Christina, though also losing her feminine figure, proves to be the strength against the patriarchy. For instance, Christina tries to disguise herself by dressing like a man and running away from her husband. In doing this, she stands up for herself and for the woman that she is, saying to her conscious that is controlled by patriarchal thought, “And making herself known by raising her finger…’Why delay, fugitive? Why do you respect your feminine sex? Put on manly courage and mount the horse like a man’. At this she put aside her fears” (Petroff 146). This is not to say that Christina wishes she were a man, but rather she is saying that women should respect and believe in themselves.
Again, Smith brings up a valid point, “The maleness of ascetic
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H. Talbot, she states, “Her visions and prophecies show a strong yet imaginative mind, which expressed in this way her moral convictions and her insight into events and character and which gave her the support and comfort she needed to maintain a chosen course of action” (484). It is clear that although Christina of Markyate was in fact a woman, that she was strong minded and that the patriarchal roles in her life were afraid of what she could do. Because she was strong in her convictions, her father trusted her and the Bishop forced her to marry Burthead. Through this, the reader can see that she conquered the patriarchy by making them fear her and what she was capable of, but also did so by respecting her and believing in her character, even though she was a woman. She fully represents a rebel to the social norm in her actions and through her visions. A rebellious medieval woman first and foremost would not marry; they would decide to become a part of the church themselves, rather than being forced to in order to please their Heavenly Father. Through the readings of Christina of Markyate and Hrosvit of Gandersheim’s Mary, the reader can see that a rebellious medieval woman, like Christina of Markyate, would leave her marriage and refuse to consummate it, or like the character of Mary, would become sexually curious and
Medieval England was considered to be a Patriarchy, due to the serious gender roles which cast men as superior to women. Margery Kempe attempted time and time again to break the boundaries of the gender roles put in place by society. The men in her life tried to stop her, and bring her back to the social norms of what it meant to be a women living in the time period: John Kempe, her priest, Christ etc. To analyze Kempe, it is first important to note what was expected of medieval women; “the classical females are portrayed as vessels of chastity, purity, and goodness” (O’Pry-Reynolds, 37). She was not your typical female; she wanted to break free from the strict expectations of women; “Men and women of the medieval period and medieval literature
Saint Christina of Markyate’s story provides more than the religious experiences of a hermit, it presents twelfth-century life in, mostly, the Huntington area of England in a very detailed manner. Baptized as Theodora, Christina of Markyate’s path of religious devotion is claimed to have begun in her early teen years with a vow of chastity (35). This vow was only known to one other person, a close friend named Sueno, until her parents attempted to arrange a marriage for her. Being described as attractive and intelligent, as well as coming from a wealthy family, this was not uncommon for women in Christina’s lifetime. Upon declining the first suitor, a bishop, her hardships begin and, at times, seem as though they were both unlikely to end and
Medieval female saints and martyrs were intended to be chaste if they were single and virtuous if they are married. They were also extremely devoted and pure to Christ, not giving in to any temptations. Kempe seemed to be tempted by men, but then immediately followed by shame. On the other hand, she posses’s qualities the saints share like, visions, passion, a desire to be chaste and, commitment. Saint Margaret of Antioch is one of the saints that appears often in “The Book of Margery Kempe”.
We come to scene which is most important when talking about dependency on male counterparts. Evey is caught in the act of prostitution by fingermens who then decide to do whatever they want with her and even kill her but that’s when V a character from V for Vendetta comes to rescue Evey as a damsel in distress (Moore and Lloyd 6). This shows how Evey’s character is defenseless and couldn’t take on a masculine role and is instead waiting for someone in a masculine role to come and save her. By showing that scene Moore and Lloyd have separated male from a female according to their bodies and their representation of masculine and feminine. In an article about gender stereotyping and under-representation of female character in children’s picture
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.
