Louise Jane Cher Rui Jing
Professor Neil Murphy
HL2007 Contemporary Literature
24 October 2014
Representations of Women and Art in The Book of Evidence
In Banville’s The Book of Evidence, representations of women and Art overlap and blend seemingly into one. The figure of the “woman” features as the artistic “subject” of the protagonist’s gaze, in the role of creation of meaning, and as a mirror – often conflating what is real and what is imaginary. The author calls to question our very definition of what it means to be human in relation to others, and the validity of truth when all we perceive of the world is merely appearance.
1. Women as the “Other”
In the novel, women are presented as the Other, as the subject of one’s gaze. The protagonist, Freddie Montgomery, frames the women that he encounters throughout the novel, and portrays them in a certain angle, rather than representing them as a whole. This is likened to how moments of reality are kept through the picture frames of Art. One instance is where he sees Daphne standing by a window, and expresses
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Having it in his jail cell, he tells us, “something is dead in it” (Banville 221). In having so many representations of the Woman blending together, yet differing responses to each, Banville creates what Baudrillard calls a “hyperreality” – the inability to distinguish reality from its representations; even engaging with the representation with no clear distinguishing from the “real” (166-184). Freddie forms a relationship with the Portrait of the Woman with Gloves, even though any interaction with the “real” woman herself is absent. Through this, Banville calls forth the problematic nature of representation, that the artist’s role in recreating reality is rather limited in allowing us true experiences with what is “real”. But this perhaps, does not make these experiences any less
The novel complicates its own understanding of women
Anna Julia Cooper’s, Womanhood a Vital Element in the Regeneration and Progress, an excerpt from A Voice from the South, discusses the state of race and gender in America with an emphasis on African American women of the south. She contributes a number of things to the destitute state African American woman became accustom to and believe education and elevation of the black woman would change not only the state of the African American community but the nation as well. Cooper’s analysis is based around three concepts, the merging of the Barbaric with Christianity, the Feudal system, and the regeneration of the black woman.
In the predominantly male worlds of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “Aurora Leigh (Book I)”, the women’s voices are muted. Female characters are confined to the domestic spheres of their homes, and they are excluded from the elite literary world. They are expected to function as foils to the male figures in their lives. These women are “trained” to remain silent and passive not only by the males around them, but also by their parents, their relatives, and their peers. Willingly or grudgingly, the women in Woolf and Browning’s works are regulated to the domestic circle, discouraged from the literary world, and are expected to act as foils to their male counterparts.
At the time Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” she was considered a prominent feminist writer. This piece of background information allows the readers to see Gilman’s views on women’s rights and roles in the 18th century; “The Yellow Wallpaper” suggests that women in the 18th century were suppressed into society’s marital gender roles. Gilman uses the setting and figurative language, such as symbolism, imagery, and metaphors to convey the theme across.
...demonstrates the oppression that women had to face in society during the nineteenth century. The nursery room, the yellow wallpaper, and the windows, all symbolize in some way the oppression of women done by men. She bases the story on one of her life experiences. Charlotte Gilman wrote the story because she believed that men and women should be treated equally.
The issue of women’s rights has been disputed over many decades with the protests for women issues becoming eminent throughout the 18th century during the French and American revolutions. In Britain it was not until the materialization of the suffragette movement in the late 19th century that there was significant political change. Through the years the feminist movement has continued to make great improvements most significantly in the 1960s when the prevailing ideas of feminism today were set. Overall, the goal of feminism is to establish and emphasize the feminine persona in everyday society and focus on how women should be allowed the same powers, rights, and prospects as men and be regarded in the same manner. The novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote and the novel The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath both contain female protagonists who aim to define themselves in an age of tumult when men are seen as the leading class. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is focused on a brief period of time in the 1910’s when the narrator documents his experience with the character Holly Golightly, and her attempts to define herself from the people around her. The Bell Jar takes place in the 1950’s with the main character Esther Greenwood as she tries to pursue a path of her own from the limited choices society imposes on her such as housewifery or a career oriented path. Holly and Esther are similar in their belief that relationships that tie them down should be broken. They both commit actions that go against the norms of society to reinforce their sense of freedom from society. As much as these two characters have similarities they also have their differences in which Holly rejects her past and fabricates it in order to create her ideal personalit...
