Great Works at 10.20am Spring 2015

Gender inequality is very common in a hierarchical society. Men are viewed as superior in every aspect of life that is why it is very uncommon for characters such as Antigone to exist in the time period in which these texts were created. The main character in the Greek tragedy Antigone is a young woman who is unusually defiant with an intense willpower. The story of Antigone focuses on a time in Antigone’s life that is full of turmoil, a time in which she must muster all of her strength and courage to follow her beliefs and bury her brother pollinizes.

Antigone is a noble woman meaning that she is from the upper class in this hierarchical society. Coming from a family full of authority figures it is very likely that Antigone became such a strong young woman by watching the power and success of her family in which she grew up with. Antigone is dealing with the death of both of her brothers and through her grief she must also face the reality that the orders of the new king Kreon go against her beliefs and disrespect her brother Polynisis regardless of what wrong he did while he was living. Antigone takes action when she goes against the king’s orders to leave her brother Polynisis body unburied. In the beginning of the story Antigone reaches out to her sister with the news of what is going on with the new king and the body of Polynisis. “Make up your mind. Will you join me? Share the burden?” Antigone says to her sister Ismene. These words are strong because Antigone is reaching out to her sister yet saying that even if Ismene will not support and help Antigone this is something she must do regardless. I think that this shows the power an action that Antigone embodies. Antigone is a well-spoken, free spirit who strongly follows her beliefs. The intentions and actions of Antigone are very inspiring to women who want to stand up for what they believe in.

By taking action and standing up against political authority to support and follow the authority of the spirits and her role as a sister Antigone shows that she would give everything to do what she thinks is best in this situation. Women have the ability to be powerful figures in society even during times that they where facing significant inequality. The status that Antigone held made it possible for her to be a powerful figure. She is educated, well articulated, free spirited, and loyal and family oriented. Women can do anything they set their minds to. I appreciated the loyalty and strength of the character Antigone.

Women were known to be creatures that are obedient, inferior, and passive, basically they were submissive. Nowadays, in this generation women are independent, more outspoken, rebellious, and sometimes aggressive.  Antigone contains the characteristics of the later. She is a well driven, family oriented person, who is not afraid to speak out about something that she does not agree with it nor does she have any fear in opposing something she does not believe is right. This is evident when she said “he’s got no right to keep me from what’s mine.” In which she was speaking about Kreon basically keeping her brother away from her. She goes after what she wants and does not let anyone stand in her way or dissuade her from what she is after.

Antigone is family oriented because even though her brother, Polyneikes is dead she still remains loyal to him by wanting to give him a proper burial. She is rebellious by defying the authority figure over her, the King of Thebes. Antigone broke the law by burying her brother, even though she knew the consequences that would befall her by breaking the law. She went ahead unmoved by all the threats that were made to her for doing such a thing. She is also independent. She does not need anyone to help her to achieve the task she is aiming to achieve. This is evident when she asked he sister, Ismene to help her bury their brother and Ismene refused because she was afraid of Kreon and his rules. Antigone did not let this affect her; she continued on her way and went to attempt to give her brother a proper burial.

Antigone is a strong independent female who stands up for what she believes in and allows nothing to get in her way. She is a person who does what she sees is right in her eyes and also what the noble thing to do is. If most women followed in her footsteps and contain the characteristics of what a woman is, then women nowadays in this generation would be a set of beautiful, independent, strong, and active women. I personally think that Antigone is a wonderful role model for women who wants to be outspoken. As a woman, independent, brave, bold, outspoken, and not easily persuaded are all qualities that any woman would be loved to be described as and this can be achieved if more women follow Antigone’s footstep of being bold and standing up for what she believes in.

Shauna Fearon

Antigone is one of the most unique female characters I have ever read in the books. Unlike many other pretty or smart female heroines, my first impression of Antigone is that she is brave, fearless, but also stubborn and even a little bit paranoid. She is definitely not perfect. The character flaws of her make herself more vividly.

