Where are the female writers?

    Dr. Whitney Sperrazza’s lecture on the ignored female writers under Shakespeare’s shadow was really inspiring, as it reminded me of the invisible female writers throughout Chinese history. At first, she asked us to name a few women writers in Shakespearean time, and I found it interesting that many of us didn’t have an answer. After the lecture, as I reflected on my literary education in the last 15 years, I found that I could also rarely name any female writers in Chinese history. The only names I knew was Cai Wenji who could write beautiful essays in late Han Dynasty, and another female poet, Qingzhao Li who lived in Song Dynasty. It was weird to have only two famous female writers in two thousand years of civilization. Also, like Shakespeare’s works, the works of important male writers in ancient China were also collected, sorted and revised over and over again, therefore having easier access than those female writers.

    It is interesting to find out how gender inequality is universal through reading and studying Shakespeare. In many Shakespeare’s works, women are stigmatized as imperfect, passion-dominant creatures and are considered as threats to men. This is reflected explicitly in Othello and the Winter’s tale. For example, in Othello, Iago claims that Desdemona only cares about sexual desire and can be deceptive because she is a woman, and all women do the same things. However, in ancient China, when a male emperor ruined his regime, people blamed his wives for alluring him and distracting him from his business. Also, in many ancient literary works, evil spirits usually take the form of women and seduce men to suck their “air of Yang”. It seems that beautiful women can destroy most of the fictional men around the world.

    The other symbol of devaluating women is probably the emphasis on reproduction. In the Winter’s tale, women are depicted as the tools for extend lineage and their loyalty or chastity is the most important thing. I have found that the doubt Leontes has for Hermione also appears in another Chinese story. In that story, a rural scholar man suspects his son’s legibility, so he casts his wife out of his house. After that, a magic monk comes and reveals the truth to him. Finally, the family reunites and lives happily together. However, some people have questioned the wife’s choice after the mistreat. Her behaviors have implied that men can be forgiven no matter what terrible mistakes he has made. It was also common in ancient China where women were confined at home and women intelligence were stigmatized even as something immoral that distract them from the duty of giving birth and other domestic matters. This was probably one of the reasons why there was few female writers in thousands of years, as women were taught that literacy was terrible for them.

The lecture has helped me focus on the ignored people and problems apart from Shakespeare. I think the invisible female figures in all fields is an issue that deserves further studies. Just like how the problems in Shakespeare’s works still haunt the modern times, those historical factors that have oppressed women worldwide will not simply disappear as well.