Feminism in Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath’s autobiography, The Bell Jar, recalls the events of her own mental breakdown and suicide attempt, as well as her restoration and return into the outside world. In so many ways, Plath’s novel is centered around the struggles of a young woman who cannot reach her goals in a male dominated society. In Sylvia Plath’s novel, The Bell Jar, the author utilizes figurative language and concrete examples to explore the traditional gender roles of being a woman in the 1950s. The people familiar with Esther, do not welcome her capability to write poems and novels, but rather try to push her into more traditional female roles. "When I tried to picture myself in some job, briskly jotting down line after line of shorthand, my mind went blank"

The Yellow Wallpaper is about the external conflict between an unnamed woman, trying to break free of her submissive role and find her voice in life, and her domineering husband who ... ... middle of paper ... ...eference to the characters apparent role in society and at home being beneath her husband. By acknowledging this she is once again voicing her opposition to the oppression of her officious husband. At the end of the story John faints in the path of his wife and she proceeds to “creep” over him (530). Symbolically the repressed wife has finally brought her husband down and has triumphed over him. Charlotte Perkins Gilman writes a haunting tale of lost identity and the struggle to break free of oppression and find a voice to be heard.

The narrator suspects the her husband and sister are aware of her obsession so she starts to destroy the wallpaper and goes into a frenzy trying to free the caged woman in the pattern of the wallpaper. The narrator becomes insane, thinking that she also came out of the wallpaper, and creeps around the room, and when her husband checks on her, he faints because of what she has become, and she continues to creep around the room, stepping over body. In Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, the narrator represents how women were treated in this time period by the theme and symbolism presented in the story. This is shown in three distinct ways: stereotypical social conventions displayed by each major character, dialogue, and the symbolism of the wallpaper. The stereotypical aspect of the characters starts out with their ... ... middle of paper ... ...s of tearing it or escaping from it or herself, bits of it still remain on the wall suggesting to the necessary progression to be made for gendered social equality.

This would be the awakening that opens her eyes, that makes her feel as if she has control over herself. Carley Rees Bogard says that, “Her first effort to assert herself, her first act of rebellion is to refuse to make love to her husband for whom she has never felt a desire”. Although, “too much emphasis has been placed on her sexual experience and not enough attention has been paid to her other efforts to become a person in her own right…” (Bogard). Edna starts to show that she believes t... ... middle of paper ... ...uties. Edna cries nightly because of how depressed she is in her life, “She could not have told why she was crying.

Rebellious women in The Awakening and in Ruth Hall Kate Chopin’s The awakening and Fanny Fern’ Ruth Hall A Domestic Tale of The Present Time are both written about the women’s sufferings in the male dominated society. Both authors engrave women who perform the uncommon role in the society. The protagonist Edna, of The Awakening is a woman who is trying to discover her identity. She shakes the whole system of women’s role inn nineteen century, and distresses those who expects certain roles that women should play. She surprised patriarchal society by ignoring her role to play as a wife and mother.

Emily Dickinson was very suicidal (meaning she tried to kill her many times, but was afraid of what it would be like). I am glad we got this poem because I have some things I would like to say about this weird acting woman. In my town were I come from their was a girl who acted just like this lady. This girl would not talk to anyone, she would run away all the time, she tried to commit suicide a couple of times, but did not succeed. Her parents it seemed they would be always looking for he all the time.

“Sometimes I think my sister is dead.” (pg.5) This similar quote is showing how powerful Jenny feels about the new Alice and her failure to see how Alice is truly seeking self reflection. “Alice stared at her mother, but again her mother avoided her eyes.” (pg.5) This final quote impacts the reader 's empathetically and Alice immeasurably knowing that her own mother doesn’t accept her for who she is now. These quotes show the frustration from Alice and her family, skillfully building apprehensive conflict in the rising

Lola is a typical teenager who just wants to irritate her mother. It was peculiarly interesting to me that the more her mother got sick, the more Lola lashed out. It as if she was no longer feared her mother; she instead wanted to hurt her. Perhaps Lola took this callous approach after all the years of abuse. The author demonstrates through the change of Lola’s appearance; she dyes and shaves her hair, takes on a more “punk rock” look and these changes send her mother into a rage, She tries to force Lola to wear her wig; however, Lola sets it on fire.

This, combined with her newly-found love for her best friend and confidant, Robert Lebrun, gradually drives Edna Pontellier to completely rethink her life and defy her social rules that came along with, not only womanhood, but with the aristocracy as well. For example, one Tuesday, Edna refuses to participate in the social tradition of staying home to “greet” people and accept cards from friends and acquaintanc... ... middle of paper ... ...grets. According to Anne Firor Scott, “many women assumed that if they were unhappy or discontented in the ‘sphere to which God had appointed them’ it must be their own fault and that by renewed effort they could do better” (11-12). Works Cited Chopin, Kate. The Awakening.

In Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison constantly shifts the setting of the novel, tone, style and theme to frame Hagar’s character in the novel as a round character revealing her weaknesses due to a love obsession also foreshadowing her upcoming decay. Hagar being one of the central characters of the story is also a very contradictory character who as a child was an independent, intelligent, realistic and unattached girl with the freedom that her mother and grandmother “passed on” to her. They had no attachments or necessities for support from men as white women and many black women did during and before the Civil Rights movement, yet (she) “loses” power over her will for a “love” that drags her to death. Although, Hagar possessed identity of a black child due to freedom, she was also a spoiled child who lived with nothing, yet desired everything just as a white spoiled child who would ask and be pleased. It is presumed by many characters that this was the cause of her failure and inability to recover.