A modern audience may perceive Jane marrying a disabled Mr. Rochester means the loss of her independence. However the Victorian context of this novel illuminates the normality of a wife committing and obeying her husband. When Jane marries Mr. Rochester she commits to to being “(his) neighbour, (his) nurse, (his) housekeeper”. This indicates complete devotion to Mr. Rochester; putting herself in the position of his “housekeeper” immediately rejects all independence she recently inherited. Jane’s new wealth, due to her uncle’s death, allows Jane to be truly independent, “I am independent, sir, as well as rich: I am my own mistress”.
Being surrounded by people has proven time and time again to ease pain and provide comfort to those who need it. In the novel The Secret Life of Bees Lily heals from experiencing her mother’s death, the racism against Rosaleen, and the tyranny of her father with the support of others. Trying to overcome these obstacles by herself her efforts would be futile. In the house of the three beekeepers, Lily finds comfort in the hospitality of August, “…August befriends Lily, but not in the ways of the father. She does not deliver edicts and punishment like an Old Testament god or T. Ray; instead, she lets Lily find her own way in her own time to the facts of her mother’s death”.
“A White Heron”, “Desiree’s Baby, and “A New England Nun” are short stories, which prove that not all women in the nineteenth century conform totally to social expectations of their time. All three short stories show that the environment in which the women lived drove them to their independent choices or enabled them to rebel against social expectations of the time. Sylvia’s love of her environment with the nature and animals enabled her to resist the hunter by asserting her independence. Louisa resists social expectations because she loves her domesticity, freedom, and order. Desiree’s dependence on her husband and her unloving environment drove her to her own freedom and independence.
Kate Chopin in The Awakening shows significance of Edna’s suicide by having her death location at the same place as her awakening. Chopin writes the ending so ambiguous to highlight the fact that Edna drowns herself. Edna’s suicide results are attempts of her trying to choose the type of female that she wants to be in the society that she is in, which this leads to her defeat of her life to the sea. I feel that Edna finally surrenders herself to the sea. This would have been out of her frustration and pathetic state of her being.
Bah!” (26). Mademoiselle had the independence that Edna wants; when she plays she is free from all troubles and despair. Whereas, Edna can paint but still has her children and husband Leonce when she is finished to take care of. The two women share a common interest freedom. Mademoiselle sees this potential in Edna but knows that Edna must first grow into an independent woman and seek the freedom on her own.
Her only solution was to commit suicide. Society’s pressure determines everything in life. It determines what is acceptable and what is not and influences our decisions. To live in Grand Isle, Edna had become a victim to these pressures. In the novel,
Because of this, Cleopatra could get out of him whatever she wants; even the assassination of her sister, Arsinoe; who she thinks betrayed her. So when Antony needed money, Cleopatra could be generous give it to him as long as it helped her as well. Antony's relationship with the Roman allegiance ended. Octavian then declared war against Cleopatra. Cleopatra lost the war badly, because of this; Octavian declared that she will be treated like a slave in her own country.
Another difference is the way that the husbands treat the two women. Mrs. Mallard “had loved him-sometimes” (Chopin 16). This shows that Mrs. Mallard did not completely oppose her husband and everything that he did. However, Mrs. Hale says, “No, Wright wouldn’t like the bird-a thing that sang. She used to sing.
These are surprisingly simple questions to answer, self ownership is not a hard concept to grasp. Self Ownership is the concept that you and I as sovereign beings have full ownership and responsibility over our bodies and our minds. In Self ownership lyes the truest and most fundamental ideals of freedom-- do as you wish as long as your actions do not impede on the freedoms of others . This is a concept that many people believe we already practice in our society, but this is not the case. There are many laws that inhibit us as the owners of our bodies from having the freedom to do as we please.
Freedom is a topic which is strongly debated on and is entwined with the ideas of liberalism and other ideologies (Anderson, 2012, What is Liberty, para.1).Freedom can be divided into two sub- sections known as negative freedom and positive freedom (Heywood, 2007; 324). Negative freedom is the exemption from any external influences which include the exemption from any interference (Pettit, 1989:1). Negative freedom thus means the absence of external forces on an individual which results in the individual being able to pursue decisions as he/ she desires. Positive freedom is the possibility where a person can act in such a way to achieve an identifiable goal; this would include personal development, self- realization or even self- mastery (Heywood, 2007; 324). This essay will criticise negative and positive freedom, outlining the concepts of them and their relevance to the concept of democracy.