The Representation of Rapunzel on Women's Role

1605 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Gender equality

Do I need help anymore? Throughout most of history, women were seen as inferior to men. Men were viewed as more capable and smarter than women: men worked while women stayed at home; men were given control of the household and their wives, and men obtained education while women learned how to do household chores at home. Many of these inequalities were displayed in early literature, such as Andromeda and the Sea Monster and “Rapunzel”, where women, dubbed Damsels in Distress, either made unintelligent blunders or were captured by some evil or supreme force and put into a dire predicament. Since men were much more superior to women, they saved the Damsel in Distress from their asperity. The woman usually became entranced by their chivalric, valiant and benevolent characteristics and usually married them and lived happily ever after. However, these damsels evolved into ones that weren’t always in distress. The archetype of the Damsel in Distress remained relatively static throughout most of its history in the world. However, the gradual escalation of women’s rights and position in society during the late 19th, 20th and 21st centuries reflect the portrayal of the damsel in works of literature and film as a more prominent figure of importance, rather than the impotent and feeble character displayed in traditional literature. One of the most ancient examples of the Damsel in Distress, Andromeda and the Sea Monster, is unlike the modern day depictions of the archetype in Clash of the Titans, and Wrath of the Titans. Andromeda and the Sea Monster was written by the ancient Greeks, and sets a precedent of what the Damsel in Distress is. Andromeda’s mother, the queen of Aethiopia, boasted that Andromeda was more beautiful than the daugh... ... middle of paper ... ... Works Cited Ashliman, D. L. "Rapunzel." Rapunzel. N.p., 20 Jan. 2012. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. . Atsma, Aaron J. "PERSEUS 2 : Hero of Greek Mythology." EPISODE 4 : ANDROMEDA & THE SEA MONSTER. Theoi Project, 2011. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. . "Clash of the Titans Quotes." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. . Koeller, David W. "Aristotle." : Politics. N.p., 2005. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. . Tangled Quotes. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. . "Wrath of the Titans Quotes." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. .

Show More
Related

  • The Princess Paradox Analysis

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    The woman society wants and idolizes cannot exist because it is impossible to remain true to oneself and one's personal goals completely, while still maintaining a relationship and the responsibilities of royalty. Society is not merely receiving this paradox, but perpetuating and encouraging it by turning a blind eye to something they do not want to see. This unrealistic, unattainable fantasy has become the goal of this modern feminist generation, and Poniewozik highlighted how this new tale has distracted from the true telling and story. Cinderella was simply a woman who just wanted to go to ball, and now she has become someone who is independent and driven, but still falls in love and learns to accept the fact that she is a princess. A woman who doesn't change who she is, but then changes titles and falls in love doesn’t exist, she is a

    Read More

  • Comparing A Raisin In The Sun And Ibsen's A Doll House

    1255 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women and men are not equal. Never have been, and it is hard to believe that they ever will be. Sexism permeates the lives of women from the day they are born. Women are either trying to fit into the “Act Like a Lady” box, they are actively resisting the same box, or sometimes both. The experience of fitting in the box and resisting the box can be observed in two plays: Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” and Henrick Ibsen’s “A Doll House”. In Hansberry’s play, initially, Beneatha seems uncontrolled and independent, but by the end she is controlled and dependent; whereas, in Ibsen’s play Nora seems controlled and dependent at the beginning of the play, but by the end she is independent and free.

    Read More

  • Women in Homer's Odyssey, Joyce's Ulysses and Walcott's Omeros

    1686 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Disney and Traditional Stereotypes

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    A little girl sits on the floor with her gaze fixed on the television screen in front of her, watching magical images dance before her eyes and catchy songs flow through her ears. Even though she had seen it at least twenty times before, she still loved The Little Mermaid just as much as she did the first time she watched it. As she watched it, she longed to be a beautiful mermaid with a curvy body and wonderful singing voice like Ariel. She longed to be saved by the handsome Prince Eric, and fall in love and live happily ever-after like Ariel did. In today’s society, women strive to achieve equality between the sexes. Despite the tremendous steps that have been taken towards reaching gender equality, mainstream media contradicts these accomplishments with stereotypes of women present in Walt Disney movies. These unrealistic stereotypes may be detrimental to children because they grow up with a distorted view of how men and women interact. Disney animated films assign gender roles to characters, and young children should not be exposed to inequality between genders because its effect on their view of what is right and wrong in society is harmful to their future.

    Read More

  • The Female Role in A Rose for Emily, Miss Brill, and The Storm

    1167 Words  | 3 Pages

    Reading literature, at first, might seem like simple stories. However, in works like William Faulkner's “A Rose for Emily,” Katherine Mansfield's “Miss Brill,” and Kate Chopin's “The Storm,” the female protagonists are examples of how society has oppressive expectations of women simply because of their gender.

