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Embodied Ideology: Walpole's Expression Through Characters The description of the eighteenth century gothic as ?a confused and contradictory form, ambivalent or unsure about its own aims and implications? (Kilgour 5) is an entirely fitting one for Otranto - especially with regard to domestic and gender ideology. Valdine Clemens tells us that at the time of Otranto?s publication, ?cultural conditions [?] were highly repressive for women? (31). Women were vulnerable and defenseless, unable to exercise control in most areas of their lives. Men were allowed to control where their children went to school, where they worked, and to whom they got married ? all without any input from their mother. As well, it was much easier for a man to divorce his wife than for a woman to divorce her husband. Clemens cites Lawrence Stone to give us just such an example of the inequalities women had to suffer: [?] a Lady with numerous aristocratic connections sued for divorce from her husband, who ?had been unfaithful to her on their wedding night, had debauched all the maidservants in the house, had given his wife venereal disease, and was constantly drunk.? Her application was defeated after considerable parliamentary debate on the grounds that ?divorce by act of Parliament had traditionally been restricted to husbands, except when there were peculiarly aggravating circumstances like incest.? (34) Walpole?s novel can be seen as having a feminine bias and being subversive of these social norms. There is, however, evidence that supports a conservative ideology as well. This makes it particularly difficult to give a definitive answer to the long-debated question of whether or not Walpole was trying to be conservative or subversive of societal nor... ... middle of paper ... ...ranto and subsequent revelation of authorship points to a conflicting desire to circulate and to not circulate his work at the same time. It is not improbable that Walpole was also unsure about what he wanted the implications of his novel to be. Like the incongruous and ambiguous nature of the gothic (discussed in IncongruousCorpus), Walpole himself was ?unsure about [his] own aims?, whatever his views on society were. Works Cited Clemens, Valdine. The Return of the Repressed: Gothic Horror from The Castle of Otranto to Alien. New York: SUNY P, 1999. Ellis, Kate Ferguson. The Contested Castle. Chicago: U of Illinois P, 1989. Kilgour, Maggie. The Rise of the Gothic Novel. London: Routledge, 1995. Marcie Frank. ?Horace Walpole?s Family Romances.? Modern Philology 100 (2003): 417-35. Walpole, Horace. The Castle of Otranto. New York: Oxford UP, 1996.
The layout of the book devotes each chapter to a key figure in Anne’s case. The story begins, fittingly, with Anne Orthwood, the young indentured servant, who had a brief affair with the young nephew of Colonel William Kendall who was of high social standing in the community. Pagan does a masterful job of describing the human aspect of the people surrounding each case. He ties the human element with the decisions made by the justices of the peace. These ties offer a clear understanding of the malleability of the laws and the legal modifications that were made by empowered justices. For example, indentured contracts became extremely pliable to local interests. Anne’s indenture was sold three times in two years, each was without her consent as would have been needed in England. The second sale of Anne’s indenture provoked the case of Waters v. Bishopp, in which Waters had discovered Anne’s pregnancy and sued Bishopp for breach of contract and selling a “faulty product”. The English followed the caveat emptor rule, in which a...
During the Victorian Era, society had idealized expectations that all members of their culture were supposedly striving to accomplish. These conditions were partially a result of the development of middle class practices during the “industrial revolution… [which moved] men outside the home… [into] the harsh business and industrial world, [while] women were left in the relatively unvarying and sheltered environments of their homes” (Brannon 161). This division of genders created the ‘Doctrine of Two Spheres’ where men were active in the public Sphere of Influence, and women were limited to the domestic private Sphere of Influence. Both genders endured considerable pressure to conform to the idealized status of becoming either a masculine ‘English Gentleman’ or a feminine ‘True Woman’. The characteristics required women to be “passive, dependent, pure, refined, and delicate; [while] men were active, independent, coarse …strong [and intelligent]” (Brannon 162). Many children's novels utilized these gendere...
The article starts off looking at the limitations and duties of a woman in the 18th century from the point of view of a man. Women were not permitted to do many professions such as law, economics or science related; these professions were reserved for men. Women were meant to be "the object of knowledge rather than its producer" (Frith 1994, 101) meaning that women were not to be educated but were to only of their responsibilities for pleasing a man, staying beautiful, and staying virtuous. Women were believed to be inferior intellectually and were therefore not to be educated and were basically forced to marry if they wished a decent life. However, Montagu feuded t...
...Piercy badgers the reader with Comstock's view of women (mostly in the descriptions of his dutiful wife and obedient daughter) to illustrate his sexism, however, the belabored point begins to fall flat and instead leaves the character feeling one-dimensional. Likewise, even men initially introduced to the reader as pro-feminist, like Theodore Tilton, meet with a predictable sexist ending. These men were no doubt chosen to embody the patriarchal society of then and today, but the unyielding portrayal began to feel overwhelmingly oppressive (perhaps her intent) and a novel so based in realism, on that point, began to feel contrived, therefore unrealistic. Nevertheless, Piercy compares and contrasts the experiences of the characters', offering them up to the reader, perhaps in hope that similarities can be identified and a feminist dialogue can be started or continued.
