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Role of women in literature
Role of women in literature
women in literature
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The Deceitful Mother in Rebecca Rush's Kelroy
Mothers are often thought of and characterized as loving, generous women, who put their children before themselves. They are gracious, caring, and kind humans that are willing to sacrifice happiness and fulfillment in their lives to insure that their children receive the guidance, love, support, and happiness that every child (especially their own) deserves. Sadly, this description does not define the characteristics of all mothers. An example of a mother in which her mannerisms are the exact opposite of those depicted above is found in the character of Mrs. Hammond in Rebecca Rush's Kelroy, first published in 1812. Mrs. Hammond is an example of the realism found in the book. Combining realism such as this with romanticism makes Kelroy one of the best illustrations of a novel of manners.
Like many mothers, Mrs. Hammond wishes for her daughters to marry well, but she not only desires this for their well being but also for her own. At the death of Mr. Hammond, his wife not only inherits his fortune but also his debts; finding out soon after that she acquires almost the same amount of debt as she did money. In trying to decide how she can continue in the lifestyle in which she is accustomed; she acknowledges the beauty of her daughters, Lucy and Emily, and thus creates a plan. Moving out of the city and into the country of Philadelphia to "mournî she began to train her daughters to land a rich husband. Mrs. Hammond does not stop to think of the others who could be affected by her actions. She is uncaring and cold and only out to better her position.
Mrs. Hammond characteristics range from calculating to charming; she uses her talent of manipulating situations to get exactly what she wants. She uses any means necessary to reach her goal; this makes her an excellent example of a great American bitch. Even after marrying Lucy off to Walsingham, an Englishman with a title, she was not still not satisfied. Emily marrying Kelroy, a penniless poet, was out of the question. Mrs. Hammond never considers what consequences her actions will have on herself and others. She is the evil or villain found in the book. There is nothing wrong with a mother desiring her daughters to marry well, but in Mrs.
It is commonly thought that one has to struggle in order to be black. Black people tend to have a stronger sense of group identification than any other racial group in the United States. The question is whether or not this is helpful or detrimental to the black population. In “Promoting Black (Social) Identity” Laura Papish criticizes Tommie Shelby’s We Who Are Dark. Shelby argues that the black population’s sense of group identity is vital to furthering their collective political agenda. Shelby believes that best way to make sure that their political ideologies are cohesive is for black individuals to have a “thick conception of black identity” (Papish 2).” Having a thick sense of black identity calls for “ African Americans think of themselves as and act as a ‘nation’ constituted not by physical borders, but by a shared ethnic, cultural, or biological trait that imbues the community with a ‘general will’ and this “ will” typically includes political motives (Papish 2). Papish argues that it not part of the duty of a black person to have any sense of loyalty or solidarity with other African-Americans and that not doing so does not make them any less black than those that choose to have a thick sense of black identity. Those who don’t grow up with a strong black group identity in their lives are just as black and go through some of the same struggles that other black people do. In the video “Black Like Who?” Debbie Reynolds did not have a strong sense of blackness because she was raised in a white neighbor. The other ladies in the short film talk about how they thought that she had a “ real problem with [her] ethnicity like [she] had a problem with the fact that [she] born African-American (Reynolds). This along with the documentary on Lacey Schwartz show that a person’s sense of blackness is very much a product of what others around them define blackness as. However, it is not clear
One of Beverly Tatum's major topics of discussion is racial identity. Racial identity is the meaning each of us has constructed or is constructing about what it means to be a white person or a person of color in a race-conscious society. (Tatum, pp Xvii) She talks about how many parents hesitate to talk to their children about racism because of embarrassment and the awkwardness of the subject. I agree with her when she says that parents don't want to talk about racism when they don't see a problem. They don't want to create fear or racism where none may exist. It is touchy subject because if not gone about right, you can perhaps steer someone the wrong way. Another theory she has on racial identity is that other people are the mirror in which we see ourselves. (tatum pp18) 'The parts of our identity that do capture our attention are those that other people notice, and that reflects back to us.'; (Tatum pp21) What she means by this is that what other people tell us we are like is what we believe. If you are told you are stupid enough you might start to question your intelligence. When people are searching for their identity normally the questions 'who am I now?'; 'Who was I before?'; and 'who will I become'; are the first that come to mind. When a person starts to answer these questions their answers will influence their beliefs, type of work, where they may live, partners, as well as morals. She also mentions an experiment where she asked her students to describe themselves in sixty seconds. Most used descriptive words like friendly, shy, intelligent, but students of color usually state there racial or ethnic group, while white students rarely, if ever mention that they are white. Women usually mention that they are female while males usually don't think to say that they are males. The same situation appeared to take place when the topic of religious beliefs came up. The Jewish students mentioned being Je...
Everyone is raised within a culture with a set of customs and morals handed down by those generations before them. Most individual’s view and experience identity in different ways. During history, different ethnic groups have struggled with finding their place within society. In the mid-nineteen hundreds, African Americans faced a great deal of political and social discrimination based on the tone of their skin. After the Civil Rights Movement, many African Americans no longer wanted to be identified by their African American lifestyle, so they began to practice African culture by taking on African hairdos, African-influenced clothing, and adopting African names. By turning away from their roots, many African Americans embraced a culture that was not inherited, thus putting behind the unique and significant characteristics of their own inherited culture. Therefore, in an African American society, a search for self identity is a pervasive theme.
