Question 1: In Audre Lorde’s essay she describes the erotic as a resource and a power that lies in all of us (women). She also mentions that the erotic is an “internal sense of satisfaction” and a “measure between the beginnings of our sense of self and the chaos of our strongest feelings” (Lorde 54). For many years, men have used the erotic against women, but Lorde mentions that once we experience it, we recognize its power and can use that feeling in various endeavors, which brings us “closest to that fullness” (Lorde 55). In this way, the erotic, used correctly, acts as a resource because women no longer fall into the trap formed by men and can feel the true strength of the erotic rather than being used against it. The social conditions and misunderstandings that block the erotic are torn down and women finally recognize its full …show more content…
Although she describes such a relationship as being unequal and wrong, she does make points on how a man and woman come to fall in love. Simone mentions that “Through love, woman’s face, the curves of her body, her childhood memories, her former tears, her gowns, her accustomed ways, her universe, everything she is, all that belongs to her, escape contingency and become essential” (de Beauvoir 647). She then continues speaking about men stating, “This transforming power of love explains why it is that men of prestige who know how to flatter feminine vanity will arouse passionate attachments even if they are quite lacking in physical charm” (de Beauvoir 647). In both cases, the qualities- physical and nonphysical- of the man and woman are expressed in a loving relationship. The man uses his charm to impress the woman and the woman gives her all in order to catch the man’s attention. Although they are completely different, qualities of man and woman must be displayed for one to decide whether they love the person or
While Anna Williams views escaping the confines of marriage as a desirable thing, Charlotte Lennox’s greatest lament, as expressed by her poem “A Song,” is merely to have the freedom to love who she pleases. Although Charlotte Lennox has a more romantic view of men and love than Anna Williams, neither woman denies the need for companionship. Charlotte Lennox’s opinion towards love is expressed clearly in her piece “A Song.” The poem’s female speaker is experiencing unrequited love.
Thus the illusion of beauty is still possible and even Gorgeous displays emotion despite knowing this “she adores her work from a distance for such a long time and it makes her cry”. Therefore, the irony in this story still exists for Gorgeous to end up being in a relationship with an artist. The personification of beauty continues as Wels’ remarks “Their relationship is the usual kind in which beauty and appreciation are dancing partners”. As she becomes a ‘model’, again ‘stillness’ is idealised as the trademark of beauty. As a result, the humour in Wels’ story also becomes tragic with Gorgeous’ realisation that beauty is fabricated and that the most beautiful are those that are
Janet M. Ellerby analyzes “Lust” in her essay titled, “Lust”. In this essay, Ellerby goes through and gives a brief but accurate summary of the short story. Then she gives her interpretations of what this story was supposed to mean. She finally talks about the techniques Susan Minot used in order to get the atmosphere and emotions she wanted the reader to experience. I agree with how Ellerby interprets this story and it will be evident throughout this paper. Because I agree with what this essay had to say, I will be able to use it as evidence to support my ideas.
The speaker never had the chance to experience her as a human and therefore, she’ll always be the perfect love that is unmarred by human flaw.
Twilight of a Woman’s Soul is a film directed by Evgini Bauer in 1913 and is about a rich young and beautiful woman named Vera and her dark secret. In the scene that this paper analyzes the main character Vera is explaining to her husband-to-be, Prince Sergei, how she killed a man that raped her a few years in the past. In the middle of the scene, there is a flashback to when Vera is raped by Maximus, a poor person someone she is trying to help. Both the argument and the flashback are shot with one camera angle in one room but they remain some of the most powerful parts in the entire movie. The director uses of various forms of montage, camera angles, and mise-en-scène to add to the level of of complexity of this seemingly basic scene. The overall message of this scene is no matter how much you think
Rubin, Gayle. “Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality.” in Pleasure and Danger: Exploring Female Sexuality. ed. Vance, Carole. Pandora: London, 1992.