People always admire Antigone because of her love towards her family and her courageousness to challenge the power and authority of the state. These good qualities are all true. Antigone does love her brothers. She is willing to risk her life to just bury her brother Polyneices, no matter how Ismene disagrees with her. Antigone also love her sister, Ismene. After Antigone is caught, she has a short conversation with Ismene that she wants Ismene has a good life after she died. The most important reason people like her because of her unprecedented actions that reconceived the role of women in society more than 2500 years ago.

Antigone also has many negative traits. Her stubbornness is very obvious throughout her dialogues with Ismene and Kreon. Just like her uncle Kreon, Antigone is headstrong and reckless, never going to quit what she thinks need to be done. Her stubbornness caused her to act before thinking and eventually to commit suicide. Another disadvantage of her is self-righteous. She subjectively judges Kreon is a bad man, but from my point of view, it is a pretty normal way to punish a traitor. On the contrary, her action of burying a traitor is not necessarily legitimate, even that traitor is her brother. Antigone thinks that she did it for love and responsibilities, but she ignores the fact that Ismene and Haemon also love her. They will be sorrowful if Antigone is dead. However, she never put it into consideration. From this point of view, she lacks sympathy for people who cares about her.

To be honest, Antigone would be more fit in today’s society. She’s strong and powerful. She has the quality that many successful women have and more importantly, she is on the side of moral standards.

Sei Shonagon: More than just Black and White

In Sei Shonagon’s times, it was incredibly difficult to become an equal to men amongst society. One important thing to keep in mind is that, in Heian Japan, court women were called after the court title of a male family member. This alone shows the difficulty of women representing their own individuality and not being able to fully obtain their own identity. As for Sei Shonagon, although her real name is unsure, she represents a strong determined women; one who is recognized not by her name but for her work. One of her well-known works, The Pillow Book, gives us a good sense in what kind of person she was. The Pillow Book is a collection of lists, reflections, and journals in which proves her to be a women of many shades; very much complicated, yet simple to understand.

From her lists we can infer that she is a person who appreciates the little things in life. She is very detailed oriented and focuses on things people do not pay mind to. A great example of this would be her first list of the seasons from the year. In the list she describes what she finds lovely in each one of the season; “In Summer…it’s beautiful when fireflies are dancing everywhere in a mazy flight…Rain falling on a summer night is also lovely”(1131). The list continues to show each little detail that makes the season what it really is about. In addition, because the book is a collection of her writings, and the fact that she organizes her writing accordingly; by lists, reflections, and journals, proves once again her organizing and structuring qualities.

Along with the good, there is also bad. In some of her reflections she says judgmental and sharp statements, “A priest who gives a sermon should be handsome.”(1142) Her reason for that is, a nice face will keep anyone interested. Another sharp statement is, “anyone less than attractive will emerge from a nap and a face all greasy and bloated with sleep… How dreary for two such people to have to look each other in the face when they get up”(1151) Although this can be true, we can see that she is a picky person. She is someone that will not associate with just anyone. We are also constantly reminded of how detailed oriented she is, for example things like, “someone wearing a robe with the back seam hitched over to one side” (1151) are distressing for her to see. Those little things get to her and make her to be a person of high standards and elegancy.

This women shows many different sides of a strong women; she possesses good and bad qualities like any other human. She is down to earth, respectful, educated and talented, yet possess a judgmental, and in some ways, close minded personality. However without having any of these qualities, I believe she would just be another regular women; one who doesn’t fully posses their identity, themselves. She is a good representation of women, she demonstrates passion, elegancy and witty-ness; in addition Sei Shonagon represents everyone in general; she has faults like all of us.

Throughout history, women are seen as inferior, and submissive to man. A shadow to their male counterparts. Women are perceived as weak, and docile. Impulsive, and driven by the flesh. In Christine De Pizan, women are seen in a new light. Women are strong, and endearing, women are faithful, virtuous. Women are beautiful. They are goddesses.

Christine is a scholar in pursuit of knowledge. Christine is a thinker who questions the ideas set forth by men. Christine however, is troubled by the times, and a bit lost. Confused. She gives into the view that women are moved by vice, and are imperfect. Despite her better judgment, she is mislead into believing these ideas. Christine is a troubled women, indecisive, and fearful.