Although Kelroy is a novel of manners, the story contains more plot than the other nineteenth century novels in its category. The story begins with Mrs. Hammond finding herself a widow at the age of thirty. She realizes that she is incapable of supporting her family in the men's business capital of Philadelphia, where they live. She devises a plan to find wealthy suitors for her daughters, Lucy and Emily. With good intentions, Mrs. Hammond began throwing numerous parties for her daughters. However, Mrs. Hammond's true motive is to guarantee her own well-being and influence in society. Lucy , the oldest daughter, is very similar to her mother. Although she is physically attractive, she is shallow and realistic. She mee...
No other epidemic reaches the level of the Black Death which took place from 1348 to 1350. The epidemic, better regarded as a pandemic, shook Europe, Asia, and North Africa; therefore it deems as the one of the most devastating events in world history. In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1350, John Aberth, compiles primary sources in order to examine the origins and outcomes of this deadly disease. The author, a history professor and associate academic dean at Vermont’s Castleton State College, specializes in medieval history and the Black Death. He wrote the book in order to provide multiple perspectives of the plague’s impact. Primarily, pathogens started the whole phenomenon; however, geological, economic, and social conditions
Pingaro, Bobbie. “The Meanest Mother in the World”. Wolf Web Solution. Internet Archive. 1967.Web. 12 June 2010. < http://www.wolfweb.com.au/australia/meanmother.html>
Mrs. Hammond is not a saint. Some of her actions were abhorrent. "She (Mrs. Hammond) was a woman of fascinating manners, strong prejudices, boundless ambition." (Page 3) Mrs. Hammond had good manners. According to her society, she was a proper lady. She also had strong prejudices and boundless ambitions, and these are her qualities that create this evil persona placed on Mrs. Hammond. Mrs. Hammond has a strong temper. On page 102, Mrs. Hammond has a dialogue with the grocer. The grocer is trying to collect money for the food that Mrs. Hammond has received from his grocery. "I don't believe it," cried Mrs. Hammond, "for it is an impossibility that my family could have consumed articles to this amount." (Page 102) Mrs. Hammond speaks harshly toward this grocer for doing his job. "Charles, who knew that the slightest liberty taken by a person not altogether agreeable to her, was sometimes enough to irritate Mrs. Hammond." (Page 141) The people around Mrs. Hammond recognized her temper. A great number of people have tempers. Tempers do not make them bad people. Mrs. Hammond's boundless ambition comes into play with Kelroy and Emily. Mrs. Hammond wants the absolute best for Emily, and she truly believes that her plan for Emily to marry a man in the upper class is best for Emily's life. Mrs. Hammond's ambition forced her to try to stop Emily and Kelroy's relationship.
Shirley Jackson’s stories often had a woman as the central character who was in search of a more important life other than the conventional wife and mother. These characters however were often chastised for their refusal to conform to a woman’s traditional way of life. Much like her characters, throughout Shirley Jackson’s life, she also rejected the idea of fitting into society's perception of a woman's role.
Cantor, Norman F. In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made. New York:
Party is an inevitable feature of the democracy and it is defined as ‘an autonomous group of citizens having the purpose of making nominations and contesting elections in the hope of gaining control over governmental power through the capture of public offices and the organization of the government’ (Caramani, 2011, p.220). Parties are ubiquitous in modern political systems and they perform a number of functions, they are: coordination, contesting elections, recruitment, and representation (Caramani, 2011). Political parties are the product of the parliamentary and electoral game, and party systems reflect the social oppositions that characterize society when parties first appear (Coxall et al., 2011).
For a young women, the idea of motherhood means taking on the ultimate responsibility of caring for a defenseless child in spite of the youth and inexperience. To complicate matters, include the social norms of the 19th century that young women should not have children out of wedlock and a lack of personal independence since most young women do not have livable income and a space to call her own. These norms are enforced upon young women so much that typically their only hope of survival is with the help of a patriarchal figure. Thus, we are introduced into the struggle of Charity, the young female orphaned protagonist of Edith Wharton’s Summer, who is faced with how to make the best “decision” on how her child should come into her world. The
Today the world is plagued with a similar deadly disease. The AIDS epidemic continues to be incurable. In an essay written by David Herlihy, entitled 'Bubonic Plague: Historical Epidemiology and the Medical Problems,' the historic bubonic plague is compared with
Adolescences has always been the most crucial time for developing identity. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between racial identity development of African American adolescents and the role of education. This paper will discuss the effects race has on identity and adolescent development. Following, it will compare students education from a racial perspective and the lasting effects after adolescence.
The model led to the development of an assessment instrument to measure the white racial identity. According to Helms, developing a healthy white identity requires transition through two phases, abandonment of racism, and definition of a non-racist white identity. The two phases are characterized by six distinct racial identity statuses that are equally distributed. They include autonomy, contact, disintegration, immersion/emersion, pseudo independence, and reintegration. I find this model detailed, informative and helpful in understanding the white racial identity (Derald Wing Sue,
... own way. Ayckbourn shows Lucy's mother qualities by the satisfaction she takes in the end when she's resolved the situation and made sure everyone’s happy. Ayckbourn is showing in this section about men getting their own way against women and how things should be different. I agree with this view, men and women should be equal and treated the same. In conclusion this play is exploring the issues about women being stay at home mothers at the time. We see strengths of a mother, and on the other hand we do see the great personal cost that mothers have to pay. He shows that mothers lose their identity by being a mother; their entire life is devoted to the children and not themselves. In my opinion Ayckbourn's play is well written, I feel that he has shown the issues well and in a way that people would have started to comprehend his point when they watched the play.