Similarities Between A Tragic Tale And Florville

1499 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Women in literature

This essay will deal with women's suffering in Sade's Eugénie de Fanvral, A Tragic Tale and Florville and Courval or Fatality. It will argue that both stories consider gender equality as a basic human right and that any constraint on this right through patriarchal or religion systems affects the sensibility of women. Firstly, an analysis of the status of women in patriarchal and public systems will be provided. Then, it will be shown that women are constrained by the idealisation of femininity based on virtue. Finally, it will be demonstrated that virtue reinforces male dominance over women, impeding their empowerment.

Eugénie de Franval and Florville and Courval portray a society characterized by male domination and female subordination. …show more content…

For example, both stories open with a male character who are looking for a woman to marry. Monsieur de Courval needs a wife to bear his children and to pass his inheritance unto a son, 'leave his property to the children he hoped to have by the new wife'. Monsieur de Franval calls his marriage with Mademoiselle de Farneille 'the result of custom and social convention' (Sade, 2005:246), and looses quickly interest to her new wife, 'with greatest indifference' (Sade, 2005:246). Men see women as trophies to be won. For example, when referring to women's bodies, they use possessive terms, 'take', 'having', 'mine' or words such as 'triumph', 'victory' while women 'give', 'sacrifice' and 'beg'. Monsieur de Franval appears as a powerful 'tyrant'. Women are described as emotionally weaker than men. For example, Forville calls men 'cruel', 'ignoble', 'villain', 'indifferent', while Franval abuses his authority and influence being hypocrite, manipulative, he is portrayed as abominable and insensible 'unmoved'. Women as victims or weaker 'plead', 'cry' and 'beg'. They are easily deceived by men, Forville recognises that she was 'naive' and 'duped'. Women are characterized by their unconditional love. All characteristic that is demeaning to man. Madame de Franval's as much as Eugénie's aim is to please Monsieur de Franval. Compared to men, women are delicate, rather than robust, they are sentimental rather than sensible, they are foolish, rather than prudent which men utilized to their advantage. Madame de Verquin is the exceptions, she is wise enough to see the powerless position of women, 'weaker sex' (Sade, 1992:106) , even though she is only looking for love with a man, rather than respect. This affects Florville who calls into question the inequalities between women and men (Sade, 1992:107), like how women should behave to earn respect, while men can dismiss with any punishment or shame. For example, she sees how foolish

Show More
Related

  • Salem Witch Trials: Women’s Rights

    1160 Words  | 3 Pages

    During this time period women were not respected at all and were belittled by all med in their lives. Even though men don’t appreciate what women they still did as they were told. In particular, “Women have an astoundingly long list of responsibilities and duties – th...

    Read More

  • The Divide betwen Truth and Honour or Happiness and Comfort in The Wife of Martin Guerre

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Janet Lewis’ “The Wife of Martin Guerre,” the author illustrates the family dynamics of the sixteenth century. Martin would legally remain a minor for the extent of his father’s lifetime, and women’s identity and importance were only known through their husbands. However, Bertrande de Rols, the wife of Martin Guerre, is known as herself in this novel, which expresses that the novel was written according to her experience as the wife of Martin Guerre. Even though it wasn’t acceptable for women to go forward with such accusations, Bertrande de Rols did the right thing by pursuing Arnaud as an impostor because she knew he was not her husband, despite what everyone else said. In sixteenth century France, women were not independent and treated as equals as they are today.

    Read More

  • Comparison And Contrast The Representation Of Women In Tartuffe

    1967 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Tartuffe and The Country Wife, women are largely portrayed as rational and wise in contrast to the illogical patriarchy that oppress them. Female sexuality was viewed as a tool that could be employed by both men and women for economic, social and personal advantage.

    Read More

  • Sonny's Blues Thesis

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    Thesis Statement: Men and women were in different social classes, women were expected to be in charge of running the household, the hardships of motherhood. The roles that men and women were expected to live up to would be called oppressive and offensive by today’s standards, but it was a very different world than the one we have become accustomed to in our time. Men and women were seen to live in separate social class from the men where women were considered not only physically weaker, but morally superior to men. This meant that women were the best suited for the domestic role of keeping the house. Women were not allowed in the public circle and forbidden to be involved with politics and economic affairs as the men made all the

    Read More

  • Comparing A Raisin In The Sun And Ibsen's A Doll House

    1255 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women and men are not equal. Never have been, and it is hard to believe that they ever will be. Sexism permeates the lives of women from the day they are born. Women are either trying to fit into the “Act Like a Lady” box, they are actively resisting the same box, or sometimes both. The experience of fitting in the box and resisting the box can be observed in two plays: Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” and Henrick Ibsen’s “A Doll House”. In Hansberry’s play, initially, Beneatha seems uncontrolled and independent, but by the end she is controlled and dependent; whereas, in Ibsen’s play Nora seems controlled and dependent at the beginning of the play, but by the end she is independent and free.

