Our class has just a finished a very exciting novel called Anna of Byzantium. One character in the novel is Anna Dalassena who was a passionate stateswoman. She was very cunning, manipulative and discriminative woman.She was the grandmother of Anna Comnena who is the main character of the story. Anna Dalassena played a major role on how the main character’s life turned out to be. She taught the main character that life was hard and very cruel. In addition, she shared many stories about her young life and how she experienced bloody battles alongside her son Alexius Comnenus. Anna Dalassena was very mean and discriminative to her daughter-in-law, Irene Ducas, as she came from a family that Anna disliked. When Anna Comnena wanted to learn statecraft from another significant person, Anna Dalassena was furious and commanded her to …show more content…
Anna Dalassena would never keep her word and would always break promises and treat the people unfairly especially when dealing with the farmers of the empire. As it states in the book, “Your Majesty,” he said, facedown on the floor, “the crops have been poor after a long drought in the province. My people have been starving. Most of the men have been poor after a long drought in our province. My people have been starving. Most of the men have left for the war, and there are few to work the fields. The foreigners have brought illness with them, and many of my people have died. What little they have managed to grow, they have eaten, with nothing left over to pay taxes.” “This is not the emperor’s concern,” replied my grandmother.------- “Then why do you ask me to reduce your taxes at the time when the emperor needs all the funds so he can raise to win against the infidels,” she questioned him.------- “And besides”--- “I have no power to reduce the taxes. This is in the emperor’s hands and I would be stealing from him if I allowed you to pay less than your
Alexandra Bergson is a hard working women. She struggles at first but does not give up. Alexandra’s hard work finally pays off. She is really successful and really wealthy. She is a mentor to her under brother. She does not want him to be like her. She motivates and pushes him to become someone better than her. Alexandra was always kind and caring to all the people around her. She would try her best to be friendly and helpful with everyone. She was forgiving to people even if they did or said something to her. Alexandra was also a lonely single lady. She spent most of her time staying on top of her farm and younger brother. She was loving
Rosaura’s mother is perceived by others as financially unfortunate, working as a maid for the family of Rosaura’s best friend, Luciana. Her mother’s economic status play a fundamental role in how the protagonist is treated throughout the short story. In an exemplifying incident, the protagonist is invited to Luciana’s birthday party where Luciana’s mom, Senora Inez, treats Rosaura according to her mother’s employment status. Throughout her friend’s party, Rosaura tries her best to help out, wanting to be a helpful friend. Unfortunately, Senora Inez perceives her as an underlying worker. She pays Rosaura for her attendance and help instead of showering Rosaura with presents similarly to how she treats the other guests. Heker writes in her short story, “[Senora Inez] rummaged in her purse. In her hand appeared two bills. ‘You really and truly earned this,’ she said handing them over [to Rosaura]” (Heker 4). Rosaura is shocked and disturbed to find that she has been treated as a worker merely due to her mother’s social status. She vehemently believed that she deserved to be treated as one of Luciana’s friend, rather than one of Senora Inez’s maid’s family members. The money that Senora Ines pays Rosaura symbolizes Rosaura’s lower social status, simply attributed to her mother’s employment as a maid. By paying Rosaura, Senora Ines implies that her family is of higher social status than Rosaura’s family. Rosaura and the other children in the short story are prejudicially treated accordingly to their family’s social and economic
Furthermore, the story of Anna’s battle for her inheritance shows a great deal about popular opinion. Anna, known for the affairs that she had, initially lost her case. Instead of calmly accepting t...
Anna's intrusions, defending her role as a historian and lamenting about how unfortunate she was, creates an image of herself as an admirable historian and dutiful daughter. Sewter's revised edition of The Alexiad places Anna within the tradition of the Byzantine Historiography to demonstrate effectively her emulation of her predecessors, subjects and her innovations. This draws from a cultural, intellectual development, which arose during the period referred to as the Byzantine humanism (Comnena 1). Anna effectively incorporates concepts, which help to create her character through intrusions. In this paper, I will effectively show that Anna's intimate relations with her subjects, make her more reliable than any other Byzantine historian source.
...faced during her time. When she took her father to court, there were regulations on Anna’s part. Because Anna was unmarried and without means were she remained dependent on her father, looking for support, legally, she was not allowed to take her father to court without prior court consent and for a child to take their parents to court was very rare and hard to get the consent. Also, according to the law Anna was an unprofessional single woman that did not allow her to proceed without an accompanying male counsel or representative who normally is a women’s father or nearest male relative (Ozment, 111). Through the changes that were happening, especially with the Protestant reformation, Anna faced many problems when she was fighting her father in court. Based on Anna’s action it did not seem like the agreed with the Protestants and their views on sex and marriage.
Character analysis Annemarie is a normal young girl, ten years old, she has normal difficulties and duties like any other girl. but these difficulties aren’t normal ones, she’s faced with the difficulties of war. This war has made Annemarie into a very smart girl, she spends most of her time thinking about how to be safe at all times “Annemarie admitted to herself,snuggling there in the quiet dark, that she was glad to be an ordinary person who would never be called upon for courage.” (4.60) even though shes going through a lot she still controls it very well.
Literature is the key to our world or language. Many writers have emerged from this subject such as Homer who wrote The Odyssey and Euripidies who wrote about the evil Medea. Also mentioned in this paper are the Thousand and One Arabian Nights which is a collection of folktales and stories that are compiled into one. Each of these works of literature has a woman character that has many similarities in solving their problems. In The Odyssey the woman character that will be in comparison is Penelope which is Odysseus’s wife. In the story of Medea, Medea is of course the character we will be discussing and Shaharazad is the woman character from the Thousand and One Arabian Nights that will also be in comparison. Each of these women find themselves in a particularly “sticky situation.” However, Penelope, Medea, and Shahrazad are three strong women whose perseverance and cleverness help them to attain their goals.
