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Compare And Contrast The Treatment Of Femininity In Pygmalion And Medea

In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting the way in which two different authors portray femininity in their respective dramatic texts.   The two works I am using are Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw and Medea by Euripides.   I will be looking at how the way men and women are portrayed can affect the way we interpret the texts, and showing that femininity isn’t necessarily a trait restricted just to women.

I believe that femininity reflects expected female behaviour. There are certain traits which are believed to be typically male or female.   Male traits tend to be more physical such as the fact that they are dominant, stronger whereas female traits are much softer, more emotional.   In ancient Athenian society such things as ‘bravery in battle’ and ‘general competitive excellence in a public arena’(1)   were considered masculine whereas women were relegated to ‘looking after the household and bringing up their children’(2).   However, femininity has changed as times have changed.   It reflects the acceptable social behaviour of the period.   As women were seen as more equal to men, the restrictions on them lessened.   So by the time Pygmalion was written in 1912 it was acceptable for women to support themselves: something that was unheard of in Medea’s time.

When Pygmalion was written the woman’s movement was well underway and women were starting to demand rights and become more independent.   It was no longer assumed that women would marry just to be looked after.   Men no longer automatically took the controlling role.   Eliza is a prime example of this as although she is not very well off she is self sufficient as a flower-girl.

Medea on the other hand is set at a time when women were completely submissive to their husbands.   Once married all of their property automatically became their husband's.   Medea has no legal political rights; not only because she is a women but also because she is an outsider.   Medea’s reference to women being ‘weak and timid in most...