Paper
In many works there are reflected common themes that enrich the tale and cause the reader to relate the theme to his own life. We often find ourselves more enthralled with stories that affect us in an emotional way. One topic that I have found recurring in the works that I have come across this semester is abandonment–specifically, the abandonment of women by their husbands or lovers. This abandonment can be physical or emotional.
As we have read in The Odyssey as told by Homer and The Aeneid, written by Virgil, husbands in literature are sometimes forced to abandon their wives because of circumstances beyond their control and inadvertently end up leaving their women for a good cause. These are both cases of ends justifying means. In other works, such as Euripides Medea and Christine de Pisan s Treasure of the City of Ladies, we are told just what might happen when a man leaves his love for another woman due to his own vanity. The work of modern art known as Ariadne, by Giorgio de Chirico, is a painting based on another Greek myth involving the abandonment of Ariadne, a figure in ancient mythology. Although the works differ in the ways that women handle abandonment by their husbands, it is interesting to see just how different various individuals behave in similar circumstances.
In The Odyssey, the story is told of Odysseus s return home after the Trojan War. Throughout that ten-year journey, he encounters many obstacles in his path. He discovers the lands of the Cyclops, the Laestrygonians, the Sirens, and even the Dead. However, classic hero that he is, Odysseus overcomes these dangers through his guile and courage to eventually return home to his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus. For three years, Penelope had been warding off more than one hundred suitors by explaining to them that she would agree to see one of them once she was done with her weaving of a shroud. Every day she would weave the shroud, and every night she would undo the weaving to make sure that the suitors would stay kept at bay. Odysseus isn t in the same position to ward off females that desire him, however. During his journey he is forced to abandon his marital vows and sleep with Calypso and Circe in order to make it home.
Aeneas, the protagonist in Virgil s The Aeneid, is destined to found the Roman race in Italy, and this is the epic tale about his journey to do so. Aeneas meets Dido, a widow and the Queen of Carthage. Venus, the god of love, and Juno, the god of marriage as well as Aeneas wife, both have their own interests at stake, so they each manipulate Aeneas and those who come know him in their own way in order to out-do one another. Eventually, Dido falls in love with Aeneas and the two end up sleeping together in order to keep Aeneas from leaving Carthage. Jupiter s messenger Mercury tells Aeneas that his fate awaits him and that he must continue his journey to settle in Italy. Aeneas complies, and Dido, furious that he had abandoned her, has her sister set up a fire to burn his belongings. Instead of following through with the initial plan, she throws herself into the fire and perishes.
Another tale from ancient Greece that deals with the theme of abandonment is the tragedy Medea, written by Euripides. This is the story of a princess named Medea who happens to also be a sorceress; she fell in love with Jason after helping him obtain the Golden Fleece with her magic. Jason has since left her to pursue a life with the daughter of Creon, King of Corinth. Jason wants to improve his social status, and he knows that leaving Medea for the King s daughter will help him do just that. Medea is infuriated and eventually goes mad from this realization that he abandoned her for another woman, She can t believe this would happen, especially after the times they had been through. After all, she killed her own brother in order for them to escape Colchis together. Nevertheless Jason refuses her, and as an act of horrible vengeance, Medea slays their children.
Christine de Pisan s work is quite different from the others I ve read this semester and written about above. It serves as a handbook of sorts for medieval women to refer in order to conduct themselves as proper ladies regardless of their social class. However, Christine does wisely address the issue of men cheating on their wives, which is a form of emotional abandonment. She explicitly describes the need of a woman to remain demur and prudent, to stay kind and faithful to him, and to pray for him. Christine explains that she who speaks badly to or about her husband has nothing to gain. It leaves women more susceptible to having him leave his wife, and that would only cause other people to speak badly about her. Rather, she instructs women to always put up with whatever sorts of behavior her husband displays and to take refuge in God.
