Use of Stereotypical Characters

Write 8 pages thesis on the topic use of stereotypical characters and relevance for today. Stereotypes are therefore resultant of attitudes and mindsets, which change from time to time through interaction with the victims of such fates. Different authors use stereotypes as a character trait in developing their thoughts in literary works. Stereotypes occur in such contexts as thoughts widely adopted by people in a society. Literary works produced in different times presents different degrees of stereotypes owing to the different social beliefs of the different times and the technological advancement of the societies (BELL, 1999). Stereotypes therefore just as any other attitudinal aspect depends on the prevailing environmental factors as the discussion below depicts using different literary works produced in different periods. The epic of Gilgamesh is arguably one of the earliest works of literature in the history of human civilization. The narrative recounts the life of a ruler of an imaginary land known as Uruk. The people of Uruk are obedient to their King Gilgamesh. Most of these people believe that Gilgamesh is not just a human but a god as well. The king domineers his people and his word immediately becomes a law. The perception that he is godly makes the people respect his every will despite the obvious dissatisfaction in most of his rulings and decrees. The society at the time has a unique structure, one that believes in several gods, each of whom has limited powers in a specific aspect of life. Gilgamesh therefore acquires one of these features and conditions compels his followers to believe that he is a god and should therefore receive similar treatments as their numerous gods do. The society to this day still views women as evil and temptations to their male counterparts. Women use their sexuality more than men do and in most cases use such to instigate crimes and earn freedoms. Women are temptations to men as their corrupt their minds often leading to sin and crime. The modern day woman is more aggressive, a factor that makes her a more vile creature. Such are common stereotypes that result from the historical nature of women and their ability to convince men into crime and sin. The epic of Gilgamesh portrays women as such. the story that runs on the theme of friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu uses the friendship to distract the oppressive leader from extorting his subjects. In the story, women play secondary and often negative roles most of which lead men into temptations and sin. To lure Enkidu from the forest, the people send him a prostitute to seduce him. After sleeping with the woman for some time, she convinces him to accompany him to the society. Later in the story as Enkidu faces death, he laments and curses the woman for convincing him to leave his peaceful and quite life in the forests and bringing him into the society where he accidentally offends the gods and is therefore to die. The use of the woman is a strategy and is similar in context to the biblical story of creation in which Eve attempts his male companion Adam into eating the fruit of knowledge thereby causing death in the modern society. Such stereotypes are still rife in certain parts of the world in the modern society, which therefore treat their women poorly for their close relation with ill luck arising from their persuasive nature. Among the most inhumane policies that he enacts is the one granting him the permission to sleep with every newly wedded woman in the kingdom. The people express their dissatisfaction with the policies of their ruler but the fact that he possibly is a god naturally compels their compliance with such grotesque policies. While the modern societies have become more liberal, the political society still play superior to the common citizens.