The roles of women have been dynamic throughout history. Artists during the 19th century frequently noticed the changes in the lives of women during their time. Authors, including Henrik Ibsen, and painters, such as Edgar Degas and Gustave Caillebotte depicted the broad changes in women’s lives due to the beginnings of modernity. In Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, Petra represents the modern woman through being independent and free thinking, and the women in the paintings of Edgar Degas and Gustave Caillebotte tell a different story of being defined by their class and gender despite everyone walking along the same streets. In An Enemy of the People, Thomas Stockmann works to save his town in Norway from water poisoning before it is …show more content…
Hovstad has been one of her father’s largest supporters and is considering posting her father’s findings about the town’s water in the newspaper. Petra refuses, citing the fact that she doesn’t agree with the idea of a ‘higher power’ presented in the article. After explaining this to Hovstad, the two begin talking about her father. Hovstad explains that it is easy to support her father because he’s attracted to her, and when she tries to reject him, threatens that “...[her] father can’t dispense with [his] help” (Enemy, Act 3, 141). Petra is appalled and leaves the office immediately without allowing Hovstad to backpedal and explain himself. There are two reasons presented as to why Petra truly represents the modern woman: her rejection of religion and her rejection of a man who could easily give her and her father power. Petra continues to be a free thinker, refusing to accept the idea of a higher power controlling her life. Lutheranism, specifically Pietism, was the dominant religion in the Norway of Ibsen’s time, and being open about one’s atheism was a bold move. Petra also rejects Hovstad, and in a sense rejects traditional power-based relationships. She is independent and, unwilling to be objectified, makes that very clear. Independence is truly the mark of the modern woman, but perhaps only to well-off women such as …show more content…
In the foreground, a very well-dressed man and woman walk down the sidewalk. The woman doesn’t need to pull her skirt off of the sidewalk because she is wealthy enough not to care about it getting dirty or ragged and can buy a new one if needed. She has a veil draped over her face. Her coat has fur along the trim. Based on her dress, she is a distinguished woman of class who doesn’t need to worry about money. Behind her, two working women walk while holding up their skirts so as not to muddy them. Unlike the woman in the foreground, the two working women have to be careful with their outfits because they cannot afford new ones (Wisotzki, Lecture). Modern women are still divided by class, but they are able to walk the same streets. Previously, classes were divided into separate neighborhoods. In Haussmannized Paris, the classes live among each other in the same buildings. For women, this didn’t have as many changes as it did for
Through the analysis of Thérésia Cabarus’s portrait, Amy Freund attempts to examine Cabarus’s failure to “create a feminine version of political agency through portraiture” in order to provide insight into the unfulfilled promises of female citizenship during the French Revolution. She asserts that, through the use of a combination of imagery associated with revolutionary femininity, including the emphasis on the sitter’s physical passivity and sentimental attachments, and conventions usually associated with male portraiture, Cabarrus and Laneuville, the painter, attempted to present her portrait as an argument for women to be granted an active role in revolutionary politics. Freund suggests that the portrait failed to achieve its goals because it recalled the Terror and the disunity of France in addition to invoking the “anxiety surrounding the increased visibility of women in post-Thermidorean social life and visual representation.” Because of its relative failure, Freund considers Cabarrus’s portrait a symbol of the “possibilities and limitations of female agency in Revolutionary portraiture and politics” as well as a shift in portraiture; as she remarks, “portraiture after 1789 shouldered the burdens formerly borne by history
The painting depicts a mother and her four children, who are all leaning on her as she looks down solemnly, her tired, despondent expression suggests she felt trapped in her roles as being a mother and a wife. The woman and her children are clearly the focal point of the artwork as the bright colours used to paint them stand out impeccably against the dull, lifeless colours of the background. This painting appears to be centred around the ideology that women are home-keepers, whose main role is to satisfy and assist her husband while simultaneously minding the children and keeping the home tidy and ready for his return. The social consequences of this artwork could have been that the woman could have been berated for not taking pleasure out of being a mother and raising her children, as a woman should. She could have been made redundant as her husband may have felt as though she is no longer useful if she couldn’t adequately adhere to her roles as a mother and a
Women had no choice but to follow whatever society told them to because there was no other option for them. Change was very hard for these women due to unexpected demands required from them. They held back every time change came their way, they had to put up with their oppressors because they didn’t have a mind of their own. Both authors described how their society affected them during this historical period.
Historian's could use this work to compare how woman today are treated, and what changes, if there are any have been made to adapt to these modern times. Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq(1522-1590), was a European diplomat who resided in the sixteenth-century Istanbul for six years. He's also known as a patron of history and literature.