    Read More

  • A Doll's House and Trifles

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    The movement for female right is one of the important social issue and it is ongoing reaction against the traditional male definition of woman. In most civilizations there was very unequal treatment between women and men with the expectation being that women should simply stay in the house and let the men support them. A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, and Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, are two well-known plays that give rise to discussions over male-female relationships. In both stories, they illustrate the similar perspectives on how men repress women in their marriages; men consider that women should obey them and their respective on their wives is oppressed showing the problems in two marriages that described in two plays. Therefore, in this essay, I will compare two similar but contrast stories; A Doll's House and Trifles, focusing on how they describe the problems in marriage related to women as victims of suppressed right.

    Read More

  • A Feminist Reading of Their Eyes Were Watching God

    2158 Words  | 5 Pages

    In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the reader is treated to an enthralling story of a woman’s lifelong quest for happiness and love.  Although this novel may be analyzed according to several critical lenses, I believe the perspectives afforded by French feminists Helene Cixous and Luce Irigaray have been most useful in informing my interpretation of Hurston’s book.  In “The Laugh of the Medusa,” Cixous discusses a phenomenon she calls antilove that I have found helpful in defining the social hierarchy of women and relationships between them in the novel.  In addition, Cixous addresses the idea of woman as caregiver, which can be illustrated through the character of Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God.  On the other hand, Luce Irigaray discusses the different modes of sexual desire of men and women in her essay, “The Sex Which is Not One.”  Many examples supporting and refuting her claims can be found in the novel. According to Cixous, the most heinous crime committed by men against women is the promotion of antilove.  “Insidiously, violently, they have led [women] to hate women, to be their own enemies, to mobilize their immense strength against themselves, to be the executants of their virile needs” (1455).  Their Eyes Were Watching God offers many examples of women in vicious contention with one another, usually involving or benefiting a man.  Janie is confronted by the malice of her female neighbors in the very first chapter of the novel, as she arrives back in Eatonville after her adventure with Tea Cake.  “The women took the faded shirt and muddy overalls and laid them away for remembrance.  It was a weapon against her strength and if i...

    Read More

  • Feminism, Anti-feminism and Adultery in the Lais of Marie De France

    1495 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the middle ages knights in every kingdom were expected to follow basic rules set forth by the code of chivalry. According to this code a knight was supposed to show all of the following characteristics; prowess, justice, loyalty, defense, courage, faith, humility, largesse, nobility and franchise. If a man showed these characteristics he was said to be a good "chevalier," a French word for knight (Burgess 1). Marie De France, one of the more well-known female writers of the medieval period, used the term "chevalier" quite often in her Lais when referring to respected male characters. Unfortunately for women, the code of chivalry also meant that women would be held at a lower status than men and traded between the men of the court. In the article "Chivalry and Prowess in the Lais of Marie de France," Glyn Burgess notes that "most of the characters in Marie's Lais belong to the upper classes, and thus issues of loyalty, service and expertise in battle and hunting predominate" (1). These men adhere to the code of chivalry. Sharon Kinoshita, the author of "Cherchez la Femme: Feminist Criticism and Marie de France's `Lai de Lanval'," takes the opposing position and argues that in Lanval, "the title character's ultimate rejection of chivalric society is an expression of Marie de France's feminism" (1). While some male characters in the Lais of Marie De France do indeed show elements of the chivalric code, Lanval goes against the code and is eventually praised for it. In Equitan and Laustic while some male characters adhere to the code of chivalry, in the same Lais, some men defy it. Kinoshita says Marie shows feminism in Lanval by having the male protagonist go against the code of chivalry. Unlike in Lanval, the characters...

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Little House on the Prairie

    2315 Words  | 5 Pages

    During the Victorian Era, society had idealized expectations that all members of their culture were supposedly striving to accomplish. These conditions were partially a result of the development of middle class practices during the “industrial revolution… [which moved] men outside the home… [into] the harsh business and industrial world, [while] women were left in the relatively unvarying and sheltered environments of their homes” (Brannon 161). This division of genders created the ‘Doctrine of Two Spheres’ where men were active in the public Sphere of Influence, and women were limited to the domestic private Sphere of Influence. Both genders endured considerable pressure to conform to the idealized status of becoming either a masculine ‘English Gentleman’ or a feminine ‘True Woman’. The characteristics required women to be “passive, dependent, pure, refined, and delicate; [while] men were active, independent, coarse …strong [and intelligent]” (Brannon 162). Many children's novels utilized these gendere...

