Sorrow Life

1309 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Gender roles in th 19th century

The books, “The Kingdom of Matthias” and “The Murder of Helen Jewett” might seem like an odd comparison when looked upon for a common background. The kingdom of Matthias in short, shows us how people in strict religious views move to a place where they can be free from a society without laws. The Murder of Helen Jewett shows us a young woman who is successful in her own right but her life ends in a tragedy that will never be solved. However, when reading both of these books, there is a common interest that both of these books share. Women and Sex. . Both of the books show us that women were not always looked upon as educators, role-models, or just equal amongst men. They were only good for either staying in the house, take care of the children, cook and to do sexual acts for their husbands or other men. Though both books are within the same timeline, it not only just want to show us that women were portrayed as that but how they came up to be like that because not all women were born and raised to grow to be just slaves of men.

The first book, “The Kingdom of Matthias” written by Paul E. Johnson and Sean Wilentz, is set around the early 1800’s, where a young man by the name of “Matthias” finds a town in New York and establishes a communal colony. Matthias, who was born as Robert Matthews, became a leader or a prophet in this town, to lead the other people in a life without government interference, go to church daily, and to enforce a code of righteous temperance everyday. It may sound like the perfect colony but what lies beneath surely surprises us all. Matthias’ kingdom wasn’t all that perfect.

The women in his colony were nothing more then just housewives that spent their whole life cleaning, cooking, taking care of the children and lastly to perform sexual favors because the men were seen as the patriarchal leaders. Preachers of the town lured young female into their own beds just because they had the status of men and leader. Matthias saw equality of men and women as the act of the devil and destroying the truth. Matthias in his own right, had a lot of religious experience from his childhood. He even whipped a lady by the name of Isabella Van Wagenan because she was sick and that it was the act of the devil.

Show More
Related

  • Kingdom of Matthias by Paul E Johnson and Sean Wilentz

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...s would act upon women in many different ways from beating them or with sexual activities on a regular basis. These acts of misogyny, trying to keep them only doing household chores while verbally degrading them could be known as just a small bump in the progression towards women’s rights and could be a lead example on why women should have rights. Matthias was however able to make his followers believe in his religion and grasp the beliefs and to go against the progression of women’s rights. The ‘kingdom’ eventually fell because the way society was growing during the Second Great Awakening and the Market Revolution; it gave women the chance to have power to incorporate them into society respectively.

    Read More

  • A Shopkeeper’s Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester, New York, 1815-1837: Divisions Today & Tomorrow

    1542 Words  | 4 Pages

    Johnson, through the revival, shows a growing Protestant influence within Rochester, New York. Charles Finney came, Bible in hand, proclaiming that the Millennium was in reach, but only through the efforts of the willing: this was a revival for social ch...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Murder Of Helen Jewett

    795 Words  | 2 Pages

    They wanted women to be sanctimonious, which meant they were expected to be devoutly religious. So, in this time prostitution was the last resort, which mean they have reached poverty, shame and abandonment leaves them with nowhere else to turn. But that wasn’t the case for Helen she seen it as her calling and accepted it. Women were expected to get married, then after married they would be then considered property of their husbands. They also were expected to be pure. By pure it was referring to sexual elements and it was not shocking that prostitutes were looked down upon at this time because they lost their purity. holiness was also suggested for men too but was not as strongly enforced. An important thing to note that made the lives different for gender is that even though women were pushed to be as pure as can be all their lives, given directions on how to go about these things, while the men on the other hand were only advised on how to reclaim purity after they had participated in unwholesome acts. Throughout the Murder of Helen Jewett, the image of Richard P. Robinson stayed relatively the same throughout the whole book and even though Helen Jewett was decease her image continues to change due to the fact that she was a

    Read More

  • The Impact Of The Kingdom Of Matthias On Gender Roles

    1651 Words  | 4 Pages

    In The Kingdom of Matthias by Johnson and Wilentz, the authors clearly show the significance that the historical events had on the larger economic, social, and religious changes occurring in the United States during the 1820s and 1830s. Both social hierarchy and gender played a large role in the changes during that time period. The effect of the large differences in gender roles exhibited in the The Kingdom of Matthias is still visible and relevant in America’s society today.

