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Essay on women in the 1950s
Essay On Women In The 1950 S
Essay on women in the 1950s
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Alter Ego by Gwen Harwood
“Who am I?” is the question raised by Gwen Harwood in her poem, ‘Alter Ego’. Gwen Harwood’s poems explore societal positions and expectations of women in the 1950s which are derived from her own experiences. Though most of her poems have an underlying theme of grief, loss, love and the passing of time, which is explored through her reflecting on her childhood, some are also about self-discovery. ‘Alter Ego’ and ‘The Glass Jar’ are two examples of poems about self-discovery. The 1950s wasn’t the greatest era for female creativity, might it be art or literature which is why most artists and writers sold their material under male pseudonyms as did Gwen Harwood.
I’ve done my visual representation inspired by the thematic concern of Harwood’s poem, ‘Alter Ego’. ‘Alter Ego’ is defined as, ‘a close friend who seems almost a part of yourself’. Harwood describes her alter ego as a part of her that she doesn’t quite know, yet it knows her. It stands
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If looked at from a religious perspective light is symbolised as good and darkness as evil. I have incorporated that in my visual rep by the fragmentation of light and dark in the background. The face on the left has her lips painted black and disappearing into the background to convey that it really wasn’t appropriate for women to break out of the repressive and constrictive role of being nurturing mothers and the perfect housewives. If she was to comment on those roles, to admit to the isolation and frustration of being a mother out loud, it was considered wrong and sinful. Hence, why a lot of women took to mediums such as poetry or writing to have their voice be heard. The figures in my VR are bald because during the Holocaust the prisoners’ heads were shaved off to identify them as an inmate. The bald head is to symbolise imprisonment in terms of limited opportunities for women in the 50s and they were basically prisoners in their
The social group of women is often focused on by Gwen Harwood within Selected Poems of Gwen Harwood through the themes of motherhood and domestic life which play an integral role in many of her poems. These themes define a stereotypical role for women representing them as subordinate in a patriarchal society through a range of her poems such as In the Park, The Violets and Prize Giving. Harwood portrays women as subservient and inferior, with the main purpose to be household mothers and wives which was based on society’s expectations during Harwood’s time however her later poems such as Father and Child develop to contain hope for societal progression through occasionally defying these stereotypes.
Imagery of light is used in Fisher’s collection of poems to symbolize positive facets of a life lived in poverty. People living in poverty are not given all the basic necessities required to live comfortably. Many impoverished persons are malnourished due to lack of resources such as sufficient food or appropriate clothing. The lack of living essentials and the inability to afford everything that they desire provides people living in poverty with a greater appreciation for small acts of kindness. Many of the poems in Fishers collection show aspects of the poor being grateful for the little things in life. One of the poems shows a little girl being extremely appreciative of something every...
Women of both the ages of Victorian and early Modernism were restricted from education at universities or the financial independence of professionalism. In both ages, women writers often rebelled against perceived female expectations as a result of their oppression. To lead a solitary life as a subservient wife and mother was not satisfactory for writers like Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Virginia Woolf. One of the most popular female poets of the Victorian era, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, illustrated "a woman's struggle to achieve artistic and economical independence in modern society" (Longman P.1858). Many Victorian critics were shocked by Barrett Browning's female rebellion, which was rare for the era. With her autobiographical epic poem, Aurora Leigh provoked critics who were "scandalized by its radical revision of Victorian ideals of femininity" (P.1859). In the age of Modernism, women were finally given the some rights to a higher education and professionalism i n 1928 (p.2175). However, female poets of early Modernism, such as Virginia Woolf, were raised in the Victorian age. Rebellion toward "Victorian sexual norms and gender roles" (P.2175) are reflected in Woolf's modern literary piece, such as The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A Reflection. Also echoed in the piece, is how Woolf "never lost the keen sense of anguish nor the self-doubt occasioned by the closed doors of the academy to women" (P.2445).
...ottom or side lighting to make the subject appear evil or dangerous, and in this case it portrays that very well. The audience feels powerless and feeble while she comes across ass powerful and authoritative. Lastly, in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory during the scene in which Charlie is just gazing up at the stars from his room through the whole in his roof, front or back lighting is used. This is used to make Charlie seem innocent and happy, despite how poor he is and how tough times are. It also makes the viewer feel empathy for Charlie by how innocent he's portraying.
