Examine how gender stereotypes are interrogated in at least two works we read between: ANTIGONE, MEDEA, METAMORPHOSES, CIRCLING THE MEDITERRANEAN, MARIE DE FRANCE LAIS, THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS,...

Running head: GENDER STEREOTYPES IN ANTIGONE AND THE CANTERBURY TALES
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GENDER STEREOTYPES IN ANTIGONE AND THE CANTERBURY TALES
GENDER STEREOTYPES IN ANTIGONE AND THE CANTERBURY TALES
Gender stereotypes have strived for long due to the typical patriarchal construct that had been embedded since inception. There are certain texts therefore that exemplify the society that puts forth the notion of the Eurocentric male code. According to Van (2016) this rings of the ethos of the gender stereotyping and for that two texts have been selected for discussion the first one is Sophocles’ Antigone.
The underlying narrative can be explained in a way that concerns Antigone’s plight who is one the verge of capital punishment. She is subjected to this heinous act due to her adherence to the religious duties for burying her brother. In most of Ancient Greek Drama, the women stand in opposition to the societal construct of the gender role (SARTORI, 2017). Therefore, they perpetuate violence for avenging their loved ones or they might also end up changing into a masculine role.
Sophocles in his play Antigone presents a grotesque dynamics concerning power existing between men and women (Almaaroof, 2017). The play is set in Thebes which records the conflict striving between Creon and Antigone that unfolds with due course of time. When Ismene tells Antigone that,
“we two are women,
so not to fight with men”
These lines shed light on the alienated as well as the inferior position that women are offered in society. This is one aspect that determines the civil obedience that governs the conduct of women by barring and dominating them. It is furthermore expressed from the sayings of Creon
“I won’t be called weaker than womankind”. This puts forth a situation that brings into light the superiority complex that continues to exist in a male (Andújar & Nikoloutsos, 2017). It furthermore equates masculine force with dominance and strength whereas views the feminine force as subordinate and weak....