Sympathetic literary characters often embody relevant aspects of the human experience, depicting universal emotions, situations and issues. Fascinatingly, while the similarities establish common ground, it is the differences in the characters' responses to similar situations that allow them to retain their uniqueness, while also allowing the reader to sympathize with them. Ivan Turgenev and Thomas Mann succeed in creating such sympathetic characters. Turgenev's Lukerya in A Living Relic and Mann's Gabriele in Tristan both depict the universal human experience of illness. However, disparities in their social statuses and environments distinctly set them apart; Lukerya as a serf in a rural region, and Gabriele as a member of the middle-class in an urban area. As two of the central figures in A Living Relic and Tristan, Lukerya and Gabriele separately respond to the similar experience of a debilitating illness in two divergent narratives.
Social status plays a significant role in defining the treatment each character receives for her illness, as Lukerya's position as a serf lies across an unbridged gap from Gabriele's middle-class privileges. Former serf Savva Dmitrievich Purlevskii describes serfdom in nineteenth-century Russia as follows: “From the time the rich tax farmer bought the estate, peasant life took on a different form. Unbound freedom turned into slavish obedience; . . . The new owner set up a cotton mill on the river near the village and forced everyone who could not pay the designated rent to work there—in other words, almost the entire estate” (31-32). This passage articulates the manner in which serfs' fates depend on the disposition of their owner; as the owner would own the property “with souls attached” (Purlevs...
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...uring her illness is significantly influenced by her environment. Despite both experiencing similarly persistent illnesses, Lukerya and Gabriele perceive their lives, as well as their illnesses, in substantially differing contexts.
These contextual differences render the similar experience of a disabling illness into a personalized experience for each character. As a serf, Lukerya is denied prolonged treatment; as a member of the middle-class, Gabriele is constantly administered treatment. In a rural environment, Lukerya is surrounded by natural phenomena; in an urban environment, Gabriele is surrounded by Empire style furniture. Despite their differences, the two women share poor health, as well as strong health concerns. For Lukerya, her healthcare concerns are primarily spiritual, while for Gabriele, they are physical; yet for both of them, they are inevitable.
The characters in this story are very sharp and delineated, in that they have clear outlines and are easy to understand. Because there are...
In this novel Glancy tells her story by using the thoughts and dialog of a wide array of characters. Their differing perspective show the wide range of emotions felt by those that had
(Introduction) Many people all around the world face many difficulties and misfortunes throughout their lives. But the people that overcome adversities portray heroic characteristics within themselves. Depending on the amount and type of adversity leads to more heroic actions and behaviors of the heroine throughout each of the stories. When learning about adversities and overcoming them to become a heroic character, we learned about two important ones throughout the semester. Although the situations between the characters are very different, and they both show different heroic characteristics, they both prove themselves to be heroines. The first character we learned about was a twenty- seven year old girl named Elizabeth Bennet. Elizabeth Bennet was a girl born into a not so wealthy
The beginning of the short story starts with the narrator's description of her mental state and the perception of her family members towards her condition. The narrator talks about, despite how she feels, her family, especially her physician husband John, did not take her condition seriously. She even mentions that John being
The major characters in the story up to and including the protagonist in the story are individuals who are relatively ill behaved and considered as being outcasts not worthy being part of the whole society. The case is however totally different when these key characters are faced by an aspect or a feature that threatens them, “The Duchess, more cheerful than she had been, assumed the care of Piney. Only Mother Shipton--once the strongest of the party--seemed to sicken and fade”. The kind treatment that these characters show towards the two people who approach them illustrate the kindness in them. An important and characteristic aspect of the characters is their ability to live with each other tolerably and encourage each other irrespective of the intensity of the challenges that they are faced with. The death of the characters is noble and illustrates or indicates a great deal of courage in them (Harte, Olivier, & Clark,
As a reader, we get to know Hazel in a distinctive approach. She has clearly cut back on her social life and normal activities teenagers suppose to engage in. Still Hazel is an ambulatory girl despite the effect the illness has on her body and life. To make her parents pleased, she attends a weekly Support Group, which “featur...
