Topic > Female Gender Roles in Plato's Allegory of the Cave

The Allegory of the Cave illustrated the effects of education on the human soul without criticizing female gender roles. Through the stages of the cave, the three stages of metals and the philosopher kings who should be rulers and achieve the Form of Good according to Plato are implemented. The allegory begins with a group of prisoners who have been living in this cave for a long time. They are facing a wall while chained to rocks, behind them there is a fire and behind this fire there were statues that were being moved by people. On the walls in front of which the prisoners see the shadows of trees, women and horses and create stories based on the shadows that they believe to be real. These prisoners represent the working or producing class of the Kallipolo. A random prisoner would be released from the bonds and turn to look at the fire, after a moment of confusion the prisoner sees the fire and the statues. The prisoner noticed things that were more real than the shadows that had always been considered reality, how fire and statues combine to create shadows that are copies of real things. Subsequently, this prisoner was dragged out of the cave into the outside world and after his eyes adjusted the prisoner saw shadows, reflections and then noticed trees, flowers and houses. The prisoner realizes how the statues are just copies of the real things outside the cave. This leg of the prisoner's journey was considered the auxiliary class. The prisoner glimpsed the Shapes for the first time. Finally, when the prisoner's eyes became completely accustomed to the light, he looked up and realized that the sun was the cause of everything around him, of the colors and life he looked at. The sun represents the Form of Good. This was the final stage of the metals and this was the ruling class (517b-519b). These