Double Standard for the Women in Literature

[beatsandpeaces]

Do you think that most female characters in literature are always related to adultery? I've stumbled upon this article: Women in Literature by Simone Klugman and upon reading it, I've realized that although the action/pursuit was deemed wrong during the setting, it is very reflective of how inherently strong and passionate women are in terms of seeking their true joy and happiness.

Do you agree? Thoughts please...

[Clopin]

Most? Uh... no.

[kiki1982]

Definitely not. It probably depends on the era.

Maybe some are perceived to be that way as we women sometimes get jealous for no reason, but I wouldn't say most women characters are that kind of character. If only because the subject is/was taboo.

[ennison]

I find that a very odd question - bizarre. What on earth could prompt it? Reading a couple of Late nineteenth century European novels perhaps? Is it the Anna K syndrome I wonder?

[Pompey Bum]

I just found it confusing. Are most of them always related to adultery? So some could still be only often related? Or always related some of the time, but sometimes related all of the time? It was too much like a math problem. Just let me read.

[Clopin]

I find that a very odd question - bizarre. What on earth could prompt it? Reading a couple of Late nineteenth century European novels perhaps? Is it the Anna K syndrome I wonder?


There's more male adultery in Anna Karenina anyway.

[wordeater]

When a woman is the title character it's often about adultery: Madame Bovary, Anna Karenina, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Thérèse Raquin, Lady Chatterley...

[YesNo]

In some of the recent stories or movies I've read or seen the females have done more than have sex with someone else. Here are some examples:

1) The Hundred-Foot Journey. This is a movie about an Indian restaurant startup across from a Michelin one-star restaurant in France. One female is the owner of the French restaurant who tries to damage her competitor but later becomes friends with the Indian owner. (No adultery). One female was the envious friend of the the Indian son's cooking ability. (No adultery) Other females were sisters of the Indian son. (No adultery).

2) Breaking Bad. Skylar does commit adultery about midway through the series. (Adultery) Skylar's sister Marie does not commit adultery. (No adultery) They are both pains to be around in their own way, but so are the male characters. Jesse's two female lovers don't commit adultery. (No adultery) They do die tragically. Perhaps dying is as bad from a male perspective as being adulterous.

3) Arabian Nights (chapter 1). In one of the stories a merchant takes a woman he meets on the street home as his wife at her request. Back home his two brothers try to kill him by throwing him and his new wife into the ocean to drown to get his fortune. It turns out his wife is some sort of genie with superpowers. She saves her husband and then tries to convince him to let her kill his brothers. He refuses. She stops asking him for permission and turns them into dogs for ten years. I guess you can't blame her. They did try to kill her as well. (No adultery)

[Jackson Richardson]

I'm racking my brains to think of any adulterous women in Shakespeare.

Some of the most important, and I suspect most of the second rate, novels in England in the C19 were written by women. Jane Austen has only a little sympathy for Maria Bertram and no interest in her whatever after her fall.

[Marbles]

I guess this impression comes from the famous classics of the 19th century, and society's attitudes towards adultery. Whereas male adultery was a casual matter of winks and japes, female adultery was an earth-shattering instance that destroyed families and upset towns and cities. But recently? At least I don't see any special fixation with adulterous women characters; the field is pretty even. But I could be wrong - comes to my mind John Updike's bevy of adulterous women characters. Perhaps male writers love to create adulterous women. Old modes of representation have perhaps in some way continued into contemporary fiction.

[YesNo]

I think the following is the blog post by Simone Klugman that the OP refers to: http://simoneklugman.com/women-literature/

The general question seems to be: Are women treated differently than men with regards to adultery?

[Clopin]

"When we think of women in literature it is usually in connection with adultery."

No... it's usually not. With that first wildly untrue assertion I can pretty much tell this is going to be a crappy blog post.

[YesNo]

I agree. It doesn't make sense.

[axolotl]

it's always about men. but not adultery. just women talking or thinking or etc about men.

[Clopin]

No, it isn't. Read more.

[kelby_lake]

I'm racking my brains to think of any adulterous women in Shakespeare.


Generally they are wrongly accused of adultery (Hermione, Imogen, Hero). Cressida is unfaithful though (I don't know if it's technically adultery) and Titania commits adultery. Helena and Marina trick the men they love into sleeping with them.

[YesNo]

It does seem that Titania had an affair with Bottom which would have been a miscalculation, I assume, on Oberon and Puck's part when they started the prank.

This did not result in any tragic consequences for Titania that the OP seems to suggest is common.

[kelby_lake]

It does seem that Titania had an affair with Bottom which would have been a miscalculation, I assume, on Oberon and Puck's part when they started the prank.

This did not result in any tragic consequences for Titania that the OP seems to suggest is common.

True, though adulterous women do suffer in a way that men don't in literature- but that was a true depiction of what happened back then and maybe even still happens now. If women get a hard time in classic literature it's because they had a hard time in life.

[Jackson Richardson]

Three thoughts about the opening post:

ONE It seems to lump all “literature” together from the Epic of Gilgamesh to the latest third world poetry blog being posted online at this very moment as though it was all of a piece.

TWO Novels and plays will reflect their society, including any double standard. It doesn’t mean they support what they describe and may be highly critical. (Jane Austen in Mansfield Park comments how unfair it is that Maria Bertram loses her place in society: the man, in her opinion, should be treated equally.)

THREE The post seems to imply that “inherently strong and passionate women are in terms of seeking their true joy and happiness” will all leave their husbands for a lover. But that is just imposing a stereotype. A woman may well find fulfilment in independent creative work, in the commitment to membership of a religious community or lesbian commune or even a lifelong marriage bringing up a family. Anna Karenina presumably thought she was seeking true joy by going off with a sexy lover rather that staying with her bore of a husband. But the lover proves just as unsatisfying and she throws herself under a train. Which implies it wasn’t true joy.

[IAmYouth]

Do you think that most female characters in literature are always related to adultery? I've stumbled upon this article: Women in Literature by Simone Klugman and upon reading it, I've realized that although the action/pursuit was deemed wrong during the setting, it is very reflective of how inherently strong and passionate women are in terms of seeking their true joy and happiness.

Do you agree? Thoughts please...

I would not say that "most" female characters are always related to adultery. Some are the exact opposite as personifications of purity or fidelity. Maybe switching the time periods in which our reading materials were written might change both of our opinions. I've also found that in books I have read where the woman is related to adultery, there is either another female character who is maybe not the opposite of the first but is a definite contrast in character and actions.