(855) 4-ESSAYS

Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

Power of the Sex - Lysistrata and The Toy Cart

            Throughout western history males have usually been the dominant sex. Men have controlled and ruled since the beginning of time. Men were thought to be stronger, more honorable, and righteous. Looking at The Toy Cart this would be a reasonable perception, however, in Lysistrata this is quite on the contrary. Aristophanes endows the women in Lysistrata with unparalleled power - abstinence. They use sex as a method to get men to do what they want. They become more powerful than men. Giving women this power, he shows how men can become weak to sexual desire and in Lysistrata's situation uses sex to defuse the conflict of the Peloponnesian War. On the other hand in The Toy Cart, King Shudraka portrays women as weak and defenseless - needing men to save them and be with them. It portrays men and women in a more romantic and loving manner. The Toy Cart presents a stereotypical drama dealing with men and women. The issue of sex in this piece is more sheltered and shielded with fantasies of love and romance. Both of these pieces deal with the issue of sex and gender but in with very different approaches. .
             Lysistrata is anything but helpless and weak. Her will and heart so strong and willing that she was able to unite all of Greece and try end the Peloponnesian war. She was probably the one of the first heroines in literature. Aristophanes portrays Lysistrata as a woman who despises all the stereotypes that women were given by men but she actually fits one of them perfectly - deviousness. She plots and schemes in order to resolve what she deems to be problematic, in this case the war. Lysistrata exploits women's sexuality and uses it was a tool to get what she wants through psychological torture. Lysistrata gives us a bleak look at human sexuality and gender and the ways it can be used - no sugar-coating. Aristophanes gives us an insight into human desire and sexuality. He shows us the truth and not a romance story.


Essays Related to Power of the Sex - Lysistrata and The Toy Cart

1. Lysistrata

Lysistrata Lysistrata is a play written in 411 BC by Aristophanes, who was a satirist. ... It primarily deals with two themes, war and the power of sexuality. ... In Lysistrata, Lysistrata defies the system of the oikos as represented as sex and attacks the privilege of war. Because of the sex strike, the male world is forced to end the war. ... Although caustic and good-humored, he intended to show the power of lust and civil war amongst the Greeks. ...

  • Word Count: 645
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Lysistrata

"The Lysistrata" by Aristophanes demonstrates the free will and power that the women have, but in the past have hardly used. ... The separation Lysistrata achieves from the other women is important to her rank and power with the male characters in the play. ... Aristophanes makes fun of women, but he also makes fun of his own sex. Cinesias, the leading example, is the unhappy target of the women's sex strike. ... It is obvious that Lysistrata sends the Old women of the Athens to take Acropolis because they will be no use in the sex strike. ...

  • Word Count: 934
  • Approx Pages: 4

3. Lysistrata

"The Lysistrata" by Aristophanes demonstrates the free will and power that the women have, but in the past have hardly used. ... The separation Lysistrata achieves from the other women is important to her rank and power with the male characters in the play. ... Aristophanes makes fun of women, but he also makes fun of his own sex. Cinesias, the leading example, is the unhappy target of the women's sex strike. ... It is obvious that Lysistrata sends the Old women of the Athens to take Acropolis because they will be no use in the sex strike. ...

  • Word Count: 956
  • Approx Pages: 4

4. Lysistrata

After reading Lysistrata, it is very obvious that it is a "Brillo pad comedy" aimed at reforming Greek society. ... They are deserting me." (813) The women seem as though they have no minds of there own and look upon there sex as almost worthless in the beginning of the play, Kalonike: " [depends] on the women? In that case poor Greece has next to nothing to depend on." (31) Lastly, the play was not meant to be feministic because the women's only source of power is their sexuality. They must depend on the men to want sex for their plan to work. Aristophanes was using the women ...

  • Word Count: 563
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

5. lysistrata

Lysistrata By Aristophanes We can force our husbands to negotiate Peace, Ladies, by exercising steadfast Self Control- By Total Abstinence.......Total Abstinence from SEX! ... This group of girls, lead by Lysistrata, decided to not allow their husbands to have sex with them until they came home for good and stopped the war. ... This play shows three great themes; sex, war, and the power of women. ... Fighting gives them a sense of power and dominance. ... The power the women gain from this is immense. ...

  • Word Count: 803
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Lysistrata

Lysistrata Aristophanes was a comedy poet in the fourth century B.C. ... When their husbands return from battle, the women refuse to have sex with them. ... His catalyst was Lysistrata, feminist champion over war through peace. ... The women don't like the fact that the only power women have had over men is to withhold sex. ... Except for sex and the family element, women really didn't have any redeeming social values. ...

  • Word Count: 1044
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Lysistrata

Written during the war, a time of chaos and crisis in Greece, Aristophanes" play Lysistrata was an attempt to lighten the atmosphere of the country, and provide humor for the people. ... In the opening scene, when Lysistrata is explaining her plan to the other women, Aristophanes shows the way females use their femininity and sexuality to gain power. They are going to "sit around all prettied up in flowers and scandalous saffron-yellow gowns, groomed- I do not think that Lysistrata was, in any way, a threat to the hierarchy of the government because at that time, females were looked upon...

  • Word Count: 354
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

8. "The Ying and Yang of Oedipus and Lysistrata"

They then conspire to abstain from sex until their husbands sign a treaty to end the fighting. ... The play is basically centered on a prophecy that the son of Laius (ruler of Thebes) would murder his father and have sex his mother. ... Instead of using weapons and mass power to win the war the women used love and their physical beauty to end the fighting. ... The play starts with her asserting her masculine power and ends with her ordering the Spartan soldiers. ... Finally Oedipus proved his masculinity and power to rule once he had become King and Thebes and ruled over his people with and i...

  • Word Count: 1200
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

Got a writing question? Ask our professional writer!
Submit My Question