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Women In The Wife's Lament

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In the poem “The Wife's Lament”, by Leofric, he depicts women in the medieval era as meaningless, and unimportant people. However, this all changes by Shakespeare's powerful female characters; Desdemona, in the play “Othello” and Cleopatra in his play “Antony and Cleopatra”. The roles of women have changed from the medieval era from the fifth to fifteenth centuries to the renaissance era which was from the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries. Most women in this era had arranged marriages and were forced to marry men that their family had picked out for them. If women chose to get married, the men would have the full rights to take over any property she owned, and she would have to forfeit and be subservient to their new spouse. The only two …show more content…

They played subservient roles to their men in order to make them look strong and heroic. Women in the Anglo-Saxon culture consumed no freedom and were to always favor and obey their so called lords (husband's). For example, in “The Wife's Lament”, the female speaker speaks in deep sadness because her husband had left their family and sailed away leaving her behind. After a certain period of time, her husband requests for her to move out of the country and into a new one with him. Leaving her friends behind, she once again felt depressed due to isolation of her friends and family. The female speaker then states, “My lord commanded me to live with him here;/ I had few loved ones or loyal friends/ in this country , which causes me great grief”(15-17). These lines prove that no matter what the scenario is, the man's wife has to do what pleases him even if it costs her leaving her loved ones at her home country. In the “Wife's Lament”, the feeling of detachment and depression by the female speaker, describes the lack of control over her situation. For instance, the speaker announces “...I walk alone in the light of dawn/ under the oak-tree and through this earth-cave,/ where I must sit the summer-long day;/ there I can weep for all my exiles,/ my many troubles; and so I may never/ escape from the cares of my sorrow mind,...”(35-40). She also states “They forced me to live in a forest grove,/ under an oak tree in an earthen cave...”(27-28). These lines prove that because the female speaker is a women, she has no power or control over the situation that occurred to her. This poem puts medieval women in poor lighting and depicts men as strong and powerful

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in society. Donvain asserts that women weren’t held back by their roles within society, but by the men who assigned them. The author also pointed out that “Anglo-Saxon women within the seventh and eighth century spent their whole lives under the protection of their menfolk” (Donvain 13). As children, these young girls lived with their father’s in halls and were under their protection. When “they came of age and got married, Anglo-Saxon women would then be sent to their husbands household,” since her first loyalty was to her husband, whom she’d obey and respect.

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This becomes evident in a lack of information about the type of society, and the reader therefore lacks a complete understanding of how the women are oppressed. As a whole, this poem sets forth the idea that female gender is fluid, and asks its readers to questions what it means to be a woman in a male dominant

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Before the Reformation, women not seen or viewed as equals to men in any way. Men believed that a woman's role is to bear children and be something like a housewife, taking care of the children and the house. They were not to hold any major responsibilities because society believed that it is not a women’s place and that they would not be able to handle it since they thought that women have limits. During the Reformation in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, society’s attitude toward women changed. The society started to view women as equals in religion and education, but apart of society still believed in the subordination of women, which caused some things not to change.

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“Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper” This repetition exposed that as a woman in thet Elizabethan era must conform to her gender’s expectations, obliging to anything that men do, as she as a woman does not have the right to be in charge of herself and must need a man to guide her as a woman couldn’t do it

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Louise Bogan shows how women are not treated fairly by using metaphors throughout her poem. The metaphors helped create meaning and emotion and helped the reader have a better understanding of the poem. Bogan states women have a good heart but cannot use it to their desire by saying, “Content in the tight hot cell of their hearts” (3). The cell Bogan describes helps the reader understand the confinement being shown in this line. Men only saw women as property in this time period and women could not do anything about it because that is how society viewed them.

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Women’s Rights In Romeo and Juliet Juliet being forced into marriage, showed how little input women had during the Renaissance period. Renaissance is a period in which the ancient writing of Greece and Rome, “Rebirthed”, or came back into practice. During the Renaissance period, women had limited, to no rights. They were required to follow orders made by their husband’s or superior male figure. This is presented in the play Romeo and Juliet made by William Shakespeare.

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She voices women’s loss of power over their bodies and economies. And how they became trapped in the their own household. Medea explains, “With an excess of wealth it is required/ For us to buy a husband” and notes to not take a “master” is worse (L 232-234). Here she passionately speaks out against the injustices she faces as a women.

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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).

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Many female critics have looked towards The Wife of Bath as a feminist role model (Reisman) She wanted authority over her five husbands, “She’d been respectable throughout her life, with five churched husbands bringing joy and strife, Not counting other company in her youth;” (Chaucer, l. 459-461) In Othello, the society centered around the men having all the control over women except in their beds, which was when the women could take control. Othello uses his power to over Desdemona to mock her,“Ay, you did wish that I would make her turn. Sir, she can turn, and turn, and get go on, And turn again.

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Towards the end of The Wife’s Lament, the wife has reached the stage to where she is able to reflect on her current misfortune and connect with God but states, “May that young man be sad-minded always/ hard his heart's thought while he must wear/ a blithe bearing with care in the breast/ a crowd of sorrows,” continuing her petting life and misery (42-45). She would be able to leave this world of misery if she was able to get over her worldly problems, which God had pushed on everyone, and come to the same conclusion as The Wanderer and The Seafarer. “A man must conquer pride, not kill it/ be firm with his fellows, chaste for himself,/ Treat all the world as the world deserves/ with love or with hate but never with harm,” (The Seafarer 109-112). This quotes shows that this man has gone through all the necessary steps in life and has almost reached his time in this world, for he has served his purpose. Live through the suffering.

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Beowulf, an epic poem which describes the heroism of a brave warrior who turned fallen king. He is the male example of what a man is thought to be in the Anglo-Saxon era.” …he was the mightiest man on earth, highborn and powerful.” (pg 8) He is strong, loyal and is a protector of the people.

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Hamlet: The Tragedy of Female Oppression Feminism has erupted over the past century. The theme of patriarchy has ruled over women for centuries. With the uprising of the critique of patriarchy, more feminists have analyzed Shakespeare’s literary works as in favor of the male gender roles. In Act 1 scene 3, the station of Polonius and Laertes reveals their patriarchal position over Ophelia by constructing advices that molds their expectations of her and degrading her in ways that exemplify the oppression of women during the 1600’s.

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For Shakespeare’s plays to contain enduring ideas, it must illustrate concepts that still remain relevant today, in modern society. Shakespeare utilises his tragic play Othello, to make an important social commentary on the common gender stereotypes. During early modern England, Shakespeare had to comply to the strict social expectations where women were viewed as tools, platonic and mellow, and where men were displayed as masculine, powerful, tempered, violent and manipulative. As distinct as this context is to the 21st century, the play exposes how women were victimised by the men who hold primary power in the community in which they compelled women to conform to the ideal world of a perfect wife or confront an appalling destiny for challenging the system. Moreover, Shakespeare utilises the main antagonist, Iago, to portray how men are desperate to achieve what they want and to indirectly fulfil the stereotype of masculinity and power through manipulation.

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In his play “Othello,” Shakespeare is very compassionate towards the women of his era. He treats Desdemona with special sympathy. She is the victim of two crossed male aspirations — the devilry of villain Iago and the jealousy of her husband. The main cause of Desdemona’s tragedy is the total absence of women’s personal liberty. The lack of self-development without restrictions of society and family constricts the mind.

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