Throughout the history of literature women have always played a vital part of storytelling. Women are often portrayed one of two ways, either as the beautiful young damsel or the wicked woman behind the downfall of the damsel. In both the works, “The Myth of Echo and Narcissus” by Edith Hamilton and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates, the main characters are very narcissistic, self absorbed characters. Narcissus and Connie’s stories are similar, yet the reception of these seemingly alike stories are incredibly different. Through various demonstrations of each story disrupting today’s social norm and complex gender-sensitive roles, the differences between a male and female characters are revealed to be strikingly …show more content…
Very aware of his own beauty he treats the other nymphs with little to no attention or care, not sparing any attention to any other nymph. On the other hand we have Echo, said to be the “fairest of the nymphs”, which Hera has taken her anger out on by taking away her voice. Condemned to always have the last word but “no power to speak first”, Echo is left to pine after the heartless Narcissus. Cursed by Nemesis, Narcissus’ punishment comes in the form of falling in love with himself so hard that he ultimately withers away while watching his own reflection. Narcissus’ self absorbed nature left the other nymphs heartbroken, scorned, and bitter. Nemesis, Echo and all the other nymphs were hurt by the thoughtless actions of one man. Although his death is very symbolic to the fact he died staring at himself, one could argue that the fate met to Connie is seemingly written to be much worse, or at least it is written to be perceived …show more content…
This demonstrates how ultimately naive her character is. Still a young girl, Connie decides that she wants the public to see her as a older and sexier version of herself. Everything Connie is doing is very much like what every teenage girl does; hanging out with friends, being rebellious towards family, exploring her sexual identity, and caring too much about what she looks like. These are very common, very human attributes which show how archetypical Connie’s character is of a 20th century teenager. On the other hand, Narcissus is so full of himself that the only thing he loves is his own reflection which is where his and Connie’s story differ greatly. Connie is hyperaware of her beauty because she seeks social validation of her worthiness while Narcissus is beyond that point, he truly loves himself more than the physical beauty of any other nymph. The story of Narcissus stems from a time where there was no distinct separation between being a child to being a man. Perhaps although his story is written to elicit negative feelings toward Narcissus’ heartbreaker ways, maybe Narcissus is trying to find himself just as Connie
Connie's character plays a big role in what ultimately happens to her. Connie is a vain girl that thinks the way you look is everything. She plays the stereotypical part for girls in today's society. She thinks that as long as you are pretty and dress a certain way then you are everything. This comes across when Oates writes "Connie thought that her mother preferred her to June because she was prettier" (980). By flaunting her looks she could easily give a guy like Arnold Friend perverted ideas about her. It could make them see her as easy, which he did.
Reading literature, at first, might seem like simple stories. However, in works like William Faulkner's “A Rose for Emily,” Katherine Mansfield's “Miss Brill,” and Kate Chopin's “The Storm,” the female protagonists are examples of how society has oppressive expectations of women simply because of their gender.
Connie has the need to be viewed as older and as more mature than she really is, all the while still displaying childlike behavior. She shows this childlike behavior by “craning her neck to glance in mirrors [and] checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right” (Oates 323). This shows that Connie is very insecure and needs other people’s approval. Although on one side she is very childish, on the other side she has a strong desire to be treated like an adult. This longing for adulthood is part of her coming of age, and is demonstrated by her going out to “bright-lit, fly-infested restaurant[s]” and meeting boys, staying out with those boys for three hours at a time, and lying to her parents about where she has been and who she has been with (Oates 325, 326). “Everything about her ha[s] two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home” (Oates 324). Even her physical movements represent her two-sided nature: “her walk that could be childlike and bobbing, or languid enough to make anyone think she was hearin...
...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).
Society continually places specific and often restrictive standards on the female gender. While modern women have overcome many unfair prejudices, late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century women were forced to deal with a less than understanding culture. Different people had various ways of voicing their opinions concerning gender inequalities, including expressing themselves through literature. By writing a fictional story, authors like Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James were given the opportunity to let readers understand and develop their own ideas on such a serious topic.
