A Feminist Critique of Lysistrata

*BEWARE...NOT THE TYPICAL BOOK REVIEW!*


The ancient Greek comedy Lysistrata draws most of its humor from creating caricatures of masculine and feminine gender roles. Characters in the play are either hyper-feminized, hyper-masculinized, or painted as oddities by mismatching their gendered behavior and sex. Women experience the worst of the stereotyping by Aristophanes. After reading the play, one comes away with a view of women as masters of sexual manipulation, and little else- save the housework they do for their husbands.


Lysistrata, the heroine of the play, may be the only exception to this limited view of women. She is the one who concocts the scheme of withholding sex from men until they end the war. This demonstrates some intellect on her part. Yet, Lysistrata reinforces the stereotypical gender role of women in her explanation of her plan. As she tells her cohort Kalonike, "...[these] are just the very things I count on to save us – wicked saffron gowns, perfumes and pumps and rouge and sheer transparent frocks." Notice that she does not mention counting on the solidarity, organization, intellect, or determination of her fellow women to accomplish her task, but the hyper-feminization of their appearance. Lysistrata, by emphasizing the appearance of women as the savior of her plan, elevates it to a higher importance than other factors that may be involved. It does nothing to dispute the view that women’s talents are (basically) limited to sexual manipulation.


The women who cooperate with Lysistrata do nothing to dispute this stereotype, either. When they first learn of Lysistrata’s intentions, they refuse to participate. Kalonike exclaims in response, "Anything else you like, anything! If I must I’ll gladly walk through fire. That, rather than the prick!" While the statement cannot be taken literally, it still indicates strong opposition to living without sexual relations. This suggests that women find joy in nothing but sex. Stretching the quote even farther, it hints that women have talent for nothing else in life. For if they were truly talented at something else, it seems as if they would find some joy in putting their skills to work.


Even when the events of the play afford Aristophanes the opportunity to develop the women as more than two-dimensional caricatures, he does not. Ambassadors come to Lysistrata willing to negotiate peace. Instead of relying solely on her ability to communicate, she uses the naked woman HARMONY to tempt the men into a peace agreement. Readers never get an opportunity to see Lysistrata’s talents- her manipulative use of sexuality in always in operation.


While Lysistrata seems to have been a great comedy to the ancient Greeks, and is still held as a fine piece of theatre today, it leaves much to be desired in its portrayal of women. Unfortunately, Aristophanes died more than two millennia ago, and cannot comment on his work in light of the feminist movement.