Trojan Women Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Trojan Women - Research Paper Example The society back then had rudimentary beliefs in gods. The play, therefore, begins with the gods discussing sufficient punishment for the Greek armies after they permit the raping of a royalty’s daughter one Cassandra a daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba. Rape is the most common yet the gravest form of abuse that the women in the warring times suffered. The soldiers showed no regard to the value of humanity in the women of Troy. While the armies killed their husbands and maimed their children, the soldiers raped and wounded the women. The rape of the daughter of the queen is the height of the disrespect to the value of the woman's life that draws the wrath of the gods. They, therefore, plan an effective punishment for the soldiers who condone Ajax the Lesser even after he abuses the daughter of the royal family which indeed was a taboo punishable by death. During the war and animosity, women suffer the greatest brunt of the subsequent mayhem. The same is applicable in the play as the women of Troy including the royalties all fall to the mercies of the attackers Greek. Additionally, women suffer sexual abuse, which is always the greatest form of abuse levelled against women. The women of Troy suffer different levels of abuses from their attackers but the conspicuous sexual abuse is evident. Queen Hecuba, a serving queen of Troy is prophesied to serve a Greek general soon after her husband dies and the same applied to yet another royal woman, one Cassandra who is destined to become a concubine for the Agamemnon a Greek army general. The play communicates a number of themes key among which portray the suffering of women in both the pre medieval society and the modern day society. Women still suffer because of their physique (Euripides 33). The play merely depicts the difference in the societies of the differing times but indicate the basic forms of abuses suffered by women in every society. One of such themes is historical narrative. This comes out evidently not only as a theme but also as a literary stylistic device. The entire play is a historical account of an actual occurrence in the modern day Troy. The author gives a systematic point-to-point account of the warring times. To achieve efficacy and validity of his account, he picks an angle just as any other professional writer would. His account is the plight of the Trojan women. It is by the sufferings of the women that he builds a play, which does not primarily convey the sufferings of the women but also depicts the power struggles of the time, the weak pol itical systems in the societies at the time and the ramifications of war and lack of peace in the development process of societies. Before the invasion, Troy had been just a society like any other. People enjoyed peace and went about their businesses as usual thereby building a peaceful society in which through their political system, everyone had his or her place. The women indeed performed subordinate roles to the men and the ruling class never safeguarded the rights of women but at least there was peace and everyone including the women was happy. However, with the inversion causes an impulsive disturbance to the peace thereby disorienting the society as everyone begins to panic. The Greek