In Prelude to Middlemarch, George Eliot writes about Saint Theresa of Avila going into the countryside to look for an exciting, epic adventure in life. Prelude parallels the experience of reading with the experience of being a woman in nineteenth-century Victorians. Teresa demonstrates how women in the Victorian society yearn for a life where they can be themselves instead of what society requests of them. The readers can compare the Prelude to other authors of this time period who challenge the subjection of woman. In Silly Novels by Lady Novelists, Eliot says “Take a woman’s head, stuff it with a smattering of philosophy and literature chopped small, and with false notions of society baked hard, let it hang over a desk a few hours every day, …show more content…
Eliot says “No sooner does a woman show that she has genius or effective talent, then she receives the tribute of being moderately praised and severely criticized (Eliot, 17). The readers see how the talents of woman are undermined in a patriarchal order but they want to do things their own way. These women have grown up in a patriarchal order and they seek to reform themselves to their own perspectives. Part of this reform was women’s education. Woman were offered an opportunity to receive their own education, which only strengthened male dominance in a male dominated society. In Prelude, Eliot writes “the offspring of a certain spiritual grandeur ill matched with the meanness of opportunity (Eliot,3). This is demonstrated in Cobbe’s writing, Life of Frances Power Cobbe as Told By Herself explains how she was required in her education to put emphasis on things that men look for in a future spouse. Cobbe describes “Everything was taught us in the inverse ration of its true importance. At the bottom of the scale were Moral and Religion, and at the top were Music and Dancing” (Cobbe,1522-1524). This shows how women want to be themselves especially in their respect to their education. This is interesting in Eliot’s writing because she argues that “silly novels” challenge the basis of women’s education. The readers see how education, societal roles, and gender identification influence the dominate …show more content…
The Descent of Man questioned religious concepts of creation and time. Darwin shares “The belief of God has often been advanced as not only the greatest, but the most complete of all the distinction between man and the lower animals” (Darwin,1279). These religious concepts limit experience in a male dominate society to women abilities. In Silly Novels by Lady Novelists, Eliot says “there are certain ladies who think that an amazing ignorance, both of science and of life, is the best qualification for forming an opinion” (Eliot, 14). The readers see how women form their own opinion within the realm of science and life. This relates to Darwin by showing that women question their opinion based on knowledge of science and life just like Darwin’s natural selection which combine both science and life. (Eliot, 8). In Darwin’s The Descent of Man, the reader see how he connects men with animalistic behavior. Eliot’s Silly Novels by Lady Novelists connects this to women by sharing that women should be permitted to work naturally but behave naturally as well and not as
1. George Eliot's purpose from the excerpt in the novel was to satirically beign the argument and to portray "a woman of extraordinary talent" can "[appreciate] the special tragedy that biological labeling impose[s] upon members of unfortunate groups”. Gould then refers to Eliot through the centering of his article giving the fact that she wrote Middlemarch previous to "Broca measur[ing] the cranial capacities". By using his quotes, he provides the readers a feminine perspective and states they can also be just as "extraordinary" as Eliot, a man.
Gamble first seeks to refute Darwinian perspectives of male superiority. In referencing the “superior degree of development” (Gamble 74) of “female in all the orders of life below mankind” (74), Gamble demonstrates an explicit understanding of Darwin’s rhetoric strategies. By countering Darwin’s argument on the same level of evolutionary science and societal class, Gamble challenges ideals on the essential characteristics of women. Gamble’s intimate understanding of Darwin’s theory sets her as an equal to Darwin. Gamble furthers this response by alluding to Darwin’s own “law of equal transmission of characters to both sexes” (76) in the development of females. Gamble’s use of Darwin’s own argument effectively bolsters her own ethos, a point critical to reaching a society still dominated by males. This parallel structure not only suggests a fallacy in Darwin’s reasoning, but one in the social dogma of male supremacy. However, it is Gamble’s novel point on highlighting those very differences that is crucial to her defense of women. Gamble cites the “distinctive characters” (77) of women including “perception and intuition” (77), along with “greater powers of endurance” (77) as unique traits of women. While aforementioned and subsequently dismissed by Darwin, Gamble’s
In the 18th century, reading novels served as a pass time and a diversion from household chores for the women. Though formal female education is not developed, the female characters are seen having a keen interest in books, something that was earlier frowned upon for the sentimental content of books might be destructive to societal values. At the time, books were meant to teach and reflect upon the socially acceptable ideas of romance, courtship, and marriage. We find Miss Wharton asking for books to read from her friend Mrs. Lucy Sumner, “Send me some new books; not such, however, as will require much attention. Let them be plays or novels, or anything else that will amuse and extort a smile.” (Foster, 192) Mrs. Sumner sends her novels which she considers “chaste and of a lighter reading” (Foster, 196). We can thus construe that books and novels in The Coquette though meant for reading pleasure, also play form part of the female
...eristics of feminism but did not fully grasp them. They act as a perfect representation of women in the Middle Ages to Scholasticism period that went through social suppression by enlightening readers of the men’s misconduct against them. These two women started a movement that changed the course of history for humankind, even for being fictional and nonfictional pieces.
