Living In Cinderella’s Shadow: The 5 Best Live-Action Princesses
3) Éowyn from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – If Giselle represents one extreme of the female spectrum, Éowyn represents the other. She is a skilled – if inexperienced – fighter who is just as capable a fighter as any of the men she yearns to fight alongside. Traditional as well as her social station denies her the combat she so desperately longs to join, however. She is not only a woman, after all, but a princess of Rohan.
But when push comes to shove, she disguises herself as a soldier and rushes into battle like a Captain America with long, flowing hair, seeming to argue that “there are men laying down their lives [and] I got no right to do any less than them.” And in her role she performs exemplary, slaying the Witch King of Angmar who prophecy dictates that no man can kill.
Although her part is relatively small within the context of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it is critically important. And, what’s even more, it’s organically so. It’s not some minor part inflated to herculean importance to try to appeal to the women in the audience or to make a point about female equality. Éowyn is important because she is a strong character of real depth who refuses to be relegated as a footnote in the story of her life and of her people.
