Joseph Swetnam and Rachel Speght were both writers who had a thing in common: they both wrote about women. Swetnam wrote “The Arraignment of Lewd, idle frorward, and unconstant women or the vanity of them, choose you whether, With a Commendation of wise, virtuous, and honest Women, Pleasant for married Men, profitable for young Men, and hurtful to none.” In which he bashed women for being evil and just not of good nature. Speght wrote, “A Muzzle for Melastomus” in which she argues against the claims Swetnam makes in his commentary. For both, the writers make different point about women being either evil, or good.
In Swetnam’s commentary against women he makes the primary claim that all women are bad. Throughout his writing he makes certain
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Speght gives the reader different arguments against the commentary of Swetnam. Her first point is that women are good because God created her, and all of God’s creations are good, making women good. She uses the bible to support her claim. On page 114 she starts by saying, “the work of creation being finished, this approbation thereof was given by God himself , that All was very good [(Gen. 1.31)]; if all, then Woman, who excepting man, is the most excellent creature under the canopy of heaven.” Also she says that the work of God is good because “for he being a glorious Creator, [he] must need [to make] a worthy creature” …show more content…
She states that ”woman was made of a part of man…she [was]not produced from Adam’s foot, to be his too low inferior; nor from his head o be his superior, but from his side, near his heart, to be his equal” (117). Also she states that “woman was made…to glorify God, and to be a collateral companion for man to glorify God” (117). She is essentially saying that women were created to be the same as men.
The third point is that women were created to counsel and advice men. Speght asserts that women’s “tongue [was not created] to utter words of strife, but to give good counsel unto her husband, the which he must not despise” (117). Then Speght gives us example of a few women who counseled their husband in certain occasions, like Pilate whose wife advised him to not “have any hand in the condemning of CHRIST,” (117) Abrahams wife Sarah, and Leah and Rachel who counseled Jacob to listened to the words of the
I believe that the Church’s message of the birth of man and woman has been viewed to put men in a position of authority over the woman than to explain the true partnership that God was trying to bring forth even in differences of roles. We have often used this passage as a divide of and it’s rarely used as addition to the kingdom. God Created the World Good In Terence's article he explains that the world that God has created was good and not perfect.
Women have faced oppression in the literary community throughout history. Whether they are seen as hysterical or unreliable, women writers seem to be faulted no matter the topics of their literature. However, Anne Bradstreet and Margaret Fuller faced their critics head-on. Whether it was Bradstreet questioning her religion or Fuller discussing gender fluidity, these two women did not water down their opinions to please others. Through their writings, Bradstreet and Fuller made great strides for not just women writers, but all women.
Looking back through many historical time periods, people are able to observe the fact that women were generally discriminated against and oppressed in almost any society. However, these periods also came with women that defied the stereotype of their sex. They spoke out against this discrimination with a great amount of intelligence and strength with almost no fear of the harsh consequences that could be laid out by the men of their time. During the Medieval era, religion played a major role in the shaping of this pessimistic viewpoint about women. The common belief of the patriarchal-based society was that women were direct descendants of Eve from The Bible; therefore, they were responsible for the fall of mankind. All of Eve’s characteristics from the biblical story were believed to be the same traits of medieval women. Of course, this did not come without argument. Two medieval women worked to defy the female stereotype, the first being the fictional character called The Wife of Bath from Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. The second woman, named Margery Kempe, was a real human being with the first English autobiography written about her called The Book of Margery Kempe. In these two texts, The Wife of Bath and Margery Kempe choose to act uniquely compared to other Christians in the medieval time period because of the way religion is interpreted by them. As a result, the women view themselves as having power and qualities that normal women of their society did not.
Throughout history, women have struggled with, and fought against, oppression. They have been held back and weighed down by the sexist ideas of a male dominated society which has controlled cultural, economic and political ideas and structures. During the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s women became more vocal and rebuked sexism and the role that had been defined for them. Fighting with the powerful written word, women sought a voice, equality amongst men and an identity outside of their family. In many literary writings, especially by women, during the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s, we see symbols of oppression and the search for gender equality in society.
Trible has three main focuses in her article that include, “the inferiority, subordination and abuse of women in ancient Israel”, “the counter literature that is itself a critique of patriarchy”, and “the stories of terror about woman” (Trible). Each one sums a different oppression that women in the Bible faced. These ideas suggest that the overall purpose of her article is to identify that while women were viewed as a “helper” to men, God viewed them as much more (Trible).
