(A virtual chocolate fish to anyone who gets the reference.)
It was remarked on last week that Ungoliant was passive rather than active,
just going where Morgoth pointed and not appearing to have any ideas of her
own. She seemed more bestial then, too; she didn't even get any lines of
dialogue.
But now Morgoth has "put his power into her", and she's not so obliging. She
knows what she wants, and she's (for the moment, at least) more powerful than
Morgoth.
Ungoliant reads a little like Frankenstein's monster here. Did Morgoth not
think through how he'd control her? Did he put more of his power into her than
he meant to?
Oh dear. I'll confess that I'd never really seen the significance of
Ungoliant's gender before these discussions, but this image of the male putting
his power into the female, temporarily weakening himself and giving her power
over him is making me squirm. I think I'll leave that line of thought alone.
Getting G-rated again (I hope): I wonder if Ungoliant *could* speak before
Morgoth put some of his power into her. Did she return to the bestial when
(if?) that power
faded?
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Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