Caroline is an interesting character because of an illness that she has had since birth. Her identity has been influenced by her kidney disease as she hasn’t known anything else. It has made her a strong, fearless, yet vulnerable person that has stopped caring about life. Carolines societal impact has also been influenced due to her inability to go to school after her illness worsened. This essay will discuss how Caroline’s societal impact and identity are affected by her disease, social media, as well as, how they were changed by her relationship with Anthony.
Although Medea’s house is mostly used in the setting, it contains all of the gender role issues going on at the time. “We women are the most unfortunate creatures”(8), justifying the theme of gender discrimination and gender roles. In the
The Greek ideology saw the depiction of otherness in Medea’s convoluted and outlandish character as a threat. Medea’s foreign and suspicious individuality is accentuated from the beginning in the nurse’s opening lines, “Where, coming as an exile, she has earned/The citizens’ welcome;”. The Greeks viewed Medea’s otherness as the the exotic, the mysterious and the feared. This was due to their bigoted scrutiny of the incertitude foreigners may bring, therefore challenging their ‘rational’ system. Only an insider could be a civilian of Greece, thus, the foundation of identity, ontologically assuming the outsider, was essentially premised on ethnicity.
It also shows that modern teen literature is not always cliché and can take serious issues and make them relatable. These novels are also a great representations of the modern woman going through a life threatening illness without making the illness the main focus but by also acknowledging other aspects of life that affect how one deals with illness.
Although times are changing and people are becoming more accepting, sickness and disability are still signs of weakness in modern day America. No matter the seriousness of the ailment, society generally associated it with a person’s lack of strength, even though they cannot control it. In addition, people regularly use sickness to cover up other emotions, such as guilt or anxiety, or to get out of doing something they do not want to do. Often, authors use illness in their works to demonstrate different aspects of the plot such as showing a character’s emotions or reflecting on the themes of the text. During many scenes in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, he uses sickness to portray a number of things in a character, including weaknesses, worries, doubts, beliefs and emotions at the time of the respective scene; whether it’s Caesar’s epilepsy, Brutus claiming he’s sick to cover up his doubts about Caesar’s assassination or Brutus using sickness to imply that Portia is weaker, Shakespeare uses illness as an aid to deepen the plot of his ageless tragedy.
...s often a perfect mirror of the feminine persona’s place within society, an image of the enclosure and of its victims, and thus the transformed hero who has survived this layer of her unconscious is unlikely to be able to reintegrate herself fully into “normal” society. (142)
Culture creates difference in gender through social issues such as marriage, education, childbearing and employment. Women in many of today’s cultures are represented by the roles they choose rather than have imposed on them, although sexism is an ongoing issue presented in everyday life. Medea has little choice on her represented role due to society in that period of time. She uses her manipulative ability and cleverness to get what she wants. Her life is made difficult due to society’s restrictions and is stereotyped into many things in which she is not. This clearly shows that women’s lives are represented by the roles they either choose regarding social restrictions or the roles they have imposed on them.
As the famous Greek playwright Euripides once said: “Stronger than lover's love is lover's hate. Incurable, in each, the wounds they make.” Such ideas are portrayed in one of him most famous plays, Medea. This play is a fascinating classic centered on the Greek goddess Medea. Despite its recent fame, during his time, Euripides was unpopular since he used what would be considered a ‘modern’ view where he would focus on women, slaves and persons from the lower classes. In the play, Medea commits filicide, which initially appears extremely horrendous, but as the audience is guided through the play, they develop sympathy towards Medea. In order to achieve this empathy and enhance the understanding of Medea’s pride and ideals, Euripides utilizes the Chorus, the Nurse, and the Children- all are which minor characters. Granted that these characters overall have overlapping roles and guide the audience towards the same concept, at some topics they disagree or contradict each other.