A shuffle of vibrant skirts diverted the attention of the plainly-dressed Quakers and stirred a whispered sensation amongst the crowd gathered in the Friends Meeting Hall. They clucked and bristled, crinkling their somber faces into stiff cardboard at the sight of this flashy intruder. “That’s one of the Gurney girls,” the older ladies tut-tutted to each other.
Eighteen-year-old Elizabeth Gurney hunkered under the critical gazes around her and with eyes cast downward, slipped into a pew at the back of the hall. She had never enjoyed the attention of others, and she especially didn’t enjoy it when the attention was in the negative. Having been raised in a wealthy, non-plainclothed Quaker home, she had always enjoyed the frivolties of flashy
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His name was Joseph Fry. He too was a “Plain” Quaker and had decided to call upon the Gurneys after hearing that Elizabeth had become a“Plain”. He was taken aback to find the timid, sickly young girl he had observed on previous visits alight with joy and bustling about with her work for her “Imps”. He was determined that this quiet, pretty, Christ-filled young woman would be his wife. But Elizabeth had no such notion. She squashed all of his eager efforts, as she had no interest in marriage. She knew that if she was married, she would not be able to fulfill her lifelong vow to herself of serving others. But Joseph fervently persisted and after three proposals, the constant badgering of her family, who by this time had learned to cope with her “Plain” ways, and also the pity she felt for him, she finally agreed to marriage. They were married on August 19, 1800. After a grievous goodbye to each of her many “Imps”, she moved to the Fry estate in …show more content…
A good friend and ministry partner, Stephen Grellet, came to her one day with a growing concern of his. He had just visited the inmates at Newgate Prison, the official prison of London, and was appalled at the grotesque conditions the prisoners were kept in. Knowing of Elizabeth’s tender heart, he presented the matter before her, asking if there was anything she could do for the women of Newgate. Elizabeth went immediately.
The sharp December day gnawed savagely at Elizabeth as she wound her way down the cobblestone passageway leading to the Newgate women's ward. With each step she took the putrid scent in the musty air grew stronger and barbarous howls like lions fighting resounded louder.The guard who was leading her paused before opening the door to the ruckus, “You sure you want to go in there ma’am? These animals aren’t even women like yourself.”
Elizabeth gave the man a quiet look, “Each one of these dear souls hast been created in the image of thy Lord.”
With a shrug of his shoulders, the man unlatched the thick wooden door and Elizabeth stepped in. Silence sliced through the pungent air. The sight before her made her heart bleed. In the depths of the darkness, 300 vacant faces stared at her. Children hung in filth to the ragged skirts of their mother’s shapeless
The points of view in “A&P” and “A Rose for Emily” show the fascination that people have with those in the upper class. Updike writes in the first person point of view. The narrator is Sammy, a cashier at the grocery store. Queenie, who walks around the A&P in only a bathing suit, fascinates him. Updike writes, “She had on a kind of dirty-pink… bathing suit with a little nubble all over it and, what got me, the straps were down.” (Updike, 2). He describes the girls in great detail throughout the story, obviously studying them. This first-person point of view shows the thoughts of Sammy, who is a member of the middle class. His fascination with Queenie is exemplary of the average person’s fascination with the rich. Sammy analyzes Queenie so much that he feels a particular connection to her, thinki...
Under the orders of her husband, the narrator is moved to a house far from society in the country, where she is locked into an upstairs room. This environment serves not as an inspiration for mental health, but as an element of repression. The locked door and barred windows serve to physically restrain her: “the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls.” The narrator is affected not only by the physical restraints but also by being exposed to the room’s yellow wallpaper which is dreadful and fosters only negative creativity. “It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide – plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions.”
Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female physician in America, struggled with sexual prejudice to earn her place in history. She was born in Bristol, England on February 3, 1821 to a liberal and wealthy family. She was the third daughter in a family of nine children. Her father, Samuel Blackwell, believed in the value of education and knowledge and hired a governess for the girls, even though many girls were not educated in those days. In 1832, the family sugar cane plantation went bankrupt, forcing the family to move to America.
Even with the pain of bearing children, raising them, doing household and even farm chores, their efforts have never been truly appreciated. Mrs. Wright was “…real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid—and fluttery…” as Mrs. Hale, her neighbor, describes her (22). This would all soon change after her wedding day. With Mr. Wright’s insipid character and lack of patience of any joyous sound, Mrs. Wright’s spirit dwindled to nothing. It seems she spent hours at a time focusing on her quilts, preserves, and caring for the only life there was in the house, her canary. Even when Mr. Hale offered to get a party telephone, Mr. Wright responded, “…folks talk too much anyway…”(5). This silence he preferred also applied to his spouse. There were no hugs given out much less a smile. He failed to give her even the most minimal sing of appreciation much less the emotional warmth she hungered for.
Throughout the book the strongest scream of the women is their protest against their incarceration. Their despair is thei...
Ms. George states that her love of things British dates from a 1966 Shakespeare study trip to England
The 1998 movie “Elizabeth,” directed by Shekhar Kapur, from a script by Michael Hirst, is a historical epic that takes place during and after the mid-16th-century period when England’s Princess Elizabeth was nearly eliminated by her half-sister, Queen Mary. It portrays the events of Mary’s death, Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne, and the struggles and events that she must overcome in order to preserve the strength of the English Monarchy, and establish Protestantism as the chief English religion. She must also maintain her stability and safety as a female ruler in a male-dominated society.
