The faces of the Goddess.

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Maggie Walker

Mr. McConnell

ENG 4A1

December 21, 2001

The faces of the Goddess

Throughout history women have empowered themselves by taking on many different titles and roles. This can be seen in the two allegorical fantasy novels The Mists of Avalon and Forest house, both written by Marion Zimmer Bradley. In both novels we see the female protagonists take on many different roles as they move throughout the different stages of their lives. In the novels it is believed that the Goddess shows herself in every woman. The stages and roles held by the two priestesses, Morgaine and Eilan, represent the different forms the Goddess takes. Morgaine shows the Goddess within her when she acts as the Maiden or Virgin huntress, the Mother of all men and as the Old Death-crone. These forms of the Goddess show themselves in Eilan as the Maiden, the loving Mother and the Lady of Ravens or Death-crone. Both Morgaine’s and Eilan’s actions throughout the novels show that they represent the three faces of the Goddess: the Virgin Maiden, the lover of men and gods; the Mother, life-giver and caretaker of men; and the Old Death-crone, killer of men.

To begin, Morgaine represents the Virgin Maiden, the lover of the God and Summer-king. This is shown when Morgaine is thinking to herself about her past while weaving a spell to kill Avalloch. She is planning to set her lover Accolon on the throne in the place of Avalloch after the king Uriens dies. Morgaine speaks in her mind:

Years ago she had been the Virgin Huntress, blessing the Horned One

and sending him forth to run with the deer and to conquer or die as the

Goddess might decree. He had come back to her... now she was no longer

that Virgin, holding all the power of the Huntress. (The Mists of Avalon 671)

These lines show that Morgaine had once taken the form of the Virgin Goddess who gives herself to the King Stag. She did the duty of the Maiden Goddess while she was young and a physical maiden by setting Arthur the Stag-God on his throne. This is important because she feels now that she must set the God on his throne again but this time in the form of Accolon. Morgaine worries though because she feels she no longer has the power of the Maiden Huntress to do so. This shows that Morgaine doubts that the Goddess and all her selves are within her. This occurs despite the fact that she had assumed the position of Maiden before. Morgaine is still unlearned in the ways of the Goddess and like the Maiden, she must set out on a spiritual journey toward enlightenment. It is not until Morgaine is on her deathbed that she realises that the Maiden is always a part of her. This is revealed when the God comes to Morgaine and tells her that she must continue to live. God says "’…she will be old and young as it shall please her...’ and before my eyes my own mirrored face was again young and fair as the maiden who had sent forth the young stag to challenge the running deer... " (Page 756). These lines show that in the past Morgaine had played the Maiden by initiating Arthur. She sees herself again as the physical maiden she once was. This causes Morgaine to realise that the Maiden is still a part of her in spirit although Morgaine no longer takes the physical form of the Maiden anymore. This realisation is important because it shows that the essence of the Maiden Goddess is always a part of Morgaine and can be conjured up by the will to be the Maiden again. Overall, Morgaine shows the Maiden Goddess inside her through her actions, doubts and discoveries.

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To continue, Eilan displays through her values and actions that she represents the Maiden. This is revealed near the end of the novel, just after Eilan sacrifices her honour and life to save her fosterling Senara from the tribes. Gaius, realising his love for Eilan, thinks to himself:

In that moment she had unearthly beauty...

Gaius saw his own heart with a terrible clarity. He

cared about Senara, but his desire for her had not been love. In the

younger woman he had only been trying to recover Eilan as she had

been when ...

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