Until recently, the role of women in literature has seemed to reflect the way they were treated in society. Women were seen as secondary to men, and their sole purpose in life was to please a man’s every desire. This is not the case in three specific literary works. The Odyssey, The Wife of Bath, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight use the actions of its women characters to greatly enhance important thematic elements. The women in each of these works use feminine psyche to persuade men to do things that men of the time would not usually do. The use of women in these literary works is very contrary to the prevailing ideals of the female and her responsibilities at the time each was written. In each case, the woman possesses an almost supernatural power to influence others to do as she requests. Though it is somewhat premature to assume that the authors of these pieces started a feminist revolution, they most definitely allowed women to be seen with a respect that the female had never enjoyed.
of her own life as well as a critical study of characters and events during the
Women usually are the most unfortunate roles in Greek tragedies. As women, particularly as mothers, family is the most important factor of their lives. While men are after honor and glory in warfare or in politics, women are after honor and protection for their families. In Agamemnon, Clytaemnestra encountered a situation no woman should ever have to face: she had to welcome the murderer of her daughter, who was also her husband, back into her home (Agamemnon, Lines 897-899). Instead of showing reluctance, she welcomed Agamemnon with sweet words and open arms. The reason for her actions was to weaken Agamemnon to the point where she could kill him without his retaliation. Through deliberate planning, she succeeded in killing him to avenge her daughter; she exclaimed after the deed was done, "Here is Agamemnon, my husband made a corpse/ by [my] right hand - a masterpiece of Justice" (Lines 1429-1430). By murdering Agamemnon, she claimed justice for her daughter. The story,
Annalise can be described as the stereotypical “bitch working woman.” Her career takes over her life and ultimately all she cares about is her reputation. As far as I have seen, she has very few, if any, redeeming qualities. As a professor she is harsh and mean. She pits her students against each other, forcing them to compete against each other for the prize of working alongside her in trials and well as a trophy that would allow them to be exempted from their final. She also often tries to limit the sense of morale that some of her students, including Wes, may feel. To her a client is a means to an end, it does not matter is they are guilty. As long as the case is interesting or challenging, she will take. While it is easy for the audience to sympathizes for Annalise about her cheating, and possibly murdering, husband, however Annalise was also cheating with Detective Nate. And when she invited Rebecca over to meet with Sam, she was really trying to keep the murder investigation out of her home. It would ruin her career if she was associated with a murder. It is clear that her relationship with her husband is no longer loving and more out of obligation. She is ultimately protecting herself. Annalise represents the negative image of the working woman. Someone who will do and sacrifice anything for her career, even if it hurts the people around
First, there is the setting of a strict military like boarding school where the students, all females, are craving the love and affection that they are missing from their family. One particular student, Manuela von Meinhardis, had just recently joined the school after the recent death of her mother. She is particularly vulnerable to the love and care that is provided by the only caring teacher in the school, Fraulein von Bernburg.
Anna Karenina is a timeless classic and has been acclaimed by many literary critics as the best or one of the best novels of all time. One critic tells us that “the character development throughout is what makes this novel a classic,” and goes on to say, “This is one of the best books I have ever read.” The character development is a very intriguing part of the story and keeps the reader turning the page to see what each person goes through next. There are so many characters that a reader might lose track if they are not paying close enough attention, but each one has their own captivating story to tell.
Likewise, by dropping hints about the background of the story, Ammaniti creates a hint of mystery which appeals to readers and begins to deposit the groundwork for the plot. In the story Anna, this only serves to heighten the sense of chaos as the author depicts a world of disorder. In order to include these mysteries, the author provides small flashbacks into the main character’s childhood, such as Anna’s mother taking her out for gelato, or her school coach calling her a kangaroo, both of which help Anna overcome difficult situations. These flashbacks also help the reader feel familiar with the protagonist (par 51). Furthermore, after the flashback about gelato, Anna states that you could “still…find other sweet things,” before “the fire came…” This mention of a “fire” leads the reader down an imaginative rabbit trail of questions about the world Anna lives and struggles for life in (par 58). In addition, the development of Anna’s character in the story provides a clear example of humanity’s psychological and physical battle against chaos, a successful scenario for an exciting plot. An example of this appears when Anna imagines a single enemy canine as, “thousands of them surrounding the car…” (par 50). Anna feels so overwhelmed by all the chaos that the single dog plaguing her seems like thousands. She becomes enveloped in this fear which forces her to call upon childhood memories of family and sweets to supply her with enough strength to overcome the situation. The climax of the plot unearths an idea which readers may find disheartening: chaos cannot always be overcome. An example of this manifests when Anna thinks she found safety in a rundown car, but the dog somehow finds her again (par 35-48). In this continuation of the cycle of chaos, Anna climbs out of her shelter only to see a shape far
The novel Briar Rose by Jane Yolen is a heart wrenching story of Sleeping Beauty intertwined with the horrors of the Jewish Holocaust. Yolen portrays the difference between the fairytale and the ugly reality through this novel. The character, Gemma, tells a fairytale called Briar Rose to her three granddaughters every time she is with them. Gemma’s identity at the start of the novel is hidden, and Becca, Gemma's granddaughter, is on a journey to unveil and discover the truth about her identity and Briar Rose. The truth ends up being that Gemma is the Briar Rose she speaks about in her stories. During this journe, Becca discovers not only her grandmother’s identity but also her own. Becca grows up and realizes that her grandmother chose her to find the truth because she and Becca are so much alike. Through structure, techniques, and themes, Briar Rose has proven to be a good book.