The 2014 film suffragette (Source A) has been touted as an engaging and thoroughly relatable representation of the women’s suffrage movement in the early 1900s in Britain. However, though it has been commended as a film by both critics and audiences alike, historians tend to disagree as it whether it remains true to the historical events of the time. Through this investigative research project, I aim to examine various aspects and extracts from the film and compare them to the historically accurate versions of events in order to judge as to whether the film accurately portrays the events of the time. Firstly, let us examine the methods of protest used by the suffragettes of the Edwardian era, and how the film highlights and portrays these …show more content…
In a later scene, Watts, now aligned with the cause because of being legally refused to see her child, joins Helena Bonham Carter’s character Edith Ellyn, Anne-Marie Duff’s Character Violet Miller, Romola Garai as Alice Haughton, and Natalie Press’s real-life character Emily Davison in their, albeit fringe movement, militant attacks throughout the city of London. In a montage of scenes, the ladies are shown planting bombs in letterboxes and cutting telegraph wires to try and get their message across. In one scene, this group even went so far as to bomb the empty residence of future Prime Minister, David Lloyd George. (source A) These actions have all been confirmed as tactics of the suffragettes of the time, targeting forms of communication to cut people off from each other and to force them to confront the movement. “Set in 1912, Suffragette depicts how WSPU suffragettes planted bombs in mailboxes, wielded knives and acid in crowded museums, and set buildings on fire. Pipe bombs, chemicals, explosions, stones, axes were all tools of the WSPU and the outside contractors they paid to carry out their plans. These attacks did occur, as a response to Pankhurst’s calls for more audacious campaigns of violence.” (Source E) “in September [1912], 23 trunk telegraph wires were cut on the London Road at Potters Bar and on November 28th simultaneous attacks on post boxes occurred across …show more content…
Her first experience of prison is early in the film, where she is arrested amongst the crowd outside the Houses of Parliament who were waiting to find out if women had indeed received the vote. For mere association, she is jailed for a week. The protesters had, however, been refused the title of political prisoners and had rather been charged as ordinary criminals. These details all line up with historical records and testimonies of the time, where women claim to have been refused the title of political prisoners and therefore also denied the benefits of such a title, for example the ability to wear their own
Martin Pugh, in his evaluation of women’s suffrage, focuses his narrative on the Victorian Suffragists, especially from the 1870s to 1890s, arguing- unlike many other historians- that their contribution to the securing of votes for women was instrumental. Presented through 10 essays, focusing on specific topics related to the Suffragist movement, Pugh provides an in depth analysis of both the tactics and political climate the Victorian Women’s Suffrage movement faced. Organised in roughly chronological order, the prose is fluent with constant reference to central ideas featuring in each text, consolidating Pugh’s point.
The women’s job in that era are meant keep her house clean and feed her children (Doc C). They are also dependent on the city administration to make their lives decent (Doc C). The women’s suffrage movement fought because woman needed to fulfil her traditional responsibilities in the house and to her children, which makes it a must to use the ballot and have the home safe (Doc C). All women needs to have a chance to voice their opinion to help the community strive, and one way to do that is making them able to vote.
[1] Within the last few decades, we have generated a great number of “historical” films reaching the American public. With these “historical” films come the question of whether or not the film portrayed history in an accurate manner; if not, why were the facts manipulated the way that they were. Unfortunately, this question is usually answered in the negative, and the audience is left with a fictional account of a factual happening, thereby giving the viewing public mixed messages concerning the issues raised within the film. Film used in this manner can be a dangerous tool in the hands of powerful people with agendas and ulterior motives.
While the issue of women’s suffrage has roots based in every country in the world, most think that the initial inroads were painfully carved through the efforts of early women pioneers in America. This perception is easily formed due to the early publication of Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Right’s of Women in 1792. However, the movement gained national attention in New Zealand in 1893 and in Australia in 1902, eclipsing the suffrage movement in Britain, Canada and America by at least 25 years. The struggle for women’s rights has been ponderous and slow moving throughout the years and not without internal divisions.
