Gender Roles In King Lear And A Thousand Acres

During the 16th Century, women were fundamentally the property of their fathers and eventually their husbands; women were expected to support their husbands’ endeavours and it was expected that their primary obligation in life was to bear children. Although women aren’t seen so much as ‘objects’ in today’s society, women are still often imprisoned within the male-dominated civilisation around them with regular cynicism and mockery. King Lear and A Thousand Acres explore both the hidden and the oppressed power of the feminine through challenging conventional gender roles.

William Shakespeare’s King Lear follows the story of King Lear and his three daughters, Cordelia, Goneril and Regan. King Lear decides to resign from the throne and distribute his kingdom amongst his daughters but their amount is decided based on how they answer his question; “Tell me, my daughters (since now we will divest us both of rule, interest of territory, cares of state), which of you shall we say doth love us most, that we our largest bounty may extend.”

When construed from a feministic evaluation, it is apparent that Shakespeare’s King Lear encompasses misogynistic implications. Goneril and Regan both answer him with flattery and excessive devotion but Cordelia answers with

Jane Smiley parallels female fertility with the fertility of farmland itself. “Fertile” land is capable of bearing healthy crops, and fertile women are capable of bearing children. This says that fertile women embodies healthy crops. However, the two senses of fertility can conflict with one another. Ginny, who has had 5 miscarriages throughout the novel, suspects that the farmland itself is making her infertile because the very water that she drinks every day is polluted with chemicals to ward off pests used on the country. Ginny struggles throughout the novel to maintain being a good farmer and a good