    Read More

  • DBQ Chapter 22

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ed to “Greater Learning for Women” (Document 11). Women in those times weren’t allowed to go to school or learn. In some cases they couldn’t own property or go anywhere without their husbands. There were many different things that boys were allowed to do, but girls weren’t. For example, the Document states, “The great lifelong duty of a woman is obedience….When the husband issues his instructions, the wife must never disobey them. In a doubtful case, she should inquire of her husband and obediently follow his commands…. A woman should look upon her husband as if he were Heaven itself, and never weary of thinking how she may yield to her husband and thus escape celestial castigation.” Obviously, this was very different from the mortality book taught how to treat boys. Even though these Documents are very different in topic, they can be compared in many ways.

    Read More

  • Sarah Ruden's Paul Among the People

    1180 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Sarah Ruden’s book, Paul Among the People, Ruden strives to disprove modern society’s common belief that the apostle Paul was a man strongly against women and homosexuality. She makes the claim that he was actually fighting for more equality and love than what Roman society allowed in Paul’s time and even before his time. Ruden compares the words Paul wrote around the middle of 50 A.D. and into the early 60 A.D.’s against other popular literary works of the Roman first and second century B.C.in an effort to challenge contemporary negative thoughts regarding Paul. Despite the negative opinions that a majority of modern society hold about the apostle, Sarah Ruden does a remarkable job of refuting the claims that Paul was a misogynist homophobe by putting Paul in perspective inside the society that he lived in. She claims that Paul was offering equality and a better life for the people of his time. By doing this, Ruden attests that Paul was not the negative man that most people believe but that he actually fought for more equality and compassion than what he is given credit for by most people today.

    Read More

  • Comparing The Wife of Bath and The Canterbury Tales

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    Looking back through many historical time periods, people are able to observe the fact that women were generally discriminated against and oppressed in almost any society. However, these periods also came with women that defied the stereotype of their sex. They spoke out against this discrimination with a great amount of intelligence and strength with almost no fear of the harsh consequences that could be laid out by the men of their time. During the Medieval era, religion played a major role in the shaping of this pessimistic viewpoint about women. The common belief of the patriarchal-based society was that women were direct descendants of Eve from The Bible; therefore, they were responsible for the fall of mankind. All of Eve’s characteristics from the biblical story were believed to be the same traits of medieval women. Of course, this did not come without argument. Two medieval women worked to defy the female stereotype, the first being the fictional character called The Wife of Bath from Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. The second woman, named Margery Kempe, was a real human being with the first English autobiography written about her called The Book of Margery Kempe. In these two texts, The Wife of Bath and Margery Kempe choose to act uniquely compared to other Christians in the medieval time period because of the way religion is interpreted by them. As a result, the women view themselves as having power and qualities that normal women of their society did not.

    Read More

  • The Year of Living Biblically, by A. J. Jacobs

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    Numerous women in history, have negative stigmas attached to them simply for, well, being women and just like a phrase in the Bible says; “Sin began with a woman and thanks to her we all must die”. However, the Bible states that all men are created equal, that “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”, however, as you read through the passages and see the roles each human plays in them, which greatly differs depending gender, one can easily come to the realization that this is not entirely true. Jacobs writes that “Married women are not allowed to sleep around… Married men on the other hand… well they have more leeway…” (page 135) noting that there is in fact inequality and he tries to show this as much as he can throughout the book. As one reads through the Bible, and tries to grasp and follow every rule given, one learns not to be and feel equal but to behave and act “correctly” and accordingly to gender roles, roles that gives too much liberty to men and very little to women when clearly the Bible says we are ...

