After devising a plan to end the war, the women of Greece put their plan into action; justifying that they are an equal match to men. The point of this play is to show that “Glamor is [not their] only talent” (18). The women “take [an] Oath to make this binding” (29), much like the oath men take, before going off to battle. The Oath has as much importance to each other as the men. On the battle field it is critical to know that soldiers are reliable and have one another’s back. Loyalty has a universal definition, equivalent for both sexes.
To some extend women prove that they can be more sharp than men in certain subjects. Wit would be one of those subjects. The soldiers are threatening to “burn the damned door down and smoke [the] women into submission” (39-40), who have taken over the fort. Both sexes banter back and forth, but “when the facts soak in” (44) the women win. The women poured the water over the men and watched the fire extinguish. Water beats fire in every scenario.
The power that women have is undeniable. Some of the soldiers started to give them credit, asking the the commissioner, “ have you forgotten the bath they gave us- in public, fully dressed, totally soapless?” (51). A group of women embarrassed a group of trained soldiers, that is an accomplishment. Slowly women are beginning to earn their worth.
This political cartoon depicts how difficult it was for women during the B.C.s. Women metaphorically tied up because they had no legal standing without a man. Women were considered property. Lysistrata was one of the first books to present women as something more than wives.
I whole-heartedly agree with the statement you have just made above. The army of women have tediously worked to show off their inner strength but continuously feels the weight of inferiority by men's grasp. The use of water and fire to symbolize men and women is a true representation of two different groups that hold two different strengths. The men hold wrath and destruction like fire, but the women hold power and authority like water. Holding onto the ability to override the fires power and the fires wrath. Women are strong and the army led by Lysistrata will stand rooted and prove their unending strength to the men.
ReplyDeleteThe explanation of women being metaphorically tied up allows me to better understand the text. These women have no power without the men. However, they can reverse the role and allow the men to feel a suffering (no sex) similar to what they have endured. When they make the oath, the women obtain a degree of power over the men. Although the women still aren't equally as powerful it is a progressive step.
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