    Read More

  • Sleeping Beauty: Feminist Critics

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...present powerful characters, while females represent unimportant characters. Unaware of the influence of society’s perception of the importance of sexes, literature and culture go unchanged. Although fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty produce charming entertainment for children, their remains a didactic message that lays hidden beneath the surface; teaching future generations to be submissive to the inequalities of their gender. Feminist critic the works of former literature, highlighting sexual discriminations, and broadcasting their own versions of former works, that paints a composite image of women’s oppression (Feminist Theory and Criticism). Women of the twenty-first century serge forward investigating, and highlighting the inequalities of their race in effort to organize a better social life for women of the future (Feminist Theory and Criticism).

    Read More

  • Edna Pontellier, Madamoiselle Reisz And Madame Ratignolle

    805 Words  | 2 Pages

    While Madame Ratignolle, Madamoiselle Reisz and Edna are very different characters, all of them are unable to reach their potentials. Madame Ratignolle is too busy being the perfect Louisiana woman that she no identity of her own; her only purpose in life is to care for her husband and children. Madamoiselle Reisz is so defiant and stubborn that she has isolated herself from society and anyone she could share her art with. Edna has the opportunity to rise above society’s expectations of females, but she is too weak to fight this battle and ultimately gives up. While these three characters depict different ideas of what it truly means to be a woman and what women’s role in society should be, none of them can reach their full individual potential.

    Read More

  • Religion And Hypocrisy In Moliere's Play

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    The characters Madame Pernelle, and Mariane, follow the roles as stereotypical women in that time, whereas Dorine and Elmire push the boundaries and start to show an edgier depiction of women. Madame Pernelle is depicted as an obnoxious old woman, she is very stubborn and stuck in her ways. She believes what she says is always right which kind of gives her a hint of ignorance. For example, this stubbornness and ignorance is brought to light when Orgon tells her of what he has learned about Tartuffe and ultimately tries to convince her that he is a fake she replies with “No, no, a man of such surpassing piety could not do such a thing. You cannot shake me. I don’t believe it and you shall not make me.” (5.3.24). Mariane is an overly obedient and hide in the shadows type of girl, she obeys to her father Orgon’s every command. That is until he asks her to end her engagement with her fiancé Valere who she is madly in love with, which even then does not cause her to develop a voice of her own it is Dorine who speaks up for her. Dorine comes off as a very opinionated, sassy, and outspoken woman. Due to her position as a maid, and overall upbringing she has no problem speaking up when she feels something is wrong, no matter whether it is to a man or a woman, which was very rare in the 17th century to hear of a woman speaking out against a man. For example, when Organ is

    Read More

  • The Use Of Irony In The Necklace By Madame Losiel

    1591 Words  | 4 Pages

    The men treated their women as if they were an object. After marriage the husbands had full control over any finances or property that the women had once owned. Women didn’t have to many rights if any and were expected to stay at home and be the stereotypical house wife doing the daily house duties, looking after the children and making the meal. Even if women didn’t like it it was almost as if they were forced to be the stay at home mother. Mathilde Loisel suffering from this middle class life style just wanted to live a glamorous and luxuries life. “She would so much have liked to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be seductive and sought after."(Maupassant 1). Loisel felt trapped in this life of almost poverty and just wants to escape. She wants to live this glamorous life of having things done for her and being able to have the luxuries that the upper class have and is clearly jealous of her wealthy friend Mme. Frostier and would like to be in her shoes. But at the end of the day she is confined in this middle class lifestyle and can only wish for a better

    Read More

  • Moulin Rouge: Gender Inequality

    1214 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today’s world, men and women are perceived equally by the society. In the past, authority and control define men while women are given the characteristic of helplessness. Men are able to get hold of high positions while women usually are subservient to them. In movies, we would usually see women portray roles that are degrading due to the stereotypical notions they associate with this gender group. Moulin Rouge, a movie set during the 1900s narrates the story of a courtesan woman, Satine, as she undergoes hardships to earn money, experiences love but unfortunately, due to her irrational choices, faces tragic consequences at the end. Satine is a symbol of how women are being treated by the society during the era before post-feminism, where men have superiority over women. As the plot develops, Satine transforms from a worthless prostitute to someone who is courageous and willing to face her fears in order to attain her aspirations. Psychoanalyst theory and feminist analysis are apparent throughout the film. The male gaze, fantasy and feminism are three topics that will be covered in depth in this essay through relating it to the movie.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Dangerous Liaisons By Chodarlos De Laclos

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel, “Dangerous Liaisons” written by Choderlos De Laclos, during the 18th century it can be seen where characters are writing letters to one another. One of the characters, the Marquise de Merteuil is a wealthy widow who’s used to getting what she wants. She gains pleasure from getting revenge on her ex-boyfriend by creating problems between him and his fiancée, Cecile, and helping the Vicomte de Valmont plot against Madame de Tourvel. Although the Marquise is devious and ruthless as Valmont, her motivations are different. In society, a woman’s worth limits her, and she understood that men have it easy, “And pray, what have you done that I have no surpassed thousand times?

    Read More

More about Similarities Between A Tragic Tale And Florville

Open Document