Alexander Mussap stresses how “women and men are socialized to conform to gender-stereotyped roles” and this conformity heavily influences all their actions (Mussap). Christina explains her situation as “a lady cadet in a man’s world” reflecting how, in the perspective of a woman, the world is fixed around men’s standards and needs (Brooks ). When Christina talks about the plane incident, it is clear that she is angry at herself, highlighting how she “was squatting over a bucket like a goddamn girl” underlining the idea that doing something “like a girl” is not something to be proud of (Brooks 175). Christina beats herself up about something that she cannot realistically take the blame for. This is because society has promoted the idea that women are the inferior gender, and that everything they do has a negative connotation linked to it. At the end of the chapter, when Gavin Blaire has his suspicions of Mets, Christina immediately jumps to the defense, which makes readers question would Gavin Blaire even be questioning Christina’s sanity and story if she were to be a man. Authors Natasha Patterson and Camilla Sears discuss how society “[let’s] men off the hook” and elaborate further how in general men “suffer few consequences, particularly career or publicity wise, and the public seems no longer shocked by it” (Patterson and
When I observe literature works of Medieval and Renaissance period, a man success is determine by the roles of women. I heard a famous quote say "behind a great man there is a amazing woman". As I examine literature works, in the Medieval time of "Sir Gawain and Green Knight "and the Renaissance period of The Faerie Queene of Book I. We have two extraordinary Christian like figures Sir Gawain and Red Crosse who represent Christianity in their respectably time period . Both men endured several tests and have sinned against God. While these men were in the mist of their downfall, they had significant woman who guided them along way to find Christ again. I will view the roles of women like Lady Bertilak of Sir Gawain and Una of the Red Crosse
Christine De Pizan’s work in The Book of The City of Ladies pioneers a new genre of feminist literature that exposes a time period from the perspective of its female population. Due to this, De Pizan justifiably earns the title of a revolutionary author. However, to say that De Pizan revolutionized the conditions of women in the medieval ages and onward is an overstatement. In her book, De Pizan critiques sexist arguments in order to defend women against misogyny. The change that De Pizan presented in medieval culture was gradual because she was attempting to amend people’s perspectives on women rather than offer any institutional rectifications. She worked to establish that women can be just as mighty as men, and thus, they are not innately inferior. However, her goal was not to ensure that women have equal access to exercise and pursue their virtuous roles. Therefore, if observed
She tells the girl to “walk like a lady” (320), “hem a dress when you see the hem coming down”, and “behave in front of boys you don’t know very well” (321), so as not to “become the slut you are so bent on becoming” (320). The repetition of the word “slut” and the multitude of rules that must be obeyed so as not to be perceived as such, indicates that the suppression of sexual desire is a particularly important aspect of being a proper woman in a patriarchal society. The young girl in this poem must deny her sexual desires, a quality intrinsic to human nature, or she will be reprimanded for being a loose woman. These restrictions do not allow her to experience the freedom that her male counterparts
The novel 'The Chrysalids' explains the journey of a young boy, David Strorm, who has telepathic abilities despite living in an anti-mutant society Waknuk. He begins to question and arises doubts as to whether the laws set in Waknuk could be wrong. There are several female characters involved in David's life and through these women we could see that the women in the novel act as bystanders, protectors and are used just for the purpose of 'pure' reproducton.
They had to sacrifice their motherhood in some form or another in order to gain success in other aspects of their lives. Joan, a young girl wanted to have an education and so she ran away from home under the disguise of a boy to gain higher knowledge which was not an option for a girl in her time. Joan stated, “I dressed as a boy when I left home”… “I was only twelve. Also women weren’t/allowed in the library. We wanted to study in Athens” (8). Joan having to disguise herself as a boy, showed that women were not allowed to have an education; they had limited opportunities. However, under the disguise as a male, Joan was given the opportunity to be a pope, a role generally reserve for a man. Nevertheless, it was discovered that she was a female when she gave birth in public and hence, she was stoned to death. Even other women who did not have to choose between motherhood and career, were unable to get promoted even if they were more qualified than men. This is due to the gender gap and the historical male domination. Louise, who came for a job interview at Marlene’s employment agency stated, “Nobody notices me, I don’t expect it, I don’t attract attention by making mistakes, everybody takes it for granted that my work is perfect” (52). This illustrates that even though the feminist movement had made significant advances in gender equality, there are still limitations in inequality concerning
A Feminist Perspective of The Lady of Shalott In an essay on feminist criticism, Linda Peterson of Yale University explains how literature can "reflect and shape the attitudes that have held women back" (330). From the viewpoint of a feminist critic, "The Lady of Shalott" provides its reader with an analysis of the Victorian woman's conflict between her place in the interior, domestic role of society and her desire to break into the exterior, public sphere which generally had been the domain of men. Read as a commentary on women's roles in Victorian society, "The Lady of Shalott" may be interpreted in different ways. Thus, the speaker's commentary is ambiguous: Does he seek to reinforce the institution of patriarchal society as he "punishes" the Lady with her death for her venture into the public world of men, or does he sympathize with her yearnings for a more colorful, active life?
Women’s lives are represented by the roles they either choose or have imposed on them. This is evident in the play Medea by Euripides through the characters of Medea and the nurse. During the time period which Medea is set women have very limited social power and no political power at all, although a women’s maternal and domestic power was respected in the privacy of the home, “Our lives depend on how his lordship feels”. The limited power these women were given is different to modern society yet roles are still imposed on women to conform and be a dutiful wife.
In Medea, by Euripides, conflicts play a major role in the creation of the play. Some examples of these conflicts are with Medea and Jason, Medea and herself, and Medea and Creon. Medea is shown to be a strong, independent woman who does what she wants as well as doesn’t let anything stand in her way. She shares qualities of a traditional male at the time, and the qualities of a traditional female. Euripides makes this clear in the play by creating conflicts to prove women can be a powerful character and that the play in general challenges the idea of misogyny.
From the expansion days of Ancient Rome to the fall of the Roman Empire, women have always succumbed to living subjacent to the status of their omnipotent and dominant male figures. After leaving her childhood home and the rule of her father, a young Roman girl would then be coerced into the dominion of her husband, often taking a plethora of roles, ranging from lover, caretaker, and best friend. It is often lightheartedly stated that, “Behind every great man is an even greater woman,” and William Shakespeare exemplifies this concept beautifully in Julius Caesar, in which he effectively used the spouses of the two main characters to add more depth, drama, and literary elements to the play, bringing it to life. Although the only two female characters in Julius Caesar, Portia and Calpurnia do not play a pivotal role in the overall plot of the story, their presence is vital in illuminating and developing the characters of their husbands, Brutus and Caesar. What they reveal about their husbands leads the reader to infer that Portia is the more admirable and redeeming character.