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Women's role in the society
Women's role in the society
Short story analysis essay
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Fatma Abdullah Rifaat-Short Story Extraordinaire
Fatma Abdullah Rifaat, better known as Alifa Rifaat, has created some of the most compelling short stories out of Egypt. Since she was born in 1930, Rifaat has been exposed to the realities of being a woman in the Islamic based Egyptian culture. Her life story has been one typical of an Egyptian female and she has related the arranged marriage aspect of her life into the gripping short stories, “Distant View of a Minaret,” and “A Long Night of Winter” from Distant View of a Minaret.
Rifaat was a talented youth who began writing very early and wrote a poem by the name of “The Despair in Our Village” at the age of nine. She was furthermore punished for writing this and since had been forced to essentially give up writing as a hobby. After finishing her studies in the British Institute in Cairo, she sought to finish her education by going to college yet, her father/the way of society forced her to put her dreams on hold and fall back to the norm for women. That meant becoming an arranged marriage victim and follow the routine life of a stay at home mom. Her husband being her cousin later on had died leaving her to raise three children, and live alone which I believe she wasn’t so upset about. She continued to read works of Arabic fiction and once again picked up writing fiction in 1955. According to World Literature Online, Fatma took on the pseudonym of Alifa Rifaa in order to veil her identity and publish short stories. But once her husband asked her to stop writing, she did, and that too for over 10 years yet she was able to continue again once her husband gave her the “ok.” Rifaat’s short stories are very much reflective of this repugnant life attributable to arranged marriages.
The general idea behind her two stories is to implicitly argue the discriminatory norms of women in society. She states how the problems start from the husband who turns out to be inconsiderate of the wife and lacks any sort of sympathy. Since women in Egypt don’t have any sort of rights, men seem to believe they have the right to be selfish in a relationship. In many of her stories, the husbands end up being filthy lying cheaters that do not appreciate their wives. Both “Distant View of a Minaret” and “A Long Night of Winter” reflect the negative impact on these poor women who are forced into permanent relationships with strangers.
Both el Saadawi and Al-Shaykh both show how perception and expression are both affected within the confines of politics, social opportunities, and male privilege depicted in their stories. Whether the reader is a follower of the feminist movement or not, it is very clear and easy to see that these women are not being treated with the respect that any human being deserves. The misogynistic stranglehold on society, especially in this part of the world, is excessive and avoidable in today’s world but it is very likely that the traditional, conservative ways of the past will continue to control and inhibit women from being able to be fully treated as equals for many years to come, perhaps even after this generation has
Joyce, James. “Araby”. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Eds. R.V. Cassill and Richard Bausch. Shorter Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000. 427 - 431.
The significance of representing such a history is that it may open William Beckford’s narrative of the Arab Muslim woman to a new analysis and judgment. It may, as well, help in “allowing us to see them [Arab Muslim women] not as "culminations" of a natural truth, but "merely the current episodes in a series of subjugations" (Foucault 1977, 148)” (mohja), and to differentiate between them as represented in Western texts whose feet never touch earth, and the real –flesh and blood–ones whose “feet touch earth in Hamah or Rawalpindi or Rabat.”( MOHJA)
Writing Women's Worlds is some stories on the Bedouin Egyptian people. In this book, thwe writer Lia Adu-Lughod's stories differ from the conventional ones. While reading, we discover the customs and values of the Bedouin people.
In the Middle East it was male-dominant, male’s had all the control in the family. Women’s rule in life was to give birth too many children to continue the family blood line and take care of them, while the men go to work and come home find something for them prepared to eat. Men were the head of the house, whatever they said, had to be obeyed. Women were limited in their rights, even in marriage they weren’t asked for their opinion, “Would you like to marry this guy?” But rather they were forced by their family members to participate in arranged marriages. In this story we see that the slave woman had no rights, this woman obeyed them without saying a word. In addition, to this she was a slave, and slaves had no rights when it came to their master’s commands. She didn’t have a choice but rather obeyed what the master said even if she didn’t agree. Women were mistreated sometimes by men. "Bring the mule’s nose-bag along with you," he added to the groom; "she has not finished her feed, I think; when we get to the palace, put the bag on her again—she can eat the rest of her fodder while I am with the caliph. “Hear and obey," said the groom "(Portland, Maine: Wheelwright, 1955, p 310-313). One can see in this quote that they placed a bag over the girl and limited to when should she eat. The woman was treated as if she was a toy, played with for a while and then placed to the side when they were
It revolves around the issues of gender oppression, sexual assault, and importance of social status. Alifa Rifaat manages to express her opinions towards these themes by writing about a typical Egyptian marriage. She puts in focus the strong influence that a patriarchal society has. She also manages to prove how important social status is in society. The uses of literally elements such as theme and irony help express this view. It shows that in a typical Egyptian society women are commonly oppressed by all males in society
In James Joyce’s “Araby” a young boy living in a dark and grave world develops an obsessive adoration with an older girl who lives in his neighborhood and his devotion towards her ultimately forces him to make a promise to her he is incapable of keeping, resulting in a life changing epiphany.
The Arabian Nights, translated by Husain Haddawy consist of entertaining tales within a story which acquired centauries to accumulate. Some of the tales regard women as possessions, therefore leaving women to use their sexual femininity to subdue men for means of survival. The story goes on to explain how men and women had forbidden sexual relations with concubines, slaves, and lovers. Some religions and cultures accept infidelity and fornication as part of their normal sexual practices, however, in The Arabian Nights sexual practices come with harsh penalties which generate havoc and disfigurement on humans, impacting their lives and relationships.
8. Nawal El-Saadawi, "The Hidden Face of Eve, Women in the Arab World," translated and edited by Sherif Hettata, Zed Press, London, 1980, pg.33
Joyce, James. “Araby.” The Norton Introduction to Literature, Shorter Eighth Edition. Eds. Jerome Beaty, Alison Booth, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays. New York: W.W.Norton.
Religious values of the predominately Muslim culture in Nadia al-Faqih in A Woman of Five Seasons are at a point where their practice will bring great adversity to her new found way of life. Nadia is married into a life of luxury where her husband Ihsan is in a constant state of yearning for greater wealth and lusting after other worldly gains. She is pushed into a life where what she should want, the latest fashions, perfumes, and celebrity magazines are constantly thrust in her face.
James Joyce’s “Araby” and the story of “A & P” by John Updike have many characteristic similarities as well as literary traits. These stories focus on a young man trying to learn the difference between the romantic fantasies that play in their mind and the bitterness that reality can bring to a young man. In both stories a young man has built an unrealistic expectation of women only to meet the tragic despair of being rejected by the object of their boyish fantasy. In both of these stories the authors choose to show that life is not always what it may always appear.
Women at Point Zero is a book written by Nawal El Saadawi where she focuses on the main character Firdaus and shares her story in a way that allows reader to get an idea of the patriarchal structures of Egyptian society. Her life story shows readers the obvious discontentment women have with the way society views them, and the glorification of things that go against normal societal structures. This book does an excellent job of portraying the patriarchal society and how women are dominated by men. However, it truly reinforces the stereotype that western culture has of Middle Eastern men as being animalistic beings ravaging defenseless women and the role of Islam.
The inventions that the authors had for their writing were met by showing the misogyny in Egypt and encouraging the revolution that was occurring. Through the authors’ setting, the techniques used throughout their writing, and the similar goals that they set in their journey, both authors were able to produce written work in which one could draw many connections. Works Cited El Saadawi, a.k.a. Nawal. Woman at Point Zero.
...ller” not only takes a lot of courage in the Arab society while being a woman, but portrays the mentally strong character, in this case, Firdaus.