In summary, the account for a woman’s femininity is primarily encouraged by man. Wollstonecraft inspires readers as she debates the right for woman equality to man, with most, if not all females agreeing with her argument and powerful ideas. Thus it is possible to conclude that the influence of academic literature does complicate everyday contemporary understanding, as reality of the day has differing points of view in writing. According to the referenced literature, woman in contemporary society are considered are flaw of nature however observed by women unreasonably.
During the Victorian Era, society had idealized expectations that all members of their culture were supposedly striving to accomplish. These conditions were partially a result of the development of middle class practices during the “industrial revolution… [which moved] men outside the home… [into] the harsh business and industrial world, [while] women were left in the relatively unvarying and sheltered environments of their homes” (Brannon 161). This division of genders created the ‘Doctrine of Two Spheres’ where men were active in the public Sphere of Influence, and women were limited to the domestic private Sphere of Influence. Both genders endured considerable pressure to conform to the idealized status of becoming either a masculine ‘English Gentleman’ or a feminine ‘True Woman’. The characteristics required women to be “passive, dependent, pure, refined, and delicate; [while] men were active, independent, coarse …strong [and intelligent]” (Brannon 162). Many children's novels utilized these gendere...
...es for love and overcame the social expectations of the quintessential woman in the nineteenth century; whereas their counterparts around them would have chosen class and wealth. Edna Pontellier’s decision to move into her pigeon house and away from her husband’s rule and the vexing job of caring for her children was viewed as societal suicide, but to her liberation and self-actualization as a woman was more important. Elizabeth Bennet ultimately disregarded her mother’s wishes, and passed over Mr. Collins, she initially disregarded Mr. Darcy as a possible suitor but love proved otherwise. These women were on a path of destruction to free themselves from a long reign of oppression, their challenge of conventional methods within the nineteenth century, proved successful not only to them, but for a future collective group of women who would follow in their footsteps.
Katherine Mansfield belongs to a group of female authors that have used their financial resources and social standing to critique the patriarchal status quo. Like Virginia Woolf, Mansfield was socioeconomically privileged enough to write influential texts that have been deemed as ‘proto-feminist’ before the initial feminist movements. The progressive era in which Mansfield writes proves to be especially problematic because, “[w]hile the Modernist tradition typically undermined middle-class values, women … did not have the recognized rights necessary to fully embrace the liberation from the[se] values” (Martin 69). Her short stories emphasized particular facets of female oppression, ranging from gendered social inequality to economic classism, and it is apparent that “[p]oor or rich, single or married, Mansfield’s women characters are all victims of their society” (Aihong 101). Mansfield’s short stories, “The Garden Party” and “Miss Brill”, represent the feminist struggle to identify traditional patriarchy as an inherent caste system in modernity. This notion is exemplified through the social bonds women create, the naïve innocence associated with the upper classes, and the purposeful dehumanization of women through oppressive patriarchal methods. By examining the female characters in “The Garden Party” and “Miss Brill”, it is evident that their relationships with other characters and themselves notify the reader of their encultured classist preconceptions, which is beneficial to analyze before discussing the sources of oppression.
Within this extended essay, the subject chosen to study and formulate a question from was English Literature, in particular the portrayal of women during the 19th and 20th centuries, where the following novels 'The Great Gatsby' written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' were set in and originated the basis from. The question is as follows 'How does Jane Austen and F Scott Fitzgerald portray gender inequalities in both lower and upper class relationships particularly through love and marriage within the novels 'Pride and Prejudice' and 'The Great Gatsby' from the different era's it was written in?' This particular topic was chosen reflecting the morality and social class during the two different era's and determining whether there was change in the characteristics of women as well as men and how their behaviour was depicted through the two completely different stories, as they both reflect the same ethical principles in terms of love and marriage. The two novels were chosen in particular to view their differences as well as their similarities in terms of gender inequality through love and marriage, as the different era's it was set in gives a broader view in context about how society behaved and what each author was trying to portray through their different circumstances, bringing forward a similar message in both novels.
