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Gender in 20th century English literature
Representation of women in literature
Gender in literature
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Throughout the “Oresteia”, Aeschylus depicts gender as a social issue that causes harmful effects within the House of Atreus. Aeschylus draws the cultural significance behind these plays by showing gender-based competition among people who feel intimidated when others do not act within their expected gender identities. Also, in the book Aeschylus indicates that even though women do act appropriately, they are still scorned by men and other women. Through Aeschylus’ depiction of sexist double standards and society’s bias on diverse gender expression, Aeschylus reveals the unjust belittlement towards women, who in the ned, ironically possess authority.
In the book, for most of the Athenian citizens, strength and power are the
In this essay I will examine the war-of the-sexes taking place in The Eumenides, the final play of The Oresteia. The plot of The Eumenides pits Orestes and Apollo (representing the male gods and, to a certain extent, male values in general) against the ghost of Clytemnestra and the Furies (equally representative of female values.) Of more vital importance, however, is whether Athene sides with the males or females throughout the play.
How much control do women have over their emotions in the Aeneid? In his poem, Virgil frequently shows women in situations where irrational thoughts lead to harmful choices. Specifically, Virgil presents women as being easily influenced by their emotions. Consequently, these characters make decisions that harm both themselves and those around them. Throughout Aeneas’s journey, divinities such as Juno and Venus are seen taking advantage of the emotions of different women, influencing these characters to act in ways that ignore important priorities. Not only does Virgil present women as completely vulnerable to their emotions, but he also shows the problems that arise when these women engage in decisions where they put their own feelings ahead of their people. Virgil explicitly shows women neglecting important responsibilities when he describes passages concerned with Dido’s affair and her death, the Trojan women burning their own ships, Queen Amata’s opposition to Latinus’s proposal and her tragic death.
When a person is accused of a crime they are either found innocent or guilty. This is the basic idea of justice and it is what many feel needs to happen if someone has done something controversial. In the play The Oresteia by Aeschylus, the story of Clytemnestra guilt or innocents is questioned. She does many things that people are not too happy with and those controversial actions throughout the story, mainly in the first part Agamemnon get her into the trouble. As we explore the case that builds against her innocents by exploring the killings of Agamemnon and Cassandra and the boastful expression about the killings.
There is a distinction between men and women within the Oresteia that presents a detachment within the house of Atreus and in turn Athens. However, the three plays of the Oresteia provide a conclusion to the battle of the sexes. Characters within the play show their side of misogyny or misandry. It is quite obvious that the women are misanadvertising, while the men are misogynists. This division between men and women within the Oresteia reflects the division within the household, but is overcome through women rather than men.
Death is the end to the natural cycle of life and is represented as dark, melancholic and even menacing. The underworld is depicted as a murky and sinister realm where the dead are trapped in a world of eternal darkness. Ancient drama, however, defies the conventional perceptions and representations of death. Despite the foreboding associated with it, characters in ancient drama embrace death in its frightening glory, rather than face the repercussions of their actions, especially when their honor and pride are at stake. Deceit is also an integral part of ancient drama and characters, particularly women, fall prey to it and unwittingly unleash chaos that more often that, negatively impacts the lives of the characters. This paper demonstrates how gender biases can be interpreted from the depiction of death and the characters’ justifications of it in two of Sophocles’ plays – Ajax and Women of Trachis and also demonstrates how female deception leads to the death of the principal character(s).
In The Oresteia, Aeschylus encourages the importance of the male role in society over that of the female. The entire trilogy can be seen as a subtle assertion of the superiority of men over women. Yet, the women create the real interest in the plays. Their characters are the incentive that makes everything occur. The characters of Clytaemnestra, Cassandra, and the goddess Athena can demonstrate this.
Shakespearean texts often examine attitudes and beliefs towards gender and contrast the gender roles to negotiate issues of gender in Elizabethan society. ‘Titus Andronicus’ by William Shakespeare explores several ideas of gender. The play is set in the later days of the Roman Empire, it tells the story of Titus Andronicus, a general in the Roman Army and his cycle of revenge with Tamora, the queen of Goths, Titus’ war prisoner and the new Empress of Rome. These ideas are through the characterization of Tamora and Lavinia, Titus’ daughter. Being some of the only women in the text both Tamora and Lavinia portray different types of femininity. Lavinia conveys a more natural, graceful side of femininity while Tamora’s femininity is altered to fit into the male-dominated world of politics in both Ancient Rome and Elizabethan society. Shakespeare looks not only at female gender roles but also male gender roles. He examines the stoicism, masculinity, the requirement of honour, and gender-orientated expectations of men in Elizabethan society. These attitudes towards gender are also evident within relationships between characters. The attitudes and values towards gender are also contrasted in the relationships between men and women. This is specifically shown through the mother-son relationship of Tamora and her two sons, Chiron and Demetrius and through the father-daughter relationship of Titus and Lavinia. The text also compares the genders in relation to sexuality and power and the expectations of these ideas in both genders. Titus Andronicus compares and contrasts both of the gender roles in the context of Elizabethan society in relation to political, social, sexual, and gender-orientated power.
