Sundiata Gender Roles

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, gender plays a very significant role, because while women were not the most powerful gods nor the strongest or wisest of all humans, they still had tremendous influence over others around them, and even today, over those who study and learn about the women of the time of Mesopotamia. Though the main characters of the story, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, are male, women did not necessarily play a minor role. One particular issue that is demonstrated among several others in the Epic of Gilgamesh is the status of women. Since this is a story of women's status many years ago, it is indeed an interesting issue to discuss,

For thousands of years there has been a strong distinction between the roles of men and women. Often times in stories there will be women that are only mentioned for their beauty and charisma. Hardly ever will you see pages upon pages being spent talking about the true character and accomplishments of women characters. Even though stories like The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Book of Genesis were written thousands of year ago, (when stories were told mostly told from a males perspective) the light shined on women in the texts show them as wise, strong, and greatly influential beings. In The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Book of  Genesis, the writer shows the women as bringers of knowledge,  guidance, and care to the men in the texts that are lacking thereof.

In this paper, I am going to analyze the female characters that caught my attention the most in the three stories The Epic of Gilgamesh, Thousand and One Nights, and Candide. They all are important characters in each of the stories and their influence in the story is to help. These stories also depict how women were being treated during these times such as being used for their bodies or their wisdom. The characters that I will be analyzing in the paper are Shamhat, Shiduri, Sharazad, the Old Woman, and Cunegonde. In all three stories, they mostly share the same depictions of the role of women and how women weren’t really important besides their bodies.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, gender plays a very significant role. While women were not the most powerful gods nor the strongest or wisest of humans, they still had tremendous influence. Though the main characters of the story, Gilgamesh and Enkidu, are male, women did not play a necessarily minor role. With all the women that play a role in the Epic of Gilgamesh, gender is a topic worthy of discussion.

In both The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Tale of Genji women play a very important role. In a time were men were considered to be leaders, fighters, and the powerful decision makers, it was the women behind them that supported, advised, and took care of them. In the ancient times females were considered dominate over males because they had the ability to carry a child and continue human life. These two tales show us the important roles that women played and the vulnerability of women in a male dominated world. In each story women are considered as important characters, but each story portrays them differently.

Her husband refuses to believe that she has rebelled against him without Nagib's influence. She responds to this by asking "Was it Nagib who gave birth to me or I to him?"(95) It was with difficulty but her husband accepts his new wife. This empowers the mother to begin school, cut her hair, smoke, even learn to

The buffalo woman is the catalyst for all events succeeding her prophecy. Without her, Sundiata would never have been born and the Mali Empire wouldn’t have been created because Maghan wouldn’t have married Sogolon without knowing of the prophecy. Interestingly, the buffalo woman’s prophecy focuses more on Sogolon than Maghan, even though Sundiata’s birth is reliant on both of them. This gives Sogolon and immediate air of importance and power. The buffalo woman predicts that Sogolon, “will be an extraordinary woman if you manage to possess her” (8). Here, the buffalo woman asserts the exceptional quality of Sogolon, despite her unattractive exterior. It is also important to note that she doesn’t say that Sogolon is exceptional only because of her relation to Sundiata, but rather leaves her high remarks on Sogolon herself.

Throughout many pays and novels, women have had important roles of helping form the main characters, in the way they think, move or change the story. Women have always been subordinate to men all through history, but in plays, novels, short stories, etc, they have been given large enforcing roles, showing the power within women. William Shakespeare and Sophocles use guilt, pride, and influence to demonstrate the importance of the women’s role to support the main characters in both the plays of Macbeth and Antigone.

