The Instability of Female Quixote
In “The Female Quixote,” the whimsical nature of fiction is not just a barrier to social acceptance, but an absurdity. Following popular notions of the time, fiction is presented as a diversion and an indulgence that cannot be reconciled with reality and threatens the reader’s perception of actual experience. The theme is common, as is evident through the basis of this novel, Cervantes’s “Don Quixote,” and other works such as “Northanger Abbey” by Jane Austen. The story is a series of examples of what not to do, acting as both a cautionary tale and conduct guide. But there is a fundamental instability in the work resulting from the opposition of the moral and the means in which it is presented. The intention of the work is to depict the error of confusing fiction for reality, yet does this through fiction. The reader is expected to believe in the validity of the story’s moral, which is not to believe in stories. A work that denies its own foundation cannot function, and this remains true for “The Female Quixote.”
But this contradiction can only exist if there is clearly an instructive message within it. In this novel, there is no question of the negative influence of romances, only how ridiculous it makes the main character, Arabella, seem. And just how irrational is she? For the vast majority of the plot, she believes she is living inside a classical romance novel rather than 18th century Britain. She mistakes the true intentions of almost every character she meets, transposing their equivalent in courtship stories such as Cassandra, Cleopatra, Artamenes, and Clelia onto their actual selves. Because she has no aesthetic distance from romance novels and sees the motivat...
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...other level of “The Female Quixote,” contradict. When the purpose rejects the basis on which it is built, the entire structure must collapse. Therefore, as entertaining as the work may be, it essentially fails through denying its own existence.
Works Cited
Lennox, Charlotte. Ed. Margaret Dalziel. “The Female Quixote or The Adventures of
Arabella.” Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1989.
Merleau-Ponty, M. Trans. Colin Smith. “Phenomenology of Perception.” Routledge & Kegan
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Sawicki, Marianne. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. “Edmund Husserl (1859-1938).”
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Stewart, David and Algis Mickunas. “Exploring Phenomenology: A Guide to the Field and its
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An example of the author portraying Jesus as more holy, or God like, occurs in Matthew 17.22. It says, “As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men, 17.23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.’ And they were greatly distressed. On the other hand, Mark mentions in the verses 9.30-9.32 that Jesus is speaking specifically to his disciples. It also states that they were afraid to ask him, and didn’t understand what was saying about his death. Matthew makes the first change to show that Jesus wants other people to know of his death. Most likely they were other believers and followers of Jesus. It almost like saying that Jesus was not selfish in just telling his disciples of his death, and that he wanted to share it with people who believed in him.
On July 8, 1853, Perry stormed into Edo (Tokyo) Bay, the steamers belching black smoke and appearing as "floating volcanoes" to the alarmed Japanese. Six days later, with great pomp and ceremony, Perry went ashore to the accompaniment of a naval band playing Hail Columbia! The Japanese resisted Perry's proposals and he temporarily withdrew from the country, promising to return to receive a reply to President Millard Fillmore's request for a treaty. On February 13, 1854, Perry returned with seven warships, three of them steam driven. He depearted on March 8th with even greater enthusiasm than the year before, this time accompanied by three armed naval bands playing The Star Spangled Banner. To impress the Japanese with American technological and military might, he exhibited a quarter-scale steam locomotive with tracks, a telegraph apparatus designed by Samuel Morse, a daguerreotype camera, and an illustrated history of the Mexican War, featuring the American naval bombardment of Veracruz.
Don Quixote, written around four hundred years ago, has endured the test of time to become one of the world’s finest examples of literature; one of the first true novels ever written. It’s uncommonness lies in the fact that it encompasses many different aspects of writing that spans the spectrum. From light-hearted, comical exchanges between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza to descriptions so strong that produce tangible images, the book remains steadfast in any reader’s mind.
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• Microsystem the first system in which the teen interacts is that which comprises the environment provided by the family, peers, a school, or a neighborhood. ”(Bigner & Gerhardt, 2008).
Galchen creates the character of her narrator to be very similar to that of the young narrator in “Araby” in a modern setting. In their youth, each narrator becomes infatuated and obsessed with someone who does not realize. The narrator of “Araby” falls in love with his friend Mangan’s sister, as seen in that he states that “when she came out on the doorstep [his] heart leaped” (123). He forms an obsession with her, as evidenced by the fact that he “had never spoken to her . . . and yet her name was like a summons to all [his] foolish blood” and in that “her image accompanied [him] even in places the most hostile to romance” (123).