Suddenly lady reason, or her voice of reason, would appear, to steer her back on the true and right road. Lady reason is a metaphor, this is her conscious telling her to stay true to her beliefs. Reminding her of the great women of the past. Christine is mentally tired, anguished. Lady reason provides her with clarity, and comfort. Christine always knew what these ladies came to remind her of. Her conscious is speaking to her.

Women are strong beings, and can never allow themselves to forget who they are. Christine has found herself vulnerable, and choose to abandon her beliefs. Her conscious has come to her rescue as depicted by the three ladies. Women of the past, present, and future, are great. Women are virtuous, and noble. No matter what ideals men may try to pass on about females, a women most never forget her worth. Their have been women who have defeated armies, and conquered nations. The true beauty of a women is displayed through Christine in her vulnerability. Christine ultimately comes back to the straight and narrow path. A display of her strength.

Through reading this romantic play, one can get a sense of who a character is as a person.  In the introduction, woman are described in a sensual manor; “Sensuous women in summer love…” Essentially associating a glistening woman on a summer day with warmth and comfort. Rather than focusing on beauty of the mind, physical beauty is what intrigues the men. Sakuntela strikes me as a woman who is angelic and beautiful. Her way of living is quite interesting. she derives from an ascetic lifestyle She is the daughter of a nobleman who has had many hardships in life and has lived to provide for his family. Her only form of work is to assist her father in watering his trees.

Dusyanta, powerful king of the palaces, encounters Sakuntela on a hunting expedition. He is a amazed of how beautiful she is considering she lives in the forest. He utters, “these forest woman have beauty rarely seen inside royal palaces…” Sakuntela is self-sufficient and has maintained herself using limited resources. The king’s admiration flatters Sakunela but if quick to deny his company. It is as if she enjoyed being pursued and taunted by a handsome man.  It is quite humorous that Sakuntela is worthy of him simply because he sexually desires her If it were the other way around, she would be considered a savage with no sense of moral. At first she ignores his flattering words but after persisting nagging from Anasuya and Priyamvada to purse a romantic relationship; she decides to give in into his affection. This demonstrates how naïve Sakuntela is and how easily she is influenced by other people.

The affair escalates to marriage as a simple ceremony with witnesses only by friends of Sakuntela. He soon leaves the forest to attend his royal duties as king, with the understanding that he will soon return and take Sakuntela with him as promised.  Lost in her wittedness she fails to recognize Sage Durvasa whom many respect and admire. For lack of acknowledgment from her part, he then puts a curse on her so that her loved one will forget of her completely. She soon discovers she is pregnant and long awaits for her beloved to arrive. Unfortunately many years have passed and begins to doubt his return. She soon pursues on a journey to find Dusyanta and claim paternity of his child. He then claims to have had no affiliation with such dreadful woman and is quick to rid her out of his palace. Angered and agonized she leaves with her son and is forced to live as a single mother. Contrary to how she was at the beginning of the story, Sakuntela is now the one who does the pursing and is not thrilled in doing so. The only way he is to remember her is for her to present said ring he bestowed upon her.

Anasuya and Priyamvada were mostly the ones who guided Sakuntela to the path she is led. She let her faith be taken by influence and hope. Luckily she was recognized and taken in by the king. If it was up to Sakuntela, she would have remained the forest and live the simple life. Sakuntela suggest that life should not be led by influences and faith. As an individual, one has to create their own future not have others do it for you.

