Images of Women in Literature Chart I. (graphic chart)

This is the graphic version of the chart with big images.  We will be updating it as the class proceeds. The other version of the chart has the thumbnails and the textual explanation of qualities of these Images of Women, books in which they appear, etc. To see the text chart, click here.

 

Good!!!

Not-so-Good
The Earth Mother:   

Gaia

Demeter

The Hearth-Keeper: Hestia, or

the Roman Vesta

or more modern Nazi propaganda

 
The Goodwyfe:  

we know how to recognize her!!

 The Hag:  Banshee

or the Witch

or crazy ladies

and vampires!!
The Nun:  Solitary and Virginal The Spinster: 

Solitary and Virginal
The Queen:         

  a good Witch, Glenda

  or resigned Juno

 

The Wicked Queen:  Hecate

or Guinevere
The Governess:  Anna and The King The Governess:

The Mother: 

 

  Mother

  from Byzantium

to Suburbia

 The Stepmother: 

image by Tuvia Kurtz--provided by Linda Thomas.  A Queen-witch-Stepmother.
The Virgin and Variations:     

 Athena, Goddess of Wisdom

Minerva, Warrior Goddess of Wisdom

Freya, Goddess of War, Fertility, Death

but we must not forget the Virgin who has been ruined--she moves over to the bad/mad side in no time:

witness, Ophelia, the compromised woman

 

 The Temptress: Eve

the Snake Goddess

 

Selene, Goddess of the Moon

Almost everyone in the Bible--Salome
The Servant Girl: Cinderella The Poor Girl: The Miller's Daughter
The Girl:

Reubens' Three Graces

Flower Girl 

  or The Bride

 The Huntress:  Artemis

  or Diana

 
The Beauty: Venus

  Aphrodite

 

 The Medusa:

the Goddess Ishtar becomes demonized 

 

Even the medical Caduseus becomes a weapon in the hands of women