To what extent does Carol Ann Duffy’s poem ‘Medusa’ challenge stereotypical masculine and feminine attributes?
The World Wife anthology written by Carol Ann Duffy, challenges the established exemplification of prevailing characteristics found in both genders, in a patriarchal society. Duffy manipulates some of these characteristics in the poem through the mythological allusion of medusa. The innocence of womanhood is overshadowed by the protagonists’ related violent imageries; instead, she is seen to be redoubtable and menacing, attributes associated with men. Society’s categories for what is masculine and feminine are portrayed to be unrealistic, and undermining. The main character is, however, still capable of possessing more ‘females based’ strengths and weaknesses, such as her strong emotions, which show a juxtaposition of love and hatred. Women, therefore, possess the disposition of both femininity and masculinity, creating a superior appearance.
Archetypal criticism is used in the continuous employment of the extended metaphor of medusa. In the myth, Medusa is generally portrayed as the incarnation of feminism, as the name Medusa is derived from the Greek word metis meaning feminine. Medusa’s hair could be parallel to the chain events of birth and death as snakes constantly shed and regrow skins. Although the hairs of snakes were meant to diminish her craved beauty and femininity, Medusa could have, in fact, become more womanly, because not only does the phallic snake represent the power of birth unique to women, it also epitomizes danger and intelligence implying that women too possess these qualities. In addition, although the protagonist isn’t prepossessing, it doesn’t alter the fact that the woman is still a dominating ...
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...eable quality in a woman is her beauty. In addition, Duffy makes the protagonist annihilate her husband even though in the original myth, Medusa was decapitated, thereby challenging the speculations that a characteristic of women is to be defend less and insubstantial, dating back to ancient times, by showing that women too are vengeful conquerors.
In conclusion, the poem “Medusa” challenges subordinate traits of women. Duffy strips both the female protagonist and the male character of their names and titles in the poem thereby making them equal. She also illustrates women as domineering shown by the defeat of the male personae. This is Duffy conveying the fact that women are as valued as men regardless of stereotypical attributes and concepts of society.
The social group of women is often focused on by Gwen Harwood within Selected Poems of Gwen Harwood through the themes of motherhood and domestic life which play an integral role in many of her poems. These themes define a stereotypical role for women representing them as subordinate in a patriarchal society through a range of her poems such as In the Park, The Violets and Prize Giving. Harwood portrays women as subservient and inferior, with the main purpose to be household mothers and wives which was based on society’s expectations during Harwood’s time however her later poems such as Father and Child develop to contain hope for societal progression through occasionally defying these stereotypes.
This narrator and opinionator, is Merricat, whose views on men and the symbol that they represent is disrupt, and women should play as big or even bigger of a role in society. There are many instances where Merricat enjoys taunting the men such as Charles, “Amanita Pantherina,’ I said highly poisonous. … The Cicuta maculate is the water hemlock, one of the most poisonous of wild plants if taken internally.” (131) This is the representation of a phallic symbol, that she wants to be in possession of, to yield it against her enemy; Charles. Women power and to stand up against the ‘intolerable’ men according to Merricat in this text is celebrated. Men on the other hand are meant to be put in their place and be controlled for once, not be the controller, as it says “I could turn him [Charles] into a fly and drop him into a spider’s web and watch him tangled and helpless and struggling, shut into the body of a dying buzzing fly.”(129) This book represents the values of women; the opposite of men’s ideals and what they stand for as a
In both Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate and Robinson Jeffers’ Medea hypocrisy and familial oppression engender subversion of societal convention and gender norms in Medea and Tita; who thus strive to attain justice and defeat their oppressors, albeit through different means. It appears as though, in both works, it is the acts of the family and society against the women, which consequently extinguish or smother some sort of romantic love, that are the root cause of their subversive actions. Needless to say, both protagonists strive to uproot their oppressors and either enact vengeance or kindle a romance. Both women go against their pre-designated role in society, and at times ironically dominate over their male counterparts. The way both characters finally attain freedom and defeat their oppressor is by directly defying them, by going against established cultural and gender roles. Incidentally the feminist sentiment that naturally accompanies this is purposeful, and is used by the authors to show how women need to be powerful in order to attain what they want in a male dominated society. The final ways they conquer their oppressors is by freeing themselves symbolically and becoming outsiders that are away from the all too unjust world they knew.