Neli Llangari

Treachery and deceit; these are the paramount characteristic of women during the extended introduction of “The Thousand and One Nights.” Readers are inundated with scenarios of woman, no wives, betraying their husbands. These the most noble of partners were sibling Kings who are both betrayed by their wives and even forced by another woman to assist in her betrayal. It could be expected that this story would revolve around this woman who succumb endlessly to primal desires. Snakes.
Yet, just as readers settle into the idea of immature and short minded women are they welcome Shahrazad. She is the the eldest daughter of the King’s vizier. She enters the scene a complete contradiction of what could be expected of the women of this story. A studious young lady she studied poetry, history, philosophy, and medicine. As she enters the scene readers are stuck by her immense empathy for all those affected by the King’s retribution. Though the vizier attempts to dissuade his daughter from her mission she stands firm on the issue and does not waver. Her feelings of right and wrong are so strong that she argues against her father knowing that her decision could cost her life. This is a woman of fortitude and fearlessness. Shahrazad is a stark contradiction to the women the story began with. She is far from fickle and overwrought with bodily impulses. This woman is able to understand the how the actions of one can affect another. She has been educated in many areas and her moral commitment cannot allow her to stand idly by to injustice. Sentimental.
As women are slain night after night the loss of live and its impact on the people cannot be ignored by Shahrazad. Her cunning mind devises a simple but dangerous plan to bring it all to an end. The plan set forth is for a woman to send themselves into the Kings Palace as his wife to entertain him with a story and postponing the ending until the following night. Doing so would halt the practice of slaying his wife the night after they married. Failure of any kind would cost this woman her life. But success would cease the endless mourning and death. Selfless.
Throughout most early literature from this area women have been portrayed as immature, dimwitted, and consumed with selfish desires. This book allows for an immense departure from the norm of dim witted amoral women. Shahrazad is a stark contrast to the typical woman found in early writing. She is a woman of conviction, empathy, courage, and intelligence. Here readers are presented with a view of a female protagonist. This story displays woman who ingeniously saves the land. Here readers are taught that women can think cognitively and help but not force men back on a righteous path.

Kareem Wright

In many cultures and civilizations women always been seen as inferior to men. Their “job” or “role” is to be passive and obedient towards men. You was never to go against or disagree with anything one of an higher authority of you, let alone men period. In the play Antigone, Antigone is the exact opposite of how women are “suppose” to act and her sister Ismene “resembles” women.

Antigone: “The city is forbidden to mourn him or bury him … That’s the clear order our good general gives you and me.”

Ismene: “You want to bury him? Break the law?”

Antigone: “I’m going to bury my brother – your brother! with or without your help. I won’t betray him.”

Immediately Antigone is determined to do what she believes is right for her brother, whether she have her sisters help or not. She is someone who sticks to her word, brave but also disobedient. Knowing the consequences of anyone who violates the King’s law (will be stoned to death in their own city), still insists on burying her brother. As the conversation goes on between her and her sister, Ismene tries to convince her to change her mind. Antigone becomes very stubborn and aggressive with her reassuring “I’ll do whats honorable, and then I’ll die!” She suggests women fight for what they believe in and desire.

Ismene: “….If we deny the Kings proclamation and his power. Remember we’re women. How can we fight men. They’re stronger. We must accept these things – and worse to come. I want the Spirits of the Dead to understand this: I’m not free. I must obey whoever’s in charge….” On the other hand her sister is strictly passive, scared, and obedient towards authority. She rather hide her feelings and beliefs than do whats right for her family on her brothers behalf.

When Antigone have to face her consequences, she then begins to give women a different character which contradicts the type of person she was in the beginning. Slowly she gets frighten of her actually getting put to death. She also tries to justify her actions eliminating the whole dominate and aggressive demeanor; which goes back to what the King said “stubborn spirits are the first to crack.”

In conclusion, in today’s society Antigone would be seen as a powerful women that other females look up to. They would admire and see nothing wrong with what she’s trying to accomplish. She’ll definitely got more people to help her and support going against the higher authorities. Women today are all in for fighting to be heard and what they want being that they’re still discriminated against due to the fact that they are women and “men are better, stronger and smarter” than women.

In many different cultures and societies, women have struggled to be accepted as equal to men. The stereotypes of women and men have always been a problem. In some cases there are women who are not able to do what they want because they are supposed to do what men say. However, there are some circumstances in which women do what they want without thinking about any reaction from men. A good example is the character Antigone, in the story “Sophocles”. After losing her two brothers in battle, Antigone decides to bury her brother Polyneikes who was in rebellion against his other brother. In this society, it was against the law to bury someone who is in rebellion and yet Antigone did not care about what was correct or not for society. She just wanted to give a decent funeral to her brother and she did.

