“For most of history, Anonymous was a woman” said by Virginia Woolf. Virginia Woolf was a famous author that lived in the twentieth century. The quote shows that women are supposed to just be there to help their husband. Women should not do anything out of the ordinary. Virginia Woolf made a very bold statement when she said that quote. Virginia Woolf was around for the time when women and men became more and more equal. We have learned that we, as women, can do whatever we set our minds to. Sadly, this has not always been the case. In history there are many examples of how the female gender has been treated unequal to the male gender. This inequality has been shown through many different ways, and this was seen in all of the books and plays we read. The topic is clear in the plays “Antigone” by Sophocles and in “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Williams, even though they were written centuries apart from each other. Both the plays have the same idea that men and women are not equal. This becomes clear because men are the head of both the society and the home, and women have to rely on men to support them. However, we can also see that women have the drive to be equal to men.
In both the plays, the men are the head of both the society and the home. The women have nothing to say because there are always men above them that are making the decisions for them. There are a lot of examples of this in the plays and one of them is when Creon says, “We cannot give victory to a woman. If we must accept defeat, let it be from a man” (Sophocles, lines 729-730). Creon states that he is the man and the woman are below him. There might be some men out there that are better than him but there is no woman that is greater than he is. He does not believe that there can be a queen that rules the country. It has to be a king that is the top. When it comes to Williams’ play, Stanley says a similar thing, “And I am the king around here, so don’t forget it!” (Williams, page 1218). Stanley is making it clear to everyone that he is the one that are the head of the household even if Stella is the one how is going most of the work at home.
Women had to rely on men to be able to live. This is a very clear theme in Williams’ play. In the beginning of the play Stella is standing on the porch and Stanley comes by and throws her the meat. He has to make sure that she has meat to cook. This is showing that women did not have the right to go out themselves to get the meat so that she had something to cook. No, she was supposed to stand there and wait for her husband to bring it to her. It is similar to how the baby bird is waiting for their mom to get something to eat. Both Stella and the baby bird have to rely on someone to get fed. Another example is when Stella says “…you’d better give me some money” (Williams, page 1176). This also shows that women do not have anything that is their own. They have to go to their husband and ask for money. I do not believe that anyone would like to ask someone for money. I think that everyone wants to prove that they can take care of themselves but then, the women were not supposed to work so they did not have any money of their own. In “Antigone” that is the same issue for the women. Antigone was sentenced to die and Ismere was afraid because she did not have anyone that would take care of her. Antigone turned to her sister and said, “Ask Creon; all your care was on his behalf” (Sophocles, line 603). It shows that women had to rely on the men to keep them alive. The society did not allow her to take care of herself. She did not have any way to make money and she was not married. She felt that she might just as will die at the same time as Antigone because she would have died anyhow because no one would have taken care of her.
Women have the drive that they one day will be equal to men and they will continue trying until that happens. There will always be women that are going to fight for their right to be equal to men. This is the same thing that Antigone does. One proof of this is when she turns to the crown and says, “You see me, you people of my country” (line 863). Antigone is speaking to the people as if she was the king or the ruler. For her it did not matter that she was a woman. She should be the one on the throne because she was right. She thinks that Creon is doing the wrong and she is right. It was Antigone’s father that was king, then her two brothers fought for it and if it was possible for women to take charge, she would be the king. In “A Streetcar Named Desire”, Blanche expresses the same thought and ideas when she says, “This man is a gentleman and he respects me. What he wants is my companionship.” (Williams, page 1228) Blanche is talking about someone that she made up but the idea is still there. He was looking for someone that is equal to him just like women are today with their men. Blanche also thinks that she can do whatever she decides to do. It becomes clear when she said, “I’m going to do something. Get hold of myself and make myself a new life” (Williams, page 1194). She thinks that she can make herself a new life that she will like. She does not need a man to help her because she thinks that she is strong enough to do it by herself. It is admiring about her that she is so strong in her believe and this is how the world is changing. There is always going to be strong women that wants thing to change for them.
It was interesting to compare these two plays and see all the things that they had in common, even if they were written more than 2000 years part. The two plays have the same ideas about women, that women cannot be the head of the society and the household. She has to have a man above her. Women also had to rely on men mostly because they did not earn any money themselves. We can also see that both plays had women that had the drive to be equal to men. This drive is what has made changes in our civilization. It took 100 years to get women in the position where they are more equal to men. This does not mean that the struggle for equality is over. There is still a lot to do and there are many areas where things are not yet equal between women and men.
Booth, Alison and Mays, Kelly J.. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2011. 1129-1238. Print.
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