Role of Homers Andromache as Representative of Female Race - Research Paper Example

English 23 February Role of Andromache, Lysistrata and Dino as Representative of Female Race Introduction Over the centuries, Literature has projected women in a variety of multi faceted roles such as an epitome of strength and courage, as loving wife and a mother, intelligent strategists, victims as well as manipulators. The three characters i.e. Homer’s Andromache, Aristophanes’ Lysistrata and Virgil’s Dido epitomize all these qualities hence providing to the readers with an interesting amalgamation of various aspects of a woman’s nature and personality. Homer’s Andromache is a character who is a victim of the War of Trojan who suffers at the hand of fate and suffers loss of her husband’s death. Lysistrata is the heroic character who because of her intelligence and with the help of her fellow women is able to put an end to the Trojan War, which shows her strength and portrays her as a master of art of manipulation and strategy. While Dido is the Phoenician Queen who had pledged her loyalties and love to her deceased husband but falls victim to the manipulation of the Love God. Therefore, she falls in love with another man and hence falls from grace and pays the penance for the rest of her life. 2. Character Analysis Regardless of their different roles in the plays, they provide the readers with a variety of tastes of female qualities. Even in their weaknesses, there is strength of character. Some of the common characteristic traits that provide an interesting comparison include courage and strength, role as a wife/companion and importance of their role in their respective plays. 2.1. Courage and Strength Homer’s long epic poem Iliad fundamentally focuses on the War amongst human beings with the intervention of Greek Gods yet the female characters such as Andromache not only makes the war’s account more humane as it gives an insight of the characters’ lives but also shifts the reader’s attention from the battlefield for a short while. Although she might be perceived as a side character with not many dialogues other than crying and pleading with her husband to not to go to war as she says, “Daimonie, you will destroy your life force, nor do you pity your infant son nor me, ill fated, I who will soon be your widow. For soon the Achaeans will kill you, making an attack all together” (166) yet it also projects her keen insight about life and dangers. Hence, she is depicted as an intelligent and intuitive character who is a typical weak woman but she has wisdom that surpasses any form of weakness. As James Miller also points out that, “the character of Andromache is not elaborately drawn; she is in no sense an ideal woman… Andromache is like the characters of Shakespeare which have been descried as, ‘genera that are intensely individualized” (8). On the other hand, Lysistrata from the very beginning of the play is shown to be an intelligent and manipulative woman who has taken upon herself to stop the war that has only caused bloodshed and loss to everyone involved. Hence, she uses a unique way of blackmail to make men see reason. Such confidence and gall to stand against a whole battalion of men not only epitomizes courage and strength but also an extra ordinary intelligence, which was a rarity in itself. As the chorus also grudgingly accepts and applauds her courage by saying, “There is no beast, no rush of fire, like woman so untamed. She calmly goes her way where even panthers would be shamed” (Aristophanes 320). Hence, through Lysistrata’s character Aristophanes not only defied the norms of his times by presenting a brave female protagonist but also enlightened the world about a new side of women who were looked upon as weak and submissive creatures. Dido has a strong sense of loyalty and she takes her duty and responsibility very seriously, which illustrates her strength and bravery. As it is stated in the text, “She began to give them/judgments and rulings, to apportion work/with fairness, or assign some tasks by lot” (Virgil 21). These lines portray her as a fair ruler who cared for her people and considered it her responsibility to look after her husband’s people. Moreover, not many women have the courage to face the world after they have committed a crime of defying the strictures of the society as she did by having an affair with Aneas. 2.2. Role as Wives/Companion Miller states, Andromache represents the large class of devoted and patient women, in whose quiet lives, unseen by the world, faith, hope and love lend their divinest charms to illustrate the heroism of suffering. Such women belong to no age exclusively, they belong to all ages and whenever their lives find utterance in a song or story the world listens with reverence and love (10). These lines very aptly and beautifully describe Andromache’s role as a wife and companion. She is a simple woman who loves her husband very deeply and fears for the safety of her family. Hence, even when she fears for her future yet she emanates this aura of bravery, which is very characteristically female. Although Aristophanes in his play focuses on the humorous portrayal of the sex strike carried out by women. Yet it also provides the readers with an interesting discovery about the protagonist’s role as a wife and companion i.e. she is extremely concerned for her man’s life as well as for the rest of them so she decides to put an end to a war, which was only causing suffering and desolation. Virgil also represents Dido as a strong and passionate woman who loves with all her heart. This is true for both her relationships because her decision of leading and ruling her husband’s people shows that she loved her husband. Then again, the manner in which she throws caution to the wind and has an affair with Aneas again reflects on her passionate and loving nature. As it is also mentioned in the text, “to waken with new love, a living love,/her long settled mind and dormant heart… ached/with longing that her heart's blood fed, a wound/or inward fire eating her away” (Virgil 29,95). 2.3. Importance in the Play Andromache’s role of a loving and caring wife and mother who falls victim to the cruelties of the society and consequences of the war is an antithesis of war. Although she is a passive character as compared to the men and is used as a pawn during the war, yet she also encompasses and symbolizes the true essence of the word ‘woman’ i.e. an embodiment of love, affection and security. Aristophanes not only uses Lysistrata’s character as a tool to introduce a new concept in the conservative Greek society i.e. women are not properties owned by men but also he elevates their status as individuals. This gender role reversal where a woman is the protagonist of the play is the author’s way of reiterating that a man’s purpose in life is not just to cater to his desires and ambitions in fact he has a responsibility towards his family as well. Then again, Lysistrata’s character is also used as a tool to show the importance of marriage and family and to illustrate that peace and harmony leads to bliss while war and fighting is only a waste of time and precious lives. Vetter believes that, Lysistrata does surpass her conventional role as a woman she ultimately applies to her exceptional abilities to elevate traditionally domestic concerns. She is a ‘champion of the domestic front’ on many levels including, ‘the role of the home as guarantor of traditional values, such as religious, social and political ones’ (68). Dido is an integral part of Virgil’s poem because she not only represents a woman’ strength and bravery but also teaches the readers an important lesson about life i.e. this world is a cruel place where society owns an individual and the freedom to live life without restrictions is impossible. However, it also depicts importance of love which holds the power of changing ones life yet at the same time through Dido’s character Virgil also warns that not every ending is a happy ending. Moreover, life is transient and unpredictable so it is better to deal with problems as they arise but one should not let consequences and hardships destroy ones spirit. Unlike Dido who, “so broken in mind by suffering, Dido caught/her fatal madness and resolved to die” (Virgil 38). As Martindale also says, “for Richard Heinz Dido in the ‘tragic epyllion’ of Aeneid is a tragic protagonist who undergoes a sudden peripeteia (reversal) as she falls from the summit of her dream of bliss to her unhappy death” (313). 3. Conclusion Hence, it is observed that the three writers in their own unique way present the readers with their personal interpretation of a woman’s strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, regardless of the differences in the natures of these female characters yet they share some common characteristic traits. Depiction of female characters as courageous, strong and independent also helps in establishing a woman’s status of an individual in the society rather than chattel or object of pleasure. Works Cited Martindale, Charles. The Cambridge Companion to Virgil. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Print. Vetter, Lisa Pace. "Women's work" As Political Art: Weaving and Dialectical Politics in Homer, Aristophanes, and Plato. Oxford: Lexington Books, 20005. Print. Virgil. The Aeneid. New York: Vintage Books, 1984. Print. The. Christian Examiner Vol. 68. Boston: Walker Wise & Co.’s, 1860. Print. The Complete Plays of Aristophanes. New York: Bantam Books, 1968. Print. Read More