In Aphra Behn 's The Rover, the gender roles in society are particularly divisive. Gender roles were a major focus throughout the Restoration and especially in this play. The main conflict of the play is the attempt of Helena, Florinda ,and Angellica Bianca to avoid the fate their families have chosen for them.The play comes to the conclusion that there were only two “patriarchal definitions” of women: either that of a virgin or a whore. We see both of these in each of the major female characters and it seems important to note that there seemed to be no middle ground in terms of the way women were perceived. Women and femininity in the case of rape were not necessarily seen as the victims and more so as the provokers of their fates. The Rover …show more content…
A woman tricked him, and it seems that throughout the play his rage is entirely directed at women, which is most likely due to him wanting to feel emasculated. For him, the only way to regain his manhood is to prove that he does in fact have power over women, and rape is the easiest way to prove that. Blunt even proves his malicious intent by saying, “Oh, how I’ll use womankind hereafter! what would I give to have one of ‘em within my reach now! Any mortal thing in petticoats, kind Fortune, send me…(Behn 4.5.11-14)”. While Blunt and Willmore have the same plans , they prove that men can take something so violating as rape and change it to have an entirely different meaning. For example, Due to him being robbed , Blunt is angry with the entire female population as a whole and he shows that in his rape scenes. When Florinda pleads for help , Blunt ( with Frederick near ) makes it very clear that he could care less about her feelings and that he is intending to rape her. Blunt says, “Cruel? Sheart likins, as a galley slave, or a Spanish whore. Cruel? Yes, I will kiss and beat thee all over, kiss and see thee all over; thou shalt lie with me too, not that I care for the enjoyment, but to let thee see I have tak’en deliberated malice to thee and will be revenged on one whore for the sins of another. ( Behn 4.5.47-51)”.. Blunt shows the old mentality that woman are meant to be taken for granted, and that women are seen as useless and worthless. And going back to the patriarchal definitions of a women, either a woman was a lady or a whore, it seemed as though no matter what the situation, a woman was going to be considered damaged property. In the case of The Rover, whether through seduction or rape, marriage or prostitution, women still were not able to obtain the upper hand when it came to finding love and happiness. Women were still judged and looked down upon, for the same
Daisy Blunt is described as a young, beautiful, dark-skinned women who was always nicely dressed. When Daisy walked by the store, the men started to compliment her and said what they would do for her. For example, one of the men, Jim claims he’ll buy Daisy a steamship and hire some men to run it for her.(pg. 69). From Janie’s perspective, Daisy is uncomfortable with all the attention that is suddenly placed upon her. When Daisy shows discomfort, the men would laugh loudly making fun of Daisy. (p...
In One Flew over the Cuckoo’s, women are expressed as powerful people, but there are also women who are submissive to men. Women are held to the expectation of men as sex objects, but to society have the expectation of being virgin and wholesome. “...spinning his tale on how it would be, with all the men scared and all the beautiful young girls panting after me.” (Kesey 187) These whores have been placed into the role of appeasing men, and doing what men want. This outlines how women are treated as objects. “‘A woman like this. A cheap! Low! Painted-’ ‘Courtesan’” (Kesey 266) In this situation Billy took advantage of Candy, and the
To begin, in both plays the men dismiss the women as trivial. In Trifles, when Mrs. Wright is being held in jail for the alleged murder of her husband, she worries about the cold weather and whether it will cause her fruit to freeze which will burst the jars. After the women come across a shattered jar of canned fruit, they converse about Mrs. Wright’s concern about the matter. Mrs. Peters states, “She said the fire’d go out and her jars would break” (Glaspell 918). The women here identify with Mrs. Wright’s concern, because they understand the hard work that goes into canning as part of the demanding responsibilities women endure as housewives. The Sheriff’s reply is “Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves” (Glaspell 918). In other words, the men perceive the event as insignificant; they clearly see women as a subservient group whose concerns hold little importance. Likewise, the reader can relate to this treatment in A Dollhouse, when Torvald complains to Nora about spending Christmas time the previous year making frivolous ornaments instead of devoting it to family. Torvald says, “It was the dullest three weeks that I ever spent!” (Ibsen 1207). He believes her role i...
“Boys will be boys, and girls will be girls”: few of our cultural mythologies seem as natural as this one. But in this exploration of the gender signals that traditionally tell what a “boy” or “girl” is supposed to look and act like, Aaron Devor shows how these signals are not “natural” at all but instead are cultural constructs. While the classic cues of masculinity—aggressive posture, self-confidence, a tough appearance—and the traditional signs of femininity—gentleness, passivity, strong nurturing instincts—are often considered “normal,” Devor explains that they are by no means biological or psychological necessities. Indeed, he suggests, they can be richly mixed and varied, or to paraphrase the old Kinks song “Lola,” “Boys can be girls and girls can be boys.” Devor is dean of social sciences at the University of Victoria and author of Gender Blending: Confronting the Limits of Duality (1989), from which this selection is excerpted, and FTM: Female-to-Male Transsexuals in Society (1997).
The overarching the play demonstrates the men’s perception of women is entirely not treated as humans. The dialogue between
Society places ideas concerning proper behaviors regarding gender roles. Over the years, I noticed that society's rules and expectations for men and women are very different. Men have standards and specific career goals that we must live up to according to how others judge.
