Stimulating characters that evolve with the plot are fundamental in most novels. These characters could range from the Mary Sue protagonist to the chaotically evil antagonist. In A Lost Lady, Niel Herbert is a significant character along this spectrum. Although Willa Cather herself pointed out he is merely a "peephole" and a "subordinate" to the woman she truly cared for, Niel is a central aspect since he carries the story (132: 20). Early in the novel, he is already portrayed as the classic hero as he injures himself trying to alleviate the woodpecker of its pain. A more intense insight, however, is gathered from him as the plot develops and as he matures. Consequently, Niel discredits initial presumptions about him as he presents qualities and ideologies that make him detrimental to Cather's fictional society, which may be viewed as a microcosm of the actual world. Accordingly, through the patriarchal ideals Niel embraced, the unfounded biases he held, and the ulterior motives he possessed, his heroic stature is unmerited.
Since Niel Herbert is bigoted, he should not be esteemed as a hero. While the boys are playing in the beginning, Marian Forrester delivers cookies to the boys, and “[t]hey were all rather pleased that Mrs. Forrester had come down herself, instead of sending Mary" (Cather 19). They may simply enjoy the company of Mrs. Forrester. However, the following lines indicate otherwise: “Even rough little Thad Grimes… knew that Mrs. Forrester was a very special kind of person. George and Niel were already old enough to see for themselves that she was different from the other townswomen, and to reflect upon what was that made her so. The Blum brothers ... realized, more than their companions, that such a fortunate and ...
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...llow reason. He unravels his hubristic nature in the end of the eighth chapter of the second part. He imagines “that the right man could save her, even now,” and he believes he is that man for soon after the dinner event, he visits Marian Forrester, but he is feels thwarted when he finds her with Ivy Peters (166, 169). He vainly believes he is a hero.
Works Cited
Cather, Willa. A Lost Lady. Vintage Books ed. New York: Vintage Books, 1972. Print.
Holmes, Catherine. “Lost in the Dollhouse: Space and Gender in A Lost Lady.” The Philological Association of the Carolinas. 26 February 2012. PDF file.
Smith, Anneliese H. “Finding Marian Forrester: A Restorative Reading of Cather’s A Lost Lady” Colby Quarterly 14.4 (1978): 5. PDF File. 26 February 2012.
Witalec, Janet. "Cather." Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 2003. 20. Print.
Cather, Willa. A Lost Lady. Ed. Susan J. Rosowski with Kari Ronning, Charles W. Mignon and Frederick M. Link. The Willa Cather Scholarly Edition. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1997.
Kempe, Margery. "From The Book of Margery Kempe." The Norton Anthology of Literature By Women. 2nd ed. Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996. 18-24.
Romines, Ann. The Home Plot: Women, Writing & Domestic Ritual. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press. 1992.
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Even in the 19th century setting of A Doll’s House, “traditional” gender roles, as well as hetrosexual marriage roles, are insinuated to be obsolete and extremely outdated, just like they are now in modern day
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on A Doll’s House”. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. SparkNotes.com. 20 Mar 2011. http://Sparknotes.com/lit/dollhouse/themes.html.
The roles of men and women evolve over time. In 1879 the roles, obligations, and expectations of a man and woman were very different from those today. In A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen illustrates the reproachful role of women in society and how appearances can be deceiving.
A Doll House gives us a true insight into the roles for men and women during the late 1800’s. This is why the play has been said to be able to take place in any and all suburbs. At this point in history, the roles of gender were mainly consistent across the world. Men vs. women in economics, social status, gender rights, marriage and divorce, and occupation can best describe this.
Glaspell authored this feminist short story, now considered a classic and studied in many institutions of higher education, in 1917, a story that underwent reawakening in the 1970s (Hedges). As the investigation of Mr. Wright’s murder takes the sheriff of Dickson County, neighbor Mr. Hale, and their wives to the Wright farm, the story “confines itself to the narrow space of Minnie’s kitchen--- the limited and limiting space of her female sphere. Within that small space are revealed all of the dimensions of the loneliness that is her mute message” (Hedges). It is evident through Glaspell’s writing that Minnie Wright feels distress from being trapped in the confines of her kitchen with no telephone and no outreach to the world outside her husband’s farm. Mrs. Wright being quarantined to her own home every day--- a common occurrence in housewives of ...
