The faces of the Goddess :: English Literature

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