Breaking Gender Stereotypes in A Tale of Two Cities
The men and the women of A Tale of Two Cites are violent, loving, cowardly, brave, and ruthless. Some people are weak and spoiled, while others are badly treated and vindictive. Many contrasts between men and women can be found within this story.
A Tale of Two Cities clearly portrays very distinct divisions in the behavior of men. The aristocrats, or upperclassmen, rule and control all of France. The members of the aristocracy never have to undergo hardships; they always have everything presented to them on a silver platter. They do whatever they want with total disregard for the peasants. On the other hand, the peasants always have to work hard for everything in life. Due to the aristocracy, the peasants are constantly starving, enough as to drink spilt wine from a filthy street (24-26). They loathe the wealthy people who have created these horrible living conditions. This drives the peasants to revolution, and the decapitation of the aristocrats via the guillotine. They have a mob mentality and kill everyone who they believe is the enemy. Neither the aristocrats nor the peasants show any compassion toward the other social class.
Some men in A Tale of Two Cities contrast greatly. Sydney Carton is a drunk who works for an unappreciative lawyer. He has no family; he is "a disappointed drudge who cares for no man on earth, and no man cares for him" (75). He is referred to as "the Jackal" who is necessary in society, but not welcomed or wanted (77). Sydney loves Lucie Manette, but he is not ...
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...l of men. The oppressed male peasants join together to form a group of Jacques, or soldiers, to overthrow the aristocracy. The Jacques use The Defarge's wine-shop as a meeting place. Throughout the story, Madame Defarge is either murdering someone or knitting. She is always "sitting in her usual place in the wine-shop, knitting away assiduously" (162). Her friends are a twisted as she. Her closest confidant is known as The Vengeance. Both Madame Defarge and the Jacques fight until the end.
In A Tale of Two Cities, all gender stereotypes are broken. Women can be ruthless murderers and men can be passive cowards. La Guillotine is the sole authority in Paris, it is fueled by a mob mentality that recognizes class distinctions, not gender.
For this literary analysis I am working with Edith Wharton’s short story “Roman Fever”. From the beginning of the story it is easy to see that Wharton uses gender stereotypes, from the time that the story is set in, to expose perennial antagonism of true human nature. The story’s two main charters, Grace Ansley and Alida Slide, early on in the story already have some past tension that continues to develop into a heated exchange until the shocking twist towards the end of the story. Gender stereotypes in Roman fever play an important role in creating tension between Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley that ultimately leads to reason of why there is an underlying conflict between the two.
“The fingers of the knitting women were vicious, with the experience that they could tear” (Dickens 391). Considering she keeps to herself and plots against many people, she has few friends, and customers are conflicted towards her. Although she has few people in favor of her actions, Defarge still has alliances. Madame Defarge is in alliance with a character named “The Vengeance” and they both kill for their own sake. They both tie together in the way of their actions. Although Madame Defarge and The Vengeance kill for themselves, Defarge’s killings are justified by the way her family was
The Attitudes Toward Marriage in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Jane Austin wrote the novel Pride and Prejudice in 1813. The novel provides a great deal of information and gives us a detailed insight to the different attitudes towards marriages at the time. Pride and Prejudice is focused and written about the lifestyles among "gentry". The "gentry" was the middle to upper class citizens in England. In the novel Jane Austin shows us that social status is a very important factor and that is was essential to have connections with people higher up in the gentry.
“A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of” (Austen). The bluntness of this quote fully encompasses the main theme of an advantageous marriage for the English novelist, Jane Austen. Her realism, biting irony and social commentary have gained her historical importance among scholars and critics (Southam). Austen’s major novels, including Pride and Prejudice, were composed between the years 1795-1815. During those twenty years England was at the height of its power facing many historical landmarks (Thomson). It is no coincidence that Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, coincides directly with the historical events of this time period.
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice In 1796 Jane Austin wrote a classic novel named Pride and Prejudice. She wrote many novels but they were not published. In 1813 the novel was published.
little, if nothing at all based on a good love match. This can be seen
Like the Good Other Woman, the Evil Other Woman often spends much of her life hidden away in the castle, secret room, or whatever, a fact suggesting that even a virtuous woman’s lot is the same she would have merited had she been the worst of criminals. The heroine’s discovery of such Other Women is in the one case an encounter with women’s oppression-their confinement as wives, mothers, and daughters-and in the other with a related repression: the confinement of a Hidden Woman inside those genteel writers and readers who, in the idealization of the heroine’s virtues, displace their own rebellious
single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife'.
The protagonists, The Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, consider it their life’s ambition to sadistically control and dominate those around them through sexual intrigue. These two villains are indeed locked in psychological combat to see who can actually ‘out-do’ the other in stalking, capturing and destroying the souls of others. Taking absolute pleasure in ripping any virtue from the hearts of their prey, Merteuil and Valmont wave their accomplishments in front of each other like spoils of war. The less the chance of surrender, the more relentless is the pursuit.
seen this type of marriage before in her time so she would have a good
Now this story probably stirred up many people because it is reasonably sound and shocking. However looking beyond the surface, one notices subtle innuendoes about females, males, and violence. In this urban legend, females are portrayed as weak, frightful, and naïve. Jane in seeking help from a male, suggest that she is weak and needed a man to protect her. This deceptive portrayal of females is typic...
Gender stereotyping has been ongoing throughout history. The media has been distorting views by representing gender unrealistically and inaccurately. It created an image of what "masculinity" or "femininity" should be like and this leads to the image being "naturalized" in a way (Gail and Humez 2014). The media also attempts to shape their viewers into something ‘desirable’ to the norm. This essay will focus on the negative impacts of gender-related media stereotypes by looking at the pressures the media sets on both women and men, and also considering the impacts on children.
...rcy have negative first impressions of each other, but they each learn from the other and humble themselves. Elizabeth bases all of her judgments against Mr. Darcy on what other people have let her know of his character. He also lets his sheltered upbringing obscure his idea of what really matters and it creates a certain difficulty with his emotions for Elizabeth. Together, they help each other to realize their faults and the book ends in the expectation of their marriage. The two main characters are both able to connect with the modern generation of today. Their romance paves the way to young women today. They look up to Elizabeth because of her ability to speak her mind. Darcy also portrays an image of what adolescents girls believe their husband should be like. Both Darcy and Elizabeth showcase many traits that allow them to have a successful and happy marriage.
Relationships and marriages play a crucial role in the novel, Pride and Prejudice. Some of the important relationships shown in the novel are out of pure love while, most are together for the sense of security, money, and convenience for the both of the partners. Each character holds a different perspective on love and marriage. A handful of characters even become involved in each others’ “love life.” In this particular time period, the parents of the daughters purposefully try to marry them off based on money and looks. In this case, we see Mrs. Bennet play the role of the crazy mother who wants her daughter to be married off to any man with money. Mrs. Bennet does not care one bit if they do not love each other, her one care is money money money. Mr. Bennet doesn’t push the marrying off of his daughters because of the fact, that he feels indifferent about his marriage with Mrs. Bennet. The marriages in the book are either hits or misses.
Since Mr. Bennett has no sons, his heir is to be the closest male to the family. This turns out to be a man named Mr. Collins. Collins is a priest who is very arrogant. He marries Elizabeth's friend, Charlotte Lucas. Charlotte marries Collins to get away from he life, not for love.