CFP: Tolkien and Shakespeare: Influences, Echoes, Revisions (1/30/05; collection)
While J.R.R. Tolkien professed to dislike the works of William
Shakespeare, he was intimately familiar with many of the plays and was
arguably influenced in many ways by Shakespeare's writings. I am looking
for scholarly but accessible papers of 6,000 to 9,000 words on the topic
of Shakespeare's influence on Tolkien. This collection already includes
essays on themes from Macbeth in The Lord of the Rings, war and glory in
Henry V and The Lord of the Rings, the mythical function of forests and
trees, and catharsis in Tolkien and Shakespeare. Additional topics I
would like to include are the conception of elves for both authors,
Gollum and Caliban, the role of women, and women warriors. Other topics