Kate Chopin 's The And Handmaid 's Tale

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Throughout our Modern Women Writers course, we studied many novels which focus on women and why they play a significant role in each novel. Three novels that represent women in both negative and positive ways are Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant and The Awakening both represent women who do not care for their family, which goes against the “ideal” role of a woman. The Handmaids Tale also goes against the “ideal” role of women as Offred’s mother is a raging feminist.
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant represents what a woman should not do to her family; become abusive to her children. A mother is supposed to care for her family and show love towards them; however, Pearl Tull, the mother in this novel, does not do that. Pearl’s husband, Beck, left her to raise three children by herself. Pearl’s life is affected by Beck’s abandonment and it leads him to become very abusive to her children, both physically and verbally. As her children Ezra, Cody and Jenny grow up, they realize the relationship they had with their mother. Jenny regrets not standing up to Pearl and has grown up with an eating disorder. The eating disorder represents Jenny trying to make her own decisions, that of which she could not do when she was living with Pearl. Cody states, “You think we’re Family?” You think we’re some jolly, situation-comedy family when we’re in particles, torn apart, torn all over the place, and our mother was a witch,” (Tyler, 301). Pearl showed her family that love was not appropriate. This novel should be included in a course on Modern Women Writers because it goes against what a mother should do. It shows the readers...

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...eared that it would distance her from men. However, she now understands that feminism forces women to recognize their natural distance from men. Becoming locked in to the role of an “ideal” women is distancing women from men, rather than feminism distancing themselves from men. In this novel, we see women being victims of an ideal society, like the Handmaids who are child bearers, and we also see those who fight against the ideal society.
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, The Awakening, and The Handmaids Tale all represent novels that should be included in a course on Modern Women Writers. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant and The Awakening show women who go against the ideal society and do not care for their children as they should. The Handmaids Tale also shows women who are locked in to the ideal society of women, but also represents feminists who take action.

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