Throughout history, there have been gender roles that individuals belong to and follow. The use of literature lets a reader look back in time and see how gender divides and gender expectations affect different characters. Gender roles can be found in many stories, and stories with the same subject can lead to separate deductions. Traditional gender roles can be found in the short story “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway. “Hills like White Elephants” is a short story of a young couple who are at a train station and anticipating going to get an abortion.
Since the beginning of time men have played the dominant role in nearly every culture around the world. If the men were not dominant, then the women and men in the culture were equal. Never has a culture been found where women have dominated. In “Society and Sex Roles” by Ernestine Friedl, Friedl supports the previous statement and suggests that “although the degree of masculine authority may vary from one group to the next, males always have more power” (261). Friedl discusses a variety of diverse conditions that determine different degrees of male dominance focusing mainly on the distribution of resources. In The Forest People by Colin Turnbull, Turnbull describes the culture of the BaMbuti while incorporating the evident sex roles among these “people of the forest”. I believe that the sex roles of the BaMbuti depicted by Turnbull definitely follow the pattern that is the basis of Freidl’s arguments about the conditions that determine variations of male dominance. Through examples of different accounts of sex roles of the BaMbuti and by direct quotations made by Turnbull as well as members of the BaMbuti tribe, I intend on describing exactly how the sex roles of the BaMbuti follow the patterns discussed by Freidl. I also aim to depict how although women are a vital part of the BaMbuti culture and attain equality in many areas of the culture, men still obtain a certain degree of dominance.
This fact plays a crucial role in the mood of the play. If the reader understands history, they also understand that women did not really amount to any importance, they were perceived more as property.
Behn is remarkable because as a spy for the British crown and the first woman to make a living as a writer, she circumnavigated her gender and claimed an identity previously only thought possible for a man. In her 1677 play The Rover, Behn laments that her female characters are trapped w...
In Aphra Behn's “The Rover,” characters define relationships as a type of economy where value and use are key. This time period commodified love and sexuality, valuing financial success over meaningful relationships. The dowry system made rich women with a high status most desirable for marriage and their value was increased by their honor. Typical of seventeenth century literature, Behn plays with this ideology as “the language of love in Restoration comedies frequently draws on the language of commerce.”1 She expresses her beliefs on the “'interest,' 'credit,' and 'value'”2 associated with love and sexuality through the different prices placed on her characters. Where Behn differs from other seventeenth century writers is that she does not give in to the “world dominated by male writers working in specifically misogynistic forms.”3 She gives women the authority within this economy. Instead of having very little power in their relationships with men, Behn allows women to be dominant. They can create their own value and control the amount of access men have to them. Characters such as Moretta and Angellica Bianca are not forced into submission by their desire for marriage, they “ignore[s] patriarchal structure and exhibit[s] no remorse.”4 They force men into submission through their manipulation of the economy of love and sexuality. Aphra Behn's characterization of Moretta and Angellica Bianca using the language of commerce gives them authority that other woman did not have access to.
Gender-role development is one of the most important areas of human development. The moment a women finds out she is pregnant she is often anxious to find out the sex of her child.
Gender roles seek to put a person into a mold of what someone else sees them to be. For example in "Keep Within Compass," it is obvious that a man drew the plate because the woman is depicted to be genteel, sedate, and almost air headed in appearance, with no voice of her own. This is a prime example of the despicable properties placed in gender roles. Girls cannot play football and guys cannot be cheerleaders. The gender roles are defining what is right and what is wrong within society. For example, in the "Keep Within Compass" plate, the woman is wrong if she does not conform to the ideal of society.
The double standards for men and women regarding sexuality in “The Rover” become especially apparent when looking at the ending of the play. Willmore is an incredibly sexually liberated character. He spends almost the entirety of the play chasing after women. He chases after Florinda in the garden calling her a “fine wench” (903) and chases after her yet again later in the play calling her a “woman of excellent mein,” (924) while also spending the entirety of the play flirting with both Hellena and Angellica. Willmore is a rake figure,wanting “all the honey of Matrimony, but none of the sting,” (900) meaning that he wants sex without commitment. He is inconstancy embodied and both of the women who are interested in him are aware of this. Angellica exclaims that “there is no faith in anything he says” (922) and when Hellena makes Willmore swear never to see any women but her again, she knows that her efforts are futile saying “Now what a wicked creature am I, to damn a proper fellow.” (903) Yet Willmore is not punished for his inconstancy and sexual liberation, in fact he is rewarded with Hellena who is beautiful, a wealthy woman of quality, and “of
The term gender is used to describe the collection of characteristics that the society or a culture uses to differentiate between masculinity and femininity. The characteristics used to characterize gender hence depend on the context of the society and include sex. However, unlike some people mistake, there is a significant difference between gender and sex. This confusion is attributed to the fact that sex is the most common characteristic used to define gender roles in most communities. However, while sex refers to a biological characteristic of being male and female, gender differentiate people depending on the roles the society gives them. Or simply put, while sex comes biologically/ naturally from birth, gender is socially acquired by