instead goes off to battle, where she kills a key bad guy. Galadriel similarly - she is more stereotypical in that she is more the princess-ey enchantress/wise woman but nonetheless is portrayed as having (extreme) agency and personality and is by no means a mere signpost along the way. Don’t get me wrong, LoTR is not a book to read if you want good thorough female characters but let’s not go overboard in our criticism. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-books-that-no-one-seems-to-like-what-are-we-missing/947575)._