Gender Difference Between Dido And Aeneid

The glorious story Aeneid depicts the preconstruction of Roman empire, and the plot is promoted through several conflicts and fights. One particular conflict that serves as the turning point of the whole story is the difference between man and woman. Female characters advance and fulfill the epic poem Aeneid by their distinctive characteristics from other male figures. No where is Virgil’s notion of gender difference more obvious than in the story of Dido and Aeneas throughout Book Four when these two actors need to negotiate with their personal and public interests. When Queen Dido develops love toward Aeneas, she devoted herself in love and forgets about her public duty. Later Aeneas, in observance of his heroic fate, departs Carthage and therefore leads to Dido’s suicide. Dido’s feminine and Aeneas’ masculine choices between their public and private interests effectively presents the gendered idea about gender in Roman society two millennia ago. …show more content…
Yet the overwhelming effect of love seems have less power over men, for Aeneas he could manage to suppress his private desire and select the public interest with his masculine ration and sense of social responsibility. By shaping his characters such distinguishing traits and affections, Virgil has included his idea about gender difference in Aeneid. Through analyzing Virgil’s depiction of the conflict between private and public interests, we could also infer that women are considered unreasonable and easy to become lovesick in the Roman society. Also, men are the main forces on establishing and controlling realms in that time period because they are considered as rational and share the sense of social responsibility. Though the story of Dido and Aeneas is depicted and shaped by Virgil from two thousand years ago, the eternal idea of gender difference is still applicable at present