In her book Tolkien’s Theology of Beauty, Lisa Coutras takes a different view than most in analyzing Tolkien’s writings. She views it from the perspective of looking at the beauty of the writing and how that shows his distinct theology, unlike any other writer.
Coutras looks at six distinctive characteristics of Tolkien’s writings that show this theology of beauty: 1) Myth, 2) Creation, 3) Language, 4) Good and Evil, 5) Tragic Heroism, and 6) Women. In her section on myth, she looks at both beauty and truth in myths. In creation, she looks at several aspects of being- from light to incarnate beings to simply the wonder of being. When talking about language, she finds that Tolkien’s words were the most beautiful things in the words to him. From the law of the logos to the song of Lúthien, Tolkien has beauty in his words. In her chapter on good and evil, Coutras goes back to talking about being. She talks for a chapter about being and unbeing and then goes to the splendor of being. Section five on tragic heroism delves into the character Túrin—his heroism all the way up to his death. Section six on women talks about how Tolkien’s treatment of women. While some would criticize him for this, Coutras finds that they are wrong for doing so. The reason is that he portrayed his entire novel in an ideal society and the women were portrayed in that society.
This book was an interesting read. To find out more about where Tolkien’s theology stands, Catholic though it may be, was certainly enlightening. I give this book 4 stars out of 5.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THIS BOOK:
Coutras, Lisa. Tolkien's Theology of Beauty. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International, 2016.
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL: I received a complimentary copy of this book through the Springer book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
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