Feminist Literary Criticism and Lysistrata Essay -- Literary Analysis,

Classically, women playwrights are almost completely absent. There were about no women writers at all up until at least the seventeenth century. This fact originally led feminist critics to disregard the classical period. In an article titled Classical Drag The Greek Creation of feminine Parts, Sue Ellen Case states that because traditional scholarship has focused on turn up related to written texts, the absence of women playwrights became central to early feminist investigations (132). despite this absence of female writers, feminist critics analyze the role of women in antediluvian patriarch Greece in other ways. Recently, feminist writers have been able to delve still into the classical period by examining female characters from the flora of male playwrights. The manifestation of women in male literature is extremely important. Peter Barry, in his chapter on feminist literary criticism in his book Beginning guess An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory, asserts t hat observing the female characters in works by men is important because it provides role models which indicated to women, and men, what constituted acceptable edition of the feminine and legitimate feminine goals and aspirations (122). Looking into the roles of the women within the works helps us determine the kind of role women and men occupy in sexual intercourse to each other in addition to the personal characteristics of the women. This insight into the transaction between men and women adds a new layer of knowledge for feminist critics. The depiction of women by women writers differs greatly from the depiction of women by male writers. Women, as represented by men, represent stereotypes of actual women. That is, the feminist critic may assume that the images of... ...ial and cultural evidence of the role of women in ancient Greece. condescension the fact that he is indeed a man, Aristophanes does a good frolic capturing certain aspects of his female characters their driv e to succeed, their natural coquettishness, the general desire to discontinue war diplomatically, and their devout servitude to the gods. Aristophanes also has a very firm fag of the social situation of women in his time. For example, he knows where the line of rebellion would be drawn if the husbands forced the wives into having sex, they must relent. He knows how the ultimately defer to their husbands judgment, particularly in political matters. Lastly, he knows that their concerns are chiefly domestic. However, he in the main misunderstands or misrepresents many aspects of the female character. The feminist literary critic would be quick to point these discrepancies out.