Gender Stereotypes In Homer's The Odyssey

In Homer’s “The Odyssey” men are proposed to be superior. On the other hand, women are seen as meek, helpless, figures, whose only purpose in life is to reproduce and be used for the pleasure of men Through this portrayal of women an untrue stereotype has been created that has represented women in a negative way for thousands of years. Although, Homer's the Odyssey is a well renowned novel,taught in classes all over the world, it contains quite a few flaws when it comes to looking at it through a feminist lens. Through portraying women as this specific archetype, the author creates a sexist and misogynistic idea of women's role in society. Similarly in Frankenstein, Mary Shelley portrays women as a being lower to men in order to counter argue

Mary Shelly cleverly uses male characters to criticize the societal norms of prioritizing men over women. In “Frankenstein” Justine had been framed for the murder of William, eventhough Victor Frankenstein knows that his creation of “ the monster” the true reason why WIlliam was murdered. Victor does not take into consideration the life of another and simply worries about his overall well being and reputation. He even goes as far to say that “The tortures of the accused did not equal mine” (Shelly 79). When Shelly says “the tortures did not equal mine” it gives the novel an egotistical tone. The reader knows that Justine is being condemned for a murder she did not commit and being put on death trial, but meanwhile all Victor can think of is what people will think of him if he confessed, and how detrimental it would be towards his reputation. The egocentric tone cleverly

Towards the beginning of the novel, Victor uses Elizabeth as an item rather than a human. His thoughts go as far as thinking, “They consulted their village priest, and the result was that Elizabeth Lavenza became the inmate of my parents' house--my more than sister--the beautiful and adored companion of all my occupations and my pleasures” (Shelly 16 ). In order to take on a male persona, Shelly portrays women as the object even though, Shelly herself, would typically side with the feminist belief. When reading this novel Shelly conveys the women as second class citizens. They are unimportant and submissive to men. Mary Shelly makes women the submissive sex in her novel in order to mock the stereotype of women only existing to impact a man's life. Another example of the irony in the untrue stereotype is when Justine is being persecuted. Elizabeth puts together a phenomenal argument of why Justine is innocent, stating “.. I believe and rely on her perfect innocence. She had no temptation to for such an action”(Shelly 88). Elizabeth puts up a “simple and powerful appeal” (Shelly 88). She believes Justine's innocence as well as Victor. However the simple fact that she is a women, prevents the judge from believing her and completely negates her compelling argument. Mary Shelly knows that if Elizabeth were a