Women In Classic Western Literature

Women in Classic Western Literature in the past have been described as independent and interdependent individuals. One quality that is consistently portrayed in Classical Western Literature is their need for relationships. In Classic Western Literature women are represented as having an utmost interdependent self-construal. This is showed through their need to change to "fit in" and their tendency to follow their social duty. The ability to transfigure oneself to one's environment exhibits, one of the many, key attributes of an interdependent persona. In Classical Western Literature, women discover themselves, on various occasions, trying to "fit in" to their respective environments. A quintessential example of this, infamous Monna Giovanna from "Decameron: Federigo's Falcon". In "Federigo's Falcon", Monna finds herself being wooed by the nobleman Federigo. He, being bewitched by Cupid's unapologetic arrow, spends
"far beyond his needs"(27) and "was reduced to poverty"(2829) trying to win her over.
However, Monna, seeing herself as only a wife, tries to properly fit in to her position and does not even give Federigo the time of day. As her environment changes (her husband dies and her child becomes sick), she changes to properly fit in to her motherly duties and attempts to fulfill her child's dying wish (to retrieve Federigo's falcon). She had to do something she wouldn't even dream to do; Visit, her admirer, Federigo, and retrieve from him his prized possession. She contemplates how could she "be so insensitive as to wish to take away from this nobleman the only pleasure which is left to him?"(6364). But, she does it, despite her morals, in order to better to fit in to her position as the child's mother. The correlation between the changes in environment and the changes in her behavior are very apparent throughout the story. But, in Classical Western Literature, the changes aren't only in behavior. In "The
Wife of Bath's Tale", the Old Lady literally metamorphoses into what her husband, the Knight, desired her to be. She transforms from an "old, and so abominably plain"(276) hag to a “young and lovely"(426) women. Doing so, she properly fit in to what her husband saw as a suitable wife. Further example of changing for ones environment, is the women in the poems "Only the Good Die Young" and "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time". The women in these stories try to fit into their religious environment by living by the Christian standards. Wearing "white dress" and "a cross of gold" to signify their purity; Attending "confirmation" parties; Being "coy" in their relationships; All to better represent their faith. One might view these examples as the women being independent in not succumbing to the world; Or Monna as being independent in not falling for Federigo's gifts; Or he Old Lady being independent in her decision to change. However if it wasn't for religion; Her husband; And her husband; All of those decisions would not have happened. On the contrary, their interdependent need to change to fit in is the only reason for their actions. In Classical Western Literature, women show no individualism. Who they are, what they do, and who they do them with, all have to do with their relationships with others. Mainly demonstrated through their need to “fit in”. Their interdependent self-construal is shown throughout the literature. The women in Classical Western Literature were strong-willed. But in the times that they were, it was because of their relationships.