Role of Women in the Poem Odyssey and the Play King Lear

This paper is about the role of women in the poem Odyssey and the play King Lear.

The importance of the women in the play and poem represents the strength and qualities that these women portray and the sheer dedication towards their goal, whether it’s to avenge their own siblings or father, or to stand up to what they want and believe in, or to take control of the situation and try to do what is right. They are no less than men. There is very much an Edmund in a woman figure as much there is an Edgar. They are aggressive, decisive, and at times can be more brutal than their male counterparts. The female characters in both the play and poem are not only important because they lead the narrative and are an effect of the consequences in their respective stories, but also because of their importance in the society and the effect they have on men’s life.

The women in King Lear are powerful. They are at par with their male-counterparts, if not more, in manipulating, killing, and being selfish for their own needs. But there are also who are loyal, faithful, and loving. Cordelia, who can be the representation of Edgar as a female figure, is faithful, loving, forgiving, and gentle. which is why she’s been always the favourite of Lear. She is Patriarch. She is also independent and has her own mind. She isn’t easily bullied and is able to act. But rather than acting in more regressive manner in which you’d be tempted to do so if you had burliness father, or perhaps sisters who constantly bully you, she is passive, she works within the system. She gets married, but she gets her husband to raise an army in her father’s defence. While on the other hand, she has aggressive, violent, and regal sisters, Goneril and Regan. They are very much like Edmund. Manipulative, power hungry, arrogant, and willing to go to any length to get what they desire, even killing people, either themselves (Regan, kills with a sword) or through harsh punishment which would eventually lead to death....