The Role of Women in Fuenteovejuna Essay

In Spain and the Spanish colonies in South America in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, gender roles were distinct and the opportunity gap was enormous. Catalina de Erauso compares the two roles through her memoir, “Lieutenant Nun,” where she recounts her life as a transvestite in both the new and old world. Through having experienced the structured life of a woman as well as the freedom involved in being a man, de Erauso formed an identity for herself that crossed the boundaries of both genders. Catalina de Erauso’s life demonstrates the gap in freedom and opportunity for women, as compared to men, in the areas of culture, politics and economy, and religion.

1. Why did Cato object to repealing the Oppian law? What was the basis of his objections?

In El Laberinto del Fauno, Guillermo del Toro uses the theme of obedience to illustrate and condemn two repressive components of fascism: patriarchy and the coercion of free will. This essay will look at two examples of obedience in the film which reveal the abhorrent nature of these aspects of fascism and the importance of resisting them. These are, respectively, the relationship between Captain Vidal and Mercedes and Ofelia’s refusal to compromise her own integrity.

Based on Cisneros’ works of literature, gender roles in a Hispanic culture revolves around patriarchal rule. The repercussions of a patriarchal rule includes the limitations of female liberation and development. Cleofilas’ abusive situation exemplifies the limitations of her independence and development as she can not make her own decisions and has to solely depend on her husband. This situation is illustrated when Cleofilas explains that the towns are “built so that you have to depend on husbands... You can drive only if you’re rich enough to own and drive an own car. There is no place to go” (Cisneros 628). Cleofilas reveals that men are the dominant gender and have more authority, and that women are compelled to depend on them in her society. It is an exceptionally rare case that a woman can afford her own car, for the men usually control the finances in a household. Additionally, Cleofilas has nowhere to seek refuge from her husband. Although she yearns to return to her father’s home, she decides not to due to the social standards imposed on her. In her society, the act of returning home after marriage is socially unacceptable. She understands that her family will be viewed in a negative light if she were to return home, as seen when Cleofilas refers to her town as a “town of gossips” (627). Similar to other men in the society, Juan Pedro’s authority is shown through his abuse. Cleofilas recalls, “He slapped her once, and then again, and again; until the lip split and bled an orchid of blood” (626).

In the Insufferable Gaucho, the author shows an important issue, how the society at that time does not value faults and intolerance toward outcasts of society. The human nature always focuses on another’s faults. The people who disqualified and ignored these outcasts do not know who these people really are. The author clarifies that the results of going against the social standards are being forced into a stressful condition and behaving worse than they would if they had been permitted to stay in the society.

   In her novel, My Antonia, Cather represents the frontier as a new nation. Blanche Gelfant notes that Cather "creat[ed] images of strong and resourceful women upon whom the fate of a new country depended" . This responsibility, along with the "economic productivity" Gilbert and Gubar cite (173), reinforces the sense that women hold a different place in this frontier community than they would in the more settled areas of America.

For many, how a person behaved in public rather than lineage was a crucial factor in determining status, Tomás García y Sierra, Jaramillo’s lawyer argues that, “the political nobility that consists in good habits is better than the legal and civil one derived from blood, that moral virtue exceeds natural virtue, and that the nobility of heroic actions exceeds the nobility of blood.” (232) This is supported by several witnesses; their testimony shows that people viewed themselves differently than they may have been classified within the Casta

In Estela Portillo Trambley’s play Sor Juana the main character Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz was considered to be one of the earliest feminists. Sor Juana’s eternal struggles to study and unshakable craving for knowledge and wisdom, from whatever source it may be, support this attribute. In my opinion however, there are also significant elements of the play that suggest that Sor Juana would not be considered a true feminist. Of these reasons, there are three major ones that I will analyze. The first reason is that Sor Juana gave up her struggle for the acquirement of knowledge from books and settled for reading from religiously accepted writing, essentially giving up what she had been originally fighting for

Set in the village of Fuenteojevuna, Spain during the Inquisition, all of the characters of the play are members of the Catholic Church as was the population at large. The character Commander Fernan Gomez had deep interest in the peasant women of Fuenteovejuna. He forcibly had his way with the women, yet still claimed to fight for the cross. In the play, the people said, “he is worse than a wild animal.” Far from feeling any remorse over his advances towards the women, both married and virgins, the commander believed he payed these women an honor by condescending into their society; “I am paying your wives an honor” (Vega 2141). By the end of the play, the towns people killed the commander. This play would have been performed on a small stage with many actors and a rowdy audience. Thus, the scene of the commander’s death would have been tumultuous on stage and likely those emotions would have spilled over into the unsettled audience which was in close proximity. The fact that Lope de Vega could even produce this play is astonishing.

It is often said that we are shaped by our environments; we all interact with our surroundings in some form or another, and we are further influenced by and interact with the society we live in. In fiction, characters interact the same way within their fictional societies and social positions, as characters reflect how actual people relate to their world. In the novel The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, there exist many societal norms and standards that influence the characters and their actions in different ways. This essay focuses on these standards and how they relate to the character of Férula Trueba, and her position in the society she lives in. Allende’s novel The House of the Spirits takes place in the religious and patriarchal society of 20th Century Chile, where the character Férula embraces religious austerity and internalizes her role as caretaker, resulting in embitterment and repression of her feelings.

El sí de las niñas, written by Leandro Fernández de Moratín, is a feminist work for its time. When Doña Francisca has free choice, the play surpasses Spanish social norms of the nineteenth century. Although prohibited by the Inquisition, this play explores themes of marriage, female choice, and oppression. Through his writing, Moratín uses diálogo, la tensión, las metáforas y empatía to create a satirical commentary about female social norms inspired by visions of the Enlightenment.

The clear distinction of gender roles has been evident since prehistoric times. Since then, many occurrences have shaped the roles of each gender. However, many individuals believe that there is no difference between male and females in terms of their working ability. Venezuela is one of the nations that has the privilege of gender equality. Venezuela is considered the Latin American nation with the highest gender equality (AVN- Correo del Orinoco International). This was done by social inclusion policies that the Venezuelan government has been working on, and is extremely productive for the nation. This motivates the women of the country to work harder and achieve success. These Venezuelan women have been able to attain active roles in political, commercial, and social aspects of the nation.

Lope de Vega was revolutionary for his time, writing plays that included both comedic and tragic elements and overturned the “norm” of a dramatic outline. He also went as far as to put both lower class and upper class characters on stage at the same time. Furthermore, he was very much a feminist, or as much as he could have been for his day in age, writing strong with empowered female roles such as Laurencia. Female roles such as these had not been written in previous centuries, not even in London. Shakespeare was still having men play and dress as women. But in Spain, Lope and other writers such as

Based on preliminary knowledge on the writer -- that he was suspected of homosexuality, a transgressive phenomenon in 1970s Argentina -- I assumed he reflects himself in the novel through Molina, a male character which displays a feminine behavior. One of the most enlightening insights a peer presented, nevertheless, was the suggestion that it is Valentin who is “equivalent to the author”. Furthermore, both shared an interest in philosophy, a profession that is architecture, and a common belief in Marxism. My immediate assumption that Molina

The textbook identifies four approaches to gender development: biological, interpersonal, cultural, and critical. Define each theory. Then answer the following question: which of the theoretical approaches to gender do you find the most valid? Be sure to include at least two examples from your own experience as well as two scholarly sources to back up your claim.