Faramir is a boyfriend for a grown woman. In our world - and let's take him out of his medieval context for a while - he'd be unlikely to be going out with a girl who wanted to spend all her time in nightclubs, but he's a kind man. If he did find himself clubbing, he'd make her evening enjoyable,get her home safely and ease her out of the relationship without too much pain.
But he accepts Eowyn for who and what she is. She has decided to retire from fighting and become a healer, but if she wanted to continue as a fighter he would support her, though he himself sees fighting as what he does only because it's necessary.
He strikes me as the kind of guy who would remember your birthday; as someone whose passion is historical research it is likely he'd be good with dates. I think he would take you somewhere pleasant to celebrate, perhaps a nice little Gondorian restaurant where the waiters knew him and the food was great, and give you all his attention.
At the same time, I can see him as someone a writer or scholar could go out with on an ordinary evening. Both of you could take your books and laptops and eat whatever was brought out while you write and he researches, never thinking you're being rude or being annoyed because he has his nose in a book.
There is his Dad, of course; I suspect Denethor would never have approved of Eowyn as a daughter-in-law and would be just as unlikely to be happy with a "bluestocking" in his son's life. Probably just as well he's out of the way by the end of the book.
I have read that Faramir was Tolkien's alter ego, but Tolkien was not really a very good husband. He used to leave his wife till two in the morning while he was out talking shop with his scholarly friends. Yet I think Faramir might have a word or two to say to his creator about how to treat your woman!
So, though there are some YA heroes I'd consider - Peeta, perhaps, Michael Pryor's Aubrey Fitzwilliam or his friend George (who can cook!) this is my first choice for a date.
5 comments:
This was sent to me by a well-known Aussie writer who preferred not to give her name, but was stymied by my disabling of anonymous comments. So I'll respect that. Here it is:
Just wanted to say: I agree with you about Faramir!
And I find it really interesting that you call him "a boyfriend for a grown woman." I was talking to my sister the other day about the Phantom of the Opera, and how as teenagers we loved the Phantom, because he was dangerous and exciting and irresistible, and thought Raoul was a bit of a girly loser.
Meanwhile, our mother thought Raoul was romantic and caring and brave. "A suitor for a grown woman."
Now that I'm in my 30s, I definitely see the attraction of Raoul, and my worship of the Phantom is coloured with such reservations as: he's a murderer! He's a manipulative psychopath!
So, while Aragorn or Legolas might be the obvious teenager's crush, both of them show a rather antisocial desire to be off by themselves in a forest, and I think you've nailed Faramir as the one truly attractive figure in LotR!
Well, I'd certainly rather go out with Faramir than Aragorn or Legolas, but I will say that at least Legolas is the only non-smoker of the Fellowship and thinks the others are idiots for doing it.;-) And at least Aragorn was faithful to one woman over the years while understanding and sympathising with Eowyn. But yes, they're crushes for teens. Even Eowyn finally realises Aragorn was a crush - and he knows WHY she had that crush!
The comment was by Thoraiya Dyer, who says she doesn't mind being quoted, just doesn't like having accounts.
Ofcourse being played by Diver Dan...err David Wenham helps :)
It certainly doesn't hurt!:-) However, I was talking about the book Faramir. The film one didn't get much chance to show what he was made of, as a boyfriend. Even the extra bit just showed him smiling at Eowyn, then the two of them discussing the weather before she lays her head on his shoulder. And that was all there was time for, and was fine, but not what I had in mind.
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