In the 18th century, reading novels served as a pass time and a diversion from household chores for the women. Though formal female education is not developed, the female characters are seen having a keen interest in books, something that was earlier frowned upon for the sentimental content of books might be destructive to societal values. At the time, books were meant to teach and reflect upon the socially acceptable ideas of romance, courtship, and marriage. We find Miss Wharton asking for books to read from her friend Mrs. Lucy Sumner, “Send me some new books; not such, however, as will require much attention. Let them be plays or novels, or anything else that will amuse and extort a smile.” (Foster, 192) Mrs. Sumner sends her novels which she considers “chaste and of a lighter reading” (Foster, 196). We can thus construe that books and novels in The Coquette though meant for reading pleasure, also play form part of the female
Romantic gestures have been seen as a useful motive to win hearts of women for centuries. However, as society constantly changes, the effectiveness of these chivalrous acts has diminished. In James Joyce’s “Araby” and John Updike’s “A&P”, this theory is explored, both telling the story of a boy whose efforts to impress the girl of their desires fail. As said by Well’s in his critical analysis of these stories, “Both the protagonists have come to realize that romantic gestures—in fact, that the whole chivalric view [sic] --- are, in modern times, counterproductive”. These stories, despite the differences between the two characters, clearly show that the character’s world is changing, with chivalry becoming more obsolete.
In Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the tale of a man and his discovery of evil. Hawthorne’s primary concern is with evil and how it affects Young Goodman Brown. Through the use of tone and setting, Hawthorne portrays the nature of evil and the psychological effects it can have on man. He shows how discovering the existence of evil brings Brown to view the world in a cynical way. Brown learns the nature of evil and, therefore, feels surrounded by its presence constantly.
It is the aim of this piece to consider how two elements are developed in the opening chapters of three classic novels written by 19th century English women: Emma, Wuthering Heights, and Jane Eyre, respectively. The elements to be considered are a) character; and b) character relationships. Consideration will be given to see how each opening chapter develops these two aspects, and the various approaches will be compared and contrasted as well.
In the story of Don Quixote, a middle aged “gaunt” man sets off to become a knight-errant. Within the beginning chapters of the story, Quixote goes on a journey to prove himself as a knight. The narrator speaks sarcastically about Quixote’s and his adventures. On account of the voice of the narrator, perception is crucial relative to forming an opinion about Don Quixote and his journey of becoming a knight-errant. The constant opposition of the narrator in relation to Quixote’s goals and actions create a feeling of tension within the audience as the reader becomes perplexed in trying to figure out if Quixote’s journey can really be considered a knight’s errant. Still, despite the narrator’s sarcastic tone and Don’s idiotic actions, Don
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” captivates the reader through a glimpse of the Puritan church. The story also shows the struggle of good versus evil in the main character Goodman Brown. The role of the Puritan church is crucial in shaping Goodman Brown’s personality and helping the reader understand why he was reluctant to continue his journey.
In James Joyce’s Araby, a young boy finds himself in love with an older girl. The girl, Mangan’s sister, refuses to love him back and instead ignores him. This crushes the boy and makes his hunger for her even more stronger. He sometimes finds himself hopelessly alone in the darkness thinking about her, awaiting for the day she would recognize his devotion to her. “ At night in my bedroom…her image came between me and the page I strove to read (805).” “At last she spoke to me (805).” She asked him if he was going to attend a popular carnival called Araby. Unfortunately, she was unable to go, and it was up to him to bring her something back. This became his journey and adventure that he could not wait for. “I wished to annihilate the tedious intervening days (805).” When he finally arrived at Araby he found himself, once again alone in the darkness, due to the fact that it was closing time. Nearly all the stalls were closed down already, except one. When he approached to the open stall to buy a special present for his loved one, he was by the saleswomen’s mean and annoyed tone of voice, when she asked him if he would like to buy anything. “She seem to have spoken to me out of a sense of duty (807).” His only response was a disappointed “No thank you (807).” He was obviously heartbroken and shocked that he was unable to accomplish his task, and make the love of his life love him the same way he loves her. This young boy is introduced to disappointment of disillusionment through the themes of isolation, dark and light images, and hopelessness an decay.
In “Araby”, James Joyce details the transition of a young Irish boy into his adolescence. Looking for love and excitement, the narrator becomes obsessed with pleasing his best friend’s sister, eventually ending up at a special festival to buy her a present. Disappointed by the bad- natured shopkeepers and its closing down, he reaches a frustrating epiphany about the fine line between reality and his wistful dreams. Through the use of fanciful imagery and detached characterization, Joyce demonstrates how romance belongs to the realm of the young, not the old, and that it is doomed to fail in a word flawed by materialism and a lack of beauty.