Throughout history, women have had a variety of social roles, some of which can be seen through the lens of literature written during various different eras. Using several cantos from the Inferno, part of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and the tale The Arabian Nights, this article will examine the medieval role of women as initiators and instigators of events and lead to an understanding of the quintessential medieval woman. : a person willing to maintain the appearance of passivity while continuing to provide for himself or those he has learned to care for in the background. This understanding is vital to the interpretation of these texts, as well as other medieval literature; however, an understanding of the role of women in the medieval period can also enrich one's ability to examine women's roles throughout literature and foster an understanding of the ways in which these perceptions changed and evolved as the eras passed. Therefore, using this knowledge, it would also be possible to analyze the contemporary roles of women and understand how and why some stereotypes and thought patterns have been perpetuated throughout history and how they have been largely overcome in some modern societies. Furthermore, contemporary roles for women in other regions (excluding the United States and Europe) can be better understood in the context of these archaic interpretations, elements of which are still found today. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Dante Alighieri composed his Divine Comedy in the early part of the 14th century, when there were strong political divisions in his hometown of Florence, resulting from a religious disagreement in which he ultimately chose a side. His work has strong religious overtones, resulting from the apparent journey through the stages of the afterlife, as well as references to some celestial figures. However, his work also contains several female characters, although many of them receive only a brief mention before the focus is shifted away from the roles they played in Dante Pellegrino's journey. However, women's roles in texts are not always so limited; in tales like The Arabian Nights, whose beginning probably predates that of The Divine Comedy, women play a crucial role in advancing the plot and guiding the actions of the male characters. Despite the fact that women begin and continue to instigate a In most actions within both texts, the perception of these female characters varies drastically. In the Divine Comedy, all the female characters are presented as righteous and even saints; these women led a good life and for this reason they were admitted to paradise, where the final stage of Dante Pellegrino's journey will take place. In The Arabian Nights, however, most of the female characters are lustful, promiscuous, and very easily discarded. While Dante the Pilgrim never forgot the love he felt for Beatrice while he was alive, both King Shahrayar and Shahzaman showed no mercy towards their wives and put them to death regardless of the favor they had once held. These attitudes show the polarity that exists towards women, and therefore also show the different ways in which they can cause events to occur, even if the causality was unintentional. In each text, it was a female character who initiated the main narrative arc. , and who contributed significantly to the events surrounding the early parts of the story. A key step to discuss theinitial meaning of female characters in the Divine Comedy begins when Virgil explains how he was led by Dante the Pilgrim, who had found himself wandering in the Dark Woods. According to Virgil "I was among those dead... when a woman called me" (Inferno2,52-3); this lady, who we realize is actually Beatrice, Dante's first love, then asked Virgil to go to Dante the Pilgrim, guide him through the rings of hell, and finally bring him safely to the gates of heaven. Despite the distance from him, she tried to provide him with all the help she could from her place in heaven as she waited for him to reach the gates, from which point she could continue to guide him on his journey. She also shows genuine concern for him, when she expresses: "I fear he may have gone so far / ... that I may have begun to help him too late" (Inferno 2.64-6). Regardless of the fact that she no longer had an earthly or physical presence in Dante's life, Beatrice still shows that she continued to care for him, and that she feared for his soul and his safety after he began wandering in the Woods Dark, a place that was described as being off the “correct” path of his life. The first female characters in The Arabian Nights, however, are very different from the heavenly and loving Beatrice. The first woman we are introduced to is Shahzaman's favorite wife, whom he had left while he went to visit his brother; when he secretly returned to say goodbye, however, his true colors were revealed. Shahzaman caught her in their bedroom, sleeping with a kitchen boy; this infuriated him so much that it drove him to kill both the other man and his favorite wife, and throw their bodies from the palace. After his discovery, Shahzaman ordered his convoy to leave immediately, and "The drum was struck and they set out on the journey, while Shahzaman's heart was on fire because of what his wife had done to him and how she had betrayed with some cook, some kitchen boy” (The Arabian