Women In Classical India
November 22, 2013
GHIST101 Paper 1 Women in Classical China and India
In the classical societies of China and India, women are viewed as second to men. Both societies agree that men are stronger, protectors, providers, and more authoritative than women. They also agree that women are inferior, delicate, gentle, and vulnerable than men. Generally, men had a higher level of independence than women, whereas, women completely depended on their husbands socially and economically. Even though they both agree that women are inferior to men, Chinese women have less dependency on men than Indian women but there is still a great dependency on men by women in both societies. In China, women have higher degree of expression than women in classical India society. In the Mother of Mencius, written by Mencius …show more content…
This reflects how Indian society sees the dependency of wives on their husbands. Indian classical society sees that without a husband, wives lose their reason to stay in society as they no longer have a provider and protector. Moreover, when Rama threatened to leave Sita out of the claim that she was not pure, she went to the extreme to throwing herself into a burning pyre which shows that she rather die than not have her husband. Thus, Indian society views that without a husband, wives are destitute and might be better off dead. On the other hand, Mencius mother, left windowless, supported her family and took care of the family without a husband. Moreover, it was expected that women would live normally as a woman’s life was seen in three stages of submission composing of being under her parents in her youth, under her husband in her marriage, and as a widow, under her son (Stearns 52). In India society, the last stage, being a widow, is seen as a desperate stage as a wife is seen to be one with her
GHIST101 Paper 1 Women in Classical China and India
In the classical societies of China and India, women are viewed as second to men. Both societies agree that men are stronger, protectors, providers, and more authoritative than women. They also agree that women are inferior, delicate, gentle, and vulnerable than men. Generally, men had a higher level of independence than women, whereas, women completely depended on their husbands socially and economically. Even though they both agree that women are inferior to men, Chinese women have less dependency on men than Indian women but there is still a great dependency on men by women in both societies. In China, women have higher degree of expression than women in classical India society. In the Mother of Mencius, written by Mencius …show more content…
This reflects how Indian society sees the dependency of wives on their husbands. Indian classical society sees that without a husband, wives lose their reason to stay in society as they no longer have a provider and protector. Moreover, when Rama threatened to leave Sita out of the claim that she was not pure, she went to the extreme to throwing herself into a burning pyre which shows that she rather die than not have her husband. Thus, Indian society views that without a husband, wives are destitute and might be better off dead. On the other hand, Mencius mother, left windowless, supported her family and took care of the family without a husband. Moreover, it was expected that women would live normally as a woman’s life was seen in three stages of submission composing of being under her parents in her youth, under her husband in her marriage, and as a widow, under her son (Stearns 52). In India society, the last stage, being a widow, is seen as a desperate stage as a wife is seen to be one with her