A young girl is standing with a gun ready to fire. Her best friend Will walks toward her, another gun outstretched. She pleads for him to snap out of it. But, Will can't hear her, he's being controlled. She shoots, letting the bullet fly through his head. She flees the area crying to herself. Thankfully, this isn't real. This is a scene from the book Divergent, by Veronica Roth. This is one of the new popular book series from the Young Adult Literature genre. Young women are looking up to such heroines like Tris, described above. We know because the Hunger Games series alone has sold more than 65 million copies. These heroines are presented as strong willed, persistent, and smart role models for young women around the world. In fact I am going to argue that Young Adult Heroine Literature is the most influential source of entertainment for young women today. I will argue this by showing that our literary heroines make smart, influential decisions, they don’t care about their outward appearance like some many women do, and they have changed our world in a few simple days. Also, our world has been influenced by heroines. Adults, writers, and young women alike have many different ways in which Heroines have impacted our life all throughout history.
The Heroine was developed fully in the late 1500s and the early 1600s by William Shakespeare. During the 1700s and the 1800s it was the reign of Queen Victoria and women were starting to get recognized. Most of Shakespeare’s plays and stories were about women. At the time, his works were being read and watched by all. Shakespeare’s women were made with the best virtues, they were always doing what they were supposed to be doing. At least, that’s what you are meant to think. The women of ...
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...ts, because, books are the most influential thing, that I have ever seen.
Works Cited
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Suzanne Collins has, through her writings, used great imagery to expose the meaningful side of ‘The Hunger Games’, the side that is not all about what takes place in the arena. The Capitol’s rule over the districts, the reality-show part of the Hunger Games and the Mockingjay pin are all fragments of deeper meanings that create the basis of all that the story is. Suzanne Collins has depicted the country of Panem as a place overruled by a large city, known as the Capitol. The Hunger Games is apparently a means to keep peace and a fair punishment for the rebellion of the districts, where district 13 was obliterated in the mess. However, Collins has spun this interpretation around and unveiled a different perspective – that The Hunger Games is
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Nancy Drew is noteworthy for her lack of dependence on male characters for assist and honored for her independence at a young age. Drew is a young woman who appeals young readers due to her fantasy life. She is an attractive, young, well-mannered, witted woman with a nice house, whose self-determination provide her noble access to the real world. By her courageous personality and spirit, she is a role model of gender roles in children's literature. Furthermore, Nancy Drew's adventures gives us fair ideas on justice and discrimination in the world. Ultimately, Nancy Drew’s mysteries are inspiring, presents with female empowerment, and gives examples of independency throughout the series.
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Santos, Marlisa. "To Kill A Mockingbird." Bloom, Harold. The Hero's Journey. New York: Bloom's Literary Criticism, 2009. 207-213.
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A study conducted by Lenore Weitzman in the late 1960’s found that many children’s stories had very few female characters and when female characters were present they abided by typical gender roles. However, when books featuring female characters that stepped out of these traditional roles started being published, children were able to develop new ideas of what roles were acceptable for women to fulfill (Feely). Similarly, Carson McCullers uses Miss Amelia, Cousin Lymon, and Marvin Macy to display how those who abide by gender roles are seen by their communities as well as how those who do not are typically viewed. For example, Cousin Lymon exhibited more feminine characteristics and was generally seen as a gossip and a nuisance by the townspeople. Marvin Macy, on the other hand, was a very handsome, masculine man who was described as an “evil character” (McCullers 27) that had a horrible reputation, yet he was still adored by many women in the town.
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However, well beneath the surface of the plotline, the viewer can also find himself or herself looking at a struggle for survival that is greatly affected by the roles of genders. Collins asks many questions regarding this; such as “If young girls do not see themselves reflected in media, will this diminish their sense of importance and self-esteem? Will boys conclude that women and girls are unimportant, as well? Will girls lack role models? Will adult women feel disenfranchised? Does the under-representation of women constrict societal perspectives and information in important ways?” (Collins). If Becky had not followed the standard gender role that the frame of time presented itself, she may have seen herself surviving the endeavor, despite almost no chance of her doing so. It is one of those things that today’s society may be glad to have moved past, because there is no reason for anyone to lose their life because they rely so heavily on the opposite
By definition, a heroine is a woman who would typically encompass the qualities of nobility, courage, independence and strength. Nineteenth century English women would have struggled to accomplish any of these particular acts of heroism within their social environment as ultimately, their roles within civilisation saw them becoming a good wives and mothers and before that, obliging and caring daughters. Within this ubiquitous discourse of separate spheres, Kathryn Gleadle suggests that women were encouraged to see themselves as relative creatures', whose path in life was to nurture the family and to provide unstinting support for the head of the household' In this respect, the nineteenth century British woman conforming to this path' would prove to be the heroine of that time as a free-spirited independent individual would have been cast aside as socially unacceptable. Essentially, although it would appear that many women wished to lead active, working lives and so make an important contribution, either to their families or to social welfare, the woman's position [was] to preside over a loving home whilst men were to brave the vicissitude and demands of public and business life' Novelists Thomas Hardy and Emily Brontë present us with two strong and independent females Tess Durbeyfield and Catherine Earnshaw. These women are far from the idealistic view of nineteenth century females; Tess, intelligent and strikingly attractive, strives to uphold the values expected of her but outside forces beyond her control determine her fate. Catherine on the other hand begins her life free-spirited, rebellious and of a wild nature. However, her inner desire craves social ambition which, in turn, shows her slowly representing culture and civilisation.
...set examples for future generations and have shed light on the feminist movement in the U.S.