Women As Propriety In Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice and The Taming Of the Shrew "We may say that the dominant ideas in most societies are the ideas of the dominant sex, associated and mingled with those of dominant class." (Chedgzoy, pg.50) During the Elizabethan time men dominated society. Historically speaking males have always held more power then females in most cultures. Although a few cultures were Matriarchal societies. Yet even in these cultures women were not the superior power
Women in the Merchant's Tale and the Manciple's Tale The Wife of Bath's extraordinary prologue gives the reader a dose of what is sometimes missing in early male-written literature: glimpses of female subjectivity. Women in medieval literature are often silent and passive, to the extent that cuckolding is often seen as something one man (the adulterer) does to another (the husband). Eve Sedgwick argues in Between Men that in many literary representations, women are playing pieces or playing
Women´s Images in The Yellow Wallpaper and The Awakening The aim of this essay is analyse women´s images in The Yellow Wallpaper and in The Awakening, since the two readings have become the focus of feminist controversy. Both stories were written by women, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Kate Chopin. But is this fact important to understand the aim of every story? Would they have had the same effect if the had been written by men? I will explore these matters. I also considered it could
Independent Women in The Bell Jar and Enormous Changes at the Last Minute The women's movement was in full swing in America in the sixties. These were the women who were escaping from their kitchens, burning their bras, and working in careers that were traditionally male-oriented, while at the same time demanding payment equal to men's salaries. In her essay: What Would It Be Like if Women Win, Gloria Steinem has many thoughts on the ways feminism could change this country and what the society
Ethnic Identity of Women in House on Mango Street and Woman Hollering Creek The novels The House on Mango Street (Cisneros 1984) and Woman Hollering Creek (Cisneros 1992) relate the new American through the eyes of Cisneros. The women in both novels are caught in the middle of their ethnic identity and their American identity, thus creating the "New American." Cisneros moved between Mexico and the United States often while growing up, thus making her feel "homeless and displaced" (Jones and
The Role of Women in Rappaccini's Daughter, The Prophetic Pictures, Lady Eleanor's Mantle, and The Birth-Mark When researching criticism on Hawthorne's works, I ran across an interesting piece that dealt with the feminist view of "The Birth-Mark." The article, written by Fetterly, explores the relationship between Aylmer and his wife, and how this relationship is a typical male-dominated situation. Although there is the fact that the story deals with the failure of the scientist, there is
Subservient Women in A Man’s Requirements and A Letter to Her Husband Authors use poetry to creatively present attitudes and opinions. “A Man’s Requirements,” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and “A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment” are two poems with distinct attitudes about love that contain different literary approaches. In both of the poems, love is addressed from a different perspective, producing the difference in expectation and presentation, but both suggest the women are
Exploitation of Women Exposed in The Bell Jar and Enormous Changes at the Last Minute In their manifesto, the Redstockings argued that the relationship between men and women was a class relationship, and that the men repressed and controlled the women. The women were objects, and the men owned them. They said that, as a class, women "are exploited as sex objects, breeders, domestic servants, and cheap labor" by the male class(Bloom, Takin' it to the Streets, 486). Many of the women characters in
The Struggle of Women in Lowell’s Patterns and Sorrell’s From a Correct Address "Woman is not born," feminist Andrea Dworkin wrote. "She is made. In the making, her humanity is destroyed. She becomes symbol of this, symbol of that: mother of the earth, slut of the universe; but she never becomes herself because it is forbidden for her to do so." Dworkin’s quote relates to women throughout history who have been forced to conform. Although women can be regarded highly in society, representing
Throughout history women have played important roles in society. Women have gone through much adversity to get where they are today. Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë are some the pioneers of women's literature. Each shows their different aspects of a women's role in society in their books Emma by Austen and Jane Eyre by Brontë. In both of these books the author shows how a woman deals with societies' norms, values, and manners. Jane Eyre is an orphaned daughter of a poor