Since Tita was unable to stand up to Mama Elena, she felt helpless, which she then realized how strong her fate for an identity would be nonexistent; however, Tita would not accept that fate. From the day Tita was born and past off to Nacha, the cook, Mama Elena formed resentment towards Tita, while attempting to make Tita obedient through force, cruelty and mistreatment. The physically punished Tita endured, multiple times, by the hands of Mama Elena, forced her to live the life as a servant and a house cook; as well as, arrange the wedding of her love, Pedro, to her sister, Rosaura (26-29). While under Nacha’s care, Mama Elena bounded Tita to the kitchen and constrained her to cook for the family, and if Mama Elena saw signs of Tita disobedience, she would strike Tita in rage. The preparations for Pedro and Rosaura’s wedding was Tita’s responsibility, which Mama Elena placed Tita in charge just to lower her spirits and eliminate any hope she may have within, causing Tita to have a weak moment that triggers her to hallucinate. In the opinion of

Since Tita was unable to stand up to Mama Elena, she felt helpless, which she then realized how strong her fate for an identity would be nonexistent; however, Tita would not accept that fate. From the day Tita was born and past off to Nacha, the cook, Mama Elena formed resentment towards Tita, while attempting to make Tita obedient through force, cruelty and mistreatment. Tita was physically punished multiple times by the hands of Mama Elena, and forced to live the life as a servant, and punished to cook, as well as, arrange the wedding of her love, Pedro, to her sister, Rosaura (26-29). Mama Elena bounded Tita to the kitchen and constrained her to cook for the family, under Nacha’s care, and if Mama Elena saw signs of Tita being disobedient, Mama Elena would strike her in rage. Mama Elena put Tita in charge of the preparations for Pedro and Rosaura’s wedding to lower her spirits and eliminate any hope she may have within, which caused Tita to have a weak moment and triggers her to hallucinate. In the opinion of a journalist, Justine Baek, which was

During the time in which the play took place society frowned upon women asserting themselves.  Women were supposed to play a role in which they supported their husbands, took care of their children,

All things considered, women are very underestimated when being compared to men. All women in this play were without power, a stay at home wife, without a clue and without the ability to stand on their own two feet. Whereas every male character in the play held all the power, were the bread winners, were rational and more than capable to think and be on their own. What this

Another female that influences her man is Utnapishtim’s wife. She is a lessor character who lives with the wise man of Shurupak. She intercedes with her husband when Gilgamesh comes to him for the answer to eternal life. Utnapishtim tells him the story of the flood but Gilgamesh, overcome with tiredness from his journey, falls asleep. Utnapishtim is angered that Gilgamesh cannot stay awake. At this point his wife intercedes for Gilgamesh asking her husband to wake him so he can go back to his home. Instead, Utnapishtim tells her to bake a loaf of bread for each day Gilgamesh sleeps. Eventually Utnapishtim’s wife encourages him to have mercy on Gilgamesh; “His wife whispered to him; saying: He has come so far. Have

Women have frequently been one of the victims of the stereotypical and judgemental society. Every action and step that’s taken by them are critiqued by society. If women are seen to be involved in such activities that violate modesty, they get shunned and negatively viewed, whereas if a man commits the same action equal amount of critique isn’t given. In many places around the globe, women are considered inferior. They are underestimated and are always seen to be dependent on men. What some often fail to acknowledge is their significance. The Epic of Gilgamesh was widely subjected on the heroism of two friends and the journey of transformation of a mighty king, but it did convey the significance of women and the important roles that were played by them nonetheless. Without the assistance and vision of women, the Epic of Gilgamesh wouldn’t have been so epic.

In the beginning of the film, Nina was depicted as an average, normal person living in New York that yet lacked the freedom to express herself as a sexually free, young woman due to her mother’s controlling behavior. When she wins the coveted Swan Queen role, the feeling of immense pressure that comes with the role causes Nina to lose her tenuous grip on reality and descend into a living nightmare. For example, she experiences symptoms such as interpreting normal behavior from Lily as an attack because of Nina’s jealousy toward Lily’s effortless embodiment of the Black Swan (Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner, & Nock, 2014). Nina’s attention to negative behavior to Lily is a result of her own imagination – she starts conceiving events that did not happen such as a lesbian fling with Lily and her constant attempts to sabotage Nina’s ability to perform as the Swan Queen. In addition, she suffers through hallucinatory episodes that involve bodily horror, such as her skin tearing off her body and the appearance of an evil twin, every time she reaches a step closer to her full transformation of the Swan Queen.