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Roles of women 1750-1900 in europe
Attempts to raise women status in renaissance Europe
Women's rights in the enlightenment period
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This is a metaphoric way of portraying women’s role in society at the time frame of enlightenment. We see that the women were looked down upon and the image of a woman was considered less respectable than the image of a man. We see this when the author says,” minds of women are not in a healthy state”. This conveying that in this period of Enlightenment that men had no sort of respect for women and all they were looked at as were servants. The author depicts woman as a flower, as woman are the more delicate sex but are considered beautiful in appearance like a flower. Since the women are referred to as flowers this also means that even though they are beautiful they are weak and useless in men’s eyes.
"But not content with this natural pre-eminence,
The Enlightenment is known as the revolution that brought to question the traditional political and social structures. This included the question of the woman’s traditional roles in society. As the public sphere relied more and more ?? and the advances in scientific and educated thinking, women sought to join in with the ranks of their male counterparts. Women held gatherings known as salons where they organized intellectual conversations with their distinguished male guests. Seeking to further their status, enlightened women published pamphlets and other works advocating for educational rights and political recognition. Even with this evolution of woman in society, many still clung to the belief that the role of the woman was solely domestic. The females that spoke up were usually deemed unnatural. However these women used the time period of reason and science that allowed them the opportunity to break away from their domestic roles and alter the view of women in society.
During the postclassical era, major societies and religions developed various perspectives about how women should be treated and how they should behave. One viewpoint on how women should be treated included the idea that they were a symbol of enticement and possessed liberal and unintelligent qualities; making them considered unequal to men. Dissimilar to this belief, another standpoint concluded that women had equivalent roles as men and should be treated with respect. Women played both a demeaning and dignifying role in the post classical era in multiple significant societies and beliefs, which decided how they should be regarded and viewed.
The submission of women is demonstrated in the text through the symbolic colors of the couple’s bedroom. Indeed, as the young woman’s husband is asleep, the wife remains wide-awake, trying her best to provide the man with comfort, while enjoying her newlywed life. As she opens her eyes to contemplate “the blue of the brand-new curtains, instead of the apricot-pink through which the first light of day [filters] into the room where she [has]
The role of women in society has been a controversial one. Most religions see women as being inferior to men and are of the view that women were created as a companion for men. A lot of our social morale stems from religion; hence this help to shape the view that woman is inferior and is to be submissive to their male counterpart. Society has set roles which each sex is expected to play. Gender role is a theoretical construct in the social sciences and humanities that refers to a set of social and behavioral norms that, within a specific culture, are widely considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex (Princeston.edu). Women are expected to be docile and agreeable, while men are expected to be head strong and opinionated. Women and men were never viewed as interdependent, the general consensus was that women were dependent on men and men were independent. With advancement and revolution this view has changed, this view is however still strong in the Muslim and Islamic society. Voltaire and Molière brought the role of women in the French society to life in their plays.
Often historical events leading up to the twentieth century are dominated by men and the role of women is seemingly non-existent outside of reproduction. When one thinks of notable and memorable names and events of the Revolution, men are the first to be mentioned. The American Revolution was mainly dominated by men including George Washington, Samuel Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. There is no denying that men were vitally important to the American Revolution, but what were the women doing? Often overlooked, the women of the Revolution played a key role in the outcome of the nation. The women of the American Revolution, although not always recognized, were an influential society that assumed risky jobs like soldiers, as well as involvement
The poem begins with the author describing this perfect woman. As she goes on to say in line one, "At twenty she was brilliant and adored." The soft choice of words Kay choose create an instant connection between the reader and the woman. We are instantly engrossed in this woman, and sure enough adore her as well. The poem continues to describe her social status. From "Phi Beta Kappa" in line three and "men whose interest was their sole reward" in line four, we are instantly drawn with an image of this girl. We can conclude that this woman is young, successful, beautiful woman that is popular amongst everybody. She is the apple of everyone's desire. The author creates this girl to be that of one of the most intelligent, attractive girls the author (as well as the reader) has ever seen. As the reader, we can tell that she is from a very affluent background. This is implied in the lines "She learned the cultured jargon of those bred To antique crystal and authentic pearls." From the almost archaic setting to the famous people mentioned, the time period this takes place can be seen as around the early 1900's. In the line "And when she might have thought, conversed instead" is ...
An issue that has spanned through all of time is gender inequality and viewing women as equals. In 1937, when John Steinbeck wrote “The Chrysanthemums”, the view of women were far worse than they are today. Steinbeck subtly critiques society by illustrating the inequalities of gender through symbolism and imagery. To this day, women are treated as second class citizens. There are many examples in “The Chrysanthemum” of how Elisa is perceived as lower than the men in the story, despite seeming to possess more skill. “The Chrysanthemum” shows that class difference that stems from being a woman takes away opportunities, a person’s ability to express, and prevents women from maximizing their potential.
