Lysistrata Critique

Lysistrata was a hilarious play which took sexual jokes to an entirely new level. The play was set in the middle of a war between the Athenians and the Spartans. It was Lysistrata's story- a woman who was the wife of one of the Athenians and decided to plan a strike of sex against their husbands. Lysistrata led the women in Athens and then united with the Spartan women to refrain from sex while their husbands continued to battle each other. This action- the planning of the strike on sex- was the major action of the play.

The play shows how the Battle of the Sexes can ultimately be won by women by simply withholding rather than fighting. Regardless of who is more powerful or who stands where in society, men have a natural drive to pursue their sexual desires and if women ban men from accomplishing these needs, men are left ultimately powerless. As a man, I realize just how true this is, and kept catching myself thinking, "Shit. I hope my girlfriend never sees this play".

We must realize the context of this play, as it is vital to understanding the importance of the idea portrayed. Whereas in modern times women have an equal amount of power with men, in the ancient times men dominated women in all aspects of life. This play empowered women to realize that they have a power, a Kryptonite, which men cannot overcome regardless of who they are. It empowered women to realize that they have much more power than previously believed and that they can force changes (as they ultimately do in stopping the war) through their actions.

The play was very fitting for where we are in our class right now. In the play I saw some of the concepts which we studied reinforced. There were a few monologues where the characters really went AFTER their point and accomplished their objectives.