The play Lysistrata starts out with the initial
conversation of Lysistrata with her friend Kleonike in Athens near the
Propylaia gateway. Lysistrata is noticeably annoyed and frustrated with the
tardiness of the Athenian women who were supposed come for debauch "in order of Bacchos"
(p.16), but has her mood alleviated by the arrival of Kleonike. It is in the
subsequent conversation that the reader sees the exposition and first theme of
the play materialize: women's role in Grecian culture. More specifically - the
misogynistic outlook, or "ideality", of what women are supposed to be/do.
Now at face value, Lysistrata and Kleonike both seemingly participate
in overwhelming internalized misogyny (self-debasement of their womanhood)
.... mostly because it is. The actors where assuming the standard role of women
in Greek society, and thus needed to be believable to their male audience. Both
women in the opening scene needed to say what the crowd wants to hear: women
are "deceitful", "always plotting" and "monsters of
intrigue" who are fully deserving of "male slanders" (p.16,
l.15-17). The role Lysistrata and Kleonike play of satisfying the Grecian
patriarchal need to bash women is in full effect, but in actuality it sets the
stage for a brilliant subplot.
The brilliance in the conversation both women
has is it pokes fun at Grecian culture’s perception of women being clueless,
emotional damsels in distress who "fuss over hubby" (p.17) all the
time, but in a cleverly understated manner. A reader who reads between the
lines realizes both Lysistrata and Kleonike really trash women in jest to fool
the men watching and give them a false sense of superiority. Aristophanes uses
this sardonic criticism of women to mock how men actually fully believe women are
that clueless. That they can't possibly "[save] Hellas" (p.18) because
that's a man's job and they know everything, when they clearly don't. It highlights how egotistical and yet
completely oblivious the male culture of Greece really is to the hidden
talent of a woman like Lysistrata who can plan a big event by herself. Its own
self-aggrandizing nature is caricatured as a bigger joke than any
woman stereotype possible, but also never breaks the 4th wall and makes the
intent obvious. So the girls in the end really get the last laugh, but let the
men “think” they have it.
Essentially, this trade of sarcastic remarks between Kleonike and Lysistrata are the first examples the play gives of its feminist frustration. Kleonike clearly experiences moral oppression by her male counterparts on a daily basis, and probably is enthused by their absence. She hates how men see women as sly and sneaky, but still intellectually inferior. Lysistrata is similarly appalled, but is finally taking a stand. This meeting is much like the Seneca Falls Convention, in which women gathered in order to bring social change to women.
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way as I read over this portion of the text. In my humble opinion, it feels as if Aristophanes satirizes over the misogynistic culture of the Greeks, thus revealing the true wit of Lysistrata. Like Staci put it, she despises the way women are viewed and she is finally taking a stand.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point. I really picked up on this when Lysistrata told the women to make sure they dressed scantily. She even made it a part of their pact when they swear to uphold abstinence. It was really brilliant how you picked up this semi-degrading undertone, yet also analyzed it. Great job making the connection between the actual Greek actors and the characters they had to play.
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