Sexism In Literature

For women, representation has been a consistent struggle. Women are often categorized into one of several predetermined literary “characters,” none of whom are reflective of the reality of female experience: for example, a saintly mother figure which echoes the Virgin Mary, a lustful and disloyal wife, or a conniving, manipulative woman who extorts men in order to achieve her will. Additionally, if a work has been produced by a female author, whether it be a poem, a letter, a speech, or a story, the work will often be faced with undue challenges concerning its credibility and validity solely due to the gender of its writer. Due to this biased criticism, female authors often must work harder to ensure the value of their works.While discussions of authorial sexism which raise these concerns have gained greater credence in modernity, the representations of women and struggles of female writers in historical literature are often …show more content…
It is all too easy to look back to the literary past and scoff, or to ignore it entirely; however, readers must recall the common idiom that “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Through careful study of depictions of women in antiquity, one gains a greater understanding of how to effectively combat contemporary gender-based challenges. This scholarly approach is particularly important in studying the “great civilizations” of the western historical past: Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, and Medieval …show more content…
Through close interpretation of Lysistrata, Juvenal’s Sixth Satire, The Martyrdom of Perpetua, The Wife of Orleans, and Letter to Abelard, one may gain a greater comprehension of the temporally contextual representations of women throughout