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The Lesson For Woman Analysis

Decent Essays

The author of “The Lessons for Woman” was Ban Zhao. From what I have read in this writing, it is telling us that she is a mother and she is concerned about humility in women. The way she is influences the story by the fact that she cares about humility in herself and the others in the story. She was writing as Ban Zhao as a Chinese scholar during the time of A.D. 45-120. The author was writing this piece under history and classical writing. The author’s purpose of this writing was to inform the women to better prepare them for the things that they may experience in Chinese culture. The reason that she wanted to inform them was so that she could make their husbands happy and please them. She wanted people to read her writing to take all the …show more content…

Womanly virtue is chastity. This means wearing clothes that cover the body and acting in a modest way. Womanly words means speaking appropriately in every situation. For example, a woman should not speak in social situations when her husband is present. Womanly bearing means washing and cleaning. This includes keeping herself clean for her husband. Last, womanly work means all of a woman’s time should be filled with productive activities. Ban suggests a woman should go to bed late and rise early in the morning. She reaches out to women who are about to be married to teach them the things they should know to please their husbands. Ban explains how society expects women to behave, both in public and at home. She begins by talking about her humility and that humility is a good characteristic for women to cultivate. She tells us that a baby girl, from the time of birth, should be trained to be humble. For example, the baby is given a broken shard with which to play and is placed under the bed to teach her to accept her lot in life. Many people would find Ban Zhao’s ideas very out-dated today. Many women would be angry with her suggestion that women are second-class citizens and should accept their lot in life. In addition, most women today to do not see themselves as an extension of their husbands.

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