Gender Roles in the Sixteenth Century

Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Date Gender Roles in the Sixteenth Century Gender roles consist of behavioral expectations and norms that determine how females and males should dress, speak, and synchronize with each other and the society at large. Over the years, these norms continue to differ as women activists strive for equal rights. However, in the 16th century, the treatment accorded to women was different. For example, men deemed particular activities, such as cooking, cleaning, giving birth, and taking care of the household as the role of women. In most cases, a woman’s education was cut off after attaining the age to start bearing children, thus leading to forced marriage. After marriage, men deemed women as wealth acquired. Futh (3) asserts that women did not have the right to request for divorce, but a man was in a position to do so. Divorced women were a disgrace to society and in some scenarios, their property is taken away as punishment. In this essay, we will go into greater depth on women’s gender roles in the 16th Century. Notably, there are particular expectations that we must conform to when growing up. For that reason, gender roles among women in patriarchal society affected their status and socialization. According to Sachs, the wife does all the work in the calf hatching play. Despite the fact that she is married, her husband rarely assists with any job at home, and it is up to Gretta (wife) to ensure everything is done. Some of the responsibilities, which belong to Gretta include collecting eggs, letting out the pigs, going to the market, milking the cow, and bringing food to the table. In the play, Gretta is always complaining of how lazy her husband is, but it does not seem to bother Hans. In one instance, while she is coming from the market, she mumbles to herself, “….well! Back from town and the devil took that husband of mine. I yelled all over for him. No coal in the fire, meat gone……” (49) Arguably, women ought to do all the work while the men observe them from afar. Therefore, there is no balance in gender roles since Gretta bears the struggles of her household. In the play, “The Wife in the Well,” the woman’s role is to take care of the house. However, Sachs still paints the part of an irresponsible husband. Steffano drinks a lot, and this leads his wife to sleep with young men. The three plays indicate that gender roles for men and women are not equal. In the plays, men seem to be underperforming while in some instances, women end up changing their roles and going beyond expectations. Within households, every member is allocated different responsibilities. In the two plays, women are doing general duties as per the 16th century (Wiesner 315). In the play “The Pregnant Farmer,” the wife does all the household chores as expected. For instance, when the husband fell ill, the wife took care of him by preparing soup and ensuring that he was warm. Moreover, she is submiss...