Interpertation

In the following essay I will be writing about how Aristophanes playwright

"Lysistrata" and Shakespeare's playwright "The Tempest" both present us

with the figure of power. Both playwrights use the figure of power in their own individual unique ways.

Aristophanes' work demonstrates power through what would be called a

"Battle of the sexist." Lysistrata's main goal is to try to get the men

of Sparta to end the war and come home to their families. Lysistrata's

plan of action is to have all women refuse to have sex with their

husbands. She wants the women to temp their husbands in the most

seductive ways. Lysistrata tells the women,

We'll paint, powder and pluck ourselves to the last detail, and stay

inside, wearing those filmy tunics that set off everything we have- and

then slink up to the men. They'll snap to attention, go absolutely mad

to love us-but we won't let them, we'll abstain. I imagine they'll

conclude a treaty rather quickly (Aristophanes 27).

The women are revolting against sex only for the love of their husbands in

hopes that their husbands will come home to them. If the men truly loved

their wives they would see what is going on and they would find a way to

come home to their families. The men, on the other hand, see Lysistrata's

plan as a way for her to gain power of the women and have to women come

together and revolt against the men. The men want to feel that they still

have power and control over the women, and this is where it turns into a

"Battle of the sexist." At one point Lysistrata tells the commissioner,

"We're not slaves; we're freeborn women, and when we're scorned, we're

full of fury. Never Underestimate the Power of a Women" (Aristophanes 51).

The commissioner refuses to believe that women have power and he responds

to her, "Power? You mean capacity. I should have remembered the proverb:

The lower the tavern, the higher the dudgeon" (Aristophanes

51). He was trying to inform Lysistrata that women do not have and will never have power over anything, especially men. Lysistrata found a weakness in men, so weak, that they would eventually have to surrender to the women in order for their needs to be

satisfied. The men know that they have lost the battle

against the women when the koryphaios of men tells Lysistrata, "They yield

the floor to you and submit their clams for your arbitration"

(Aristophanes 101).

Shakespeare demonstrates the figure of power in his playwright, "The

Tempest" through Prospero and his many devious and ingenious schemes. Prospero was shipwrecked on a deserted island when his brother, Antonio, took over and became

The Duke of Milan. Prospero uses his knowledge of magic to gain control over his daughter and spirits so he could devise a plan to get back at his brother and all that were against him. Prospero assumes the power he has by taking control over people through his magic. He takes control