Susan B. Anthony was an equal rights activist and one of the founders of feminism. She was fined $100 for voting illegally in the 1872 election. She was outraged by this, and traveled the country speaking on women’s suffrage and equal rights. Though women weren’t given the right to vote until 14 years following her death, she delivered a powerful speech, now known as “Women’s Right to Suffrage” to express her anger with the lack of rights in this country. She argues that “we that people” isn’t just inclusive to white men, and that both men and women should be given equal opportunity. Today, Ms. Anthony’s words still echo into the hearts and minds of fourth wave feminists, like myself, and inspire them to continue fighting against inequality
The Suffragette Defaced Penny was a very clever idea. It was a coin that had the face of king Edward's face on it.Sufferages used this small penny because defacing the coin was a subtle crime which had no evident victims. The coin, “carried the image of a king but appropriated by women” They did this by stamping letters all over the kings head in crude capital letters. The 3 words said, “VOTES FOR WOMEN.” It was a criminal act to vandalize the king's face, but the sufferages could not be tracked. “It was an act of civil disobedience.” The overstamped coins with a slogan were a form of female protest against the laws of the state. This was a very popular, low budget, piece of propaganda. The suffragettes defacing the face of King Edward caused
By 1913, the suffragette movement had exceeded a decade. The growing desperation of the suffragettes is clear in their calls for the aid of working men, echoing Emmeline Pankhurst’s “Freedom or Death” speech in November 1913. This appears as a change of heart in the operation of the WSPU, which had decreed to exclude men from their organisation and broken with the Labour Party in the previous year.
The film focused on young women who were fighting for the right of future generations of womens to vote and run for political office. Alice Paul and Lucy Burns were the two main women who started the Congressional Union; they put their lives in danger, sacrificing their health to help American women have the right to vote and take office. These two women held peaceful, nonviolent protests in order to revolutionize the women’s suffrage movement. Some of the women involved in the non-violent protests against Woodrow Wilson ended up being imprisoned. They were force-fed and treated poorly. In the end, most of the women were able to see the results of the hard work that they put into the women’s suffrage
What does “movement” mean? There are many definitions for the word. In this case, I am referring to a political meaning. Movement is a series of organized activities working toward an objective. There have been many groups in history to start up movements throughout the decades. One that stands out to me the most is the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Women’s movements are led by powerful, courageous women who push to better the lives’ of women or lives’ of others. Most familiar movements are those involved in politics, in efforts to change the roles and status of womanhood in society. Groups of women also attempt to improve lives of others with the help of religious and charitable activities. Either it was a political, religious, or charitable women’s movement, each woman of each group have made an impact on today’s view of women and achieved greater political involvement.
Sometimes, in order to have justice in this world, violent actions need to be taken to be able to get a point across and fight for what is fundamentally right. In today’s society, feminism is viewed as a non-violent way of having the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. However, it was not always like that. In order to have the level of equality modern societies have today, daring and sometimes violent things took place. A case in point being the Suffragette movement in the early 20th century. Over the years, the Suffragettes faced many challenges and winning feats such as being granted their right to vote federally, but their actions and the actions taken by one of their most successful groundbreakers, Thérèse Casgrain, are the reason why women can now be treated equally in Canadian society.
“Compare and contrast women’s suffrage movements of the late nineteenth and early centuries with the European feminist movements of the 1960’s and 1970’s.” Whereas the women’s suffrage movements focused mainly on overturning legal obstacles to equality, the feminist movements successfully addressed a broad range of other feminist issues. The first dealt primarily with voting rights and the latter dealt with inequalities such as equal pay and reproductive rights. Both movements made vast gains to the social and legal status of women.
The suffrage movement first emerged at the turn of the century and Civil War when African American slaves were denied the right to vote, a benefit that a majority agreed was associated with citizenship, and therefore should be applicable to all freed slaves. This set the grounds for a suffrage movement that later evolved into a larger issue centered on antislavery reform. Joining together to fight for benefits that were being withheld from American citizens, the role of women came into play during this time as the most active abolitionists who came together to organize petitions, conventions, and raise funds to help further the movement. Women played a vital role in being heard through protests and local publications of their thoughts. Novels such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Clotel, along with articles in popular news publications, shed much light and attention on anti-slavery reform, while also sparking the inspiration for women’s rights (Britton, 2006).
Although they were fighting for a worthy cause, many did not agree with these women’s radical views. These conservative thinkers caused a great road-block on the way to enfranchisement. Most of them were men, who were set in their thoughts about women’s roles, who couldn’t understand why a woman would deserve to vote, let alone want to vote. But there were also many women who were not concerned with their fundamental right to vote. Because some women were indifferent in regards to suffrage, they set back those who were working towards the greater good of the nation. However, the suffragettes were able to overcome these obstacles by altering their tactics, while still maintaining their objective.
Since the war began women were led to believe that they were the ones who had to be the patriotic sacrifice until the men came home from war. The film reveals how the government used the media to alternately urge women to give up such elements of their feminin...
The movie I watched this week was the Not for Ourselves Alone, produced by Ben Burns, Paul Barnes, and written by Geoffrey C. Ward in 1999. The documentary articulates the suffrage movement in the United States, along with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s biography. In review, the movie dedicates a significant amount of time to the time after their deaths. Thus, the movie provided an overview of strategic moments in the woman’s suffrage history and the insights of two women’s lives.