When people think about the social situation of women in the eighteenth century, they immediately jump to the conclusion that women had no autonomy over themselves and that they were all only able to listen to the men in their lives. However, in Betsy Thoughtless by Eliza Haywood, she is able to show us that that notion was untrue and did not represent every women. Haywood shows the reader how women had a great deal more of choice in how their life was to play out, than is generally understood. In the novel, the reader is able to see how women had choices, even in situations where it might have seemed they had none. Haywood’s character, Betsy Thoughtless was a young woman who lived life vivaciously and is a touchstone example of showing …show more content…
An early instance of Betsy exerting control over her choices and life is when she demanded that her dress she had gotten from the dressmaker, be exchanged for something she was satisfied with. Flora and her mother, Lady Mellasin, were trying to convince her that she should wear the dress, but she was having none of it. When Flora tries to say that Lady Mellasin was wiser than Betsy, she told her “I do not know what you mean, Miss Flora; Mr. Goodman is one of my guardians indeed, but I don’t know why that should entitle his lady to direct me in what I shall wear” (61). In this instance, we can see Betsy starting to assert herself and her control. She knew that the adults in her life had some control over her life, but she also knew that not everything had to be approved by them. The …show more content…
The men would write her an endless amount of letters professing their love for her and how they wanted her to marry them. Betsy was never truly interested in any of the men and preferred to use them as entertainment. The adults in her life tried to push Betsy and have her commit to one of these men, but she refused to do so. While this may of been looked at as being unmannerly, this was another instance of Betsey exercising her control over herself. At one point in the novel, Betsy is talking to three men at the same time. To her, this is nothing more than a way to boost her ego and pass the time by. But to her trustees, this should be a time when she is trying to marry someone. On page 123, her brother Francis writes a letter to her introducing another prospective suitor, Sir Ralph Trusty. In the letter, he states that he trusts her judgement but says that he was confident that “very little time will convince you that he is deserving all the esteem in your power to regard him: in the mean time doubt not, but you will receive him as a person whose success, in every thing, is much desired by him, who is, [...] Your most affectionate brother”. He assumes that Betsy will choose Sir Trusty not just because she likes him but because he knows Trusty and is fond of
When asked to write about an important activist who has demonstrated protest, I immediately drifted towards a Hispanic and/or feminist activist. Various names came across my mind initially such as Cesar Chavez and Joan Baez but as a later discussion in class concluded, there are numerous others who are rarely highlighted for their activism and struggles, which lead to me researching more. In my research I came across Dolores Huerta, an American labor leader and civil rights activist, who I felt was an underdog and brushed over activist in the Hispanic community.
“Ah, the creative process is the same secret in science as it is in art,” said Josef Mengele, comparing science to an art. He was less of an artist and more of a curious, debatably crazy, doctor. He was a scientist in Nazi Germany. In general, there was a history of injustice in the world targeting a certain race. When Mengele was around, there were very few medical regulations, so no consent had to be given for doctors to take patients’ cells and other tests done on the patients’ bodies without their consent. This was the same time that Henrietta Lacks lived. Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman who went to the doctor because she had cervical cancer. Her cells were taken and are still alive in culture today (Skloot 41). Hence, her cells were nicknamed Immortal (Skloot 41). Although many, at the time, saw no issue with using a patient without consent issue with what?, on numerous occasions since then courts have determined that having consent is necessary for taking any cells. The story of Henrietta lacks is has similarities to an episode of Law and Order titled Immortal, which is an ethical conundrum. Despite this, the shows are not exactly the same and show differences between them. Both of these stories, one supposedly fictional, can also be compared to the injustices performed by Josef Mengele in Nazi Germany.
Betsy has never been a quiet person and she has never been afraid to disagree or speak up to Tom. When she gets this new interest of hers she starts using her voice outside the house as well, and there is a significant scene during a town hall meeting. Without thinking or talking to Tom about it, she gets up and lets her voice be heard: “The Children need a new school,” Betsy continued “Don’t let our housing project be used as a weapon against…” (246). for the first time she does something where she can feel important. She is the one who does all the calculating and measuring to develop the property. She figures out how to make as much money as possible with the land they inherit, and there is a sense of her finding out that there is more to life than being a
Eliza Fenwick’s novel Secresy portrays the image of an innocent female that is kept locked up and out of the social world; the problems that arise when this innocent female attempts to break out of this social location reveals the major oppression of the female society in the late 18th century. Females are kept in their own social sphere through oppression by males, and when secluded females enter into male spheres they cannot endure this change and end up severely damaged or dead. Eliza Fenwick’s Secresy shows the seclusion, oppression, escape, and death of Sibella, the innocent female.
Women of the seventeenth century had many reasons to accept the challenge of traversing to the New World. Life in England was not always easy, in fact, sometimes worse than in Virginia. Working conditions were appalling, with little pay and long hours. Many found work as servants to the upper class or turned to prostitution. The type of women who gladly boarded the ships were mostly young, single women of low class roots. Sometimes they were young widows who had been left impoverished or women who had no male in their lives for support and protection.1.
Have you ever believed that Betsy Ross designed the first flag of the United States? Well, that old childhood tale is false and a congressman names Francis Hopkinson created the first flag. The flag is an emblem of the U.S and shall never be disrespected. The flag, for some people, can just mean a piece of fabric, but for others the flag symbolizes much much more.