Both Carol Ann Duffy and Phillip Larkin use ambiguity and emotive language in their poetry to express their attitudes towards women. The poets utilize many congruent and contradictory techniques in the way they explore the theme of women which can be showed in Larkin’s Collection ‘’Whitsun wedding (1964)‘’ and Duffy’s collection ‘’Mean Time(1993)’’.The poems I chose from both poet’ collection coevals the theme of women in detail which I analyse in detail.
One of her most well-known works, entitled “Bitch”, was published in 1984 in the collection of poems Mermaids in the Basement. The poem written in a single stanza of 34 lines depicts the scene of a woman meeting an ex-lover in a random encounter. What is later depicted in the poem is an intricate display of contrasting emotions and thoughts. Outwardly, the woman is polite and pleasant to the man, but inwardly her “bitch” fumes at the meeting. Her inner “bitch” remembers the relationship and wants the woman to outwardly display her disdain. The woman’s internal dialogue subdues the wanton wanting of her harsh inner cri...
‘The woman’ of the poem has no specific identity and this helps us even further see the situation in which the woman is experiencing, the lost of one’s identity. Questions start to be raised and we wonder if Harwood uses this character to portray her views of every woman which goes into the stage of motherhood, where much sacrifice is needed one being the identity that was present in society prior to children.
In this book, the audience follows a Victorian Era New Orleans resident, Edna. Nevertheless, throughout the story we see that Edna is struggling between two desires; the desire to be loved and the desire to be free and independent of men. This conflict of desires illuminates the meaning of the work to show that in that time period, a woman’s independence or love both come at a price, and that they were mutually exclusive.
Viramontes, Helena. "Miss Clairol." Literature and Gender: Thinking Critically through Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Eds. Robyn Wiegman and Elena Glasberg. New York: Longman, 1999. 78-81. Print.
The well-acclaimed poem “Suburban Sonnet”, written by the talented author Gwen Harwood successfully portrays the disillusions that 1950s Australia has us to believe about their culture. Harwood addresses the past ethical issue of misogyny and patriarchy with a variety of techniques to meet her goal of sharing her experiences as an Australian mother. One instance of the text which captured this is in the poet’s dejected tone as she conveys to the reader. This has identified in the quote, “She practices a fugue, though it can matter to no one now if she plays well or not.” Lines 1-2. By using the example above, the author effectively implied to readers that in reality women faced oppression in society through a common neglect towards their role
The idea of having many different aspects of human experience is central to Gwen Harwood’s anthology of Selected Poems. In her works, Harwood explores many specific situations and circumstances associated with encountering human experiences; from childhood pleasures, innocence, emotion, celebration and passion, to the dullness and misery of domestic suburban life. Harwood utilizes a range of characters in her writing, adopting personas and pseudonyms in order to transform what may be seen as often very personal and private experiences into universal facets of human existence. By using her own personal journey towards self-knowledge and experience of growing up, Harwood is able to comment on the aspects of unconcealed and uncensored events in
Florentino, Sonya. “Alter Ego”. Poems by Sonya Florentino. New York, New York. Penguin Publishing. 2009. 48. Print.
One of the salient attributes of women poetry composed during this time was a vehement uproar against the essentialist notions of womanhood. “On Deconstruction: Theory and Criticism after Structuralism”, Jonathan Culler says, “to read as a woman is to avoid reading as a man, to identify the specific defenses and distortions of male readings and provide correctives” (54). The new women poets wrote from a woman’s perspective and were read from the
This essay, entitled ‘The Potential of Sisterhood: Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market’ (1991) is a journal article incorporated as a book chapter in the twenty-ninth volume of the Victorian Poetry. It was written by American feminist literary critic Janet Galligani Casey. This chapter features as a small part of a much wider study concerning literature from the Victorian period through a range of theoretical and critical angles. Victorian Poetry currently has fifty-four volumes suggesting, that it is a popular landmark text in Victorian literary criticism.
Confessional poetry of women poets of the then 1950s and 1960s opens a new vista for them to express their ‘self’ and to foreground their identity. These poets feel the need for self-affirmation because of their experience of marginalization in society. They found all the experiences are gendered in the 1950s and 1960s patriarchal society and so they also develop a gendered image of their ‘self’ in their confessional poetry. At the time when Sexton and Plath were children, the authoritarian figure within the nuclear family was the father and so he was the representative of society’s rule. Hence, the delineation of the Electra complex in their confessional poetry is one of the approaches of scratching their gendered ‘self’ because through the Electra complex the poets inscribe the female sexuality into the text. So, “with their autobiographical works, they write themselves into the canon and represent and deconstruct cultural images and linguistic codes of ‘woman’ and suggest alternative modes of self and identity” (Carmen