Feminist Critique

Although there are some clever anti-feminist connections to many famous texts, we should not completely assume that the authors were women haters. It is important to understand that we took texts from the past and analyzed them on the terms of our modern society. The texts may seem to reinforce the oppression of real-life women, but we must remember that these texts were written in the context of society, in which such qualities were acceptable. The authors merely wrote texts that reflected the society they lived in. For example, Chaucer portrays Emily as a weak soul, who was denied the privilege to preserve her virginity. In this case, it does seem as though Chaucer is not being fair to his female character, but once again, it is important to remember that during the time this text was written, woman did not have important roles in society. Women were not even allowed to go to school and receive an education. Thus, it seems quite valid for Chaucer to portray his female characters as prizes, rather than real people. Girls were raised to get married and fulfill the duties of a wife. Likewise, Hippolyta was won to be Theseus' wife and Emily was married to Palamon. In Chaucer's defense, he was not really being a woman hater. He could have spoke of Emily and Hippolyta as powerful woman if society back then held women at such a high level. This is something we do not know for a fact, so it would be unfair to label him as this. However, in some instances, it is plausible that men saw women more as objects rather than their equals. For example, the author of Alice in Wonderland wrote this story after spying on his boss's daughter. Not only is this disgusting, but we can also infer his lack of courtesy he had for the daughter by respecting her privacy instead of looking at her as a means of pleasure.