Two Women in Proverbs 9
Proverbs has always been one of the most renowned and loved books of the Bible.
According to the prologue, it was written “to teach shrewdness to the simple, knowledge and prudence to the young” (1.4), and to “let the wise also hear and gain in learning, and the discerning acquire skill” (1.5). It is primarily addressed to young men, as the author makes frequent references to “my son” throughout. The purpose of this book was to help prepare young men for leadership and life. A proverb, which serves the purpose of drawing a comparison between two forms of behavior to teach moral wisdom, explicitly fulfills its role in particularly chapter 9 of Proverbs. In light of this father-to-son instruction, the author uses the personification of two different types of women in order to illustrate the two corresponding paths of life: wisdom and folly. Although there are many striking similarities of both women in Proverbs 9, the subtle differences between the two didactically imparts life lessons to young men.
The speaker begins the passage of Proverbs 9, by informing that the first similarity that Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly share is the possession of a house. The only apparent difference is that Lady Wisdom has built her own house: “Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars” (9.1). Lady Wisdom has not simply constructed her home, but it is given that her house is a large one, representing wealth. There is no reference to Lady Folly building her house—she sluggishly just “sits at the door of her house” (9.14). Metaphorically, the speaker of this passage is advising the young men to be hard-working, signifying the importance of diligence, which is a constant underlying thre...
... middle of paper ...
...m will lead to life. The speaker is saying that it is well worth it to embark on the path of wisdom and to persevere through it for there is an unseen reward awaiting them.
Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly are not mentioned in Proverbs 9 to be merely two contrasting women that the young men should be aware of when they look for a wife. Representing the two ways of life, Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly are used to bring awareness to the young men about the subtle differences between the respective routes of life. It is emphasized that every decision counts and that just one decision can mean the difference between life and death. Because the teacher knows that the young men are the ones who will ultimately make crucial decisions of their own, he uses this particular juxtaposition of Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly to prepare them for what challenges lie ahead for them.
Literature is the key to our world or language. Many writers have emerged from this subject such as Homer who wrote The Odyssey and Euripidies who wrote about the evil Medea. Also mentioned in this paper are the Thousand and One Arabian Nights which is a collection of folktales and stories that are compiled into one. Each of these works of literature has a woman character that has many similarities in solving their problems. In The Odyssey the woman character that will be in comparison is Penelope which is Odysseus’s wife. In the story of Medea, Medea is of course the character we will be discussing and Shaharazad is the woman character from the Thousand and One Arabian Nights that will also be in comparison. Each of these women find themselves in a particularly “sticky situation.” However, Penelope, Medea, and Shahrazad are three strong women whose perseverance and cleverness help them to attain their goals.
Some say women can get the worst out of a man, but in The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1485, proves it. The tales were originally written as a collection of twenty four tales, but has been narrowed down to three short tales for high school readers. The three tales consist of “The Miller”, “The Knight”, and “The Wife of Bath” along with their respective prologues. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer shows the weak but strong role of women throughout the “The Knight’s Tale” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” to contrast different human characteristics and stereotypes on the spectrum of people.
Looking back through many historical time periods, people are able to observe the fact that women were generally discriminated against and oppressed in almost any society. However, these periods also came with women that defied the stereotype of their sex. They spoke out against this discrimination with a great amount of intelligence and strength with almost no fear of the harsh consequences that could be laid out by the men of their time. During the Medieval era, religion played a major role in the shaping of this pessimistic viewpoint about women. The common belief of the patriarchal-based society was that women were direct descendants of Eve from The Bible; therefore, they were responsible for the fall of mankind. All of Eve’s characteristics from the biblical story were believed to be the same traits of medieval women. Of course, this did not come without argument. Two medieval women worked to defy the female stereotype, the first being the fictional character called The Wife of Bath from Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. The second woman, named Margery Kempe, was a real human being with the first English autobiography written about her called The Book of Margery Kempe. In these two texts, The Wife of Bath and Margery Kempe choose to act uniquely compared to other Christians in the medieval time period because of the way religion is interpreted by them. As a result, the women view themselves as having power and qualities that normal women of their society did not.
The two words, wisdom, and folly are inseparable; they cannot be away from each other. Folly is the act of having the knowledge of the benefits of making a good choice, but rather choosing the wrong or foolish decision. Diligence is the act of being aware of something. Therefore, one who often postpones activities and comes up with excuses is lazy (Hindson & Yates, 2012). The Hebrew wisdom books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Songs of Songs, and Psalms covers teachings on diligence, folly, wisdom, and laziness. Proverbs explains the differences between wisdom and folly as well as diligence and laziness clearly.
