The Women from The Odyssey, The Wife of Bath, and Sir Gawain.
Until recently, the role of women in literature has seemed to reflect the way they were treated in society. Women were seen as secondary to men, and their sole purpose in life was to please a man's every desire. This is not the case in three specific literary works. The Odyssey, The Wife of Bath, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight use the actions of its women characters to greatly enhance important thematic elements. The women in each of these works use feminine psyche to persuade men to do things that men of the time would not usually do. The use of women in these literary works is very contrary to the prevailing ideals of the female and her responsibilities at the time each was written. In each case, the woman possesses an almost supernatural power to influence others to do as she requests. Though it is somewhat premature to assume that the authors of these pieces started a feminist revolution, they most definitely allowed women to be seen with a respect that the female had never enjoyed.
The Odyssey contains many female characters that influence the entire climax. Athena is an obvious example, because as a goddess and fan of Odysseus, she is able to create supernatural occurrences to help Odysseus to survive. But to include her as a woman is not feasible, because she is an immortal god. The true female heroine of The Odyssey is Penelope, the loving and devoted wife of Odysseus. She fits the perfect mold of an excellent mother and faithful wife. Although Odysseus is believed to be dead, she does not marry again and does everything in her power to prevent this from happening. She is able to use trickery and deceit to avoid the suitors without allowing them to find out what she is doing. She has informed her men-in-waiting that she will marry when she finishes weaving her shroud. She works all day on it and secretly undoes her work at night while they are sleeping.
