It's a full life, if a trifle banal

I see Dorothea at the opening as the type of nun who wants to share in Christ's agony. At least with Finduilas the cause she's sacrificing herself for (Gondor) is a real one, and one where she has the potential to make a real, if small, difference. I can see there being a role laid out historically for the First Lady of Gondor that goes beyond social events and into, say, charity work. Where it fails for Finduilas is where the cause looks to be as hopeless/pointless as Casaubon's search for the key to all mythology. Perhaps the Finduilas Happy Ending Story has Denethor expiring? (It might even be a Denethor HES as well, if he died fighting Sauron for his soul.) Though I'm not too cheery about the fate of Gondor in the hands of Boromir.