The Women in ‘Year of Wonders’ Are More Resourceful and Resilient Than the Men. Do You Agree?

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The women in ‘Year of Wonders’ are more resourceful and resilient than the men. Do you agree? In Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks, the women in the novel, mainly being Anna and Elinor, take full advantage of their wellbeing at the time of the plague and become resourceful creatures that are willing to help out their town when in need. The women also remain flexible and cope with the plague while unfortunately the male gender fails in their lack-lustre attempt to help out the community. The women in Eyam experiencing the plague in 1666 use their abilities to benefit the health of the community, and understand to keep the townspeople “above the ground” they must take action, while the men take a back seat through the plague and hope for the best. Instances like these are demonstrated a number of times through the two central women in the novel, Elinor and Anna, such as when they use herbal medicine resources in attempt to fight the effects of the plague to help the townspeople. Although at first Anna only came to the Gowdies for herself, “I came here not seeking herbs to help others. Only myself”, her admiration for Elinor and her willingness to learn causes her to cascade into the depths of finding a way to help others. Both Elinor and Annas ingenuity of thinking about helping the whole community to become stronger only reassures the audience of their dependability and kindness in such times when others need help. “The key to defeating this Plague...must lie here, in the virtue of such plants”. This quote shows that Elinor truly understands the meaning of the plague, while others around her continue to think that it is caused by Gods sin or a religious meaning. While Anna and Elinor as women better the community by using the valuable herbs and resources to help others, the men in Year Of Wonders aren’t shown in the same positive light, an example of this

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