The Gate to Women's Country: Chapters 6-7

What role do the servitors play?

• The servitors assist the women in Women’s country. They are placed in a certain household, and are both employee and friend to the women.

How do the women seem to feel about them?

• Usually the women see them as good confidantes and workers, who care for the family (such as carving the napkin rings). Some of the servitors are quite old, and have known the women since they were girls.

How do the other men feel about them?

• The other men look down on the servitors. As Myra recalls how Barten viewed the servitors “men who did come home were cowards and tit-suckers.”

These two chapters revealed more about the society

Men:

• they are not allowed to fight until they are 25, which brings up the question who/wwhat are the men fighting
• most fertile from 18-25

Women:

• some women give up and leave Women’s country, becoming a gypsy
• gypsies seem to be the equivalent of prostitutes
• warrirors from the men’s side visit these women, often giving them infections or diseases
• as a result, Morgot checks and swabs each gypsy, in order to check whether or not they have
• gives clean seal on forhead
• something, and whterh or not it’s curable
• if the disease is curable, the woman goes into quarantine
• if the disease is chronic, a woman cannot return back to women’s coutnry or stay near the city
• some girls become gypsies when a warrior takes them by convincing them
• ex: Tally and Barten

Mentions of the disaster:

• cannot cure cancer, got close once
• unable to treat things that were once curable before the convulsions

Why are these men and women so drawn to an ancient story and model?

• The story is used as a reminder for what would happen should they break the ordinances as a community. The characters are easily identificable. Dawid is compared to Achilles, when he decided to stay with the warriors, Iphighenia was killed, not a hind as is told. Achilles thought that Artemis would save Iphighenia, yet it only ended in her suffering. Also, the warriors look up to Telemachus and Odysseus, while in the play, Odysseus is one of the antagonists in a way, taking Hecuba away with him.