Women's Roles

[CommMayo]

I might be alone in this, but I don't think that Catrin is a particularly strong character. I feel like she just lets life happen to her. She is always being saved or put at risk by others, and I never get a sense that she really ever knows her own mind. She is constantly being manipulated by the other characters in the book.

[Britty01]

I think there was more equality amongst the Celts than the was with the Romans but I certainly wouldn’t split it 50/50. Having said that, I don’t think we are any further ahead today than the Celts were all those years ago.

I think that is a pretty good observation.

[María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda]

I really like how the women roles are portrayed in this novel, they´re not perfect but they´re strong roles and they´re complex and multi-dimensional. Ultimately, we have to take into consideration that women as men, are human beings and we aren´t black and white but full of shades and complexities.
But I think there´s a significant difference in the way Celts and Romans view women and their role in their societies. I wouldn´t go as far as saying that the Celtic system was egalitarian because, for example, the king asks Catrin to use her sensuality to entice Marcello, but, it was much more inclusive of women that could serve, for example, as warriors, than the Roman system that revolved around the paterfamilias.
However, I´m not sure if the novel is entirely historically accurate or if it´s exaggerated to make one side appear as "the bad guys". I would really like to investigate further on this topic.

[TALIA ONYANGO]

Celts were a liberal and more civilised society. They granted there women more freedom unlike their Roman counterparts. Women were somehow equal to men.

[Fozia-Bajwa]

Celtic women enjoyed more rights and freedom than Roman women because Roman treated the women as inferior creation but Celts gave importance to their women. Although at some times it can be seen in the story about Celtic women not having the rights of freedom and at some times they have. But Roman women are not seen enjoying the rights at all.

[ArriettyClock]

I feel like we have very little evidence to work on regarding whether Celtic society would have actually been gender neutral as there is a LOT more written records regarding Roman women in society. Roman women could have been very influential if they were born at the right social standing, whereas if you were a slave or servant you had 0 influence whether male or female.

[palmerNgozi]

I loved the way the way the women were strong in the book. it portrayed independent and equality with males and the celts displayed it way better

[Sweet Psamy]

I think their various roles portrayed the strength of a woman both positively and negatively. I admired both sides.Also,the Celtic system seemed to support gender equality.

[Sanyesto]

The Celtic women appear to be treated in a more fair way than their Roman counterparts. This, however, I believe isn't the current situation.

[Manali_DC]

I liked the strong women characters in the novel! Since I do not know much about the Celts and mostly have this book and a few movies to base my opinion on, I would say the author has definitely brought out the difference between the Celtic and Roman women-- making the Celts stronger and more equal than the Roman women.

[scottwaddle19]

I loved the way the way the women were strong in the book. it portrayed independent and equality with males and the celts displayed it way better

[JR Mercier]

Celt women did have a lot more freedom than most and I honestly love it. And, like you said, I love the portrayal of good and bad women in the book. You can't have one without the other.

[EvaDar]

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?

So I've been doing some reading and from what I understand there was no such thing as "Celts." Instead, it was various different tribes and people from the British Isles to Anatolia. There is no answer to that question because there was no such thing as a Celtic system.

Besides that, as a history lover, I have grown extremely skeptical about claims of ancient matriarchal or gender-equal societies. There's no solid evidence for them, just wishful thinking that doesn't align with reality. I'm just sick of certain feminists who think rewriting history is going to "inspire women" or something like that when all it does is delegitimize the movement and makes them appear like quacks.

From what I've read, I agree that there is no evidence of truly matriarchal societies in history (as distinguished from matrilineal). It hadn't occurred to me that "rewriting history" could delegitimize the feminist movement. But I take your point. Interesting discussion.

[Miercoles]

While there have been strong women in various civilizations throughout history, I somehow doubt that gender equality as we know it today existed in ancient in ancient times.

[Acwoolet]

I liked the fact that there were so many strong women in the novel. There were definitely differences between the Celts and Romans.