Some people could think this girl was doing something wrong, not only because society didn’t allow women or men to bury a person in rebellion, but because there was a woman standing up against a society and a king to do what she felt was right. Most people in the story would say women should do what Antigone’s sister, Ismene, says: “Remember, we’re women. How can we fight men? They’re stronger. We must accept these thing and worse to come. I want the Spirit of Dead to understand this: I am not free. I most obey whoever’s in charge” (P. 750:). This clearly shows a weak woman who is willing to “obey whoever’s in charge” because she’s not strong enough to do what she wants. It’s easy to think women in this society were “Not free”, mainly because in this society they did not have any power. Women depended on men to take any decision, and thus embracing what society demanded from them. However, Antigone is a woman who would not do what society says everybody should. She will act on her own desires.

Antigone is a woman who is prepared to bury her brother at any cost. She says “I am going to bury my brother- your brother! – With or without your help. I won’t betray him” (p. 749). This shows how Antigone has decided to bury her brother with or without her sister’s help. When she says “I won’t betray him” it suggests she’s the kind of woman who is loyal to her brother. In addition, Antigone says “I’ll do what’s honorable and then I’ll die” (p.750). Antigone knows that her actions may cost her life, but she was not scared because she is doing what she thinks is the right thing to do. Also, Antigone says “I deny that your edicts – since you, a mere man, impose them – have the force to trample on the Gods’ unwritten and infallible law” (p.759). This is important because it illustrates how Antigone acts according to her belief in God’s law, regardless of what men say is the law. This is why she sees burying her brother as something good because that is what family should do with their members. Moreover, Antigone says “you made your choice to live. I chose to die” (p.761). She “chose to die” because according to God’s law bury her brother is what is correct and she rather do that and die than be against what she believes right and live.

Antigone suggests that women should be able to fight for their desires. All women must do what they have to do in order to achieve their wishes, and men should not stop them. Women should be able to do, act and work for their needs and goals not worrying about what a man could do against them. Women and men should have the same rights. Nobody says it is going to be easy or simple to get what women want in a world that is led by men. There is a price, and even if it may be death, women should keep fighting for their rights. Antigone illustrates the way women are strong and capable of achieving what they want.

Anyel Rijo

Priyamvada, a young female ascetic, is one of the best friends of Sakuntala. Her identity and behaviors remind me the godmother of Cinderella; both of them wish their heroines have a good marriage and a happy life. They drive the plot by helping our hero and heroine to be together. Priyamvada is humorous, but she has a big mouth; she is sophisticate but dishonest. Priyamvada directly causes Sakuntala’s curse, and the way that she hides the truth lead to Sakuntala’s abandon.

Priyamvada is humorous. She always makes fun of Sakuntala, laughing at her breasts, saying she longs a husband. Her humor makes her active. Her joke of marriage foreshadows Sakuntala’s secret marriage. She jokes that Sage Kanva is looking for a “suitable husband” for Sakuntala, which gives confidence to Dusyanta to chase Sakuntala. However, humorous people always come with a big mouth, and Priyamvada is one of them. When Sage Durvasas responses to the rite, Priyamvada tells him that Sakuntala’s heart is “far away”. Durvasas gets angry and then curses Sakuntala. If Priyamvada keeps silent, nothing will happen.

Priyamvada is sophisticate. She notices Sakuntala is in a period of longing love. She understands the love attachment between Sakuntala and Dusyanta. When she notices Sakuntala is sick because of the love to him, she tells her to “compose a poem to declare your love”. She speaks actively for Sakuntala to reveal the love to Dusyanta, since Sakuntala’s modesty and good breeding prevent her from doing that. Then, she leaves Sakuntala and the King alone when they need space. After financial crisis, we know that sophisticate people are dishonest, same as Priyamvada. She knows about the curse, but she doesn’t tell Sakuntala clearly. Instead, she states “if the king seems slow to recognize you, show him the ring engraved with his name!”  Without knowing the truth, everyone will treat this as a general care, including Sakuntala.

People may say it is Sakuntala’s own fate leads to her abandon. I don’t want to argue about the realistic of fate. Instead of relying on a faraway “fate”, or destiny, I believe in the solid fact that Priyamvada does cause the curse and Sakuntala’s abandon because of Priyamvada’s characters.

In conclusion, people, especially girls, think they can rely on their best friend. But, they should also consider that best friends may be the biggest threat of your life. Priyamvada is very nice and does help Sakuntala a lot, but she also attributes to Sakuntala’s sadly life as a single mother.