Gender Roles In Antigone

Oedipus at Colonus, a play by Sophocles, offers insight into the customs and beliefs of the ancient Greek period regarding traditional gender roles. While Sophocles and Shakespeare did not necessarily flip the scripts of their respective periods in their works, they did challenge and subvert certain societal norms and expectations. The play is set within a society where men held positions of power and were expected to uphold the values of honor and bravery, while women were regulated to the domestic sphere and expected to be obedient and or submissive to their husbands. In the play, Antigone, Oedipus' daughter, is portrayed as a brave and strong-willed woman who defies the patriarchal norms of her society by insisting on accompanying her father

Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus entails a compelling demonstration of these traditional gender roles within ancient Greece. One of the most striking examples of the gender roles in ancient Greek society is presented through the character of Antigone, Oedipus' daughter. Throughout the Greek plays, Antigone remains stagnant in rebelling against the traditional roles of women during her time. Antigone challenges the traditional role of women in ancient Greece by demonstrating her strength and bravery, even in the face of great danger. She also defies her father's wishes and asserts her independence, further challenging the patriarchal norms of her society. Oedipus acknowledges Antigone’s bravery while he reflects on the traditional roles women are forced upon. He states, "For in Egypt the men sit at home, working the loom while the women toil for a living outside the house. This speech illustrates the deeply ingrained gender roles in ancient Greece. Women were expected to be domestic and passive, while men were expected to be active and productive. Oedipus' speech highlights the idea that women were expected to take on the emotional burdens of their male family members. Oedipus expresses his regret about his daughters being forced to take on the burden of supporting not only themselves but him as well when he

In this period, there were strict gender roles and expectations for men and women, and these norms were reinforced by society and the law. Shakespeare’s Sonnets reveal how individuals struggled to navigate these expectations and challenge traditional roles, particularly in matters of love and desire. In Sonnet 20, the speaker grapples with his desires and the expectations placed upon him as a man. The speaker describes his love for a man while writing, “And for a woman wert thou first created, / Till nature as she wrought thee fell a-doting, / And by addition me of thee defeated, / By adding one thing to my purpose nothing” (lines 9-12). This quote highlights the struggle of individuals who did not conform to traditional gender roles and shows how they were forced to navigate a society that did not accept them. The speaker acknowledges that his love is unconventional and that society would not approve of it. The speaker's acknowledgment of his lover's femininity and his attraction to him regardless of that femininity goes against the societal norms of the time. It suggests that the speaker sees his lover as an individual rather than just a gendered role, which was not the norm during this period. He struggles to reconcile his desires with the expectations placed upon him as a man when he addresses the "master mistress of my passion," (line 2,