~Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes
Women in classical drama are often shown breaking the traditional conventions of women. A classical woman is seen as being sexually passionate. This can be most clearly seen in Lysistrata, when the women are willing to do anything other than give up “the prick” to end Athens’s war with Sparta. They are also seen as being irrational, which one can see in Medea, where Medea wants to kill her husband’s new bride and their children. They are seen as being religiously fervent, which is excellently portrayed in the Bacchae when all of the women of the city leave to pray to Dionysus (even though they were under a spell). Women were meant to be subservient to men which is very clearly not seen in all of the plays. Antigone goes against the will of her king, Medea goes against the will of her husband, the women of Greece go against their husbands in Lysistrata, and the women of Thebes go against the will of their husbands and their king in the Bacchae. They were meant to be kept inside and away from all excitement and all men other than her husband. This rule is broken in all of the aforementioned plays. The characters of these plays are rarely appreciated for their good qualities, and are only cursed for the sole reason that what they think is right is not what the men think is right.
I do not feel that the playwrights are sympathetic toward or respectful of their female characters at all. They make them very stereotypical basic females with no complexity of emotion or action. Their worlds revolve around the men and children in their lives no matter what else the plot may contain. I think that the playwrights would have maintained the stereotypes so as not to upset the audiences, who would have been angered by such a drastic change of the role of women. The only play that even comes close to breaking the stereotype of women is Antigone, because it makes Antigone appear to be wise and logical, and it makes the king appear ignorant and dependant on his crown.
I disagree with this statement. I don't think the women of these plays are stereotypical; I believe they are trying to break the stereotypes but are ultimately tied down to society. Lysistrata, in taking the matter of sexuality into her own hands, and Antigone, in her blatant defiance of authority, are both brave women. Medea, although conforming to the ideal of devotion to her husband, abolishes the equally as treasured idea of motherhood. These women are certainly NOT typical Greek women, and the playwrights, in highlighting their stories, recognize this.
ReplyDelete