Curleys wife, In John Steinbeck’s novel ‘Of Mice and Men, is an example of how the readers perception of a character can change without the character actually changing. Curleys wife is first introduced when Candy describes her to George. Candy says things such as “she got the eye” and goes on to describe her as a woman who likes to look at other men and then finally calls her a “tart”. Through Candy’s words we develop an initial perception of Curley’s wife as flirtatious and promiscuous. This perception is further emphasized by Curley’s Wife’s first appearance in the novel.
When we first meet Curley’s wife, Steinbeck makes her appear very flirtatious and dangerously beautiful. Steinbeck does this by giving her features that are very atrocious but yet lures you such as ‘full, rouged lips’, ‘red fingernails’, and ‘red mules’. The word ‘red’ symbolises many associations with sex, lust and seduction. Another quote that would question the reader would be, ‘She’s a jailbait.’ From this quote alone, it evokes the reader of suspicion that she could be the ticket to jail as well as being an object that would foreshadow later in the book. In addition to the previous paragraph, we also know that Curley’s wife is a married woman, a possession of Curley’s.
‘She had full rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, heavily made up,’ which suggests that the author wanted us to presume the worst of her before she’d even spoken and we set ourselves up for her to be a character we feel a lot of resentment for. The fact that her ‘finger nails were red,’ along with ‘red mules’ and ‘red ostrich feathers’ shows us how Steinbeck’s use of colour goes well alongside her sexual appeal. The colour red is used in two ways. One is a strong representation of love or a form of attraction, the other is the inner appeal of sexual preference and seduction. The intention of making the reader perceive her early on as a ‘tart’ foreshadows that something later is going to happen and there could be trouble.
Showing a stronger side to Mrs Aesop, but also a rather childish one. In Litany, the falseness of women lives and discussions are outlined. The child view on women meeting to look through a catalogue of furniture also suggests the material objects that were bought in the catalogue were a way of showing off to one another about their expenses, passing the catalogue. In Litany especially Duffy use of plastic cellophane polyester and the American tan tights illustrates her take on modern women at the time and the falseness that was brought into such an occasion, such as the meeting, unnecessarily. It could also be viewed as the plastic meaning suffocation and overpowering material goods that are not needed but somehow are the most important subjects to these women.
In their day and age these characters would be judged by many factors including social and cultural backgrounds, crimes committed and personal traits. Both of these writers seem to conjure their audience into a state where it compels them to relate to certain characters. Lady Macbeth certainly loses or suppresses her feelings of cowardice. Throughout her appalling invocation to the spirits of evil to “unsex her”, proving her ambition to attain her goal. In Jacobean times women were seen as inferior and even in the Victoria era, thus she required external forces to crush her conscience to allow her to fulfil her ambition.
And swear whatever you wish, and then begin all over again?”(Anouilh, 48). The presence of her masculinity implies that only masculine characters can oppose law. Because she is an undesirable female, who doesn’t follow the rules of womanhood, Anouilh resolves the presence of her character through an inevitable death, to emphasize his contempt with such women. Although male, Haemon portrays female characteristics, being over-emotional and rash, thus being incapable of fulfilling the idealistic male role. An
Here, one can question Huxley's word choice through the feminist lens; the adjective "pneumatic" immediately constructs for readers the violent sexual imagery of the so-named drill. However, one could take from the word that Lenina is filled with air. This in particular seems damning to the female public within the "brave new world". The artificial child-bearing described prior to this extract
A Doll’s House In Henrick Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, the main relationship we see is Nora Helmer and her husband Torvald Helmer’s. Their relationship is seemingly influenced by their era. When first reading the play, one may suggest that the women in this play are victims of this era. As the plot develops, we see that the relationship is also influenced by Nora’s lies, which suggest she was also a victimizer in her relationship, aside from her era. By the end of this play, we see how Nora’s secret changes the relationship between the couple, as she violates the stereotypical role-play as a wife and mother in her era, which generates her inspirational growth.
Insidiously, violently, they have led them to hate women, to be their own enemies, to mobilize their immense strength against themselves, to be the executants of their virile needs. They have made for women an anti-narcissism! A narcissism which loves itself only to be loved for what women haven’t got! They have constructed the infamous logic of anti-love.” I think this paragraph is stating that men have made women despise and doubt themselves when it comes to expressing their knowledge in any form, particularly in literature. And what is a greater crime than making women hate themselves for reasons that they cannot change?
The Friar tries to dissuade Giovanni from commencing the relationship despite there being little effect from his words. Annabella is harshly reprimanded by the Friar, so much so that she sees sense to confess to her sins. Despite her confession however, she is still punished grotesquely towards the end of the play. Giovanni does not confess; instead he sees his actions as necessary to deal with the problem that he is the main cause of. The final line “Who could not say, ‘Tis pity she’s a whore?” can be seen as directed towards her and so she is blamed for everything that has occurred.