David Eddings' major female characters

[YuYus dumber Brother]

Of course i would paraise Mirtai as well. Just now she decides she doesn't like me.....
The woman come accross as being a level above the men. Always winning the barganing and chirping, never makes the am e kind of mistakes as the men. Before "Polgara the Sorceress" where she tells her story and sorrow i really detested her attitide. Now i love the woman to bits and see her in a different light in the other books as well.

[devilsgrin]

i totally agree. Though i always liked polgara, and she was always my favourite female character, it was Polgara the Sorceress that made me love her. She is a true Goddess! I would happily worship at the altar of Polgara if i were able to.

Mirtai really is an awesome character from all sides. Beautiful. Deadly. Intelligent. Caring. Protective. She's the ultimate sister. or if your kring, the ultimate wife.

[Faceless Woman]

Mirtai is excellent, though the woman who took her role in the elder gods - I forget her name - was a bit over-bearing.
I have heard the Eddings portrayal of women as 'a certain kind of strength' and I agree. Their strength comes from their ability to manipulate maen, which is never shown more clearly than the bit in Polgara with the... I forget... N-something... were the women are slaves, but can do pretty much whatever they want.
Personally, though, I'd rather have my pride than that kind of strength. I'm a person, who happens to be female.

[devilsgrin]

whilst Polgara was posing as a Nadrak to spy on Yarblek and Drosta... Very True. As poledra says to polgara, though nadrak women wear a collar, they are the most free of all women (besides wolves of course). The women ARE not slaves. Technically property, but NOT slaves. Did you read those passages correctly? Polgara quickly realised that she was more free in Gar og Nadrak than anywhere in the west.

[Faceless Woman]

That's what I was saying, that they were technically slaves, but still free in a certain way. And they only had that freedom if they obeyed the rules of the game. If one was squeemish at the sight of blood for example, what do you think would happen to her? Badness, with no-one to stop it. And no-one would stop it.

[Micolus]

Originally Posted by Princess Flounce

One of the things my family has noted is that David Eddings' major female characters are not especially likeable. They're usually spoiled, demanding, manipulative, and play a constant game of one-upmanship with the male characters.

I've seen it described as a "strong female character" elsewhere, but I don't really see it as strong ... it certainly isn't behaviour I would either look to as an example, or want to emulate.

My family concluded David Eddings probably doesn't like women much.

I confess I've only read the Belgariad, Mallorean, Prequels, Tamuli and Elenium and the "talking cat crap" (thanks Lacedaemonian). Has anyone else found a likeable Eddings female yet? (Let's restrict this to major characters, as I accept Queens Porenn and Layla were likeable but they were only in minor roles.)

Mirtai
Polgara
Sephrenia
Aphrael
Zandrama
that valesian wife of emperor sarabian
Ehlana
poledra
All the goddamn dryads
Betuana


all of htem nice women....allthough i have to agree that the female parts are less important and more few.

[devilsgrin]

Aphrael!!!! Dears gods i hate her! One of THE most annoying characters in any Eddings book... in fact she is one of the main reasons i mostly detest the Tamuli (there are some good bits).
Zandramas certainly is not a nice woman! She's a cold-blooded killer, who never once does anything either remotely redeemable, nor anything particularly momentous... ooh she can turn into a dragon - cheesy!

[Rosemary]

Now I thought most of the female characters were well portrayed. In many cases they needed to show a nice manipulative streak, as some of the male characters seemed to need a bit of pushing to get them going, as between Polgara and Belgarath. Belgarath being blissfully ensconced in The Vale with his books, forgetting about the world outside and it’s troubles. I certainly didn’t think Polgara though that she was better than the men though.
Mirtai and Xanetia were both very intelligent and with strong characters.

Velvet/Liselle – I thought both her characters were strong, although one came across as being a very gentle and needing the support of her man. That I suppose was manipulative but considering the character of her ‘love’ what else was she supposed to be?
Queen Ehlana was much the same, she had a strong character when required.

I wonder if it was because some of the male characters were not very strong in their commitments, dragging their feet so to speak, that the females had to be manipulative. Often letting the men take the credit for the ideas that really came from Edding’s women!

[Curugon]

It's nice to see such strong female characters in a novel, even though someone recently pointed out that the Sci/Fi Fantasy genre sees more "kickass" heroines than any other genre. Polgara is one of my favorite female characters in literature - someone I simply will never get tired of. She is a nice blend of femininity and strength that never simply relies on her being a woman.

