Saretta Daniels

Through-out history, men have been the dominate form in literature. Their views of women have been the only printed form of communication as women were trained to believe that the female was incapable of rational thought.
Often women were portrayed as week, delicate creatures in need of a man's protection as in Milton's Paradise Lost. Milton created a female that was totally dependent on her mate and one that caused the fall of man. Eve, the first female, is the cause of Adam and herself being cast out of the Garden of Eden. Even according to the Bible, the female is the one who caused the problems. As punishment Eve would have to endure painful childbirth, the female fear of the snake, mortality and submitment to her husband.
Another book that reiderates the idea of a woman being week and needing protection is the Bible its self. In Proverbs there is an entire chapter dedicated to the Virtuous Woman. (Prov. 31.10-31) This chapter instructs the woman how to act toward her family and her husband. The woman is portrayed as a very understanding and compassionate woman in this section of the Bible.
Women are not only mention religiously. There were instructional booklets printed on how a female should act. Even farther back than the booklets came another author by the name of Geoffrey Chaucer. He created two female travelers in his collection of stories titled The Canterbury Tales completely different than one another. The prioress is the dainty female yet, Chaucer seems to view her with ridicule because she does not apply her station to her life. The other main character is the Wife of Bath. A very liberal character who sees to portray a worldliness about her. In her prolouge the Wife of Bath acts ignorant and coarse yet as her story progresses, she becomes far more enlightened and intelligent. She could easily be classified as the first feminist character.