His annotation of the “women with six children and varicose veins mapping their legs and nobody, including them, could care less” (Updike 159) and “the sheep” (Updike 162) in the checkout lines are an illustration of his everyday repetitious life working at the A&P. He compares these women to animals showing his undeniable sophomoric juvenile behavior.
	Elizabeth Blackwell was a great woman. She was the first woman to receive a Medical degree in America. She opened an Infirmary for women and children in New York.Elizabeth Blackwell was born on February 3 1821 in Bristol, England. But was raised differently then most children at this time. See women were treated differently than men. Women were given little education and were not allowed to hold important positions. They were not allowed to be doctors, bankers, or lawyers, and all the money they made had to go to the men in the family. Since women couldn't become Doctors their were few around. Many women would lose their babies because there was no medicine around. This happened to Elizabeth's mom. Her parents wanted a big family but almost every time her mom gave birth she would lose the baby. This made made Elizabeth sad. Elizabeth was determined that when she grew up she would become a doctor, so that she could help babies and children to stay healthy. She was going to study and work hard to reach her goal.
Coming for a middle class family, Sammy knew that he had to follow the rules if he ever wanted to get something better in his life; it didn’t matter how “better than the others” he was, he lived under the same economic roof. The supermarket policy required everyone to be dressed properly when going in, but these girls didn’t care, they were more valuable than a policy; and Sammy didn’t mind it. “Sammy rejects the standards of the “A & P” and in so doing commits himself to individual freedom” (M. Gilbert Porter 1155). He finds it rather an honor that someone of the girls’ class would even come inside A & P, “Queenie remembers her place, a place from which the crowd that runs A & P must look pretty crummy”(Updike 161). The A & P people, they are all valueless, they don’t even care to notice each other, not even to notice Sammy; but these girls are different, and everybody notices them. “I bet you could set off dynamite in an A & P and the people would by and large keep reaching and checking oatmeal off their list, but there was no doubt, this jiggled them”(Updike 159). Sammy’s artificial mentality is shown as he, judging by the girls’ image, starts to imagine the parents of the girls socializing with their friends, “the men in “ice-cream coats” and the women “in sandals picking up herring snacks on toothpicks”(Updike 160). Also comparing his parents’ parties, “ at which Schlitz is served in “tall” glasses with ‘They’ll Do It Every Time’ cartoons stenciled on” (Updike
In our departure and adieu, both Mrs. Whipple and Elisa cared about how the world perceived them. They were afraid if either of them peered into a crystal creek then they might see an unholy beast abhorred by man. While Elisa’s sympathy and compassion was pure, Mrs. Whipple only cared about her own ego. Mrs. Whipple even smoke ill of the doctor when it meant her ego was threatened. She didn’t want people to think her family was poor or suffering. Her desire was personal concern, while Elisa cared about the emotions of others.
The memoir of Old Elizabeth is an important historical document as it presents both the story of slave women as well as giving large amounts of insight into the way that religion influenced the lives of slaves and how it played a part of their daily lives. This intersection of religion and gender shows the added hardships that women had to face in comparison to their male counterparts. Elizabeth’s narrative is A typical as it put’s most of the focus on her gender rather than her race, which directly conflicts with the typical slave narrative which focuses mainly on the ways that race influences the life of the author or subject of the narrative.
From the beginning of this work, the woman is shown to have gone mad. We are given no insight into the past, and we do not know why she has been driven to the brink of insanity. The “beautiful…English place” that the woman sees in her minds eye is the way men have traditionally wanted women to see their role in society. As the woman says, “It is quite alone standing well back from the road…It makes me think of English places…for there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people. There is a delicious garden! I never saw such a garden—large and shady, full of box-bordered paths, and lined with long grape-covered arbors with seats under them.” This lovely English countryside picture that this woman paints to the reader is a shallow view at the real likeness of her prison. The reality of things is that this lovely place is her small living space, and in it she is to function as every other good housewife should. The description of her cell, versus the reality of it, is a very good example of the restriction women had in those days. They were free to see things as they wanted, but there was no real chance at a woman changing her roles and place in society. This is mostly attributed to the small amount of freedom women had, and therefore they could not bring about a drastic change, because men were happy with the position women filled.
It was quarter till ten and the house was completely dark. Tory’s mind swam with the infinite possibilities of what terrors lay waiting in the bottom part of the house. She cried all the more and her brother and sisters watched from their doorways as she and Dad had their standoff in the hall.
Harvard University is usually a town associated with prestige and scholarship. In spite of this reputation, E.E. Cummings believes the upper-class of Cambridge, Massachusetts are not what they seem. Cummings was raised in a town with an important reputation to uphold, yet he grew tired of the bureaucratic ladies he saw neglecting their privilege by only seeking gains for themselves. E. E. Cummings manipulates the diction in “The Cambridge Ladies Who Live in Furnished Souls” through exaggerations, syntax, and various comparisons in order to portray the wealthy women of Cambridge, Massachusetts as more morally corrupt and snobbish than they appear.