Within the film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, we are introduced to Éowyn in The Two Towers as a noble woman from the house of Rohan, and a damsel in distress. Gríma, the advisor to the king of Rohan, has been manipulating King Théoden while he is under the spell of Saruman in exchange for Éowyn, whom he cares for only for her beauty. Once the spell was broken, and Gríma was chased off the land, Éowyn talks with the protagonists during their preparations for an upcoming battle, she speaks of how she has experience with a sword and calls herself a shield maiden.
In The Return of the King, she mentions fearing “A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them and all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire.” While her brother is the Chief Marshal, actively fighting to defend the people, Éowyn is left with the women and children away from the conflicts and prevented from having her chance of valor. This fear was also compounded by the treatment she would receive from Gríma as an unwilling recipient of his gaze, yet powerless to stop him due to his position and control over the king.
Even with Gríma gone, she was still subjected to being caged by the gendered norms of her society. Because she is a woman, she is looked down upon as a fighter, but as a noble, she has the added pressure of upholding her image and taking on a more reactionary position than one that takes any initiative. This fear can also be reflected in how she was treated when Gríma was influencing the king, and how she was treated as a reward to be earned through his loyalty to Saruman, an object much akin to a bargaining chip. Following this, she was then sent into the caves along with all of the women, children, and elderly, while all the men and boys capable of wielding a sword took up arms to defend the keep from the incoming siege.
Éowyn mentioned how the women of Rohan had learned how to wield a sword to better protect themselves, but for her, it was also a point of confidence as it represented her chance at valor and independence. Then, when she saw the same treatment that she was facing being done to him, she stood up for him by stating how it was the size of the heart that makes for a good soldier, something she saw within herself and in Merry.
When the knights of Rohan marched to defend Minas Tirith, the capital city of the kingdom of Gondor, Éowyn decides to join the army under disguise, along with the hobbit Merry, who was also meant to be left behind. Together they charged against the enemy while riding on horseback, and when they separated Éowyn fought against the witch-king of Angmar and kills his mount, she faced him off in a duel while defending the Théoden, but when she got knocked back Merry came in and provided an opening for Éowyn to deliver the killing blow. The witch-king can then be viewed as a representation of the gendered norms that have been holding Éowyn back, and through his defeat, she has broken free from the norms and can now move forward toward a more progressive future.
