Status of Women in Shahnameh

The issue of women and their social status has always been a question of discussion among intellectuals. Ferdowsi’s descriptions in this regard are strong and pleasant. Sometimes he distinguishes women as angels, and at other times he associates them with evil.
Ferdowsi, consciously, portrays women as supreme and admirable. In Shahnameh, women are respectful to the culture of their land, bold in thinking and manner, sacrificing in love, loyal to the family, and wise and thoughtful. Motherhood is the highest dignity considered by Ferdowsi for women; she is sacrificing, wise, confiding, and sympathetic.
Women and mothers are described with the highest human attributes as wisdom, loyalty, modesty, and being properly-dressed. Such attributes are evident in such women as Faranak, mother of Fereydoon, Sindokht, Mother of Roudabeh, Tahmineh, mother of Sohrab, Katayoun, mother of Esfandiar,….