Nights 1747), however, his bitterness soon turned into a deep depression, which affected him even while he was at his brother's palace. This depression indirectly led to both the introduction of the second main female character, and the terrible changes that occurred within his brother, Shahrayar; When Shahzaman saw his brother's favorite wife and ten of his concubines performing sexual acts with eleven slaves in the house of his brother, he immediately felt as if his fate was not the worst of all and that he could begin to function again knowing that his brother's fate was unknowingly worse than his own. Shayrayar, seeing the changes that had occurred, demanded to know what had happened to them pushed; it was only then that Shahzaman revealed to his brother the secret meetings between his women and the slaves. In disbelief, Shahrayar asked to see him in person and his brother obliged. One morning he took his brother to the window and "When King Shahrayar saw the sight of his wife and the slave girls, he went mad" (The Arabian Nights 1750). Therefore, the actions of Shahrayar's favorite wife, along with the other ten concubines, pushed him to become the heartless killer that he is in the next part of the tale. Women in both the Divine Comedy and the Arabian Nights were the catalysts for initiating the plot and for male characters to behave in ways they normally would not. In the Divine Comedy, this change was shown primarily through Virgil's appearance and actions; normally he would not come to guide a person wandering in the Dark Woods, but at Beatrice's request he offered to assist Dante the Pilgrim. In the Arabian Nights, this change was channeled through Shahzaman andShahrayar, although Shahrayar was probably the most affected, due to the fact that he underwent the greatest change in mentality, especially towards women. Later in both texts, we discover female characters. with good motivations, who try to do everything in their power to help male characters or other women. In the second canto of the Divine Comedy we can learn more about the true reasons behind sending help to Dante Pellegrino, when we see that Beatrice told Virgil that: "A good woman sits in Heaven grieving / for what has happened to him to whom I send you , / and his compassion breaks the severe decree of Heaven" (Hell 2,94 -6). This "gracious lady" is often attributed, especially due to the religious motifs present in the rest of the work, to Mary. As Guy Raffa states, “This last woman, who sets the entire rescue operation in motion, can only be Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus according to Dante's faith” (“The Three Blessed Women,” Danteworlds). So it is Mary who truly sends her guide to Dante Pellegrino; without her, he probably might have wandered forever through the Dark Woods and the circles of hell, never managing to find a way back to his correct and established path. Mary, through Saint Lucia and then through Beatrice, extends her greatest possible help to Dante Pellegrino, beginning his journey and beginning his slow passage into the kingdoms of heaven. In The Arabian Nights we are introduced to the character of Shahrazad, a young woman willing to try to change the mentality of King Shahrayar and put an end to the killing of the women he marries. According to Jerome Clinton, "After witnessing her [his favorite wife's] debauchery, Shahrayar first abandons his throne altogether, then, after meeting the jinn and the kidnapped bride, returns to his throne, but transformed into a monster of injustice.” (Clinton 108). Despite the many risks, she insists on marrying the king, but makes sure to tell him stories every night, leaving him curious to hear the ending. His strategy works; every night she tells Shahrayar a new part of a story, or even a completely new story, and this prevents him from killing her the next morning. However, every night Shahrayar promises that "[he] will have her put to death the next morning, as I have done to the others" (One Thousand and One Nights 1760). As she tells him the stories, she also uses these stories as a way to hopefully alter the king's mindset and behavior; after learning of his promise to "marry for one night only and kill the woman the next morning, to save himself from the wickedness and cunning of women" (The Arabian Nights 1752), what he really wanted was to survive, and to save other women from the horrible fate that comes with becoming his bride. Overall, women in both narratives play an important role in the male character's life and journeys. However, as is characteristic of the role of women in medieval society, they always operate under a veil of silence; their actions are neither bold nor outspoken, but are performed in secret and in the background, always behind the adventures of their male counterparts. As instigators and initiators, women could find some power in the medieval world; since they could not use themselves to satisfy their own desires, they could instead use the power of the men they influenced to express their overall will and achieve their goals. Therefore, the women in these stories shed a very similar light on the female condition: despite the great differences in their actions, each of them demonstrated that women can have a certain power, as long as it is not expressed openly, and that they can then use it is about changing the behavior of men both in. 1746-1795.