English 475: Literature of Viruses and Diseases Language Essay

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During the Renaissance period or the 17th century, patriarchy is the societal system that the societies follow. The men hold authority over many things like politics, households, women, and children. The patriarchal system simply acknowledged men as the superior being among everyone. On the other hand, women were the subordinate gender. In the 17th century, the perception of women was as a family person and homemaker. Their role was to stay at home with the children. They follow the words of men or their husbands. There was no place for them in the business or political platforms. Because of the men-over-women and parents-over-child mindset, the patriarchal society pushed women at the corner of society. Women's existence was always about men; how to please the men, how to be of help to the men; how to become men's wife (Mack).
In the past, women had barely any rights. They did not have the right to vote as they were not considered relevant to political talks. Because of this, they did not also have the right to owning property or wealth. Women were also expected to marry as their end goal in life. They were strictly bound in marriage and child-rearing. Once they married, their civil identity became of their husband. They were now under their husband's command and supervision. Aside from marriage, women were also acknowledged as the churchgoers and believers of the faith. There was even a belief that their salvation was measured on how good they were with their children (Mack).
These were the societal standing of women in the 17th century when Daniel Defoe's piece, A Journal to the Plague Year, occur. Though the narrative's year setting was in the late 17th century, the same gender roles and perceptions are evident in how women are portrayed in the story. Daniel Defoe's piece, written in the early 1700s, is a journal narration of a man who has experienced the plague of 1664. Because of the year setting, many past cultures and accustoms are distantly different from today. One of them is the perception of women in the 17th century. In this paper, I will discuss women's role and portrayal in the narrative as proof of how women had been in the 17th century. The narrator of the story, A Journal to the Plague Year, has mentioned and encountered several women in the course of the narration.
In the first part of the narration, the comet incident revealed one of the perceptions of women -- that they were believers of religion and faith. The narrator says that "The old women and the phlegmatic hypochondriac part of the other sex, whom I could almost call old women too, remarked... that those two comets passed directly over the city" (Defoe, 27). Here, he explains how these women saw the two comets that passed by. The narrator goes on to say that the women were able to see and hear how the comets' " fire was bright and sparkling, or, as others said, flaming, and its motion swift and furious" (Defoe, 27). This incident in the narrative portrays women as reliant on superstitions and beliefs. The women ...