Murray writes that the ‘God of the old religion becomes the Devil of the new.’ This religion concerned women in that it was being suppressed by the Christian Church which was a male dominated organisation with an exclusively male hierarchy. In effect, the whole Witch-hunt affair was a persecution of women by men, both being polar opposites even in religion. Murray’s thesis proved very popular with radical feminists from the 1960s onwards, providing the feminist movement with a sort of rallying point, further exaggerating the sex specific elements in the Murray model. Murray’s thesis however, was attacked from day one and continues to be discredited to this day due to the lack of evidence in support of it and the overwhelming evidence against it, some of which will be discussed further on.... ...
...emselves, they would not have to have orders given to him and be expected to follow them. Both quotes clarify that women succumb into what they are expected to be and thus not achieve what they could have.
To further explain, Cecil L. Franklin states that throughout the history of the Christian religion, Scripture has used and promoted by many individuals. Unfortunately, a handful of people have been misinterpreting Scripture and have been manipulating what the Bible truly states. In causation, women have been portrayed on both positive and negative roles. The problem arises when those who are interpreting and teaching Scripture, educate solely on the negative
Margaret Atwood’s speech ‘Spotty-Handed Villainesses’ is an epideictic text, which explores the significance of having a multi-faceted depiction of female characters within literature as a means of achieving gender equity, centring on the fictional presentation of women as either virtuous or villainess. The title of the speech
Throughout most of literature and history, the notion of ‘the woman’ has been little more than a caricature of the actual female identity. Most works of literature rely on only a handful of tropes for their female characters and often use women to prop up the male characters: female characters are sacrificed for plot development. It may be that the author actually sacrifices a female character by killing her off, like Mary Shelly did in Frankenstein in order to get Victor Frankenstein to confront the monster he had created, or by reducing a character to just a childish girl who only fulfills a trope, as Oscar Wilde did with Cecily and Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest. Using female characters in order to further the male characters’
Although this verse attempts to show the equality of women on the spiratual path, there
A Feminist Perspective of The Lady of Shalott In an essay on feminist criticism, Linda Peterson of Yale University explains how literature can "reflect and shape the attitudes that have held women back" (330). From the viewpoint of a feminist critic, "The Lady of Shalott" provides its reader with an analysis of the Victorian woman's conflict between her place in the interior, domestic role of society and her desire to break into the exterior, public sphere which generally had been the domain of men. Read as a commentary on women's roles in Victorian society, "The Lady of Shalott" may be interpreted in different ways. Thus, the speaker's commentary is ambiguous: Does he seek to reinforce the institution of patriarchal society as he "punishes" the Lady with her death for her venture into the public world of men, or does he sympathize with her yearnings for a more colorful, active life?
... a merely a reflection of Hebrew society of the time (Stanton). Jesus Christ, being a reformer, should have improved the status of women with his message of love and acceptance. However, there is no denying that the stigma is carried with women into the present day. Women’s position in society can be greatly attributed to their depiction in religious text. Holy word is still a factor in making women more susceptible, more culpable, and more sinful an impure than men. Even as women move up in the social order, religion is timeless and ever bearing on the struggle women fight for sexual equality.
In the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries, the idea of patriarchy ruled the many societies all over the world. Particularly in Britain, its “overarching patriarchal model” (Marsh) had “reserved power and privilege for men” (Marsh). Also during this time period feminist literature began to arise and was invaded by, “the complex social, ethical, and economic roots of sexual politics… as testimony to gender bias and the double standard” (“Sexual Politics and Feminist Literature”). In Jane Austen’s writing, readers have been aware of her constant themes of female independence and gender equality. However, many have criticized the author for the fact that many of her “individualistic” female characters have ended up
Throughout literature’s history, female authors have been hardly recognized for their groundbreaking and eye-opening accounts of what it means to be a woman of society. In most cases of early literature, women are portrayed as weak and unintelligent characters who rely solely on their male counterparts. Also during this time period, it would be shocking to have women character in some stories, especially since their purpose is only secondary to that of the male protagonist. But, in the late 17th to early 18th century, a crop of courageous women began publishing their works, beginning the literary feminist movement. Together, Aphra Behn, Charlotte Smith, Fanny Burney, and Mary Wollstonecraft challenge the status quo of what it means to be a