“Oedipus Rex”, “A Midsummer Night's Dream”, “The Glass Menagerie”
Nowadays, gender issues is a highly relevant topic in modern society which is not only raised in discussions, but also greatly present in the works of art. As one of the purposes of literature is to reflect the greatest concerns and world problems and speak up for them, the works describing the current role of woman in society are of a great importance. Moreover, the way the female characters are presented in the literary works make a great influence on how they are viewed in reality – that is why the depiction of women in literature needs to be thoroughly analyzed.
The same as the attitude towards women have significantly changed throughout the centuries, so do the woman's role and the ways of depiction in the literature. Therefore this essay aims to provide a deep analysis of the depiction of female characters by comparing the dramatic works from different periods of time: “Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles, “A Midsummer Night's Dream” by Shakespeare, and “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams. Discovering the ways in which the authors of completely other epochs wrote about women and defining some common and different features of woman characters from these particular plays, this work will focus on the role woman played in a certain society and how this role changed throughout the century.
In “Oedipus Rex” the only female character is Jocasta, the mother and later as well a wife of Oedipus. Even though she doesn’t appear very often in the play's acts, the symbolic importance of her character is definitely great. Being a secondary character, she plays a role of a supporter, and occasionally is the one who gives advices. When Jocasta and her husband get to know about the prophecy, she is trying to console her husband. In the beginning of the play, she tries to stop Creon's and Oedipus's argues, appealing to them as following: “For shame! Why have you raised this foolish squabbling brawl?” When she discovers the riddle of Oedipus's origins, she tries to protect Oedipus from the bitter truth of his life: “O Oedipus, God help you! God keep you from the knowledge of who you are!” – cries she out loud sincerely.
Having observed these three situations, we may claim that the matter of her greatest concerns is not herself, but the men who surround her: it is not her who should be consoled, encouraged, supported, but the man. Her own feelings come as secondary or are barely mentioned at all, as they are not of such importance as the men's ones. Therefore the situations serve as distinctive examples of how the women were treated. While the tragedy ends quite optimistically for Oedipus, who keeps ruling the country, Jocasta faces much more tragical fate: not capable to bear the truth about Oedipus's identity, she turns to suicide. Being in need for the people she loved, she faced her challenges alone, with nobody's support, which lead to dramatic consequences.
While Jocasta, being caring and supportive one and serving as a backup for her husbands, was giving the men her modest and kind advices, another play's protagonist, Amanda, had absolutely another perspective on her position within the family. She wants to have a power and control over her kids, thus being intrusive in their own lives and personal matters. She is constantly nagging his son Tom on any possible matters and giving the “lessons” to her daughter Laura, who, however, need neither of that. Amanda seems not to take into account her children's decisions or considerations since she believes that whatever she says and wants for her is the best advice and solution which could ever be.
The emphasis on gender roles is strikingly distinct in “The Glass Menagerie”. Moreover, they vastly define the future of every character, dictating their own path. It is stated that Laura should get married as she is a girl, and Tom should work and earn money as he is a man. This way the fate is defined for them by default, almost the same as for Oedipus. It is not as tragic as his, but possibly equally inevitable. While the fate endowed to Oedipus originated from prophecy, the destiny which are for the Wingfield members originates from deep traditions and stereotypical perception of the male and females. Amanda, who grew up in the South, beliefs and follows the traditions given to her from the previous generations. These traditions shape her character to the great extends, as well as her values.
The greatest value for women, according to Amanda, is attractiveness. This is what she so deliberately tries to teach Laura, not even questioning whether she needs it or not: “When people have some slight disadvantage like that, they cultivate other things to make up for it - develop charm - and vivacity - and - charm!” (Williams). Amanda cannot realize that Laura is different from her, thus she has a different set of values, and charm is not at the top of her list. Amanda, though, represents those kind of girls and women for whom the main role is to be beautiful and attractive in the eyes of the man. Seeing how her youth and beauty gradually fade with the time, Amanda evokes the memories of her earlier days. She is full of pride to tell her daughter how well-recognized she was among the men: "One Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain – your mother received – seventeen! – gentlemen callers! Why, sometimes there weren’t enough chairs to accommodate them all.” (Williams).
