It & # 39

women have made an exceedingly great impact on the world’s economical, social, and political spectrum. However, women are still deemed inferior to men in past and present cultures. The inferiority of women has been portrayed through various avenues such as literature and written works. The Virgil’s Aeneid and Ovid’s Metamorphoses’ women characters are three perfect depictions of how women in today’s society are dominated, disregarded, and discredited.

In the poem The Odyssey, women play a major role, although it may not appear to be that way. The poem is centered around Odysseus adventures to return back to his wife Penelope. Without Penelope, there would be no story, which shows that the woman are a bigger part of this poem than people think. The women in The Odyssey are either seen as goddesses or they are treated as if they are a monster. Some even being turned into slaves.

What is a woman’s role in society? Do they serve any significance apart from a man? Are women simply here to marry, create families, and then blend into the background? Kenneth Koch’s poem, Permanently, is a comedic story created by making characters out of the parts of speech. Through this poem he has created a world along with a love story weaved throughout the lines. If taken at surface level, the most obvious theme in this poem is love. Upon taking a closer look, by using the parts of speech as characters in this poem, we are given a message of one’s belief as to what a woman’s role truly is. While this poem is written in a comedic fashion which makes it seem as if the speaker is poking fun at this idea, there is the running love story which makes this poem seem almost lyrical. These two themes of love and a woman’s significance are both very strong throughout the poem.

The society always queries about the role of women and for centuries, they have struggled to find their place in a world that is predominantly male oriented. The treatment of women was remarkably negative; they were expected to stay home and fulfil the domestic duties. Literature of that time embodies and mirrors social issues of women in society (Lecture on the Puritans). But, slowly and gradually, situation being changed: “During the first half of the 19th century, women 's roles in society evolved in the areas of occupational, moral, and social reform. Through efforts such as factory movements, social reform, and women 's rights, their aims were realized and foundations for further reform were established” (Lauter 1406). Feminist poets like Emily Dickinson and Anne Bradstreet talked substantially about feminism in different lights in the past two centuries. They were very vocal and assertive about their rights and the ‘rights for women’ in general. While they might have been successful at making a good attempt to obliterate gender biases but still there are lot of disparities between the two genders. Nevertheless, their poetry reflects a deep angst.

Women have determined the course of events and the forms of human culture. Women originated, founded, governed, prophesized, created great art, fought for our rights, and for our people. Female boldness had in many societies been required simply to defend personal liberty and self-determination, carving out space to act in spite of patriarchal constraints, to become what the English called “a woman at her own commandment.” These women were edited out of history, their stories omitted, distorted and replaced with men. Women have been relocated to the footnotes of history, and even those highly selective (Dahsu, Max

Injustices were performed against women for a long period of time. Women were treated unfairly and never had the chance to show society that they can succeed. Whether a woman was dead or alive, they were not cared about, but when a woman makes a mistake she is judged and not treated with the respect that she deserves. In “A Woman Speaks” by Audre Lorde, she presents the idea that women weren’t treated like they were supposed to and how women are equal to men. In her poem, she states:

During the turn of the 19th century in Europe, doctrines such as the napoleonic code, and earlier writings from philosophers like Rousseau continued to have a direct impact on how women were seen and treated within society. Virginia Woolf, a 20th century author wrote on how these writings changed societies perception of women and what their roles should be in the eyes of men. In her book, A room of ones own, she writes, “A very queer, composite being thus emerges. Imaginatively she is of the highest importance: practically she is completely insignificant.”1. Virginia Woolf was able to understand the power of these writings during the

“A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society, with laws framed by men and with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view” (Isben). In literature, two prominent stories involving women stand out and these are the stories of Eve and Medea. Both of these women went through a conflict within their society where they were judged by their peers. Their judgments were in a situation where they were ruled by a masculine overtone. Throughout history, women have always been viewed differently than men. In today’s society, there are examples in films and in the way women are represented within the workplace. To illustrate this point, the documentation in literature and relations to modern society will lend proof. Even though within literature and today's society women are often viewed as inferior to men, women can fight back against the prejudices facing them.

Anne Bradstreet was America’s and England’s first published poet which was big news for the people from the 1600’s. Bradstreet was a puritan and as you know a women’s role in that century was to be wives and mothers. All they were expected to do was to take care of their family’s and the house. It is the 21st century and all the woman now are treated equally as a man, they can have a job and the right to vote for example. I can’t imagine myself living in that century because I don’t like to be a housewife. I have always worked and that would have been hard for me. Bradstreet ( who wrote epic and lyric poetry, put the transgressive into play, assuming masks and subverting what the mainstream considers a man’s

The role of women in the society is always questioned and for centuries, they have struggled to find their place in a world that is predominantly male oriented. The treatment of women was extremely negative; they were expected to stay home and fulfill domestic duties. Literature of that time embodies and mirrors social issues of women in society (Lecture on the Puritans). But, slowly and gradually, situation being changed: “During the first half of the 19th century, women 's roles in society evolved in the areas of occupational, moral, and social reform. Through efforts such as factory movements, social reform, and women 's rights, their aims were realized and foundations for further reform were established” (Lauter 1406). Feminist poets like Emily Dickinson and Anne Bradstreet talked substantially about feminism in different lights in the past two centuries. They were very vocal and assertive about their rights and the ‘rights for women’ in general. While they might have been successful at making a good attempt to obliterate gender biases but still there are lot of disparities between the two genders. Nevertheless, their poetry reflects a deep angst.

Human nature has its way of dictating through all periods in time. While things have changed, people have not. Humans have learned from their mistakes, but the human instinct remains the same. Throughout time, women have held a dominance in society, even though women’s rights were lacking. In the works of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock, and William Butler Yeats’ Leda and the Swan, women did not have the rights they deserve in these points of time, but all were dominant characters in the works.

“The problem facing women, according to Kramarae, is that further discussions about how the world works never take place on a level playing field. Because of their political dominance, the men’s system of perception is dominated, impeding the free expression of women’s alternative models of the world” (Griffin, 2012). The playing field is still sloped in favor of men; women are working hard to push past the masculine linguistics that takes place and forms a stereotype on the female gender.

Throughout history, gender equality has been a recurring issue. In different cultures across the world there has been an imbalance between the roles of men and women in society. Women, in particular, have had a difficult time being treated with the same respect and privileges as men. In society today gender equality as become less of an issue because women have fought hard to be where they are today. Starting from early civilization, men have held the power within government and society, while women have been seen as housewives. This can be seen through many literary works, which tells a lot about the time in which the work was written. Many authors represent the time period they live in through the ideas in their works. In “Assemblywomen”, Aristophanes shows that in that time period, the role women played in society was that of the housewife. They were thought of as the person who should be taking care of housework and the men were the ones who were in charge of the government. In “Vagabond” the author, Colette, shows the struggles that women faced trying to live on their own in a society where the men have been the ultimate breadwinners. Through Plato’s “Republic”, he shows a different viewpoint on the role that women should play in society.

The fact is that in patriarchal societies, women have been debased and humiliated to the extent that they have almost been denied their rights as human beings. They have been regarded as subordinate to men. This prejudice committed against women has deprived them, as Simone De Beauvoir puts it, from ''any sense of their identity''. She maintains:

In my “Womanish,” poem I displayed how many women's reputation are disrupted by men because in the modern world women let themselves be pushed around by their husband since they truly love them. They’re blinded by love allowing themselves to become weaker. Women mostly are seen as people who obey all their husband says, cleans and cooks when it’s asked. The Woman's reputation is being ruined by serving others, when they don't