“An Enemy of the People”, a play written by Henrik Ibsen, is about a small town on the southern coast of Norway and how it perceives and accepts truth. The town is governed by Peter Stockmann and doctored by his younger brother, Thomas. The main conflict flares up between these two siblings and then spreads throughout the town as they both try to do best by the “community.”
I believe viewers are more likely to communicate upon the works of the Guerrilla Girls with one another in society when they take on a more comedic approach. This investigation has examined the Guerrilla Girls through direct connection to the inequalities of power over women in the art world. Several themes were highlighted within society that reinstated these cultural norms of gender and sex within the institutions of art. With a variety of forms used by the Guerrilla Girls to redefine women's identity in history, they were able to break down such barriers that stood in the way which denied the prosperity of female artists.
The biological differences that set apart the male and female gender throughout any culture remain eminent. Men are perceived as the stronger and dominant gender; women play the role of the weaker. In each culture the expectation of the manner in which men and women behave are influenced by the ideals and customs of that culture. In most predominant cultures, the man undertakes the role as a leader, and the woman devotes her life to the husband. Throughout history, traditions and literature provide a template to the identities of various cultures. Sleeping Beauty’s classic tale of a beautiful princess takes a central precept that previous patriarchal archetypes dominated during the 17th Century. The archetypal perceptions of women resulted from conscious and unconscious literature influenced by male-dominated perspectives and social standards.
Adèle Ratignolle uses art to beautify her home. Madame Ratignolle represents the ideal mother-woman (Bloom 119). Her chief concerns and interests are for her husband and children. She was society’s model of a woman’s role. Madame Ratignolle’s purpose for playing the pia...
The play An Enemy of the People focuses on the truth and how different characters reveal their feelings about it. Each character is motivated by different things so act in a certain way. Therefore they end up in conflicts due to their opposing views about the truth of the Baths. For example, the Mayor acts the way he does because he’s motivated by money. Doctor Stockmann tries to expose the truth because of his concern of the public’s health and because he believes he’s doing the right thing. Katherine supports Doctor Stockmann because she’s motivated by family and loyalty towards her husband. As you can see, everyone’s motivated by different things that are important to them.
Throughout this essay it will be discussed how female representations affects society, what has changed, if has changed during the years. Representations of women were a crucial subject of discussion especially in the concepts of the gaze that often refers to women as objects of the active gaze. The gaze establishes relationships of power, representing different codes such as dominance and subjugation, difference and otherness (Sturken and Cartwright 2009: 111).
Aristotle once claimed that, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Artists, such as Louise-Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun and Mary Cassatt, captured not only the way things physically appeared on the outside, but also the emotions that were transpiring on the inside. A part no always visible to the viewer. While both artists, Le Brun and Cassatt, worked within the perimeters of their artistic cultures --the 18th century in which female artists were excluded and the 19th century, in which women were artistically limited-- they were able to capture the loving relationship between mother and child, but in works such as Marie Antoinette and Her Children and Mother Nursing her Child 1898,
When I first read "Girl" I was amazed at how much work young women had to do in early 1900's. We can definitely say that the role of women has changed over the years in the United States. We do not have to do so many grueling tasks to get through our everyday life. Today, mothers teach their daughters to be more independent. Women in third world countries do not have the luxuries we do. They still have many rules that hold them back from being their own person.
..." A Doll's House," by Henrik Ibsen portrays the genders role of nineteenth century women and men in society. Torvald's perception of his wife of how she is a helpless creature shows the overall role which women fill. Women are responsible for the purity of the world through their influence in the home and through the upbringing of their children. They had to beg and ask for permission to do certain activities and essential things.
The play “An Enemy of the People” focuses on the truth and how different characters expose their outlook about it. Each of the characters are enthused by diverse things, so intern, they act in certain ways. Consequently, they end up in battles due to their differing opinions about the truth of the water. For example, Mayor Peter Stockmann acts in more aggressive way, because he’s motivated financially. Doctor Thomas Stockmann attempts to uncover the truth because of his worry of the public’s well-being and because he trusts that he’s doing the correct thing. Katherine supports Doctor Stockmann because she’s inspired by family and faithfulness towards her husband. Hovstad, a political radical, yet very corrupt as he enjoys stirring up drama as long as he isn’t directly involved. Everyone’s motivated by different things that are important to them, whether they are right or wrong they’re persistent in their beliefs.
pollution, tries to tell the townspeople that they need to fix the water pipes and