Medea is a tragedy written by acclaimed Greek playwright Euripides.fortunately, had the opportunity to view last night's performance. Euripides cleverly uncovers the reality of Ancient Greek society, shining a light on the treatment of women and the emotions and thoughts that provoked during their time in society. As they were voiceless, Euripides acted as a voice. The scene is set during a male- dominated society, Medea the protagonist challenges the views and chooses to ignore the normality of civilisation. Treated as an outsider her passion for revenge conquers the motherly instincts she possesses, provoking a deep hatred and sparking revenge towards her once loved family.
This essay explores the role of women in Homer's Odyssey, James Joyce's Ulysses (1922) and Derrick Walcott's Omeros (1990), epics written in very different historical periods. Common to all three epics are women as the transforming figure in a man's life, both in the capacity of a harlot and as wife.
Works Cited Cixous, Hélène. “The Laugh of the Medusa.” Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. Ed. David H. Richter.
The society in which classical myths took place, the Greco-Roman society was a very patriarchal one. By taking a careful gander at female characters in Greco-Roman mythology one can see that the roles women played differ greatly from the roles they play today. The light that is cast upon females in classical myths shows us the views that society had about women at the time. In classical mythology women almost always play a certain type of character, that is to say the usual type of role that was always traditionally played by women in the past, the role of the domestic housewife who is in need of a man’s protection, women in myth also tended to have some unpleasant character traits such as vanity, a tendency to be deceitful, and a volatile personality. If one compares the type of roles that ladies played in the myths with the ones they play in today’s society the differences become glaringly obvious whilst the similarities seem to dwindle down. Clearly, and certainly fortunately, society’s views on women today have greatly changed.
In all, the misogyny presented in these two poems is not restricted to the time period they were written. Just as in medieval literature, it is still common for today's woman to be recognized only for her physical attributes. I believe that in order to have equality of the sexes and to help overcome the objectifying of women, it is necessary for women not to use the misogynistic views placed against them to their advantage.
The tragic play Medea is a struggle between reason and violence. Medea is deliberately portrayed as not a ‘normal woman’, but excessive in her passions. Medea is a torment to herself and to others; that is why Euripides shows her blazing her way through life leaving wreckage behind her. Euripides has presented Medea as a figure previously thought of exclusively as a male- hero. Her balance of character is a combination of the outstanding qualities of Achilles and Odysseus.
...seful miscommunication between men and women. Lastly, when looking through the imagined perspective of the thoughtless male tricksters, the reader is shown the heartlessness of men. After this reader’s final consideration, the main theme in each of the presented poems is that both authors saw women as victims of a male dominated society.
Even though the sexual aspects of a woman are one of the more influential, there are always the main examples of woman kind; usually pertaining to their roles as mothers. In both of these stories we have the extremes of women the mother. There is the wise and caring mother, Ninsun. Then there is the evil, Medea herself.
(Essay intro) In the modern day, women have the luxury of belonging to themselves but unfortunately this was not always the case. During his life, William Shakespeare created many positive female characters who defied the traditional gender roles and brought attention to the misogynistic patriarchy of Elizabethan England. One of these true feminist icons is ‘Much Ado about Nothing’s. Beatrice. The women in ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ defy traditional gender roles. Beatrice represents a brave and outspoken woman who defies the oppressive, traditional gender roles for the female sex. Her cousin Hero, however, represents those women who were successfully oppressed by the patriarchy and accepted the traditional gender roles without much complaint.
Ironically, Medea’s actions are similar to a man when she takes charge of her marriage, living situation, and family life when she devices a plan to engulf her husband with grief. With this in mind, Medea had accepts her place in a man’s world unti...
Medea and Lysistrata are two Greek literatures that depict the power which women are driven to achieve in an aim to defy gender inequality. In The Medea, Medea is battling against her husband Jason whom she hates. On the other hand, in Aristophanes' Lysistrata, the protagonist Lysistrata plotted to convince and organize the female gender to protest against the stubbornness of men. In terms of defining the purpose of these two literatures, it is apparent that Euripedes and Aristophanes created characters that demonstrate resistance against the domination of men in the society.
Culture creates difference in gender through social issues such as marriage, education, childbearing and employment. Women in many of today’s cultures are represented by the roles they choose rather than have imposed on them, although sexism is an ongoing issue presented in everyday life. Medea has little choice on her represented role due to society in that period of time. She uses her manipulative ability and cleverness to get what she wants. Her life is made difficult due to society’s restrictions and is stereotyped into many things in which she is not. This clearly shows that women’s lives are represented by the roles they either choose regarding social restrictions or the roles they have imposed on them.