Arwen's Double Colonization in The Lord of the Rings

              In the Middle-Earth realm brought to life by The Lord of the Rings books and movies, Arwen and Aragorn are an intriguing couple: the first a lovely, ethereal Elf, the second a rugged, secretly royal human Ranger—both woodland masters. However, not everything about their relationship is perfect—Arwen, as it turns out, is actually a victim of double colonization.

              Double colonization, in referring to the dual oppression that postcolonial women suffer, might seem a surprising description of the plight that Arwen faces in this famous trilogy (Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide, Third Edition, by Lois Tyson; page 405). But prevailing colonialist ideology devalues her because of her race and cultural ancestry, despite the fact that Elves are portrayed as graceful, agile, wise, immortal creatures (http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Elves). The admirable beauty that her people exhibit is irrelevant; mankind is driving them away from Middle-Earth—settling on Elven lands and seizing natural resources for themselves—and, consequently, the positive traits characterizing Elves counterintuitively represent symbols of oppression (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GS3tt0kIsg). Humans are, in essence, colonizing the Elves’ territories, so much so that nature itself objects to their intervention (http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Ents). Further worsening the situation, Arwen, as a result of being female in her world, is subjected to patriarchal ideology—mistreatment based on her sex (Tyson 405). Several scenes from the movies alone illustrate the double colonization that makes her experience rough.

Goals. Except for the colonization and sexism parts that we can just ignore.

              Arwen, not unlike Pocahontas, is romantically involved with one of her oppressors, a man who, although a compassionate and helpful member of his class, is nonetheless a member of the group that is acting discriminatorily toward hers. And yes, he is a human being, in spite of his ability to live for an unusually long time (https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/38738/how-do-arwens-mortality-and-her-and-aragorns-lifespans-work-out). Arwen’s father Elrond expresses his frustration with regard to Men’s negative interference in his family’s life when he claims, in response to the wizard Gandalf’s request for his aid in a quest to save the virtuous inhabitants of Middle-Earth, that humankind is, in addition to being unworthy of assistance, unworthy of trust from other races. Rightly, he observes that it is Men who have been responsible for keeping the evil Ring of Power on Middle-Earth whenever the Elves have been willing to destroy it (Elrond’s assertions: http://www.tk421.net/lotr/film/fotr/15.html). Still, the Elves remaining on Middle-Earth—the Elves whose environments have not been too extensively damaged, and whose life forces are resilient enough to withstand the growing malice in Middle-Earth due to the strengthening villainy at work thanks to the Ring’s perpetuation and its owner’s sinister maturation—opt to cooperate with Men in a rescue attempt anyway (http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Fellowship_of_the_Ring).

              Personally, Arwen finds that her immortality is not sufficiently durable to keep her healthy during the moral crisis that confronts Middle-Earth (https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/54460/did-arwen-actually-die). Yet she cannot drive herself to abandon Aragorn to his fate and travel to a safe place beyond the landmass that is free of Men and does not include him, so she stays and risks her life. The colonial rules restricting her liberty force her to decide between true love and, granted the well-intended mission Aragorn is contributing to fails and Middle-Earth descends into the chaos of tyranny, death.

              How annoying, then, that Aragorn displays arguably blatant sexism as soon as she is introduced to moviegoers. She encounters Aragorn and several of his defenseless friends in a forest in her debut and, seeing that a precious crime-fighting comrade valued by the enemy is mortally wounded, offers to take him with her on her horse on a rapid flight to her Elf kin nearby (Aragorn and Arwen’s conversation: http://www.tk421.net/lotr/film/fotr/13.html). Aragorn tells her, urgently, that the journey is too difficult. Out of affection, perhaps—and perhaps instead, or partly also, out of a belief that masculinity has a better chance than femininity of getting there faster. Luckily, Arwen is not having it. After informing him that she is, in fact, the superior equestrian, she proves her mettle by sweeping their buddy off to her relatives in record time, just barely faster than the pursuing villains. While colonization may wreak havoc on her quality of life, potentially sexist comments will not—not as long as she can help it. 

She looks so scared and incapable, don't you think? I'm sure that beneath the determined facial expression she is really only a timid pansy.

              It is fascinating that, even in the most touching stories, relationship imbalances can mar what would at first glance appear to be a flawless connection. Arwen and Aragorn, quite possibly the most moving pair in the Lord of the Rings, are unevenly matched: Aragorn is, likely unwittingly, or maybe unwillingly, playing a part in her political and sexual subjugation. Spoiler alert: she becomes a queen at his side once he defeats the bad guys, so ideally she assists him in promoting cultural tolerance and gender equality in the future.