"Her name was Connie. She was fifteen and she had a quick, nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people's faces to make sure her own was all right" (1). This quote shows the reader an astonishing truth about Connie. It shows her true insecurity that is rarely demonstrated to the outside world. Although she does not necessarily show this to the average bystander, by taking a closer look at her premature idea of acceptance, it also shows her constant yearn for approval from others to help boost her ego. At only the young age of fifteen, she is already attempting to prove her maturity and show that she can be independent. She does this by showing off her sexuality and strutting around. By showing off her
conceptualizations of gender in literature are situated in a culture and historical context ; the
Throughout time women have been written as the lesser sex, weaker, secondary characters. They are portrayed as dumb, stupid, and nothing more than their fading beauty. They are written as if they need to be saved or helped because they cannot help themselves. Women, such as Daisy Buchanan who believes all a woman can be is a “beautiful little fool”, Mrs Mallard who quite died when she lost her freedom from her husband, Eliza Perkins who rights the main character a woman who is a mental health patient who happens to be a woman being locked up by her husband, and then Carlos Andres Gomez who recognizes the sexism problem and wants to change it. Women in The Great Gatsby, “The Story of an Hour,” “The Yellow Wall Paper” and the poem “When” are oppressed because the fundamental concept of equality that America is based on undermines gender equality.
In a society where the focus on equality amongst different races, religions and sexes continues to grow, it is no surprise that literature has begun to follow suit. Publishers have seen a rise in strong, capable female protagonists who overcome a variety of struggles to save themselves or others and both teens and adults alike rush to get their hands on this material. With such popular literary works to choose from, it seems strange that many schools continue to rely on somewhat archaic material that mistreats and degrades so many women. In John Steinbeck 's Of Mice and Men, for example, the only female character the reader interacts with is treated like a lower-class prostitute who is ultimately killed off due to her seductive behavior. Though Steinbeck 's treatment of women comes mainly from classic gender roles, his portrayal of female characters in Of Mice and Men is
Challenging gender roles has been an arduous task. As Virginia Woolf notes, “For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.” The structure of history, particularly that of war, has placed women as useless in comparison to men and as having no purpose beyond pleasing their partner. Euripides, for example, places women in the aftermath of the Trojan War as helpless in the face of the victors. Moreover, Macawen’s adaptation of the tragedy Trojan Women and Evans’ Trojan Barbie both discuss the docile attitude of women after a period of war. Aristotle signals diction and plot, two of the six parts of tragedy, which interprets events through the language and the actions that take place. Through the use of diction and plot, both Macewen and Trojan Women and Trojan Barbie, both Macawen and Evans challenge gender roles through the character of Helen, shows she will do whatever it takes to survive an atmosphere of male dictated war.
“Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.
In A Room of One's Own the narrator begins an exploration of women in literature. She attempts to answer many questions regarding women. The first being why is literature about women written by men. She also critiques the scholarship of the great men of literature.
Throughout American Literature, women have been depicted in many different ways. The portrayal of women in American Literature is often influenced by an author's personal experience or a frequent societal stereotype of women and their position. Often times, male authors interpret society’s views of women in a completely different nature than a female author would. While F. Scott Fitzgerald may represent his main female character as a victim in the 1920’s, Zora Neale Hurston portrays hers as a strong, free-spirited, and independent woman only a decade later in the 1930’s.
Throughout literature, authors employ a variety of strategies to highlight the central message being conveyed to the audience. Analyzing pieces of literature through the gender critics lens accentuates what the author believes to be masculine or feminine and that society and culture determines the gender responsibility of an individual. In the classic fairytale Little Red Riding Hood, the gender strategies appear through the typical fragile women of the mother and the grandmother, the heartless and clever male wolf, and the naïve and vulnerable girl as little red riding hood.
Throughout literature’s history, female authors have been hardly recognized for their groundbreaking and eye-opening accounts of what it means to be a woman of society. In most cases of early literature, women are portrayed as weak and unintelligent characters who rely solely on their male counterparts. Also during this time period, it would be shocking to have women character in some stories, especially since their purpose is only secondary to that of the male protagonist. But, in the late 17th to early 18th century, a crop of courageous women began publishing their works, beginning the literary feminist movement. Together, Aphra Behn, Charlotte Smith, Fanny Burney, and Mary Wollstonecraft challenge the status quo of what it means to be a