In the Metropolitan Museum of Art, there is a tremendous amount of modern art on display. One piece I found of particular interest is called Ariadne, painted in 1913 by a man named Giorgio de Chirico. This artist painted a simple picture of a sleeping statue of Ariadne, with a wall and a tower taking up the rest of the surface. This painting served as a symbol to the artist of his own childhood, and it plays the role of an icon, attracting the attention of most people who are familiar with this Greek story of abandonment. The tale of Theseus leaving Ariadne after she helped him find his way through the labyrinth that Daedelus had designed to contain the Minotaur is a relatively well-known one. What are not well-known are the circumstances surrounding just exactly why Theseus deserted Ariadne. It is generally accepted that Theseus abandoned his lover on the island of Naxos. However, some say that Theseus took Ariadne off his ship because she was seasick. Before he could get her back on the ship, a terrible storm carried the ship out to sea, and Theseus never saw Ariadne alive again.
The common bond between all of these works is that the male of the story is usually made out to be a virtuous character, despite his penchant for abandoning his wife or lover whenever it best suited him. The Odyssey, The Aeneid, and Ariadne all glorify their heroes as men with destinies that superseded any romantic relationships in which they were involved. Medea addresses the problem of abandonment with utter bloodlust, which makes her appear to be a savage even though she is the protagonist of the story. Christine de Pisan, on the other hand, insists that the best path is that of the least resistance; women must still maintain their respect for their husbands even if they are emotionally abandoned by them. It seems as if all of the works are meant to force the reader to come to his or her own conclusion on whether it was right or wrong for the various characters in each of the works to make the decisions they made. I feel that given the circumstances of the figures and the era in which they all existed, they didn t have the same choices women do today. Nowadays, there s no fear of a woman being abandoned. She has her own professional career, and the only one she answers to is herself. I think the most important virtues I came across that the various types of people in the works had include loyalty, love, and the mental fortitude to deal with abandonment and not let it destroy them. Penelope from The Odyssey had all of these qualities, and I feel that she was one of the most respectable female characters I had encountered in the material I studied during this course.
Другие работы по теме:
Koran Essay Research Paper The Koran or
Koran Essay, Research Paper The Koran or Qur’an is the sacred scripture of Islam. A scripture so sacred it urges a total commitment to him alone who is god. (Grolier Interactive 98). I found that
Women And Shopping Essay Research Paper What
Women And Shopping Essay, Research Paper What motivates women to shop? I attempted to answer the age old question by surveying five ladies who are self-proclaimed experts at the “art” of shopping. These five ladies, Joanne, Kim, Marie, Shirley, and Kimmie sat down with me individually and this is what I basically gathered from the discussion sessions.
Women Essay Research Paper Apples could go
Women Essay, Research Paper Apples could go one better than oranges. The concentration of apples exceeds that of oranges. The firmness of apples goes all the way through, and the firmness of oranges modifies when the outer shell is detached. They tell you to cut up apples when you have braces, but they don?t tell you to cut up oranges.
The Beet Queen Essay Research Paper The
The Beet Queen Essay, Research Paper The Beet Queen is centered on one theme and that is abandonment. Because of this motif, the characters of this novel are affected. Karl, the abandonment of his mother left him looking for a motherly figure in his life. Mary, another victim of the abandonment became solid, hard head.
Things Fall Apart Essay Essay Research Paper
Things Fall Apart Essay Throughout many years women have always been inferior to men in all cultures and places. Maybe it’s because men are physically stronger than women and have always had the ability to control them that way. There are also sayings that men a more intelligent than women but that is an arguable statement.
Alice GerstenbergS Overtones Essay Research Paper In
Alice Gerstenberg?S ?Overtones? Essay, Research Paper In Alice Gerstenberg?s ?Overtones?, she presents two deceitful women, both insanely envious of the other, who meet one day over coffee. Two other actors living out their true feelings and being honest show the jealous, rude, but truthful, side of each of the women.