Other Eddings character annoy me to no end, such as Ce'Nedra. I hate how he writes her squabbles with Garion, like such arguments (which mostly center around belittlement and superiority) in marriage are completely normal. Perhaps it is reflective of his own experience? Poor man.

[ALDUR]

you guys forget about alot of them.
polgara
ce'nedra
cyradis
margravine lisselle
zandramas
porenn
and all of the other queens
oh yes i just about forgot about taiba and vella

[sayn]

Originally Posted by Princess Flounce

One of the things my family has noted is that David Eddings' major female characters are not especially likeable. They're usually spoiled, demanding, manipulative, and play a constant game of one-upmanship with the male characters.

I've seen it described as a "strong female character" elsewhere, but I don't really see it as strong ... it certainly isn't behaviour I would either look to as an example, or want to emulate.

My family concluded David Eddings probably doesn't like women much.

I confess I've only read the Belgariad, Mallorean, Prequels, Tamuli and Elenium and the "talking cat crap" (thanks Lacedaemonian). Has anyone else found a likeable Eddings female yet? (Let's restrict this to major characters, as I accept Queens Porenn and Layla were likeable but they were only in minor roles.)

How can you conclude that he doesn't like women just because you don't like the way his characters are? The thing is, not every character is going to be perfect. Those flaws are what defines a good writer. A good writer gives his characters flaws and uses them to mesh with all his characters, major and minor. An example is Ce'Nedra's bossy and manipulative temperament. At first it combats with Garion and everyone else but eventually she is reigned in by other characters in the story. The leader of the Dryads the leader of the Ulgos, and eventually Polgara. Also her interaction with everyone in the group calms her attitude from what it used to be.

[Zombie]

Writing good characters is not about writing flaws. A character should develop naturally, if they have flaws then they should come to light as those flaws conflict with other characters and with the plot. Flaws in a character shouldn't be added simply to 'define' a persons ability to write, nor should they be given to a character - in fact a characters flaws should have a valid reason for being.

Flaws don't balance out our, or a characters personality. Real life simply isn't like that. We don't all have a great skill that is offset by some flaw. Some people have lots of flaws, some have almost none (aren't they really annoying?) and some are nothing but flawed.

However I wouldn't think that David Eddings hates women by the way he writes them. My opinion leans more towards the, he just doesn't get us camp. I think he had a female figure (mother, grandmother, wife) who loomed large in his memories that he found important and very dear to him who fit this personality type, to some degree. As such he assigned to his female characters traits of that woman.

[sayn]

I didn't mean that a writer should add flaws to seem like a good writer. I should've said that a good writer knows when to add flaws to use them to interact with the other characters. Also, I didn't mean to imply that a character's flaws balance out their personality.

[ghost8772]

my feeling has been that David Eddings wrote the male characters, and Leigh wrote the female characters. their interaction as husband and wife was there to form the interaction between characters. Polgara, childless mother figure, always as an aunt. She is constantly herding her young relative in the direction she wants him to go, add in her relationship to Belgarath the old man to refuses to go in the direction she feels he needs to go so she could be proud of him. Ce'Nedra - princess to her teeth - as an initial presentation she is shown for what she IS, an immature spoiled brat who is actively working to ensure she STAYS spoiled. then when things get turned on her she is still working to have the universe revolve around her. takes a long time several inched of ground teeth, but persistent work by all to finally get her to at least stop looking to how consistently the universe revolves around her.

Sephrenia and was in a situation where she was limited by being a styric. its even described. their gods make their decisions for them, as well as do a lot of the deep thinking, but when confronted by Elenes, they are both more knowledgeable, and less complex at the same time.

Ehlana was assertive, learned the arts of persuasion and argument, as well as being a stunningly beautiful woman, as was said, there are times when she acts beyond her years, as a powerful mature monrchs in full command of herself, then other times when she is a teenage girl etc...

yes the male characters are easier to relate to, they are a lot more easygoing and really only rouse themselves to action when its a matter of life and death of someone else. yes the women are bossy, pushy, clingy, and otherwise, but at least they're fairly real, consistent, and operate within the limits set on them.

[white_wanderer]

It appears that Eddings has "balanced" his characters. None of his main female characters are "plain" or heaven forbid, ugly. In fact they are quite the reverse. So that the men don't get distracted by obvious eye candy, he has given them a "look but don't touch" attitude and made them strong and intelligent - moreso than the male characters would ever have.