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The role of women in the middle ages
The role of women in the middle ages
The role of women in the middle ages
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Since the beginning of literature, women have been depicted as devious individuals. As a result, women put use to this stereotype to get what they want. This is proven, especially in medieval literature. Examples of this are shown in works like “Macbeth,” * Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” and “The Canterbury Tales”.
Lancelot in Arthurian Legend Cycle The most focusing and recurring themes from both French and English Arthurian Legend Cycle about Lancelot, are his love with Guinevere and his failure of quest for the Holy Grail. The French version appears to focus more on his romance with the Queen and the conflict with King Arthur than his quest in his knighthood. “Le Chevalier de la Charrette” by Chrétien de Troyes and “Le Morte d’Arthur” by Thomas Malory are the most famous version of legend from the Middle Ages.
Literature is full of messages, both hidden and in the open. These messages reveal a lot about what was happening during the period or even what could still be occurring now. For instance Eva’s Man by Gayl Jones and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston contain hidden messages about their time period that reveal gender inequality, sexuality, the idea of “romantic love”, as well as abjection of women. These messages reveal the truth about the ideal romantic love, how women were viewed, how they were treated based on these views and as well and how women were deprived of their sexuality.
Throughout the course of human history, literary works of various styles and genres across multiple cultures have had varying depictions of both genders. A literary work’s depiction of gender, particularly females, is generally dependent on the culture and/or society its author hail from as well as other factors such as regional and political ones. Despite such differences, literary works can share similarities in the depiction of genders. Antigone and The Canterbury Tales are prime examples of such types of literary works. Despite that nearly two millennia past between the publication of the two-respective works, the two have similar as well as contrasting portrayals of women.
It may skew her thinking and at times be subjective. The intended audience is someone who is studying literature and interested in how women are portrayed in novels in the 19th century. The organization of the article allows anyone to be capable of reading it.
Not only did men see women as unintelligent, they also saw them as weak and compliant. What made this worse was that women of higher status would have a lot of free time since they had servants to do everything. They would spend their time strolling around or doing ‘feminine hobbies’; this affirmed mens’ notion that that women were idle and did not do much, so they treated them this way. To see how dire their situation was, one must must only have to read A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While fictitious, this story does show one bit of truth, the way women were being treated during this era.
Women of the Medieval Times Women have always had a significant role in history even though they were treated horrible in most cases. During the Medieval Times was really the first time women were allowed to become more than just a house wife. The fight for equality has always been a struggle and even in today’s society is still an ongoing battle. Although women of lower and middle class were treated poorly in the Medieval Times, some powerful women held great responsibility and were looked up too by both men and children; despite being admired, “men were thought to be not only physically stronger but more emotionally stable, more intelligent, and morally less feeble” (Hopkins 5). “The position of women in the Medieval Society was greatly influenced by the views of the Roman Catholic Church” (Heeve).
The corruption women faced in the olden times were the social norm, and men were possibly unaware of any other way to treat women. In today’s times, it is a law that not only women, but everybody must be treated with respect without discrimination or racial injustices. While women face inequality at times, it is not normalized to treat women with disrespect. They are often misinterpreted and underestimated, but in the 1700s, women were expected to do one thing and only one thing: please the men.
Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour” is set in the late 1800s – a time when women were considered inferior to men. Women had traditional roles as wives and mothers. In this 19th century patriarchal society, Chopin shows us Louise Mallard, the main character, who does not comply with the female gender norms of the Victorian period. When Louise learns about the death of her husband, her reaction and the reaction of her sister and the doctor tell us a great deal about gender stereotyping during this time. Louise Mallard is described to us as “firm” and “fair.
Today, in the 21st century, most women are fairly respected and have the freedom to make their own choices; but when reading Romeo and Juliet, from the Shakespearean age, I have learned that women were viewed very differently. Using clues provided by this book, it is clear that whether women were housewives, royalty, nurses, or children, they didn’t have equal rights to men. Men were very masculine; they ordered their wives around and expected women to obey. Whereas women were very obedient and unfortunately were often taken advantage of. In this paper, will be examining the stereotypical role of a woman in the Shakespearean age.
The treatment of women has been a topic all throughout history. Women would be treated as lesser beings compared to men. Back in 430 b.c when Oedipus Rex took place, women were not treated equally by men in power. An example of this is when King Laius died, Jocasta did not become the ruler. She had to wait for someone to marry her to have a new ruler.
More than six hundred years later the same issues of inequality and misogyny are still present in our society. The movement to fight against anti-feminism is not new. Thus, it only proves that the discrimination of women is more than centuries old. Written in 1405, The City Of Ladies is an allegorical story in response to the attack of men against women. Christine De Pizan highlights how a women are capable of good and moral character despite to the contrary of what male philosopher claimed to believe.
In what ways are women abused and discriminated against inside literature and throughout history? In many patriarchal societies, men have held authority over women due to gender. This power imbalance between men and women sometimes led to unjust treatment of women; men exert their authority over many women in the play, The Crucible. In The Crucible¸ male characters intimidate women to achieve specific outcomes and mark their superiority. Elizabeth Proctor, the protagonist’s wife, shows the standard for Salem women as she is submissive and does not defy her husband or the traditional role as a housekeeper.
During medieval times, women were expected to be mothers, wives, and peace weavers, none other than that. They were required to be pure, good, and attractive in order to be portrayed as the “greatest gift to mankind.” Otherwise they would be looked upon as evil, witch-like, and monstrous. Women were expected to be adorned in jewels, well-liked, and respected by all. They shall cause no conflicts and should bow to their male authorities.
As a child, I enjoyed reading because I was able to go into a different world and travel through other people's minds. It also allowed me to learn about other cultures and household values that were different from my own at home. Classic fairy tales are part of our childhood to teach us about right and wrong through stories that demonstrate cause and effect situations that have consequences because we are developing our own morals. What people don't know is that the fairy tales we are exposed to are the “children friendly” versions and even then often the morals in them are really meant for adults. On the other hand, the original versions expose violence and contradicting acts to what's right in our society.
