Do the men have any power in this?

Really do they? I have touched on this before but are the women also losing abstaining from sex? Also the men in this play are depicted as very brawny so are they really? I mean they do come to the realisation that they need to stop the war. Is it for the right reasons? I think the men may have more power than depicted in this play. Even if this play is suppost to be focused around women why can the men be a little less depicted as idiots who only want sex?

Shallow?

Is there a shallowness to the play? I mean it is focused around sex. They focus on it so much in this play is there any more to these people's marriage than that. They seem only talk about domestic things to like cooking and cleaning. I think this play just depicts relationships between men and women on the surface and not on love. It is a sort of vain depiction.

Modern time.

Many ask would this sort of protest work in our world today. I don't think it would. We are to involved in a global sort of world. Organization would be horrible leaving it not affective. Also in just a country trying to end a war I think it would fail as well. The men are over seas. Would that really be all that affective? Also there are women in the army as well. What about them? The only thing I think that could work is for a husband and wife under one household. That is the only way I could see this protest working.

Language?

Why do the characters speak in they way they do? The Athenians seem to speak in a proper sort of way. The Spartans on the other have a "odder" way of speaking that is sometimes hard to understand. Why is that!?! Is it due to the translation? Did they have to find some sort of dialect to match with the version that was originally written? Maybe it was to show intelligence? Would it affect the play if they both talked the same? Or is it there just to distinguish? huh?

Brainy or Brawny?

This idea has a very significant part in lysistrata. The women out wit the men's brawny force full attacks. It is a very stereotypical take from a women's perspective. They women out smart the men constantly through out this play. The men constantly use force. The men maybe getting the bashing in this idea of the book. Again this play is sort of degrading. I really don't think anyone can win in this tough. You take a stand for oneside the other gets bashed. Maybe I'm being to negative?

Is this play REALLY a positive for women?

Well, is it positive? These women are abstaining from sex to get their husbands and sons to end the war. They are using their body as a tool. Is that good? Let's look at it from the male angle. Are men so attached to sex that they would end a war for it? I think this play could possibly give a negative image to both sexes. I think this play may degrade humans as a whole. Or is it just human nature? You see both sexes falter at points, so I don't think one sex is stronger than the other. Either this play is very liberating or degrading, I can't decide.

Husband in the Play?

How come we only really see one husband in the play and it's Myrrhine? Where is Lysistrata's husband? We hear about the other women's husbands in the play as well. We also hear about their sons. Why is the main character of this play and the leader of the protest so disconnected from men from the beginning of the play. When she suggests the abstinance all the women react quite harshly to Lysistrata's proposal. Why is that? I think she could care less about her male counter parts. Since we don't hear about a spouse I don't think it's hard for Lysistrata to lead the protest at all. I think if their where a male presence in Lysistrata's life in this play it would make for a much better story. This could be another reason I didn't care much for this play.

Women's Oath

Why is Kleonike the only woman to repeat after Lysistrata when making the oath? Of course all the women drink the wine but why only Kleonike? Is she Lysistrata's second in command? She seems to be the one that first comes around to the idea from abstaining from sex even thought she states her knees are shaking. So is that why she is willing to repeat after Lysistrata? Maybe I'm missing a deeper point.

The End?

At the end of the play the Athenians and Spartans declare peace. They end the war to end the abstinence. Will they really remain at peace though? If they just ended the war so they could have sex again, will the peace last? If sex was the reason they ended the war then is there REAL peace. Who is to say that they wont start another war and if they do will the women use the same protest. So in all I am asking.....was it worth it?

Reaction....

.....Yeah I'm not very impressed by Lysistrata. I feel since it is set in one location and in a twenty four hour period that it is kind of dull. I feel that if it was spaced out for a longer period of time and had more locations it could add more conflict to the plot. I think it just happened to quickly and in that it made it dull. So I think Meh is my reaction to this play.