The story “The Fourth of July” by Audre Lorde demonstrates that she comes across a realization that she had to speak up for her rights and independence when she visited the capital city of the United States, Washington, D.C. Lorde explains how she was frustrated with the situation that occurred in Washington, D.C., which shows that she had learned the reality of the society. She writes about many things that she came across during the trip to Washington D.C. in the summer vacation. In the essay, the meanings of independence for Lorde are to fight for it and to speak up for the rights that they deserve. Lorde and her family visit many places in the capital city where they were told to leave the place because black people were not allowed there.
As the last speaker, and the most important one, Socrates connects his ideas with Diotima of Mantinea’s story of Love’s origin, nature and purpose. Different from the earlier five speakers who regard Love as an object and praise different sides of it, Socrates, referring to Diotima’s idea, considers Love as a pursuit of beauty gradually ranging from “physical beauty of people in general” (Symposium, Plato, 55) to the “true beauty” (55). The first five speeches bond with each other. Each of them mentions the opinions of the former in order to either support or against them. However, just like the elements of a beautiful picture, they fail to show us the integration of love.
“Women are not only associated with and defined by the ‘inferior’ realm of flesh (while men represent ‘mind’ and ‘spirit’) but they also are told they must rise above their carnal appetites,” ...
To support her first premise Anderson argues that the good which is sex in this case, is realized only when each partner mutually returns the other's gift in the spirit with which it was received by giving one’s own sexuality to the gift giver, so as to acknowledge that the good is serving a higher purpose than just sexual gratification. The commoditization of sex hence seems to address the lower value of sex and not the higher and more lasting value of sex. Anderson invokes the idea of the value of sex being personal and shared to those involved. The value of sex is at two levels and are both personal as is involves the fact that those entering the act of sex recognize that they are sexually attracted to each other and establishing an intimate relationship in their mutual offering of themselves to each other. This establishment of an intimate relationship implies a connection between the two as unique to them. The value is also shared as the same “good” is being realized for both involved in the act of sex, it is also in the virtue of the act being shared, that there is goodness of the value. Therefore the aspects of the higher value of sex can’t be realized in commercial terms as the norms that govern the goods as impersonal and individually enjoyable, but does indeed satisfy...
There has been a long and on going discourse on the battle of the sexes, and Simone De Beauvoir’s The Second Sex reconfigures the social relation that defines man and women, and how far women has evolved from the second position given to them. In order for us to define what a woman is, we first need to clarify what a man is, for this is said to be the point of derivation (De Beauvoir). And this notion presents to us the concept of duality, which states that women will always be treated as the second sex, the dominated and lacking one. Woman as the sexed being that differs from men, in which they are simply placed in the others category. As men treat their bodies as a concrete connection to the world that they inhabit; women are simply treated as bodies to be objectified and used for pleasure, pleasure that arise from the beauty that the bodies behold. This draws us to form the statement that beauty is a powerful means of objectification that every woman aims to attain in order to consequently attain acceptance and approval from the patriarchal society. The society that set up the vague standard of beauty based on satisfaction of sexual drives. Here, women constantly seek to be the center of attention and inevitably the medium of erection.
to works which, taken as a whole, appeal to the prurient interest in sex; which
Mersault believes that life has no meaning other than existence itself; so what is the purpose of love? He does nothing more than think of Marie’s physical features, like her hair, smile, skin, and laughter. Mersault runs into Marie on his way to the beach for a swim and soon after he already describes her physical attributes, “I helped her onto a float as I did, I brushed against her breasts”(Camus 19).
The Woman in Love, a section taken from Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, describes her theories on men and women in love and the vast differences and purposes they think love is for. This book was published in 1949, and with this in mind we can understand the way she describes women as the weaker sex and how dependent women are on men. In the beginning of the text she states that “The word ‘love’ has not all the same meaning for both sexes, and this is a source of the grave misunderstandings that separate them...love is merely an occupation in the life of the man, while it is life itself for the woman(683).” This first quote from this chapter is important because it really outlines what she is about to get at throughout the entire...
This description is not of lustrous beauty, but of the true love he felt for her. This statement and