The Wife of Bath, therefore, can be seen as a woman who has taken her understanding of the teachings of the Bible, and held fast to certain notions that can help her succeed as a common person in a period where social position and wealth are usually a factor of birth, not personal effort. The notions of the right and freedom to make decisions, especially those regarding marriage and personal actions, allow her to travel, to have some nice possessions, and to become a strong, confident woman against the odds. Although she isn’t perfect, she has the desire, the underlying humility, and the understanding of how to be a better person—if only she had made that decision.
In Act II, when they argue their definitions of wisdom in an attempt to come to an understanding about Antigone’s punishment, Creon and Haemon subtly expose the theme. The Chorus Leader stresses that “[t]he most important part of true success is wisdom - not to act impiously towards the gods, for boasts of arrogant men bring on great blows of punishment - s in old age men can discover wisdom.” By stating this at the very end of the play, these words leave a lasting impression on the reader or audience member.
Relationships portrayed by Chaucer’s and Malory's stories show how corrupt women are because they always destroy their relationship due to their self-obsession of getting things they want. Women kept secrets from their husbands because they knew what they were doing was wrong. In the Wife of Bath, the Merchant was oblivious to the fact that
In “The Miller’s Tale”, Medea, and Boccaccio’s tale, readers see how stereotypes and gender roles are reinforced, challenged or subverted. The stereotype of women during the medieval time were the house keepers and focused on the home life, second to the men in society, they had no power. During literature, readers see how some women challenged and stood up to dominant men. Some other women stood behind their husbands no matter what and stayed strong through whatever trials they were put through.
Lady Chudleighs’s “To the Ladies” exhibits a remorseful stance on the concept of joining holy matrimony. Chudleigh’s usage of metaphoric context and condescending tone discloses her negative attitude towards the roles of a wife once she is married. It is evident that Mary Chudleigh represents the speaker of the poem and her writing serves a purpose to warn single women not go get married and a regretful choice to women who are.
In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, a reader is introduced to a rather bizarre and heterogeneous group of people leaving for a pilgrimage. The Wife of Bath is the most interesting and lively character of the group. Her "Prologue" and "Tale" provide readers with a moral lesson as well as comic relief. The Wife's "Prologue" serves as an overture to her "Tale", in which she states a very important point regarding the nature of women and their most sacred desires. According to this character, women desire sovereignty, or power, over their men most in the world. This wish seems to be most appropriate for women of the time period in which Chaucer lived. However, women today no longer wish to dominate their men - sovereignty of women over men is not relevant in the twenty-first century. The reason is that women are no longer deprived of power and freedom.
In Parable of the Sower, many issues are addressed and discussed in a new and creative way. One issue addressed is how women are treated in society. Although Parable of the Sower is considered a dystopian world and is an exaggerated sense of reality, the concepts remain true. The shortfalls of the society and larger systemic ideas throughout the book in some sense are an exaggerated sense of the truth. These concepts are lessons to the readers and can often lead to morals or conclusions that can be taken away from the book. This is true of most books, and thus it is important to read the lessons and make connections to find the deeper moral of the
Wisdom reflects the values and criteria that we apply to our knowledge. Its essence is discernment. Discernment of right from wrong, helpful from harmful, truth from delusion. Being wise is not just being knowledgeable – it is applying that knowledge. Not just making statements – but also asking questions. It is giving but also listening to good advice, and it is learning from one’s mistakes. Also, wisdom and years are not always directly proportional. In Sophocles' “Antigone”, wisdom proves to represent a significant theme throughout the play. Creon, the king of Thebes, initially explains the importance of a ruler's duty of setting the city on its wisest course. However, as the play progresses, Creon fails to live up to his promises, by being irrational and selfish. Sophocles play emphasises how a lack of maturity and wisdom can have adverse effects on society.
The persuasive attempts in both literary works produce different results. The effectiveness of the mother’s guidance to her daughter is questioned since the girl cannot recognize the essence of her mother’s lesson. Despite that, the mother’s beneficial instruction serves as a standard for the daughter to reflect her future behaviors in order to live up to the community’s expectations. On the other hand, Anne’s value of candid expression and lasting relationship dissuades her from obliging to her family’s meaningless duty to place her love and interest above to experience fulfillment in life.
In The Canterbury Tales Wife of Bath’s Tale, the author incorporates major events in the text that relate to power in many different ways. In addition, in the text the author illustrates the sovereignty that women have over man in various ways. Furthermore, there is power in knowledge because with knowledge there is freedom. Also, in the text a character loses power over the external events that occurring in their lives. In The Wife of Bath’s Tale, the author illustrates a woman’s power through authority, marriage, and punishment.
Proverbs are not promises (as Ecclesiastes and Job emphasize) but are a call to action…wise living.