    Read More

  • Women, Church God Analysis

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Women, Church, God: A Socio-Biblical Study, Caleb Rosado uses a socio-biblical approach to discuss the role of women in the church today and how they were treated in the Bible, during the patriarchal times. Rosado looks at the connection between what people believe now, their culture, and how they treat women in regards to how one perceives God. This book contains ten chapters in which several topics are discussed, including the nature of God, the treatment of women in the Bible, patrimonialism, servitude, and servanthood.

    Read More

  • The Murder of Helen Jewett by Patricia Cline Cohen

    1471 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Murder of Helen Jewett, Patricia Cohen uses one of the most trivial murders during the 1800’s to illustrate the sexiest society accommodations to the privileged, hypocritical tunneled views toward sexual behavior, and the exploitation of legal codes, use of tabloid journalism, and politics. Taking the fact that woman was made from taking a rib from man was more than biblical knowledge, but incorporated into the male belief that a woman’s place is determined by the man. Helen had the proper rearing a maid servant, but how did she fall so far from grace. Judge Weston properly takes credit for rearing her with the proper strictness and education. Was Helen seduced at an early age and introduced to sexual perversions that were more persuasive that the bible belt life that the Weston’s tried to live? Was Helen simply a woman who knew how to use what she had to get what she wanted? Through personal correspondence, legal documentation, census reports, paintings, and newspapers we are able to make our own determinations. Cohen provides more than enough background and history to allow any one to make their own opinion how the murder of a woman could be turned into a side show at a circus.

    Read More

  • Sorrow Of Sorrow

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sorrow, the Straight Matter of Life. During the process of growing up, we are taught to believe that life is relatively colorful and rich; however, if this view is right, how can we explain why literature illustrates the negative and painful feelings of life? Thus, sorrow is inescapable; as it increases one cannot hide it. From the moment we are born into the world, people suffer from different kinds of sorrow.

    Read More

  • The Role of Woman in Judaism

    1896 Words  | 4 Pages

    The depreciation of women and their overall inferior position in society can be attributed to the androcentric interpretations of the Hebrew Bible, especially the story of Adam and Eve. Throughout history, the story of Adam and Eve has been used by men to point out the inherent evil in women by pinning the eventual expulsion of Adam and Eve from Heaven on the neck of Eve. Eve has long been blamed for the expulsion from Heaven and in effect, women, even up until today, are portrayed as the “gateway to sin.”

    Read More

  • Overview Of Women In The Red Tent By Anita Diamant

    1480 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women in the biblical bible represent a transitioning and evolutionary turn for women in the future. Biblical women have open doors of opportunities that allow women to become more independent, confidents and sophisticated. History has shown how women first were seen as a typical care taker or protector compared to a “provider,” which was more associated with men. However, over the century, there has been a chain broken and opportunities released that allowed women to become more like men to a certain degree. There has been a change in status, roles, and education. Biblical women have allowed women in the twenty-first century the chance to obtain a higher status role such as, a provider for their family. Therefore, allowing women to stand up for their rights and what they believe in using sexual techniques. Such as, manipulating men, using their body as a weapon and the power of “sisterhood” to get what they want.

    Read More

  • Women's Inferior Status in The Bible

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... a merely a reflection of Hebrew society of the time (Stanton). Jesus Christ, being a reformer, should have improved the status of women with his message of love and acceptance. However, there is no denying that the stigma is carried with women into the present day. Women’s position in society can be greatly attributed to their depiction in religious text. Holy word is still a factor in making women more susceptible, more culpable, and more sinful an impure than men. Even as women move up in the social order, religion is timeless and ever bearing on the struggle women fight for sexual equality.

    Read More

  • Suffering, Key of Happiness

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    Suffering can be defined as an experience of discomfort suffered by a person during his life. The New York Times published an article entitled what suffering does, by David Brooks (2014). In this article, Brooks explains how suffering plays an important role in our pursuit of happiness. He explains firstly that happiness is found through experiences and then, suffering can also be a motivation in our pursuit of happiness. In other words, suffering is a fearful but necessary gift to acquire happiness. This paper is related to motivation and emotion, two keys words to the pursuit of happiness (King, 2010).

    Read More

More about Sorrow Life

Open Document