Lysistrata

     The play Lysistrata presents a very interesting commentary on the presence of gender roles within society, especially during a time of conflict. While the play contains many vulgar scenes that could be inappropriate for young audiences, I believe that the play was banned because of the root of its ideas. In 1873, when society banned the play for the first time, the country was run primarily by males, and females had little authority. By allowing this play into the public, people would be exposed to a viewpoint completely different from the one in which they were living. As a result, the leader of society and those responsible for banning books deemed it as straying too far from the norm. The ideas presented in Lysistrata would show readers that a female-dominant world is possible, and this was a threat that leaders could not accept at the time. While it is easy to blame the banning of the play on its vulgarity, there truly is more behind the issue than is visible on the surface.

    As a result, I believe that the banning of this play is extremely damaging and can be compared to the banning of the novel The Hate U Give. Both of these novels were banned to prevent people from challenging the current state of society. In the last lines of the play, Kleonike addresses the audience, stating, "You who spread warfare and hatred and fear / Lysistrata's women will soon re-appear"(94). This line ends the play with the sentiment that peace is superior to all forms of violence. Regardless of the vulgarities, this message should allow the play to stand on its own. By banning this play, readers miss out on the peace that it encourages, in the same way that readers miss out on Starr's activism in The Hate U Give. However, when a work causes people to change their way of thinking, there instantly becomes a ground for banning, even though people should embrace things that make them think about their surroundings and the world in a different light or from a different perspective. This idea is where the deepest harm in book banning becomes evident. When people are able to write off a text because they do not like its ideas, there is no longer room for growth within society.

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