Female Heroes In British Literature Essay

The Female Hero in British Literature and War Alfred the Great, Winston Churchill, and David Beckham are British men who were given the title of “hero” for their feats ranging from conquering nations to being the first Briton to win league titles in four countries. But what makes these men heroes? According to Christopher Reeve, an actor portraying the character of Superman in movies, “A hero is someone who, in spite of weakness, doubt, or not always knowing the answers, goes ahead and overcomes anyway” (“Quotes”). This quote by Christopher Reeve encompasses the life of many British women, but how come when the term “hero” comes to an individual’s minds, males are more often listed than women? Could it be that the accomplishments of women
It is claimed that “sex is the weapon of life, the shooting sperm sent like an army of guerrillas to penetrate the egg’s defenses-the only victory that really matters.” With this being said, sex, and how the sperm must go through several enemy territories to declare victory, is war. Interchangeably, according to William Broyles in his novel Why Men Love War, war is actually sex. The power generated through war and the bonding of individuals “heightens…sexuality” and as a result makes “war…a turn on.” People love war because people love weapons and the power and opportunity to destroy nations, infrastructure, and/or ideas. War therefore is the union between sex and destruction—between love and death. Broyles believes that to fully understand the seduction of the opposite gender, it is crucial to hear the war stories of women. If their voices are heard, the gender-encoding stereotypes in war and the war stories can be denaturalized. We must understand the women’s viewpoint of the war to grasp the importance of ideological power for people, cultures, and humanity overall (Schneider 6). When we reach this understanding and gain insight on “the other side” of war, the parameters of war literature can be altered and we can “re-conceptualize aspects of…war’s political history” (Scott