A THEMATOLOGICAL COMPARISON OF THE DOMINANT FEMALE FIGURES IN EURIPIDES’ MEDEA, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S MACBETH AND ÖZEN YULA’S UNOFFICIAL ROXELANA

Abstract

This paper presents a thematological comparison to the portrayal of powerful woman characters in Euripides’s Medea, William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and Özen Yula’s Unofficial Roxelana. The feminist analysis of the three plays indicates that women are portrayed as always seeking power, control, and recognition. Their desire for power is tested by patriarchy on several trials and tribulations. Even though the three female characters belong to different cultures and times, they share common themes of patriarchal oppression, desperate desires for power and recognition. The three women are observed to deviate from expected gender roles by exhibiting unconventional manlike behaviours according to the patriarchal framework. The feminist criticism reveals the motivations behind their deviation from their culturally constructed gender roles. Through the thematological analysis, as a subfield of comparative literature, the selected texts are compared in their relation to each other in terms of their unique themes by the help of feminist criticism.

Keywords

• Thematology
• feminism
• dominant females
• patriarchy

EURİPİDES’İN MEDEA’SI, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’İN MACBETH’İ VE ÖZEN YULA’NIN GAYRİ RESMİ ROXELANA’SINDAKİ BASKIN KADIN FİGÜRLERİNİN TEMATOLOJİK BİR KARŞILAŞTIRMASI

Abstract

Bu makale, Euripides’in Medea’sı, William Shakespeare’in Macbeth’i ve Özen Yula’nın Gayri Resmi Roxelana’sındaki güçlü kadın karakterlerin tasviriyle tematolojik bir karşılaştırma sunmaktadır. Üç oyunun feminist analizi, kadınların her zaman güç, kontrol ve tanınma arayışında olarak tasvir edildiğini göstermektedir. İktidara olan arzuları ataerkillik tarafından çeşitli denemeler ve sıkıntılarla sınanır. Üç kadın karakter farklı kültürlere ve zamanlara ait olsalar da ataerkil baskı, güç ve tanınmaya yönelik çaresiz arzular gibi ortak temaları paylaşıyorlar. Üç kadının ataerkil çerçeveye göre alışılmadık erkeksi davranışlar sergileyerek beklenen cinsiyet rollerinden saptıkları gözlemlenmektedir. Feminist eleştiri, onların kültürel olarak inşa edilmiş toplumsal cinsiyet rollerinden sapmalarının ardındaki motivasyonları açığa çıkarmaktadır. Karşılaştırmalı edebiyatın bir alt alanı olan tematolojik analizde, feminist eleştirinin yardımıyla seçilen metinler, kendilerine özgü temaları ile birbirleriyle ilişkileri açısından karşılaştırılmıştır.

Keywords

• Tematoloji
• feminizm
• baskın kadınlar
• ataerkillik

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