The Deceitful Women of Homer's Odyssey and the Bible Across all barriers, women have always brought pain, suffering, and aguish to the men as demonstrated in both Homer's Odyssey and the Bible. With their beauty and grace, temptresses like the Sirens and Delilah lure men into their grasps, only to later steer them to their ruin. Other times, they use their cunning abilities and deception, as Circe and Jezebel did, in order to entice men into doing things that they normally would never
Role of Women in Indian Camp and Shiloh The women of "Indian Camp" experience a life much different from the woman in "Shiloh." Ernest Hemingway wrote "Indian Camp" giving the women a definite role in their families while Bobbi Ann Mason wrote "Shiloh" leaving the woman’s definite family role ambiguous. Because they are responsible for the birth of the babies, the Native American women of the preceding story are the nurturers as opposed to the men. The women accept their roles and partake in
The Role of Women in Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night Many critics have lambasted the female characters in Shakespeare's plays as two-dimensional and unrealistic portrayals of subservient women. Others have asserted that the roles of women in his plays were prominent for the time and culture that he lived in. Two works, Taming of the Shrew, and Twelfth Night, stand out particularly well in regards to Shakespeare's use of female characters. After examining these two plays, one will see
Portrayal of Women in A Doll's House and Hedda Gabler The extent to which Ibsen directly sympathized with feminists is still debated, but this is somewhat irrelevant when considering his portrayal of women. Ibsen had a deep understanding of the nature of women and a strong interest in the manner in which women were treated by society. This resulted in the creation of female protagonists such as Nora Helmer, in A Doll's House, and Hedda Gabler, in a work of the same name. The character traits
Comparing John Stuart Mill's The Subjection of Women and Florence Nightingale's Cassandra For thousands of years, women have struggled under the domination of men. In a great many societies around the world, men hold the power and women have to fight for their roles as equals in these patriarchal societies. Florence Nightingale wrote about such a society in her piece, Cassandra, and John Stuart Mill wrote further on the subject in his essay The Subjection of Women. These two pieces explore
Powerful Women in Anna Akhmatova’s Lot’s Wife, Crucifixion, and Rachel “But Lot's wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt” (New Geneva Study Bible, Gen. 19. 26). “Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James and Joseph), and Zebedee's wife, the mother of James and John” (Matt. 27:56). “Jacob went over to the well and rolled away the stone and watered his uncle's flock. Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and tears came to his eyes…But when Jacob woke up in the morning
Women as Victims in Hedda Gabbler, A Doll's House and Ghosts In Ibsen's plays - Hedda Gabbler, A Doll's House and Ghosts - the female protagonists of Hedda Gabler, Nora and Mrs. Alving demonstrate how social expectations and restrictions of women impacts the life every woman on a very personal level. Conservative social and religious leaders imposed women's restricted social roles. Women had to be married; there was not another socially acceptable option. After marriage they had to
Intelligence of Women in Shelley's Frankenstein and Gould's Women's Brains Throughout history, women have always aimed for a recognized place in society. Centuries ago, people looked at the role of women in society as being sociologically inferior. Seeing the revival of the Feminist movement, which boldly opposes the stereotypical characteristics of women in society, on one hand, and promotes the elevation of women's status in society, on the other, one would not find it hard to believe
Comparing the Powerful Women in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House and Susan Glaspell's Trifles Throughout history, a woman's role is to be an obedient and respectful wife. Her main obligation is to support, serve, and live for her husband and children. In Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House and Susan Glaspell's Trifles, two different women make a decision to take matters into their own hands by doing what they want to do, no matter what the outcome may be and in spite of what society thinks. These
Comparing the Roles of Women in Arcadia, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Look Back in Anger In Arcadia, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Look Back in Anger, the women characters play distinct roles in the dramas. However, the type of roles, the type of characters portrayed, and the purpose the women’s roles have in developing the plot and themes vary in each play. As demonstrated by The Importance of Being Earnest and Look Back in Anger, the majority of women’s roles ultimately reflect