Breaking The Boundary Between Gender Roles In Ancient Texts
The theme of border crossing is prominent in in a majority of literary works, including most ancient ones. There are physical borders as well as socially constructed barriers that humans have been crossing for centuries. An example of a socially constructed border is the boundary between the roles of men and women. Gender norms have evolved over time. However, in the past, men were typically expected to be natural-born leaders; they were expected to work outside of their home and provide money and stability in their family lives. Oppositely, women were expected to tend to their homes by cleaning, preparing meals, taking care of any children in their family, and catering to the needs of the men in their lives. Additionally, it was thought that women should view men as authority figures, and they should not attempt to undermine or outwit any man.
Any person who dared to stray from societal norms was generally ridiculed by the others who believe that societal expectations are ideal. The female characters in The Odyssey, The Arabian Nights Tales of 1001 Nights, and Joshua cross the boundary of societal gender norms, as they exhibit leadership and intelligence; the crossing of societal standard boundaries in these ancient texts is similar to the modern world’s current efforts to reconstruct gender norms. Homer’s The Odyssey is a collection of poems; through 24 books he details the journey of Trojan War hero, Odysseus. Odysseus fails to return home to his wife and his son immediately after the war. While Odysseus is away, suitors are destroying his home and attempting to court his wife, Penelope. After 20 years and with the help of the goddess, Athena, Odysseus returns home to battle the suitors, reclaim his kingdom, and reunite with his family in Ithaca. Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, from The Odyssey exhibits her intelligence throughout the story. As the suitors attempt to pursue and aggressively try to convince Penelope to pick a new husband, she develops many plots to delay having to remarry. In book two of The Odyssey one of the suitors refers to one of Penelope’s tricks, stating “She came up with a special trick: she fixed a mighty loom inside the palace hall. Weaving her fine long cloth, she said to us, ‘Young men, you are my suitors. Since my husband, the brave Odysseus, is dead, I know you want to marry me. You must be patient; I have worked hard to weave this winding-sheet to bury good Laertes when he dies. ’ [. . . ] So every day she wove the mighty cloth, and then at night by torchlight, she unwove it. ” (Wilson 123) Penelope’s cleverness is demonstrated, as outsmarts the suitors and delays having to choose a husband by convincing the men that she will marry after she finishes a quilt that she has secretly been delaying and undoing for three years. In doing this, Penelope breaks societal gender norms, as she is portrayed as taking control of her own future. She does not wish to remarry, therefore she attempts to take control of her destiny, and ensure that she does not have to choose one of the unappealing suitors to marry. Female characters of ancient text are portrayed as being intelligent enough to accomplish any goals they may have.
The Arabian Nights Tales of 1001 Nights centers around King Shahryar, who is scorned by an unfaithful wife. The king kills his unfaithful wife; soon after he begins to marry a different virgin everyday, only to kill her at night to ensure he will never be cheated on again. Eventually, the king’s top advisor’s daughter, Shahrazad, offers to marry the king. Shahrazad intrigues King Shahryar by telling him a collection of stories; she never completes a story by the time her husband goes to bed and this prevents him from killing her in the morning. By the end of the stories, which last for 1001 nights, the king has fallen in love with Shahrazad and does not wish to kill her. Every new tale in The Arabian Nights Tales of 1001 Nights begins “Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the [night since Shahrazad began her story], she continued. ” (Lyons, Malcolm C. ) This opening emphasizes the idea that Shahrazad is still living to tell her tale, and she is the woman who was able to stop the king from killing women.
In The Arabian Nights Tales of 1001 Nights Shahrazad offers to marry King Shahryar, knowing that he has been marrying virgins and killing them the next morning. It is evident that Shahrazad is confident she will be the woman who breaks the king’s evil habit. Shahrazad has several methods to keeping King Shahryar interested in her stories for 1001 nights and preventing him from killing her. Firstly, Shahrazad requests that her sister, Dunyazad, live with her and the king. Dunyazad encourages the storytelling to continue, as Shahrazad intentionally ends her stories on a cliff hanger every night; Dunyazad exclaims the king must allow Shahrazad to finish the story because she would like to hear the rest. With the help of Dunyazad, the king is convinced that he would like to hear the rest of the story as well; because of this, Shahrazad is kept alive. Another method Shahrazad uses to make her stories last 1001 nights is by using frame stories. A frame story is essentially a story within a story. When Shahrazad begins a story, she would work several smaller stories into the plot so that her main story would take much longer to complete. At one point, Shahrazad is able to work over ten stories into one of the tales she tells the king.
It is evident that Shahrazad is a very intelligent woman, as she is able to prevent King Shahryar from killing her or any other women. She marries the king, because she is confident that her 1001 night story will hold the interest of the king and prevent him from doing anymore killing. The book of Joshua is part of the Hebrew Bible, which explains the story of Joshua’s conquest of Jericho, as God asked Joshua to lead the Israelites in the taking of the promised land. To begin the conquest, Joshua sends two spies across the Jordan River to gather information about Jericho. In Jericho, the spies are sheltered by a prostitute, Rahab. The King of Jericho suspects the spies are with Rahab, however she lied to Jericho’s officials to protect the Israelite men. . The spies agree to protect Rahab and her family once Israel takes control of Jericho. When the spies return to Israel, they report to Joshua that the people of Jericho are already fearful of the Israelites; this gives Joshua the confidence to take over the city. Before Joshua commences the takeover of Jericho, God reassures him that he/she will support him in the mission and promises him success.
Rahab is a very helpful and intelligent female character in the book of Joshua. She protects the spies, and it is most notable that she is able to convince Jericho’s city officials that she is not hiding the men sent from Israel. Although Rahab is portrayed a being very helpful to the men, she also exerts power, as she request that they promise to keep her and her family safe while the Israelites conquer Jericho; in return she promises to protect them from Jericho’s officials. Rahab asserts herself to the spies stating “Now, since I have shown loyalty to you, swear to me by the Lord that you in turn will show loyalty to my family. ” (Joshua 2. 12) If Rahab had conformed to societal gender norms, she would have protected the men as they asked without challenging them and making the deal that she promises them protection only if they promise her protection.
The female characters in ancient texts are portrayed as breaking the boundary between societal gender norms, similar to how in modern times individuals are trying to lessen the gap between expectations of men and expectations of women. All over the world, women are in school and are as equally present in the workforce as men are. In countries where women do not yet have these opportunities, they are fighting for them. Although men and women are still not yet viewed as equals, society is slowly evolving so that one day this will be possible. It is incredible that ancient texts reflected the breaking of the gender role boundary, despite the fact that modern society has only recently been working to close this gap between expectations of males and females.
The crossing of societal standard boundaries in the The Odyssey, The Arabian Nights Tales of 1001 Nights, and Joshua similar to the modern world’s current efforts to reconstruct gender norms, as the female characters in this text and are portrayed as being more equal to their male counterparts as far as they exhibit traits of leadership and intelligence. In The Odyssey, Penelope uses her wits to outsmart the suitors; she avoids remarrying, because she does not want to. In The Arabian Nights Tales of 1001 Nights, Shahrazad prevents her husband from killing her by intriguing him with stories for 1001 nights; she develops several clever methods of making the stories last for 1001 nights. Finally, Rahab in the story of Joshua is portrayed as being powerful, as she does not simply follow every order given to her by her male counterparts. Rather she demonstrates her equality to the men in the story, as she makes them promise that they must protect her since she is protecting them.
