Analysis Of Sundiata By D. T. Niane And The Conquest Of New Spain

During the thirteenth and the sixteenth century, the colonization and conquering of empires lead to contact between different cultures. In Sundiata by D.T. Niane and The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Díaz women in the Mali, Aztec, and Spanish Empires were treated as objects. While there might be some differences in these empire’s customs, there are more similarities than differences that show how women were seen as objects and inferior to men, as women do not decide who they marry and have no “power” without a male. These similarities are important because it reveals how two male authors portray women, which indicate how these cultures considered men to be the primary actors who make orders and women who follow orders.
In the Mali Empire women were seen as ready for marriage at a young age and the husbands were chosen for them. Royal women married into …show more content…
Even though children were defined by their mothers, it was the male who gave the female power. For instance, the king’s first wife was jealous of Sogolon since her son Sundiata was anticipated to become powerful and rule Mali instead of her child, the king’s first son (Niane, 13). The queen mother is “all-powerful”, but only because her son became King. The queen was jealous and put Sundiata’s mother and their family, in the back of the palace because the king praised Sogolon for her son. Since Sundiata could not walk, the queen would let people into the back of the palace so Sogolon would be embarrassed and be laughed at because her 7-year-old son Sundiata was crawling instead of walking when he was supposed to be the chosen one to succeed in the Mali Empire. The queen also enjoyed rubbing in Sogolon’s face that she was a poor woman because her son could not do what her son was able to do like walk or help to get necessities like condiments (Niane, 19). The queen mother knew if Sundiata became powerful and became king, she would lose her