Bradstreet also shows her insecurity when she says, “Nor can I, like that fluent sweet tongued Greek” (129). Lee Oser believes that she lingered over the Greek’s traditions on natural beauty (194). Although Bradstreet has great dreams, she knows her limits as a woman and is left only to dream. Bradstreet soon becomes depressed and grows angry at her state in society, because of envy and her continuous dreaming. John Winthrop says, “God Almighty hath so disposed of the condition of mankind” (107).
And if a woman succumbs to acts adultery, this is seen as a great threat for the Oikos as the women can no longer be seen as honourable or chase, casting doubt on children’s legitimacy. It suggests that women tend to be seen as weaker and therefore potentially victims in need of protection through the law. Athenian men such as Ischomachus thought women were physically weak to an extent, believing ‘work.. indoors are women’s tasks’ and the ‘outdoors are the mans’. However, he justifies this indoor role he has given to his wife by different characteristics the gods have given to the sexes including women’s physical weakness however through the bee analogy he stresses the requirement for women to be assertive and strong in management in the internal roles of the oikos which makes her distinct from other women through her superior expertise she gains from managing the oikos. This suggests that Athenian men thought women were weak because of what they believe or what they’ve been taught to believe rather than see what women might be able to do.
In Homer’s the Iliad, characters in high esteem portray personality traits and values that can be respected as well as, condemned. In such a fragile society, such characters may make selfish decisions causing devastating and lasting effects on their whole society. These scenarios are played out when Helen of Troy is abducted by Paris and taken away on ships of the Greek. In her being abducted, she has been called by skeptics, “the face that launched a thousand ships”, meaning that her beauty and Paris’ desire for her beauty caused the disastrous war between Troy and Greece. Helen being the daughter of the gods Zeus and Leda, and wife of Menelaus, the King of Troy, has been critically depicted and examined for years by critics questioning Helen’s true character.
However when passion gets in-between justice to voice of reason is muted. To begin, sympathy is given to Medea when first introduced that her husband, who she has sacrificed literally everything for, has left her for another woman. Medea changed herself to fit the standards for a Greek wife that society had molded, but had no success. She could not understand why he would do this adulterous crime that breaks the logical code of general conduct in ancient Greece. This conflict raises the value of passion over justice because Medea takes whatever steps necessary to achieve what she believes is equal
Both women are contrasting representations of Hedda. From the opening of the play her [Hedda’s] relationship with Aunt Julie is a strained one. Hedda views Aunt Julie as a symbol of what she herself loathes and could at the same time could quite easily become. Aunt Julie epitomises the idea of the domestic, dutiful woman with no true purpose of her own. She instead finds her purpose through the lives of the male characters and the arguably mediocre success that Tessman has had.
He discusses how the self-control and autonomous are related to resistance or control of others language, and he links these ideas with Athenian women who did not have the power to make decisions that time because of the lack of mental strength. Levett discusses how women were allowed to express their feelings by showing tears in Greek society. He states that persuasion depends on the act and who is persuading, so the manner of resisting or persuading is connecting to taking the advantage of the lack of knowledge. While Medea reveals herself as a resistant to the persuasive language throughout the play, Levett argues that she illustrates the female's lack of self-control. After that, Levett notes that Medea takes advantage of being a female and uses that advantage to complete her plan to revenge.
How typical are Periplectomenus’ comments on women on pg 179? Plautine comedy, thought to be performed around the late 3rd early 2nd century BC in Rome, is heavily influenced by Greek New Comedy, as introduced by Menander in the 4th century BC, and therefore draws upon a variety of comical Greek female stereotypes, which arguably also inherit a misogynistic bias against women. Plautus’ ‘Swaggering solider’ can be seen to convey this bias, most explicitly demonstrated through Periplectomenus’ scathing diatribe against women on pg 179, through listing examples of a “bad” wife’s behaviour by drawing on various negative stereotypes of women. Notably, this comedy of manners would be seen as especially comic to a contemporary, predominantly male Roman audience, who would relate to this negative presentation of a wife, and would agree, to some extent at least. Periplectomenus’ depiction of women as being ultimately manipulative and deceitful and can be seen in many ways to be a very typical characterisation in the play as a whole, most explicitly shown in practice with the female characters themselves, but also in the male characters comments on them.
Helene Cioux: The Laugh of the Medusa The Laugh of the Medusa is about how women shouldn’t be afraid to express themselves through literature. The article is written from a feminist’s point of view. According to the article, women are afraid to write in a world that is controlled by men. I chose a paragraph from the article to summarize: “Men have committed the greatest crime against women. Insidiously, violently, they have led them to hate women, to be their own enemies, to mobilize their immense strength against themselves, to be the executants of their virile needs.
. At the start of the play, Medea’s nurse has briefly introduced the plot, telling how Medea gave up everything for Jason and helped him achieve what he wanted, only for him to then go and leave her to marry a princess. She talks about how badly Medea has reacted to what he has done, and the bad state she is in. The tutor then enters with Medea and Jason’s two sons. The nurse informs him how distraught Medea is and warns the tutor to keep the boys away from her, as Medea seems to hate them and the nurse isn’t sure what Medea will do to them when she is in this state.
Amal Kassir in 'This is For the Ladies' speaks about the perceived concept of feminism that is prevalent in the 21st century and expresses her disapproval of it. Feminism basically advocates equality of men and women.However,today the notion of feminism is perceived different.To be a feminist/empowered woman is to bare your skin,dress well,talk well,and most importantly,be flirty,according to Amal Kassir. Amal Kassir through her poem expresses her abject disapproval over how the idea of feminism is painted which according to her is only degrading the females. She further questions the patriarchal society that under the guise of supporting women empowerment is suppressing and oppressing the women and makes a stand stating thatshe is 'not drowning in any man's drool'. She belive that by succumbing to the 'idealised' image of a woman that in reality does not give women the liberty of having a mind of their own,the women are being disrespectful to themselves.