Throughout history, especially in the fifteenth century, it was extremely rare for a woman to choose her husband. The majority of marriages were planned by the head of the household, which was usually the father of the bride or groom. The purposes of these marriages were to gain power and social standings. This in turn also provided the chance for the heirs of the marriages to have possession of power, territory/land, and a set social standard for the family for all future heirs. This was more of a benefit for the men than the women, for the men could own territories and be the head of the household, women could not. Instead, a woman’s obligation was to fulfill their family’s jurisdiction in their future.
Roper, Lyndal. ‘Witch Craze: Terror and Fantasy in Baroque Germany’ UK: MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall, 2004.
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is adapted into variety of portrayals of the eighteenth-century society and the role of women at the time. A visible feminist theme appears in Pride and Prejudice and in the YouTube series: “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries” an adaptation of the book by Bernie Su and Hank Green. Which is women refusing to change their behaviors, desires, and ambitions based on others’ anticipations. Both media display independent female characters, Charlotte and Elizabeth, who must tolerate a variety of difficulties, but in the end, they are rewarded with marriage or other personal successes for their persistence.
This novel was one of the most radical books of the Victorian Era. It portrayed women as equals to men. It showed that it was possible that men could even be worse than women, through John and Jane. It taught the Victorians never to judge a book by its cover. The novel would not be as successful were it not for Charlotte Brontë’s talent in writing, and were it not for the literary devices employed.
The two societies found in The Yellow Wallpaper and Othello are both patriarchal in nature; the stories themselves take up the issue of women’s oppression in each society. Patriarchy “is defined as the source of women’s oppression and gender inequalities in which men, as a group, dominate women as another group” (Johnson as cited in Ravari 155 ). Male superiority is demonstrated in the two texts in the way female characters serve and obey their husbands, and how the male characters patronize and cause detriment towards the female characters. Although there are similarities in the effects and consequences the women feel, the differences in culture, era and location of the two stories causes a discrepancy in the experiences of the women from
Because Anthony Trollope belonged to the Liberal party, one would assume that he would be less concerned with the glorification of a specific social class to the neglect of any other. Yet, of the major novelists of the Victorian period, none was more infatuated with the code of the gentleman than Trollope. His political beliefs, which might seem to conflict with those of a Liberal, are best defined by his own description of himself as "an advanced, but still a conservative Liberal" (Autobiography 291). This left-centrist attitude serves as the basis for the moral standard of his novels and is embodied by the various "gentlemen" in his work. Trollope idealized the gentleman more than Fielding and as much as, if not more, than Thackeray. The characters in his novels judge each other by their interpretations of this standard, which may or may not coincide with Trollope's definition. This discrepancy between Trollope and his characters is very interesting, but in some instances can be misleading.
Harris, Robert. "Elements of the Gothic Novel." Elements of the Gothic Novel. N.p., 2013 Dec. 20. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. .
Antigone asks Ismene, her sister, if she recognizes how Zeus fulfills them as they live the curse of Oedipus. Although this idea of fulfillment manifests itself specifically in the tragedy of Ismene's and Antigone's radical behavior, the myth also serves as an archetypical model of a woman's position in society, and its patriarchal elements. The influence of Oedipus' curse over his daughters, whether mythological or directly familial, lingers in the ethos of psycho-sexualized European mores. Culturally, this notion characterizes masculinity as being `large and in charge,' the provider and protector; thus, femininity necessarily involves a certain subservience. Such ethos associates femininity with certain gender roles. The story of Oedipus and his daughters, therefore, highlights the overshadowing efficacy of the male presence and it's effects on the female psyche. For instance, Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, and William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, each paint a picture of the feminine gender role, which predominantly consists of becoming a proper wife, so as to secure a husband, or mother, so as to produce his heir. Essentially, the occidental woman of this period is confined to a life of marriage. In such a patriarchy, what happens to an Antigone, a vicious rejection of all social conventions? And to an Ismene, a passive surrender to patriarchy's nomos? A woman's relationship to society's oppr...
During the Elizabethan era women had a status of subordination towards men. They had a role to marry and oblige to their husband’s wishes. Shakespearean literature, especially illustrates how a woman is psychologically and physically lesser to their male counterpart. The play, Othello, uses that aspect in many different ways. From a Feminist lens others are able to vividly examine how women were subjected to blatant inferiority. Being displayed as tools for men to abuse, women were characterized as possessions and submissive; only during the last portion of the play did the power of women take heed.
In the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries, the idea of patriarchy ruled the many societies all over the world. Particularly in Britain, its “overarching patriarchal model” (Marsh) had “reserved power and privilege for men” (Marsh). Also during this time period feminist literature began to arise and was invaded by, “the complex social, ethical, and economic roots of sexual politics… as testimony to gender bias and the double standard” (“Sexual Politics and Feminist Literature”). In Jane Austen’s writing, readers have been aware of her constant themes of female independence and gender equality. However, many have criticized the author for the fact that many of her “individualistic” female characters have ended up
Barickman, Richard, Susan MacDonald, and Myra Stark. “Dickens." In Corrupt Relations: Dickens, Thakeray, Trollope, Collins, and the Victorian Sexual System. New York: Columbia University Press, 1982, 59-110.