When we are first introduced to Iphigenie, she laments her life as a woman, and contrasts it with the life of a man. Goethe's Iphigenia in Tauris abounds with references to gender roles: behavioral norms considered appropriate for an individual based on their gender. However, while Iphigenie is portrayed as the epitome of a feminine being (compassionate, gentle, pure/devout, honest and effective at communicating1), her interactions with the male characters challenge the construct of traditional gender roles. Instead of being limited by her femininity, Iphigenie proves herself to embody characteristics that are considered quintessentially male traits (assertiveness, rationality, and resolve2) to a greater extent than the male characters in the play. Thus, Iphigenia in Tauris can be read as an argument against the idea of strict gender expectations.
Throughout the drama, there is a strong emphasis on gender. Characters often refer to their own genders, as well as the gender of others, using them as a way of explaining or predicting personality traits and actions. The audience is quickly introduced to the subject of gender roles in society during Iphigenie's opening soliloquy. The character sorrowfully expresses self-pity about her limitations as a woman:
I will not judge the counsel of the gods;
Yet, truly, woman's lot doth merit pity...
How circumscrib'd is woman's destiny!
Obedience to a harsh, imperious lord,
Her duty, and her comfort; sad her fate... (Act 1, Scene i)
With these words, Iphigenie is not only reflecting on the role society has placed upon her, but on how constricting this role can be.
Frequently, the male characters make claims about the traits of Iphigenie based on her womanhood. These claims are often manipu...
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... of the German Classic period, but a challenge to the idea of the limiting nature of femininity.
Works Cited
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Cancian, Francesca M. “The Feminization of Love.” Signs:Journal of Women in Culture and Society 11.4 (1986):692-709. Print.
De Vaus, David, and Ian McAllister. “Gender differences in Religion: A Test of the Structural Location Theory.”American Sociological Review 52.4 (1987):472-81. Print.
Lange, Sigrid. “The “Other Subject” of History: Women in Goethe's Drama.” Impure Reason: Dialectic of Enlightenment in Germany. Eds. W. Daniel Wilson and Robert C. Holub. Detroit: Wayne State University Press,1993.260-277. Print.
Prandi, Julie D. “Goethe's Iphigenie as Woman.” The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory 60.1 (1985):23-31. Print.
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Drawn from her surviving love letters and court records, The Burgermeister's Daughter is an engaging examination of the politics of sexuality, gender and family in the 16th century, and a supreme testament to the grit and perseverance of a woman who challenged the inequalities of this distant age. The story, in Steven Ozment's meticulous and experienced hands, goes well beyond the litigious Anna to encompass much else about the 16th century, including the nature of sexual morality, the social individuality of men and women, the jockeying for power between the upwardly striving bourgeoisie and the downward sliding nobility, and the aftereffect of the reformation on private life. Steven Ozment's understanding of the Medieval German society and its effects on its citizens is amazing. Steven Ozment brings a medieval drama to life in this extensively researched and absorbing account of the 30-year lawsuit between Anna Buschler and her family. Anna's father was the Burgermeister (mayor) of the German town of Schwabisch Hall. He banished his daughter from the family home in 1525 after he read letters that proved her sexual connection with two men. Anna responded by suing her father. Anna Buschler looked predestined to a comfortable and serene life, not one of constant personal and legal conflict. Born into an eminent and respectable family, self-confident and high-spirited in her youth, and a woman of acknowledged beauty, she had a standing as the beauty of her hometown, and as something of a free soul. In an era when women were presumed to be disciplined and loyal, Anna proved to be neither. Defying 16th-century social mores, she was the constant subject of defamation because of her indecent dress and flirtatious behavior. When her we...
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Elizabeth uses the stereotypes of her gender and knowledge of both literature and when to manipulate her gender to explain why she needs
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