Helena, the protagonist of the Shakespearean “Midsummer Night's Dream”, can be compared in its features with “The Glass Menageries”’s Laura – they are both not very confident and extremely shy. They both feel themselves uncomfortable when it comes to how behave and communicate with the men.
Helena loves desperately, but not mutually, claiming: “The more I love, the more he hates me” (Shakespeare). Through the character of Helena we may see another role which women often have to share: the one who suffers for her own unshared affections, becoming the victim of the emotions she cherished. She approaches the notion of love, though, philosophically, stating:
“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; “Nor hath Love's mind of any judgment taste.” (Shakespeare 1.1.232-243)
In the “Midsummer Night's Dream” Helena is contrasted to Hernia: while Helena is shy and modest, Hernia is extremely decisive and strong-willed, as the former is unsure and unaware of her beauty and feels extremely unconfident about herself, the latter is a beautiful woman who is aware of her attractiveness and knows how to use it, thus having two admirers – Lysander and Demetrius.
Modern society is often driven by the same philosophy as Amanda which, as it may be judged from Amanda's example and experience, may eventually turn into a whole personal tragedy. Neither youth nor beauty aren’t eternal, and as they start disappearing (and one day they will definitely start), those who had them as a greatest life value would lose the one, and thus be completely broken, as it happened in case of Amanda. Praising physical appearance more than anything else, as it may be claimed, leads to quite tragic consequences. Meanwhile, it is the notion which intensifies the gender issues in modern world, which means that the Williams's play has an extreme relevance nowadays. Nowadays there is, I believe, a multitude of those who have the same mindset as Amanda, which proves the fact that staging such a play would be thought-provoking for those who would tend to relate themselves to the character of Amanda.
The approach to marriage is one more notion which greatly reflects gender issues. Amanda here is again the voice of the society which is prejudiced by gender issues:
"I know so well what becomes of unmarried woman who aren't prepared to occupy a position.” (Williams) – states Amanda, describing the miserable state of the unmarried as people in an absolute disaster – “barely tolerated spinsters living upon the grudging patronage of sister's husband or brother's wife” (Williams)., as she calls them, “little birdlike women without any nest - eating the crust of humility all their life” (Williams).
In “Oedipus Rex”, Jocasta was the only character who seemed to contradict the principle which was back then considered truly universal – disbelief in prophecy, and in the higher power of fate ruling the lives of humans. While all ancient Greeks believed in that idea, Jokasta's statements seem to challenge those universal beliefs: “Fear? What should a man fear? It’s all chance, chance rules our lives. Not a man on earth can see a day ahead, groping through the dark. Better to live at random, best we can.” (Sophocles). Such a phrase would be considered wrong and foolish, if not a total absurd, for the ancient Greek; nowadays, however, it seems to bear such meaning that is close to the human perception of modern world with its greatest uncertainty for future and instant, cardinal changes occurring almost every day. As Jocasta states that no one can see ahead, she claims that the course of our lives is not defined by any higher rules or powers, and thus is coincidental. This statement greatly defines her values, beliefs and the perception of the world and her own life within it. She suggests living at random, considering it as the best solution.
Jokasta’s statement may be as well compared to the quote said by Amanda, a protagonist of another play, “The Glass Menagerie”. She stated: “the future becomes the present, the present the past, and the past turns into everlasting regret if you don’t plan for it!” (Williams, 5.95). Through this quote we may seem how the previous statement was totally contradicted. However, this difference might not be the crucial aspect which reveals the author’s will to reshape the image and the role of woman, but rather merely a matter of the individualities of these women.
What connect all the characters of these different plays are the challenges and struggles the fate prepares for them, as well as a multitude of factors which influence their life and its destiny: mainly, a heritage of traditions and conventions which the heroes face. To summarize the provided analysis, it may be stated that the roles of women may be multiple and complex, and is greatly underestimated. Being a supporter, an advisor, an inspirer of beauty, a compassionate and devotional helper, the one who both loves and suffers – it is by far not an extensive list of what positions a woman might have in a society. It is, though, essential to be able to keep reconsidering the roles, looking at the gender issues from different perspectives, which would be possible through the theatre and literature.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer-Night's Dream. Oxford: The Oxford Shakespeare.
1914. Print.
Sophocles, , David Grene, and Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 2010. Print.
Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. New York: New Directions Books: 1999. Print.
