Exploring the Unbalanced Male-Female Dynamic in Classic Literature

Abstract

Some themes are dominant in different types of literary works. The only difference is how the themes are addressed. This essay aims at looking at different literary works by various authors, and the dominant theme will be deeply discussed. The works under the scrutiny will be ‘Where are you going where have you been,' 'the lottery,' 'trifles,' and 'my last Duchess. Different authors have all done these works at other times and still have different meanings and literal devices. But some themes are evident in them, and this essay wishes to discuss theme dominant in all of them. The theme of male/female relationship. the relationship between men and women are clearly defined whereby the women are seen as the weaker, inferior sex. The male tends to dominate the women and act as the superior being trying to dominate and rule the weaker sex. The theme of the male/female relationship is common in all the works, as mentioned earlier, regardless of the works being of different genres and times. In the Trifles, men are portrayed to occupy the central work in the play, and women are defined to have their places in the homes (Glaspell and Hornstein, 1992). Trifles depict the world as that dominated by men, and women have only been cast in the domestic work with their responsibilities defined as being submissive to men. The women are expected to let men do the hard and intellectual works while the women can only sit and do the easy domestic jobs (Glaspell and Hornstein, 1992). The short play in the Trifles was about a murder case where men were investigating the murder case. Women in the play were only allowed to handle the trifles, which men thought were not important. But as the play comes to an end, it is evident that the women are as equal as the men, or more so, more intelligent than men. The play ends with the women emerging triumphant because they solved the mystery behind John Wright's murder by being most careful in the investigations and looking at the things men thought were insignificant (Glaspell and Hornstein, 1992). On the other hand, in My Last Duchess, men are depicted as eager to take leadership positions in all things, and women have no choice but to obey them. In this poem, men give orders and directions directed to women, and women have nothing of importance to offer but to obey the men of the command give (Browning and Dharker, 2004). The author, Robert Browning, has early enough in the poem showed that men and men who oppress women are dictators who should be followed to the letter without any questions. In the poem, Browning depicts women as objects that act as a joy source to the men. Such is evident where the author says, “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall/Looking as if she were alive (Browning and Dharker, 2004). The author demonstrates men as beings who value their objects more in their women than they do in their real lives. In other words, women are used as display and nothing more. The Women are nothing but objects for display and pride. The duke, in the poem, reveals that women should be possessed, controlled, and discarded. In such cases, it reflects the position of women in society. For instance, in America, women could not vote, and their rights were considered no rights because they were seen as mere objects. About this, the duke has the portrait of his wife on display to his guest for admiration, just like in a museum where people could gather and admire an artifact or a particular object. In the poem, women's independence is translated as something else in the men's fraternity. When women try to fight for their rights and the rightful place in society or the homes, men translate that to be unfaithfulness, stubbornness, and playfulness (Browning and Dharker, 2004). Joyce Carol brings out the theme of women's oppression by men in Where are you going, where have you been? In the short story, Carol brings out the protagonist, Connie, in her role as a representation of women (Oates, 1994). On the other hand, Arnold Friend is used as the antagonist. Arnold Friend represents the men and their views and attitudes towards women in society. The short story has shown that women are at the mercy of women, and it is theirs to blame for allowing themselves to be controlled by men (Oates, 1994). The short story has shows that society views women without husbands as failures, and society rejects them because the community believes that a woman is incomplete without a man. Finally, in The Lottery, men come first, and women follow. A good example is evident during the process whereby the father draws the paper on behalf of the family (Jackson, 2013). This creates an indication that the father is the head of the family, and all the decisions made by the father are in harmony with the whole family unit. Further, women have no significant position in society because, in the absence of a male figure like a father or husband, the son takes the place of him. A grown-up son has more significance and importance in the community than his mother (Jackson, 2013). On the same, women in society are depicted as people without identities. For this reason, they adopt the surnames of their father, then change the same in marriages and adopt their husbands' names as their surnames (Jackson, 2013). In the works discussed in this essay, it is clear that society is male-dominated, and women have no place. Their place is confined in the lives of men, and they have no say whatsoever. Unfortunately, those who try to question their roles usually become outcasts in their society and become laughing stocks in their very backyards. References Browning, R., & Dharker, I. (2004). My last Duchess. ProQuest LLC. Glaspell, S., & Hornstein, R. A. (1992). Trifles. Kernerman Publishing Limited. Jackson, S. (2013). The lottery (pp. 391-398). Harvard University Press. Oates, J. C. (1994). Where are you going, where have you been?. Rutgers University Press.