When gender is brought up Elisa often caves into stereotypes, for example she doesn’t like fights. However, the chrysanthemums give her hope and strength to continue moving forward and growing as a person in ways that would not be possible if the flowers were not a constant figure. Being a female in a male-orientated environment she is often plagued by insecurities. For example, when Henry, her husband, says “Why--why, Elisa. You look so nice!” (Steinbeck 248) she responds “Nice? You think I look nice? What do you mean by ‘nice’?” (Steinbeck 248). The wire fence in which her chrysanthemums reside “protected her flower garden from cattle and dogs and chickens” (Steinbeck 243). The wire fence not only shelters the flowers, but can also serve as a metaphorical protection for Elisa, further revealing the thin line between Elisa and her flowers. Elisa relies heavily on the chrysanthemums support and guidance due in part to her geographical location, the Salinas
Women throughout history have fought very hard to earn a respectable place in society, despite a patriarchal society and male dominance that remains. The roles of women have developed widely over time. Women frequently fall inferior to men politically, socially, and intellectually. This intellectual gap restricted many women to the role of a domestic caretaker. For others, an education was the foundation to discover new ideas and new ways of thinking. While many Renaissance women had access to an education, a small group of writers captured the attention of others. As Laura Cereta, a humanistic writer noted, “knowledge is not given as a gift, but is gained with diligence.” Humanistic writers fostered ideas of intellectual growth, independence,
...en a woman conforms to a society’s standards she is not as beautiful as someone who is unrestricted of these limitations. Consequently, comparing her to a “goldenrod ready to bloom” (19) draws implications of flowers blooming in springtime, which are lovely. This allows the reader to see natural life growing from the woman and beginning to break free of the shell society creates. She shows resistance to the ideas of how women should act be look like. The poem ends with potential: the women can change how she is viewed in the world but she has to take the first step.
Images of women throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have both shaped women’s outlook on their lives in the workplace, at home, and in politics, and have also encouraged change for them as individuals. While often times women are seen as weak individuals that have minor influence on society, artistic evaluations and various writings throughout history have successfully proved otherwise.
In the poem “The Lady’s Dressing Room,” written by Jonathan Swift, one may say he portrays himself to be a chauvinist by ridiculing women and their cryptic habits. However, others may say he wants to help women from the ideals placed upon them by society and prove to be an early feminist. This poem written in the 18th century represented women to be fake and sleazy at first. Then during the 20th century, the feminist movement used it as an attack against women, depicting the poem’s meaning as not valuing their rights and freedoms. The truth far hidden from these points of views became uncovered recently. This essay will explain both sides of the views and using critical thinking will uncover the real message the author intended to portray.
In the second stanza, the woman shows her emotions. The woman’s tone changes as she sees flowers moving freely while she is not moving freely as she walks through the garden dressed in a stiff, brocaded gown. “I walk down the garden-paths, and all the daffodils are blowing, and the bright blue squills” (p. 370). The speaker describes daffodils and other types of flowers moving freely in the winds. The woman in the poem wishes she can move freely and confidently like the flowers. She was not allowed to show any emotions for her lover who was killed in combat. Society expected some patterns from her, and that is what she did. In the third stanza, the speaker tells us how the woman was angry and frustrated for not allowing her to show any feelings. She does not want to be trapped in her brocaded gown. She wants to be loose. “Underneath my stiffened gown is the softness of a woman bathing in a marble basin, a basin in the midst of hedges grown so thick, is near” (p. 371). On the inside, she expresses her emotions and what she truly feels. She feels as if there is not softness anywhere about her being confined by whalebone and brocades. The speaker continues to live up to the expectations society enforces upon her. The last stanza the woman sees that that everything in her life is stiff as her brocade. Her patterns cannot be broken as the
Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth is an affront to the false social values of fashionable New York society. The heroine is Lily Bart, a woman who is destroyed by the very society that produces her. Lily is well-born but poor. The story traces the decline of Lily as she moves through a series of living residences, from houses to hotel lodgings. Lily lives in a New York society where appearances are all. Women have a decorative function in such an environment, and even her name, Lily, suggests she is a flower of femininity, i.e. an object of decoration as well as of desirability to the male element. We see this is very true once Lily's bloom fades, as it were, a time when she is cast aside by her peers no longer being useful as something to admire on the surface. The theme of the novel in this aspect is that identity based on mere appearance is not enough to sustain the human soul physically or metaphysically. Once she is no longer able to keep the "eye" of her peers, Lily finds herself with no identity and dies. This analysis will discuss the theme of the objectification of women in a male dominated society inherent throughout the novel.
In “Lady Franklin’s Lament”, the woman is seen as frail and dependant. The she, in this case, is a prim and proper lady who can do nothing but wait and search for her man. As the reader, we are altered to perceive her as such, we have been programmed to see a 19th century lady and imagine this imagery. The representation of women is also altered by stereotypes of the time period. A woman was stereotyped as a weak individual, who dressed in large gowns and almost couldn’t think on her own. These stereotypes were what lead to altered perceptions. In “The Onondaga Madonna”, the native women is perceived as a strong warrior with caring and maternal instincts. We are programed to see her as “savage” and the “other” due to social constraints. She is a woman ravaged by negative stereotypes that alter perception and cultural