Virgil's Treatment Of Women In The Aeneid

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As the Roman Empire was founded around 27 BC, the wealthy women in its society started breaking the boundaries of domesticity. Kristina Milnor, in her book, Gender, Domesticity, and the Age of Augustus: Inventing Private Life, suggests that women even played an “indispensable symbolic role in the emergence into public discourse of an ‘imperial’ private life” in the environment. However, when women advanced in society, other Romans combatted this progress by reducing them to emotionally vulnerable beings who should therefore be submissive towards men. Furthermore, Virgil emphasizes the sexist ideas of Roman society through characters like Dido, Amata, Lavinia, and Anna in his poem, The Aeneid, which was published around 19 BC. Virgil’s works …show more content…

For example, Anna encourages Dido to marry Aeneas for reasons related to political gain and progeny: she says Dido can “know the joy of children” and gain military security by having “a Trojan army marching” alongside her men. Dido exemplifies the domesticity women were subjected to regardless of their own opinions. Furthermore, Lavinia also represents the way women were inferior to their suitors, and husbands. Throughout The Aeneid, Turnus has more input in marrying Lavinia than she had herself. He even says he cannot allow Aeneas gain power from Latium, as well as marry Lavinia, whose parents choose her suitor. Virgil shows that marriage served as a contract that even materialistically benefitted women: Dido could obtain military security through Aeneas. However, Virgil also shows this idea of marriage further pushed women into following gender roles. Dido is automatically expected to bear children if she marries Aeneas regardless of her opinions on progeny. Furthermore, Lavinia acts a prize to motivate Turnus and Aeneas because her hand in marriage is the key to gaining rulership of Latium. Therefore, through Lavinia, Virgil reminded society that Roman women were objects regarding marriage. They were seen as symbols or keys to power for men to obtain the way marrying Lavinia would mean ruling Latium. Moreover, though men were also married for materialistic gains, their security in society was not threatened because they were seen as the stronger sex. Virgil’s works continued this idea of marriage being a contract for obtaining benefits in a way that harmed women due their secondary treatment in

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