Consider the role of the hero in a Sixteenth-Century work and a Essay

Consider the role of the hero in a Sixteenth-Century work and a Seventeenth-Century work (16th and 17th Century English Literature) - Essay ExampleBritomart, the important character Book III of in Spencers Faerie Queen is assigned with the role of a sophisticated representative of the Elizabethan patriarchal society, the eponymic heroine in the Duchess of Malfi appears to be the projection of a freewill feminine extravagance against the patriarchal authority of the Jacobean Era (Roider). Though the texts deal with the patriarchal zeal of the authors societies, their central characters reflect these patriarchies in opposite fashions. While the silhouette of Britomarts character is determined by the authors conformation with the existing patriarchal structure of the society, the heroine in Duchess of Malfi appears to be in conflict with her society. On the surface level, Britomarts quest for the Queen seems to glorify the position of women in Elizabethan society. just if she is exa mined from a more critical perspective, she appears to be a perfect patriarchal heroine who, though, is free of the negative chauvinistic view of the society.The gender constructs of both of the Elizabethan and Jacobean societies appears to be the same and to be the typical features of a patriarchal society. But the compliance levels of the two heroines with the expectations of patriarchy from the inferior sex differ from each other. In his analysis of the social constructs, Adam Polgar refers to the fact that Britomarts characters is laden with what the Elizabethan expects from a woman. She is not only the warrior lady in concrete sense, but excessively a moral warrior who fights for her merit, the moral expectation of her society. He more likely views Britomarts quest for her future husband as her effort to save her chastity and loyalty to her future husband. Therefore she appears to be the perfect heroine for the Elizabethan readers. According to him Britomarts armor that symbo lizes her chastity, is the social construct of her gender and she complies with this