The film The Trojan Women is an anti-war film not only condemning the emotional and societal affects of war in general, but also focusing on the effects of such conflicts upon women in particular. This focus allows the story to be more universally relevant, particularly so to the mothers, wives, and daughters who watched the men in their lives being called to serve in the Vietnam War, and subsequently watched the harrowing television coverage of hundreds of body bag being shipped back home. Although the film is set in Troy, an invaded nation, and the Vietnam War was waged in a land far away from the average viewer, the effect on women was very similar. In both cases, they were forced to sit at home and hope for a favorable outcome. When it began to be clear that a victory was not to be had, they had to deal with the reality of never being able to see their father, brother, husband, or son again. Along with this experience was the natural inclination to question why such a fate was theirs, why they were left without a lover, protector, or child, and what was to become of their futures. The character of Hecuba, who has lost her husband, son, and later loses her grandson in the ravages of war strongly portrays the vacillating emotions experienced by those left behind. She is at times strong, protective of Cassandra, demanding to know the fate of her family, and wrathful toward Helen, demanding that King Menelaus dispense with her immediately. Other times she is mournful and
Authors of “Breaking Tradition” and “A Family Affair” both use different writing styles to support the claim that war changed women’s lives. Women went from working as housemaids or raising children to be considered more of an equal part of society. Each author uses their own views to support the claim that war changed the lives of women.
However, not all the change created by the war was negative. In Regret to Inform many of the wives, although they still missed their significant other, managed to take something positive from their husband’s death. The wives that refused to be stuck in the negative, were able to take a moral from their unfortunate situation, and
The film titled, “The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter”, looks at the roles of women during and after World War II within the U.S. The film interviews five women who had experienced the World War II effects in the U.S, two who were Caucasian and three who were African American. These five women, who were among the millions of women recruited into skilled male-oriented jobs during World War II, shared insight into how women were treated, viewed and mainly controlled. Along with the interviews are clips from U.S. government propaganda films, news reports from the media, March of Time films, and newspaper stories, all depicting how women are to take "the men’s" places to keep up with industrial production, while reassured that their
Many people question if women went into the war because of patriotism or because they lacked other opportunities. Women responded to the call differently depending on age, race, class, marital status, and number of children. They switch from lower-paying female jobs to higher-paying factory jobs. While patriotism influenced women,
This chapter covers the transition of Mary Anne Bell, of how she changed from being a normal, sweet teenage girl to being one of the Green Berets, filled with enthusiasm for the war and intrigued with the culture of Vietnam. This message is about how the innocence of women is consumed by the war and how once they begin to learn more about it, they are hopelessly entranced by it, far from returning to their usual selves. Rat talks about how, “Anne made you think about those girls back home, how they'll never understand any of this, not in a billion years. Try and tell them about it, they’ll just stare at you with those big round candy eyes. They won't understand zip.”(O’Brien 108), and this shows that women won’t understand what Vietnam really is like, they have to experience it themselves. Women also won’t understand the grueling mental pain that soldiers experience in the war.
The movie The Trojan Women (1971) is a successful and compelling contemporary adaption of the tragedy The Trojan Women, written by Euripides. Overall, the film follows the whole plot very well and depicts the main characters of Euripides’ work expressly, especially characters like Cassandra, Andromache, and Helen. Although the director of the film has made a few slight alterations, audience can feel Trojan women’s grief and pain and comprehend the plot with no trouble.
When the American Civil War began on April 12th, 1861, over 3 million Union and Confederate soldiers prepared for battle. Men from all over America were called upon to support their side in the confrontation. While their battles are well documented and historically analyzed for over a hundred years, there is one aspect, one dark spot missing in the picture: the role of women in the American Civil War. From staying at home to take care of the children to disguising themselves as men to fight on the battlefield, women contributed in many ways to the war effort on both sides. Though very few women are recognized for their vital contributions, even fewer are
The rambunctious behavior of the soldier’s triumphant victory is a strong message visually for the viewer. These soldiers struggle to find their identity and once the war ends, the identity they’ve build at war vanishes, (McCutcheon, 2007). As a result, they essentially lose a part of them selves, (McCutcheon, 2007). When they return home, many soldiers struggle with psychological issues that prevent them from resuming their once regular lives, (McCutcheon, 2007). The images of soldiers celebrating at the end of war give the viewer a taste of this problem. This also allows the viewer insight to the deeper issues surrounding an American soldier’s mental stability and mentality. Through this image, along with many others throughout the film, the viewer is able to dig deeper and truly analyze what they are seeing.
Ever since then women proved that they can work in a man’s workplace and do just as well. Any job that was a man’s, was a women’s as well. Women were soon “the most needed workers of all” according to Brenda Ralf Lewis. Factory workers became known as “the soldiers without guns”. If women hadn’t stepped up to the line, winning the war wouldn’t have been as easy as it was for us. Not only did the women in factories and shipyards have a big part in doing their part in the war contributions, but so did the women who were out on the field fighting alongside with their men risking their very life.
When the war started, women had to take over the jobs of men and they learned to be independent. These women exemplified the beginning of change. Coupled with enfranchisement and the increased popularity of birth control, women experienced a new
In The Things We Carried, We learned that men are not the only one’s that have part of the war but, also that women are part of the war as well. Have you ever thought that you as a women ever wanted to be part of the war? To want everyone in the world believe that a women can also be apart of the war? Well to demonstrate to you there are three young courageous women in The Things They Carried, that want us women to become apart of the war. Back in the 1950’s women had rights to be in the war and to help take care of men that were wounded severely.
Women, regardless of the opposition, were determined to support their armies and their beliefs even on the battlefield. The North and South armies of the country were fighting without proper organization from their respective governments, leading women to volunteer to help their men in whatever manner they could. Contributing to the war effort, women were “responsible for much of the clothing, feeding, and nursing of the soldiers.”18 Women would cook and do the laundry for the soldiers, working in camps away from the battlefield. Other women would provide comfort for the dying soldiers, nurturing the wounded and staying with the men who were dying until their last moments. Their efforts were to offset the fact that the wounded men were separated from their loved ones and “represented domestic tranquility in the midst of armed conflict.”19 Women were not prohibited from nursing injured soldiers because it was “not yet a profession requiring special training…care of the sick and injured was traditionally a female skill”20. Nursing was not the only important contribution that women provided during the war. They also worked within their communities to make up for the men who had left to fight in the war, managing homes and plantations,
The first woman introduced is Hecuba, who grieves for her family, people, and ravaged homeland. She says, “Sorrow, my sorrow. What sorrow is there
It can be hard to fully comprehend the effects the Vietnam War had on not just the veterans, but the nation as a whole. The violent battles and acts of war became all too common during the long years of the conflict. The war warped the soldiers and civilians characters and desensitized their mentalities to the cruelty seen on the battlefield. Bao Ninh and Tim O’Brien, both veterans of the war, narrate their experiences of the war and use the loss of love as a metaphor for the detrimental effects of the years of fighting.
The sexist stereotypes of men and women greatly enforced their roles in the Vietnam War. While women were not included in the draft and protected from war’s brutality and tragedies, men were forced from their homes to be enlisted in the army. In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, a platoon is comprised of struggling young men whose lives are challenged each day. On the other hand, women are blissfully living in the states, providing complete security and comfort, both of which the soldiers are not able to acquire. According to society, women are supposedly the homebound sex, too fragile and moral to be exposed to the world outside their own, and unable to empathize with the emotional baggage that the soldiers carry.