Woments Rights Essay Research Paper t was
Woments Rights Essay, Research Paper t was long ago when women were looked upon as slaves to the hard Working, man. In today’s society women now are more respected and are acceptable for many jobs as
The Ultimate Zen Essay Research Paper The
The Ultimate Zen Essay, Research Paper The Ultimate Zen The one problem with something being lost is the feeling one has for the object once it is gone. That felling of need and longing just creates pain. One could get rid of pain and loss if one could detach one’s self from these tokens. All emotional pain and suffering could be obliterated if one could think of all things, even people, as just things that come and go.
Crime And Gender Essay Research Paper Crime
Crime And Gender Essay, Research Paper Crime and Gender: Does the punishment fit? Before the jury stands the defendant. There is overwhelming evidence in the favor of the prosecution. The verdict comes back from the jury, not guilty. Why? The defendant is a woman. In our era of equal rights and civil liberties women have made great strides in their advancement and role in society, yet it seems that gender segregates when it comes to crime.
Ceremony Essay Research Paper In Leslie Marmon
Ceremony Essay, Research Paper In Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony, the gender roles of three women are significant to the development of Tayo as being half-white and half-Indian. These three women are Tayo’s birth mother, Auntie, and Old Grandma. His mother left him when he was four years old and that began his sense of emptiness and abandonment.
Glass Ceiling Summary Essay Research Paper Utilitarianism
Glass Ceiling Summary Essay, Research Paper Utilitarianism favors unequal treatment in the work place.CONTROLLING IDEA: Big corporations should be forced into applying affirmative action to equal out the male/female ratio in management positions.
Abortion Essay Research Paper There are many
Abortion Essay, Research Paper There are many women who have choices to make in life that can be difficult or easy. One very difficult decision is whether or not to terminate a pregnancy. Most people should think before they act. If a woman has to terminate a pregnancy, it is because she wasn’t planning to get pregnant or because she did not use birth control.
Islamic Women Essay Research Paper Many times
Islamic Women Essay, Research Paper Many times when feminists looked at Islamic women they criticized the man for not treating women properly. However, as Jane I. Smith states, women of Islam are not really offended by that fact, on the contrary, they believe that it is better for them.
Baby Abandonment Essay Research Paper In the
Baby Abandonment Essay, Research Paper In the world today there are numerous single teen and young adult women having unwanted pregnancies. A lack of experience and maturity causes many of these young parents to feel frightfully inadequate in the face of their newborn child. Some of these people believe abortion is immoral yet also see putting a child up for adoption as an insurmountable burden.
Reiters Syndome Essay Research Paper Equal Rights
Reiters Syndome Essay, Research Paper Equal Rights for Women During the nineteenth century, the women suffrage movement was coming out full force to demand the equal rights of women in the United States and Europe. The women who supported the women’s suffrage adapted a Declaration of Principles that simply stated that, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal” (Perry, 1995, p.194).
Women In War Essay Research Paper Women
Women In War Essay, Research Paper Women in War and How They Made a Difference Women who served in past wars were considered heroines, and were presented with many different, honorable awards. Women served many purposes during the war. Such as: nurses who amputated and helped soldiers, translators who spoke for the French, telephone operators who connected important phone calls to different places, and many more non-combat roles.
Women In India Essay Research Paper The
Women In India Essay, Research Paper The Changing Role of Women in India Women in India are beginning to follow the direction that the women of the Western world took more than eighty years ago; demanding treatment as human equals. However, it has become more and more evident as the revolution ages that Indian women may have to adapt the Western feminist method to their very traditional and religious culture.
Womens Rights Essay Research Paper Women rightsThroughout
Womens Rights Essay, Research Paper Women rights Throughout history of Western civilization, deep-seated cultural beliefs allowed women only limited roles in society. Many people believed that women’s natural roles were as mothers and wives. These people considered women to be better suited for childbearing and homemaking rather than for involvement in the public life of business or politics.
Abortion Essay Research Paper My personal opinion
Abortion Essay, Research Paper My personal opinion about abortion is that it should stay legal. I believe that it is the woman’s choice because it’s her body, and no one else should be allowed to tell her what she can, and can’t do with it.
