Consider our exploration of gender roles in Brecht’s The Good Woman of Setzuan. In the play, the female protagonist Shen Te attempts to gain agency by gender-bending as her fake male cousin Shui Ta. Discuss the effects of this performance of gender, and Shen Te’s social experiences as both male and female. Does taking on a double self in Shui Ta allow Shen Te to overcome the stereotypes and social barriers associated with femininity in Setzuan?

– Writing in World Literature

 

Due: Week 9, in class

(Essay Outline due Week 6, in class)

 

Assignment: Major Essay (15% of course grade)

 

Write a 1200-1500 word essay (roughly 4-5 pages, double spaced, in a standard 12pt font) on one of the following topics:

 

1. Consider our exploration of gender roles in Brecht’s The Good Woman of Setzuan. In the play, the female protagonist Shen Te attempts to gain agency by gender-bending as her fake male cousin Shui Ta. Discuss the effects of this performance of gender, and Shen Te’s social experiences as both male and female. Does taking on a double self in Shui Ta allow Shen Te to overcome the stereotypes and social barriers associated with femininity in Setzuan?

 

 

2. Using specific examples from your reading of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, discuss how Lysistrata and other characters within the play either challenge or reinforce gender stereotypes. How does the comedy (or satire) present in the play affect our understanding of certain social issues or stereotypes within Athenian society?

 

 

For whichever essay topic you choose, follow these general guidelines:

• Please write on only the texts specified in the question.

 

• Be sure to build a thesis that offers a strong and specific

 

• Ensure that you use quotations from the text to support your points and fully discuss those quotations in a well developed and detailed close reading and analysis.

 

• Check that your evidence all relates back to your argument and works to “prove” it.

 

• You may not use secondary sources for this assignment. I am interested in your own ideas and close reading of the texts.

 

• In the first stages of writing, remember pre-writing and note taking techniques (brain storming, free writing, mind maps, etc.). These can really help you to get started and to develop your ideas more fully. Tables or charts are especially helpful for comparison essays. If you are not sure which topic to choose, consider brainstorming on both, and choose the one that you are most interested in after you generate some ideas.