Briefly, the choice of the ladies in their clothes, show their personality. Men in the asylum are wearing the same clothes and they are messed-up. Even a prostitute wears clean and tasteful clothes, some showing their womanly figures while some hides theirs. To conclude, the usage of superiority of male sexuality over female authority, matriarchal system that seeks to castrate men in the society, mother figures as counterpart of Big Nurse and “Womanish” values defined as civilizing in the novel shows us the role of woman in society in those times.
Prior to the early twentieth century men dictated women’s role in society. Charlotte Gilman uses her novella “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1892) as a symbolic reflection of oppression of women in a paternalistic society. Her novella challenges the idea of women being depicted as weak and fragile.
Aristotle once claimed that, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Artists, such as Louise-Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun and Mary Cassatt, captured not only the way things physically appeared on the outside, but also the emotions that were transpiring on the inside. A part no always visible to the viewer. While both artists, Le Brun and Cassatt, worked within the perimeters of their artistic cultures --the 18th century in which female artists were excluded and the 19th century, in which women were artistically limited-- they were able to capture the loving relationship between mother and child, but in works such as Marie Antoinette and Her Children and Mother Nursing her Child 1898,
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.
These women authors have served as an eye-opener for the readers, both men and women alike, in the past, and hopefully still in the present. (There are still cultures in the world today, where women are treated as unfairly as women were treated in the prior centuries). These women authors have impacted a male dominated society into reflecting on of the unfairness imposed upon women. Through their writings, each of these women authors who existed during that masochistic Victorian era, risked criticism and retribution. Each author ignored convention a...
Being a women artist, displaying such an installation was not possible years back. Contrary to the opinions of many students new to the study of feminist literary Criticism, many feminists like men, think that women should be able to stay at home and raise children if they want to do so, and wear bras. Bringing such an art piece, reflection of her inner experiences or having sex in bed after having bad relationship could not be possible before. The main female characters are stereotyped as either “good girls” or “bad girls”. These classifications suggest that if a woman does not admit her male-controlled gender role, then the only role left her is that of a monster. Yet Emin’s confessional art- with its confidences of pregnancy, being raped, destructiveness of guilt, emotional stress- has become much common nowadays with feminist consciousness while in early generation, sharing such experiences lead to the destruction of women’s life. Her unmade bed, surrounded by such bric-bracs tells a story of a depressed, emotionally stressed women artist who asks for a sympathetic shoulder from the viewers by being a transparent soul. “For her British critics it [My Bed] expressed Emin’s sluttish personality and exemplified the detritus of a life quintessentially her own; it was, above all, confessional”, Cherry observes. Emin has limited the word ‘feminist; art practices have been the concerned of an early generation. This point seems to be confirmed by Emin herself, who declares to the discerning nature of her work in which she says that she decides to show either this or that part of the truth, which isn't unavoidably the whole story but it's just what she decides to gives us. As a self-motivated set of influences, feminism no longer titles a unitary or merging project infact it is now being the transformation just as feminist biases are perpetually subject to change. Whereas, looking at Tracey’s other work, Tent “Everyone I Have Ever
“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.
Feminist epistemology involves the study the theory of knowledge i.e. epistemology from q feminist standpoint; the disadvantage faced by women through knowledge and justification. It is usually said to be concerned with how our knowledge is influenced by gender through justification and inquiry. Feminist’s epistemology is ideally based on the fact that by the perspective of a certain theory is affected upon by the knowledge pertaining the theory. The themes which characterize feminist epistemology are not unique it on only, since the themes are also found in the filed science studies and social epistemology. However, feminist epistemology is distinct from both science studies and social epistemology in that, for reconstructing and analysis, gender is characterize used. However, feminists have always argued gender rather than being determined
Christina Rossetti's poem, “In An Artist’s Studio”, explores how men foster a need for control by creating unrealistic expectations for women through their fantasies. Through the use of repetition, contrast of imagery, and symbolism, Rossetti guides us through the gallery inside of an artist’s mind, portraying the fantasies that give him a sense of control over the women he creates.