Sometimes trying to conform to society’s expectations becomes extremely overwhelming, especially if you’re a woman. Not until recent years have woman become much more independent and to some extent equalized to men. However going back to the 19th century, women were much more restrained. From the beginning we perceive the narrator as an imaginative woman, in tune with her surroundings. The narrator is undoubtedly a very intellectual woman. Conversely, she lives in a society which views women who demonstrate intellectual potential as eccentric, strange, or as in this situation, ill. She is made to believe by her husband and physician that she has “temporary nervous depression --a slight hysterical tendency” and should restrain herself from any intellectual exercises in order to get well (Gilman 487). The narrator was not allowed to write or in any way freely...
Education for women in the 1800s was far different from what we know today. During her life, a girl was taught more necessary skills around the home than the information out of school books. A woman’s formal education was limited because her job opportunities were limited—and vice versa. Society could not conceive of a woman entering a profession such as medicine or the law and therefore did not offer her the chance to do so. It was much more important to be considered 'accomplished' than thoroughly educated. Elizabeth Bennet indicated to her sisters that she would continue to learn through reading, describing education for herself as being unstructured but accessible. If a woman desired to further he education past what her classes would teach her, she would have to do so independently, and that is what most women did.
In an essay on feminist criticism, Linda Peterson of Yale University explains how literature can "reflect and shape the attitudes that have held women back" (330). From the viewpoint of a feminist critic, "The Lady of Shalott" provides its reader with an analysis of the Victorian woman's conflict between her place in the interior, domestic role of society and her desire to break into the exterior, public sphere which generally had been the domain of men. Read as a commentary on women's roles in Victorian society, "The Lady of Shalott" may be interpreted in different ways. Thus, the speaker's commentary is ambiguous: Does he seek to reinforce the institution of patriarchal society as he "punishes" the Lady with her death for her venture into the public world of men, or does he sympathize with her yearnings for a more colorful, active life? Close reading reveals more than one possible answer to this question, but the overriding theme seems sympathetic to the Lady. By applying "the feminist critique" (Peterson 333-334) to Tennyson's famous poem, one may begin to understand how "The Lady of Shalott" not only analyzes, but actually critiques the attitudes that held women back and, in the end, makes a hopeful, less patriarchal statement about the place of women in Victorian society.
Austen was raised in an unusually liberal family where her father was a part of the middle-landowning class. They had a moderate amount of luxuries, but were not considered well off. Unlike many girls of her time Austen received a fairly comprehensive education. She received this mainly through the undivided support of her family. Austen and her sisters, like most girls of their time, were homeschooled. Austen’s zealous parents encouraged the girls to play piano, read and write. Her parent’s encouragement led to her interest in writing. Austen’s father housed an extensive library filled with books which kept Austen occupied for years (“Sense and Sensibility” 119). Through her observant nature and passion to read and write, Austen was able to eloquently write of the many “hidden truths” of social and class distinction during her time. They included daily societal changes some of which foreshadowed future societal leniency. Familial support also extended societal norm of marriage. Her parents attempt...
In Life of Frances Power Cobbe As Told by Herself, Frances Power Cobbe retold her experience at a fashionable English boarding school. Other female students and she gained an education at this institution where they were taught general education courses, foreign languages, and even to play musical instruments. This autobiographical work was monumental in female advancement during the Victorian era. From male perspectives women were only needed to take care of a household and were certainly not intended to intellectually progress on the ...
In the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries, the idea of patriarchy ruled the many societies all over the world. Particularly in Britain, its “overarching patriarchal model” (Marsh) had “reserved power and privilege for men” (Marsh). Also during this time period feminist literature began to arise and was invaded by, “the complex social, ethical, and economic roots of sexual politics… as testimony to gender bias and the double standard” (“Sexual Politics and Feminist Literature”). In Jane Austen’s writing, readers have been aware of her constant themes of female independence and gender equality. However, many have criticized the author for the fact that many of her “individualistic” female characters have ended up