Sarah voices the general status of the 19th century women when she says, "we know only what men-folks think we do, so far as any use of it goes, an' how we'd ought to reckon men-folks in with Providence, an' not complain of what they do any more than we do of the weather". This shows that the women in the 19th century were not expected to question the authority of men. Their business was limited to the...
Therefore, it is commonly considered that during the 18th century, women’s rights were stagnant. The cultural beliefs and practices of the British were what prevented many women from moving ahead or being seen as equals to men. In Britain during the eighteenth century, women had few rights and barely any value as citizens. There are no educational opportunities available to them. “Powerful men opposed the education of women beyond reading and writing their names.”
In this day and age, women have liberties that are often taken for granted. Women have the freedom to choose which university they will attend (if they plan on attending college), what career they wish to pursue, and also whom their mate in marriage will be. In early American days, liberties of women were looked upon from society as being wealthy and holding high social status. Many did not have the opportunity to pursue a career, much less decide what university they preferred to attend. They were fortunate to even have the opportunity receive a higher education beyond reading! Choosing the right men for their futures ensured them the luxuries they wished to maintain. If they were not already included in "upper society," their chances of upward mobility were slim to none. If the family lost their fortune, their only salvation was to be married back into wealth, another slim to none chance. This is the reality Rebecca Rush clearly paints in Kelroy. Rush projects her judgment on early American society and the role of women and marriage. Using the creation of two main characters, Mrs. Hammond and Emily Hammond, Rush is able to project her disapproval of society's ways through their opposing views and personalities.
Throughout time women have been written as the lesser sex, weaker, secondary characters. They are portrayed as dumb, stupid, and nothing more than their fading beauty. They are written as if they need to be saved or helped because they cannot help themselves. Women, such as Daisy Buchanan who believes all a woman can be is a “beautiful little fool”, Mrs Mallard who quite died when she lost her freedom from her husband, Eliza Perkins who rights the main character a woman who is a mental health patient who happens to be a woman being locked up by her husband, and then Carlos Andres Gomez who recognizes the sexism problem and wants to change it. Women in The Great Gatsby, “The Story of an Hour,” “The Yellow Wall Paper” and the poem “When” are oppressed because the fundamental concept of equality that America is based on undermines gender equality.
Women in the nineteenth century, for the most part, had to follow the common role presented to them by society. This role can be summed up by what historians call the “cult of domesticity”. The McGuffey Readers does a successful job at illustrating the women’s role in society. Women that took part in the overland trail as described in “Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey” had to try to follow these roles while facing many challenges that made it very difficult to do so.
The industrialization of the nineteenth century was a tremendous social change in which Britain initially took the lead on. This meant for the middle class a new opening for change which has been continuing on for generations. Sex and gender roles have become one of the main focuses for many people in this Victorian period. Sarah Stickney Ellis was a writer who argued that it was the religious duty of women to improve society. Ellis felt domestic duties were not the only duties women should be focusing on and thus wrote a book entitled “The Women of England.” The primary document of Sarah Stickney Ellis’s “The Women of England” examines how a change in attitude is greatly needed for the way women were perceived during the nineteenth century. Today women have the freedom to have an education, and make their own career choice. She discusses a range of topics to help her female readers to cultivate their “highest attributes” as pillars of family life#. While looking at Sarah Stickney Ellis as a writer and by also looking at women of the nineteenth century, we will be able to understand the duties of women throughout this century. Throughout this paper I will discuss the duties which Ellis refers to and why she wanted a great change.
Mary and her sisters have recently become orphans and they have a lot of money on their hands. They do not know what to do with all this money. The feminist gender theory shows up in this scene because of how they hand over the money to thieves. This shows that women are not good with money and are not smart enough to realize that the thieves are not their real relatives. The feminism theory comes back into play in this scene when Huck decides to tell Mary that the thieves are not their real relatives. A writer in feminist theory Walker, stated, “the essential humanist and decent examples are set by these female characters, which would awaken Huck Finn’s moral awareness and would prepare him for his ultimate act of self-sacrifice. By showing a very dignified honesty and frankness as well as deep trust in those scoundrels’ stories, she makes Huck feel the pangs of consciousness when he sees how she and her sisters are about to be cheated”(Willey). As soon as Huck tells her the news she is initially angry at him, but then remembers that she is inferior to him and responds by saying, “ I never thought, I was so stirred up, ‘she says now go on, and I won’t do so anymore. You tell me what to do, and whatever you say I will do it (Twain).” Mary shows feminism theory by knowing that she is subordinate to any man and doesn 't even try to come up with a solution on her own and instead relies on Huck to come up with the plan for
“Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.
Throughout literature’s history, female authors have been hardly recognized for their groundbreaking and eye-opening accounts of what it means to be a woman of society. In most cases of early literature, women are portrayed as weak and unintelligent characters who rely solely on their male counterparts. Also during this time period, it would be shocking to have women character in some stories, especially since their purpose is only secondary to that of the male protagonist. But, in the late 17th to early 18th century, a crop of courageous women began publishing their works, beginning the literary feminist movement. Together, Aphra Behn, Charlotte Smith, Fanny Burney, and Mary Wollstonecraft challenge the status quo of what it means to be a