A Comparison Between Tony Kytes, The Arch Deceiver by Thomas Hardy
and The Seduction by Eileen McAuly
"Tony Kytes the Arch Deceiver" is a hilarious story of an afternoon
when Tony was driving home from the market in his wagon. A pretty girl
called Unity to whom he was quite close before he met his present
fiancé stopped him and asked him to give her a lift home. They were
riding along, having a flirtatious conversation, when Tony saw Milly,
his fiancé. Fearing her displeasure on seeing Unity riding with him on
the wagon, he manages to persuade Unity to hide at the back of the
wagon. Extraordinarily, later in the journey Tony manages to persuade
Milly to do the same thing when he sees yet another young lady, this
time called Hannah. Inevitably, at the end of the journey the three
young ladies discover each other's presence. After a brief period of
mayhem, Milly and Tony are alone again, planning their wedding.
"The Seduction" tells a story of a boy and a girl, who after a party,
go to sit by the river in the early hours of the morning. They talk a
little and giggle while drinking vodka. He then quickly began his
seduction of her with a kiss. As a result of this encounter, she
becomes pregnant. She is very angry, afraid and ashamed as she
realises that her life has changed forever.
Both pieces of writing show how young women can be misled by somewhat
more experienced men. This is shown by their innocence and tendency to
follow the male initiatives, to the extent that the young ladies in
the Tony Kytes story are even willing to suspend common sense and
ludicrously conceal themselves beneath tarpaulin. The differences
between the...
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In the poem, there is no real humour. Even the clumsy way of speaking
which the boy has, such us "Eating me dinner", which could be comical,
come across only as pathos. The writer makes use of numerous
adjectives such as "softly rounded belly", "pink smiling faces" and
"grey and frothy tide." The phrase used to describe her ultimate
feelings about the pregnancy is very powerful: "This despicable
feminine void." These few words convey the situation in its entirety;
its negative nature, that it is a purely female problem and that it is
inescapable.
The women in both the story and the poem appear at first to be from
different worlds with nothing in common. However they are, in fact,
united by their femaleness; by the vulnerability that they share
simply by being women, trying to have a relationship with a man.
The social group of women is often focused on by Gwen Harwood within Selected Poems of Gwen Harwood through the themes of motherhood and domestic life which play an integral role in many of her poems. These themes define a stereotypical role for women representing them as subordinate in a patriarchal society through a range of her poems such as In the Park, The Violets and Prize Giving. Harwood portrays women as subservient and inferior, with the main purpose to be household mothers and wives which was based on society’s expectations during Harwood’s time however her later poems such as Father and Child develop to contain hope for societal progression through occasionally defying these stereotypes.
Armstrong, Isobel. 'A Music of Thine Own': Women's Poetry. in: Joseph Bristow, Victorian Women Poets. Emily Bronte, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Christina Rossetti. Basingstoke and London: Macmillan Press Limited, 1995, 32-63.
The poem Sadie and Maud was written by Gwendolyn Brooks and is included in her first volume of poetry known as A Street in Bronzeville. Gwendolyn was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1917, but moved to Chicago at a young age. Her first poem was published when she was thirteen years old, and it was called Eventide. By the time Gwendolyn was seventeen, she was publishing poems for the Chicago Defender, a newspaper for the black population. After attending junior college, Gwendolyn began writing the poems that were included in her first collection, A Street in Bronzeville”, which was published in 1945. These poems focused on portraying the black urban poor. In the 1940s, when these
Throughout a collection of Gwen Harwood’s poems is the exploration of women during the 1950’s-90’s and their roles in society as it evolved in its acceptance of allowing a woman equal say in her identity. (struggling to end this essay)
She questions “why should I be my aunt / or me, or anyone?” (75-76), perhaps highlighting the notion that women were not as likely to be seen as an induvial at this time in history. Additionally, she questions, almost rhetorically so, if “those awful hanging breasts -- / held us all together / or made us all just one?” (81-83). This conveys the questions of what it means to be a woman: are we simply similar because of “awful hanging breasts” as the speaker of the poem questions, or are we held together by something else, and what is society’s perception on this? It is also interesting to note Bishop’s use of parenthesis around the line “I could read” (15). It may function as an aside for the reader to realize that the six year old girl can in fact read, but also might function as a wink to the misconstrued notion throughout history that women were less educated and didn’t
In both of these stories there are certain characteristics of females that are the same, they are inner strength, obedience, honor and respect, the good of the family is better than the good of the individual.
Landry, Donna. “Mary leapor Laughs at the Fathers.” The Muses of Resistance: Laboring Class Women’s Poetry in Britain, 1739-1796. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. 78-119.
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 ...
In the end he gets found out but Milly still wants to marry Tony even
Narratives such as Rowlandson’s gave a voice to women in the realm of written words, but at the cost of the Native voice. According to the website www.maryrowlandson.com,
and get a good laugh at the theater or relax and talk about politics at the baths. In the city the
...sed society with religious overtones throughout the poem, as though religion and God are placing pressure on her. The is a very deep poem that can be taken in may ways depending on the readers stature yet one thing is certain; this poem speaks on Woman’s Identity.
Each one of these writers is a reflection naturally of their times but what causes their work to continue to resonate is the absolutely honest way the hardships of womanhood and colonial life inform our national demeanor. All three in their writing are trying to cope with the conditions in front of them, the perils of being a woman of their times. The heartbreak of watching their children and grandchildren die in front of them, starvation, the loss of livelihood and the ever evolving definition of having a homeland. For all three women death was a constant companion, as was God and a sense of duty to their ventures in their new lands, mostly though I see a deep kind of resilient love in their bodies of work. It is that resilient love and optimism that makes American writing, American writing.
A Patriarchal society is the social construction of male authority over women in an attempt direct their behaviour. In Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy presents a story of suffering and pain caused primarily by the men in the novel. Hardy’s bitter critique, mocks the Christian ideals of Victorian thinking (1) which brings about Tess’ demise, a once “innocent country girl”. Similarly, in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Patrick Süskind portrays Grenouille, a child of the gutter who is brought up and dies in hate through social condemnation.
The influential roles of women in the story also have important effects on the whole poem. It is them that press the senses of love, family care, devotion, and other ethical attitudes on the progression of the story. In this poem the Poet has created a sort of “catalogue of women” in which he accurately creates and disting...