In the ninety years since the publication of Willa Cather’s A Lost Lady, critical readings have largely focused on Marian Forrester’s infidelity as paramount in her being “lost.” While Marian is certainly trapped within the male narrative, it is not solely Marian’s infidelities, but her apparent alcoholism, that results in Marian no longer fulfilling her assigned role. While adultery is considered morally reprehensible, it still falls within the narrative of the lascivious and weak female. The alcoholic woman, though, extends far outside accepted norms. Willa Cather’s narrative reflects this prevailing societal opinion by focusing on Marian’s infidelity while purposefully disregarding her alcoholism.
Many women in modern society make life altering decisions on a daily basis. Women today have prestigious and powerful careers unlike in earlier eras. It is more common for women to be full time employees than homemakers. In 1879, when Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll's House, there was great controversy over the out come of the play. Nora’s walking out on her husband and children was appalling to many audiences centuries ago. Divorce was unspoken, and a very uncommon occurrence. As years go by, society’s opinions on family situations change. No longer do women have a “housewife” reputation to live by and there are all types of family situations. After many years of emotional neglect, and overwhelming control, Nora finds herself leaving her family. Today, it could be said that Nora’s decision is very rational and well overdue.
Niel and Ivy’s separate outlooks upon life – that of the Old West versus that of the Industrial Revolution – are as disparate as their appearances. Niel, with his “clear-cut [features, and] his grey eyes, so dark they looked black under his long lashes,” (Cather 33) represents the Old West and all its hopes and dreams, while Ivy with his red skin, harsh dimples like “a knot in a tree-bole,” (21) and his “fixed, unblinking” (21) eyes, is the realist of the next generation. Niel, younger than Ivy by several years, “had believed that man could live according to aesthetic ideals, and this belief is a positive one. However, he had not yet harmonized such ideals with human life” (Rosowski, Willa Cather’s A Lost Lady: The Paradoxes of Change, 59). It is this refreshing – though naïve – belief in the ability of men to rise above petty emotions, and particularly his reverence of Marian Forrester as an archetype of womanly goodness, which is slowly worn away in Niel as the novel progresses. When Niel returns to Sweet Water after his time away at a university, he meets Ivy, and from their brief conversation Niel realizes the difference between himself and Ivy. The men of the Old West, Niel realizes, were “dreamers, great-hearted adventurers who were unpractical to the point of magnificence; a courteous brotherhood, strong in attack but weak in de...
In its historical context A Doll’s House was a radical play which forced its audience to question the gender roles which are constructed by society and make them think about how their own lives are a performance for Victorian society.
Since Nick had just moved to New York, he did not know anyone, but his second cousin Daisy and her husband Tom. Nick saw Tom as an arrogant man with a lot of money and power in his hands. Tom was a Yale graduate and a football player that many people feared. He was self- centered like his wife, Daisy. He was a man who thought he was better than any other man in the world as he even said it to Nick, ‘"Now, don't think my opinion on these matters is final," he seemed to say, "just because I'm stronger and more of a man than you are"’ (Fitzgerald). Because Nick reserved his judgments, he tried to understand other people’s situations rather than holding them up to his own standards. On the other hand, he sometimes did not know how to respond to other people’s situations such as Tom’s affair with Myrtle. He wanted to flee from the scene since he did not want to be a part of it, ‘"Hold on," I said, "I have to leave you here"’ (Fitzgerald). ...
For an example, consider two alternative belief systems A and B consisting of beliefs A1, A2 and B1, B2 respectively. There are two beliefs in each system none of which can justify themselves alone. If A1 → A2 and A2 → A1, then there are 2 inferential connections in A and a high inferential density. Bonjour says this makes A likely. However, if only B1 → B2 and not vice versa, then there is only 1 non-mutual inferential connection in B and thus a low inferential density. Bonjour suggests that lack of mutual justification makes the whole system of B unjustified since B1 must act foundationally.