The Prevalence Of Breast Cancer Among Black
Women Essay, Research Paper Exploring the Growth of Breast Cancer Among African American Women Breast cancer develops as an abnormal growth of cells accumulate within the breast. Recent studies have proven that White
Delinquent Daughters Summary Essay Research Paper Delinquent
Delinquent Daughters Summary Essay, Research Paper ?Delinquent Daughters Summary? Delinquent Daughters by Mary E. Odem touches on many topics involving women residing in the U.S. from 1885 to 1920. Not only does the book raise issues about women as a whole, but also it breaks the women into a more realistic view.
Wife Of Bath From The Canterbury Tales
Essay, Research Paper The most obtentatious of the travlers, the Wife of Bath has been married five times and is currently searching for another man to marry. The Wife of BAth is opinionated and boisterous, and her tale which centers around the question “what do women want?,” promotes her view that women wish to have autority over men.
Womens Rights Essay Research Paper The First
Womens Rights Essay, Research Paper The First Women?s Rights Movement Was their fight successful? A group of women set out to make a point. A point that women don?t have to be dependent on men; that they can live their own lives with their own individual rights and beliefs. All these women wanted was a chance to live a life free of the constant pressures and contradictions.
Loss Abandonment And Recovery Essay Research Paper
Loss/ Abandonment and Recovery In choosing on how to write this essay I chose to work with dealing on loss and recovery. Loss, abandonment, recovery, and creation are all feelings human beings have had to deal with throughout the history of life and even more so in our readings the characters take it to a whole different level.
Antigone Essay Research Paper Analysis on the
Antigone Essay, Research Paper Analysis on the conflict men v. women found in Antigone Many conflicts can be found within various plays. In Sophocles’ Antigone one of the many conflicts found is men versus women. The king of Thebes, Creon, has a problem with women. But not only the king, Ismene, Antigone’s sister as well refers to herself and her sister as being inferior to men.
Women Pioneers Essay Research Paper A Journey
Women Pioneers Essay, Research Paper A Journey Through Hardship The pioneer women didn?t have many rights at all. They were pretty much always controlled by the men, and weren?t ?allowed? to do anything on their own. They had to obey all men and if they were married, that made it even harder for them. The women were mainly responsible for caring for the kids, taking care of the crops and keeping the house neat; health, food, and family.
Comfort Woman Essay Research Paper Comfort WomenThe
Comfort Woman Essay, Research Paper Comfort Women The video was about the Korean comfort women. The video started of by showing the demonstration of Korean people and the comfort women. They wanted to punish those who gave this tragedy to those women. After the demonstrations, they showed this house where 6 comfort women shared.
Women In Television Essay Research Paper The
Women In Television Essay, Research Paper The role of women in television has had an impact important on humanity and on life in America. The image of women in situation comedies has changed. Women in our society have played many roles. During this period from the decades of the 1950 s through the 1990 s, women started getting their own jobs and got better schooling.
How Were Women Treated In Julius Caesars
Time Essay, Research Paper Essay: How Were Women Treated in Julius Caesar’s Time? By: Andrew MillardWe are always striving for equality between the sexes. For many years women were seen as being less than men, and inferior to them. This is shown simply by one history-altering incident. The incident that I’m referring to is when the women were finally allowed to vote.
Men And Women Are Different Essay Research
Paper Men and Women Different? Are women and men really that different? I think so. I am at a stage in my life where I think all men are after one thing. Sex. When I sit here and think about it, I really have to think, do women and men have anything in common. Women communicate in a completely different manner than women.
Symbols Of Women Essay Research Paper Symbols
Symbols Of Women Essay, Research Paper Symbols of Women There are many symbols placed on women in today’s society. These symbols act as stereotypes that usually degrade women on a daily basis. However, many of these symbols are just a term, and have no meaning behind them. An example of this is the reference of women being referred to as “dogs.”