New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008. 303. Updike, John. "A&P." Nash, Quentin Miller and Julie.
How Far She Has Fallen At first glance, Amanda Wingfield from Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie seems like a selfish women stuck in her past. In some ways this observation is correct; however, she is much more than that. Her kind and caring nature, and her insatiable love for her children has been overshadowed by her brash and insensitive dialogue. Her character is extremely complex and each one her actions reveals more of her overwhelming personality. Amanda loves her children and tries her best to make sure they do not follow in her path to downfall.
All she cares about is becoming the Queen. She doesn't even care that to become the Queen, she has to make her husband kill the present King. She does not think about the consequences that can happen to her or to her husband. When Lady Macbeth first receives the letter from Macbeth that states his intentions of killing Duncan to become king, she believes that he is too “good” to do it. She says he is “too full of the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way.” (I.V.16-17) She is saying that Macbeth does not have it in him to go through with what he wants to do.
plain and hard-working governess. She believes that "Women are supposed to be very calm generally; but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties and a field for their efforts as much as their br... ... middle of paper ... ...mediate feelings. Rochester is the first person that has ever truly loved her yet she knows that staying with him would mean compromising herself because she would be Rochester?s mistress rather than his wife. Not only would she lose her self-respect, she would probably lose Rochester?s, too, in the end. Hence, Jane asserts her worth and her ability to love herself regardless of how others treat her.
For Emma, Jane Austen took a heroine whom, she remarked, `no one but myself will much like' `And', as one of her ablest critics has said, `many a rash reader, and some who are not rash, have been shut out on the threshold of Emma's Comedy by a dislike of Emma herself.' Emma is a beautiful, wealthy, well-educated young woman who was born and raised in the upper-class society. But also the negative aspects of her character are exposed, she is spoiled, conceited, domineering, wilful, snobbish, and, at times, unfeeling. She lives with her father at Hartfield, their upper-class home. She is the youngest of two daughters, but her mother died long ago and her sister has already been married.
However, Hope Leslie does not conform to the expected behavior of women during that time, behavior that only further expressed the supposed superiority of males. Hope portrays behaviors and attitudes common in a woman today. Hope is capable of thinking for herself, is courageous, independent, and aggressive. Sir Philip Gardner describes Hope as having “a generous rashness, a thoughtless impetuosity, a fearlessness of the… dictators that surround her, and a noble contempt of fear” (211). In comparison to Esther Downing, Hope is the antithesis of what a young Puritan woman should be, and in turn, Hope gains a great deal of respect from the readers of the novel through her “unacceptable” behavior.
She understands it, although she does not share it. Xuela also possesses a deeply rooted need for control over her personal realm, possibly brought on by her hatred of the control exerted by the British over Dominica, as well as by her unhappy childhood. Above all, Xuela makes it her project in life to love herself, and, as one reviewer remarks, "she does so with a remarkable dedication" (Mead 52). Her own body becomes a temple to her, a place in which to feel safe and loved. Xuela says that she loves herself out of necessity, for the world she lives in is cruel and has little love to give her.
The role of these women in Othello is crucial because they show how women were treated and how unhealthy their relationships between men really were in both Elizabethan and Shakespeare's society. Desdemona is portrayed as the highest class a female could accomplish. She is elegant, honest and loyal to her husband as any other good Elizabethan married woman would be. She is presented as the ideal woman. Desdemona symbolizes innocence and helplessness against men.
Jane Austen is a master of the delicate romance. She writes of the repressed feelings of her heroines, the discomfort and obstacles of their situation, the lack of self-awareness and a slow progression to a romantic and happy ending. The honest and heart strong Marianne Dashwood, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility goes entirely against the mold of more conventional Austen heroines, such as Elinor Dashwood or Anne Elliott. Marianne is scrutinized for her selfishness, lack of propriety, and immaturity, but these accusations glance merely at the surface. Upon deeper analysis of Marianne’s character, she is revealed to be a modern young woman with a strict yet evolving code, which guides her actions through sensibility, intellect and independence of spirit.
Jane Eyre is a very strong character, true feminist whose behaviour and believes are only based on social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. She advocates equal rights for herself, therefore suffered a lot of hardships in her life. She contains a very strong feminist stance; and explores the dept at which she may act in the society to figure out her boundaries in a Victorian society. She embodies passion and does what is right for her. She is a very independent woman who is educated when women are under the authority of men.