One of the leading themes of literature is the inter-relationship between and the social roles of men and women in society. Literature in this regard reflects the time and place of its composition, drawing on the social sphere in which it is created either to agree with what it sees or to challenge it. An examination of the roles of men and women in literature over time can show how those roles have changed as well as how various writers have treated the issue and what influenced them to do so in the manner in which they did. What this will indicate is that there are certain key issues which have been addressed through the ages and which are used by different writers as fundamental questions to be examined, and over time such issues will show a trend in a certain direction. In terms of the roles of men and women in society, it is expected that this examination will show that there has been a trend toward the questioning of traditional roles and toward elevating women to a higher position, no longer seen as chattels but as individuals who are frustrated in their confining social roles.
In truth, women are found in literature in every era to have been dissatisfied with their lot in some fashion or another, and most of the authors discussed here have agreed that women are seen as one sort of docile and compliant creature when in fact women are quite different, more capable and more intelligent than men may perceive. The women in Beaumarchais's Figaro's Marriage are cleverer than the males and more moral as well. Countess Almaviva is a schemer in keeping with the need to maintain a watch on her husband. Suzanne aids her in her machinations but has no guile in her own life. Both women are to be presented, says the author, as virtuous and lovable in character. Everything in Suzanne's behavior is "inspired by goodness and devotion to her duty" (Wilkie and Hurt 407). Count Almaviva, on the other hand, is described as having a du...