Women's Roles

Use this forum to discuss the September Book of the Month "Apollo's Raven" by Linnea Tanner.
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sush_destiny
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Re: Women's Roles

Post by sush_destiny »

Catrin and Queen Rhiannon are strong female characters well developed in the book. The character of Rhan, on the other hand, could have been better.
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Post by winecellarlibrary »

I do not know enough about Celtic history (though I should, since it is my ancestry) to know how women were regarded in that era, but I enjoyed the power they wielded in the book. King Amren had no problem leaving his wife in charge of the kingdom in his absence. The Celtic women wore battle attire. It is definitely surprising to Marcellus and the Romans. Depending on the era in Rome, there were times in which women wielded more power, but I cannot recall how they were regarded under Emperor Tiberius.
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To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
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How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!
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Post by Marsnikk »

Marcellus was aroused by the clear difference between Roman women’s obedience and Catrin’s independence.

I thoroughly enjoyed the idea that tribal women were taught to defend themselves. This is logical when you think of where attacks usually took place during this time period - in the village. I’m not sure that it’s historically accurate but I did love rallying behind a heroine.
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Post by Julie-p »

I enjoyed the strong female characters. And it is believed that Celtic woman were in a better position than roman ones, but it wasn't something as equal as it is portrayed in the book.
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Post by Rayah Raouf »

I know that the author intended to make the women portrayed as strong and I respect that.
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Post by markodim721 »

I think women in Celtic society had more freedom than Roman women. On the other hand, I personally believe that Roman women were more sophisticated and educated.
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Post by Gandhi_D 1st »

Cristina Chifane wrote: 01 Sep 2018, 05:05 One of the things I liked about Linnea Tanner's novel is the portrayal of strong women. What is more, there are both positive and negative female characters such as Catrin, Queen Rhiannon, Vala, Mor, and Rhan.

What do you think of their roles in the novel?
Is there any difference between the way Celts and Romans saw women and their roles?
Was the Celtic system genuinely promoting gender equality or not?
The roles of the celts and roman women were explicitly different. Starting from the treaty of the celt women and the roman women. The Celt women had more space and freedom than the Roman women, the roman had little significance to the men but I would say there was gender equality between the Celt men and women.
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Post by Maria Ferreira Silva »

I also enjoy when a book portraits strong women.
The Celtics seem more equal with one another, more independent and more power than the Romans.
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Post by photosynthesis19 »

The book certainly did a great job contrasting the Celtic and Roman societies' views on women. Roman men treated their wives and daughters as property and could easily disown them or even get them killed. Celtic men, on the other hand, went to their wives for advice and guidance and generally let their daughters decide their own fate. However, while Celtic men seemed to treat their women with more respect, I am hesitant to believe they treated them with perfect equality, since marrying off daughters to other families and tribes was still used as a tool for political negotiations.
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Post by Gena Ver »

The portrayal of women throughout the story I felt was one of the most strong, prominent, and enduring features of the story. I loved that the story included so many different types of strong female characters, each with their own unique combination of positive and negative traits that added to the plot developement. Although there were a lot of strong women portrayed throughout the story, it was nice to see contrasting differences in each of their own characteristics which I felt complimented them and their relationships. Although Catrin and Mor had very different attitudes and ways of approaching people and handling situations, they together had a strong sisterly bond nonetheless. Rhiannon and Catrin also had very different characteristics and I was not very fond of the relationship, particularly how Rhiannon viewed Catrin as it seemed she was more of a burden for her. It was nice to see some silver lining in their relationship towards the end of the story when Rhiannon explained to Catrin what the reality of her role would be if she did move to Rome with Marcellus. I felt that scene captured a lot of emotion and reality as to how not only Roman women were viewed back then compared to Celtic women, but also to compare how much progress has been made in women rights and equality. Celtic women seemed like they were given more consideration and sought out for their insight and feedback, however I would not say they were concerned with gender equality as they still saw them only as a way to elevate their own societal status by having arranged marriages as an expectation.
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Post by Samuel Okoye 2 »

Its quite obvious that the Celts had more respect and inclusion for women than the Romans did.
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