    Read More

  • Trope In Frankenstein

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout most of literature and history, the notion of ‘the woman’ has been little more than a caricature of the actual female identity. Most works of literature rely on only a handful of tropes for their female characters and often use women to prop up the male characters: female characters are sacrificed for plot development. It may be that the author actually sacrifices a female character by killing her off, like Mary Shelly did in Frankenstein in order to get Victor Frankenstein to confront the monster he had created, or by reducing a character to just a childish girl who only fulfills a trope, as Oscar Wilde did with Cecily and Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest. Using female characters in order to further the male characters’

    Read More

  • Sleeping Beauty: Feminist Critics

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...present powerful characters, while females represent unimportant characters. Unaware of the influence of society’s perception of the importance of sexes, literature and culture go unchanged. Although fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty produce charming entertainment for children, their remains a didactic message that lays hidden beneath the surface; teaching future generations to be submissive to the inequalities of their gender. Feminist critic the works of former literature, highlighting sexual discriminations, and broadcasting their own versions of former works, that paints a composite image of women’s oppression (Feminist Theory and Criticism). Women of the twenty-first century serge forward investigating, and highlighting the inequalities of their race in effort to organize a better social life for women of the future (Feminist Theory and Criticism).

    Read More

  • The Thousand And One Nights Vs Medea Analysis

    1471 Words  | 3 Pages

    Due to traditional stereotypes of women, literature around the world is heavily male-dominant, with few female characters outside of cliché tropes. Whenever a female character is introduced, however, the assumption is that she will be a strong lead that challenges the patriarchal values. The authors of The Thousand and One Nights and Medea use their female centered stories to prove their contrasting beliefs on the role of women not only in literature, but also in society. A story with a female main character can be seen as empowering, but this is not always the case, as seen when comparing and contrasting Medea and The Thousand and One Nights.

    Read More

  • Treatment Of Women In The Odyssey Essay

    1329 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the Homer's epic poem the Odyssey, there are many themes that serve to make a comment about the meanings of the story. The theme of women in the poem serves to make these comments but also establishes a point of view on women in the reader. From this point of view, a perspective is developed into the "best" and "worst" in women. Achievement of this is through the characterization of many women with single notable evil qualities. Similar to the biblical story of Adam and Eve, Eve like the many women in the Odyssey brings about pain and suffering for mankind. Contrary to the depicting of women as roots of evil, the reader sees the other traits of women that are most desirable. The roles of these women are achieved by their portrayal throughout the poem. This in return has a significant affect on how the poem and the message that is conveyed.

    Read More

  • Essay About Rapunzel

    1240 Words  | 3 Pages

    There was once a woman who stood beneath a tower, which lay in a thick forest, and had neither stair nor door, but a small window at the tower’s peak. This elderly, brittle woman visited this mighty tower daily; upon her arrival, the old woman would at all times shout the following: ‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair to me.’ Upon the recitation of these words, a young woman would wrap her unusually long, fair hair around a hook beside the window, dropping it twenty ells down so the elderly woman may climb it like a rope to Rapunzel’s tower room. As the elderly woman climbed up the tower, she always thought back to the time from when she received Rapunzel, ‘twas from a cowardly man who took advantage of this ‘frail, old woman’, and stole

    Read More

  • Women are not only Beautiful, but Equal: The Awakening by Kate Chopin

    1300 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since the beginning of time, women have strived to achieve an equal status in society. The vast majority of women have rebelled against the norm for equal status. As if washing the dirt off one’s hands, women are forgotten for all of their achievements. The identity of women in the Western world has evolved from domesticity and servility, and moved toward their valuation as individuals of intellect, talent, and independence. The culture about women’s empowerment has been reflected in literature and history throughout many ages.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Perseus And Theseus

    808 Words  | 2 Pages

    Aegus, Theseus’s father, commands him to go to Athens. Theseus becomes determined to choose the perilous land passage from the peloponnesus across the Isthmus of corinth to Athens and had to face different types of enemies. “Theseus made land travel safe between Troezen and Athens and earned fame and honour”(Roseberg & Baker 246). Theseus confidence not only allows him to accomplish finishing the dangerous passage, he also made two easy ways to get there. Perseus meets a beautiful girl name Andromeda. Andromeda explains how the lord of the sea sends a ravenous sea monster upon their land. “I will rescue your daughter, in return Andromeda will be my wife” (206). Perseus was confident that he would defeat the monster. Knowing that her life would have had to be sacrificed, Perseus was confident in his abilities and is aware of his own strength which leads him to be positive in the defeat of the monster. Although Perseus is

    Read More

  • The Evolution of the Role of Women in British and American Literature

    1818 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.

    Read More

  • Little Red Riding Hood

    925 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout literature, authors employ a variety of strategies to highlight the central message being conveyed to the audience. Analyzing pieces of literature through the gender critics lens accentuates what the author believes to be masculine or feminine and that society and culture determines the gender responsibility of an individual. In the classic fairytale Little Red Riding Hood, the gender strategies appear through the typical fragile women of the mother and the grandmother, the heartless and clever male wolf, and the naïve and vulnerable girl as little red riding hood.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Written At The Close Of Spring By Charlotte Smith

    1578 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout literature’s history, female authors have been hardly recognized for their groundbreaking and eye-opening accounts of what it means to be a woman of society. In most cases of early literature, women are portrayed as weak and unintelligent characters who rely solely on their male counterparts. Also during this time period, it would be shocking to have women character in some stories, especially since their purpose is only secondary to that of the male protagonist. But, in the late 17th to early 18th century, a crop of courageous women began publishing their works, beginning the literary feminist movement. Together, Aphra Behn, Charlotte Smith, Fanny Burney, and Mary Wollstonecraft challenge the status quo of what it means to be a

    Read More

More about The Representation of Rapunzel on Women's Role

Open Document