During the Elizabethan era women had a status of subordination towards men. They had a role to marry and oblige to their husband’s wishes. Shakespearean literature, especially illustrates how a woman is psychologically and physically lesser to their male counterpart. The play, Othello, uses that aspect in many different ways. From a Feminist lens others are able to vividly examine how women were subjected to blatant inferiority. Being displayed as tools for men to abuse, women were characterized as possessions and submissive; only during the last portion of the play did the power of women take heed.
Women’s lives are represented by the roles they either choose or have imposed on them. This is evident in the play Medea by Euripides through the characters of Medea and the nurse. During the time period which Medea is set women have very limited social power and no political power at all, although a women’s maternal and domestic power was respected in the privacy of the home, “Our lives depend on how his lordship feels”. The limited power these women were given is different to modern society yet roles are still imposed on women to conform and be a dutiful wife.
Throughout history the way women’s roles are viewed have on growingly changed. There are many types of women that exist within this world and beyond that, literature. Often women were expected to be chaste, passive, supportive, confined but never dominant. Many think that it is a women’s natural habitat to be less of value to men due to the fact that they don’t exhibit domination physically neither mentally. Back in the early ages when social class was strongly enforced women were submissive and treated as possession. Marriage is thought to be act of love, to be with someone until death does them apart simply because they believed in pure love but back then marriage was an exhibition of a purchase. Women married men because they loved them but men did not. Their intention was to also marry a woman as a favor to them, to obey men as they pleased in return a thought of privilege. In the play Othello, Shakespeare portrays women as inferior to all men.
In Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night’s Dream there are many instances of Traditional gender roles. The traditional gender role are how men or women are suppose to act or how people think they should act. And still some people think that men are suppose to have control over women.
Centuries of traditions has enabled men and women to define gender roles in society. Although some critics declare gender roles do not exist today, others believe they do. In society, men and women are defined by gender roles throughout their activities and emotions. A doctor is typically portrayed by a male while women rear the children and cook for the men. However, although still in existence, today these roles are less obvious but tend to have similar meaning when compared to the past. In ancient Greece, women suffered great hardships. Currently, females work, vote, and run for office. In comparison to ancient Greece, these activities are a phenomenal leap from being under the direct supervision of a male husband.
Through most of our readings in Ancient Greece, men have held center stage. Men have been the primary actors, heroes, and prominent figures. Men have been telling stories of other men, speaking myth of another’s strength or intelligence. The fifth century however, through tragedy, is when women truly get in on the action. There have been prominent women scattered in our previous readings, yes, but now it is time for women to stand out. In Aeschylus’s Oresteia trilogy, one woman, Clytemnestra, stands apart in her pursuit of justice(dikē). Clytemnestra gives status to women by seeking dikē and killing her husband in pursuit of retribution. This same dikē unfortunately leads to the fall of Clytemnestra as well as Electra pursues the same.
Women are portrayed throughout history as subordinate to the males. Virgil proposes that the root of Aeneas’ troubles result from petty conflict between the goddesses. He also utilizes the character Dido to encompass the idea that women are strongly swayed by emotion. In The Aeneid, Virgil proposes that women serve as a weaker counterpart to Aeneas as they are irrational and easily overcome by emotion, which allows Aeneas to be perceived as more powerful.
In the play Agamemnon, Aeschylus depiction of gender roles are both typical and atypical of a standard male or female behavior in the culture and era because male characters in ancient Greece resemble the powerful nature of a warrior. They are seen as the head of the household where the male role is to go out and do hard labour to provide for the family and bring honor to the country, while females are to stay home to tend the kids and do house chores. This is most typical when looking at the gender role in Ancient Greece. Female characters are dependent to the status of the male characters. In the play, Clytemnestra hold great power because of her title as the queen of Greece and wife of Agamemnon. Although male characters are significant in the play, female characters such as Clytemnestra and Cassandra depicted by Aeschylus are complex for numerous reasons. First, Cassandra is a very different character, since she was given the ability to tell and predict the future. Her role in the play is symbolic because of her given ability and her constant struggle in the Trojan War. Cassandra went through rape, war, losing her family and abducted to a kingdom cursed by the Greek gods. Her persistent characteristic make her a powerful female character as equal and symbolic as other male characters in the play. However, the reader must understand that in ancient Greece, the cultural mythology of Greek gods and goddesses is primary to understanding the text. The gods hold the greatest power of all. Apollo is a popular god in Greek for his passion to give unnatural power to humanity. Cassandra was chosen by Apollo to inherit the ability of comprehending prophecies. When Apollo has fallen in love with Cassandra, but she refuses, he cursed her ...