Therefore, in analysing the power of Plath’s symbolism within The Munich Mannequins and applying a Feminist perspective to the poem (although Plath’s role within and around Feminism is extremely ambiguous), perhaps one might be able to understand her writing and the social inequality she presents even further. Plath begins her poem by showing the disdain with which childless women may be treated. “Perfection is terrible, it cannot have children”. This phrase is a
Anne Bradstreet’s publication, ‘The Author to Her Book”, dating back to 1678 is an atypical poem that accurately depicts the meaning of a controlling metaphor. Through the use of devices such as tone, diction, and characterization, Bradstreet is able to convey her complex attitude of the public’s criticism of her “unfinished” work. As early as the first sentence, Bradstreet already expresses a critical tone in her writing. By making use of the words “ill-formed” and “feeble” it is easy to understand that the author is not comfortable with her own work as she views it as an actual pre-mature baby. In addition, she portrays similar tones such as desperation and mournfulness.
There was one particular quote in the novel that seemed out of place in my opinion. The quote depicts women in a very negative way. The beginning of the quote is as followed: “Experience will teach you the real characters of the beings who chiefly compose your species” (86). The statement was made by a male character from the novel. Then the quote continues and states: “You will find them, [women] a set of harpies, absurd, treacherous, and deceitful—regardless of strong obligations, and mindful of slight injuries…” (86).
This is best encapsulated in the debate as to whether Annabella can claim to be part of a “wretched, woeful woman’s tragedy” if her mistreatment was indeed her own fault. The question of love and its moralities is a large one in the play, considering the taboo nature of incest. However, what causes an even bigger discussion is perhaps the representation of women in light of love. Despite preconceptions of incest, it is undeniable that at one point or another, we as an audience sympathise with the lovers Giovanni and Annabella. Though, upon closer analysis of their interactions, it becomes obvious that their filial ties are not the only issue with their relationship; Giovanni makes it clear to Annabella that she has limited choice in their union as he declares “that you must either love, or I must die.” Previously to such a statement, Annabella had not expressed her love to such a degree, but it’s almost as if he blackmails her into believing she loves him, as her sisterly love for him would mean she would do anything for him not to kill himself.
Margaret Atwood’s speech “Spotty Handed Villainesses” explores Patriarchy, feminism and “bad” women in literature. She uses wit and humour to disarm the audience and often uses anti-climatic statements to grab the audience’s attention. Margaret Atwood’s speech resonates through time with her critical study of feminism in a social context and the impact that feminism has had on literature. In the speech Atwood explores the moral dichotomy that exists in Women at the time. She shows how women can only be categorised as either an angel or a whore.
• How is the main argument supported in the article? The writer is exposing her own experience having a mentally retarded brother; she develops a story on how her family suffered because of him. The writer also expresses that people should have the power to choose between abortions or not once a fetus is diagnosed with a disability.
She believes that feminists and feminism attacks marriage and women who believe in marriage and simply being a good mother and wife. An example O’Beirne uses to express these attacks is an excerpt from a book call “The Future of Marriage” by Jessie Bernard. In the excerpt Bernard says that marriage simply holds women back: “Being a housewife makes women sick.” “To be happy in a relationship which imposes so many impediments on her, as traditional marriage does, women must be slightly mentally ill.” O’Beirne says that the feminist movement did nothing but confuse gender roles and weaken the family structure that was established. I personally am not quite sure which side to take so I’m sitting on the fence. I believe that feminists and their movement did do a great deal of good for our society as a whole.
Unfortunately, there are several different reasons that conclude why abortions are appropriate in certain cases. A few examples depend on one’s financial stability, age, environment, and their position of dependency. As discussed in the previous paragraph, I discussed the different reasons in which several women feel obligated to get abortions. For the women who go through with their pregnancies, who are not financially stable or who are irresponsible, results in the neglection of their children, foster care or put up for adoption, led into prostitution, and the abuse of drugs and alcohol. It results in a life time of misery and suffering for the child all because their parents never had their best interest at heart.
Appendix G Peer Review Checklist* What is the main point of this paper? | Abortion has been and always will be a controversial issue | What is the greatest strength of this paper? | The writer used facts and also a good amount of personal opinion in this paper. I also like that the author attempted to explain concepts in two ways to help the audience understand the material better. | What material does not seem to fit the main point of the paper or does not seem to be appropriate for the audience?
More precisely, she argues for the conclusion that abortion is sometimes permissible; she grants that there are scenarios in which obtaining an abortion would be immoral. What is especially novel is the manner in which Thomson constructs her argument. She begins the essay by pointing out that the debate over abortion seems to many people to hinge on whether or not the fetus is a person. Most feel that if we could only determine the answer to that puzzle, the implications for abortion would be clear; namely, that if fetuses are persons then abortions must be impermissible, and that if fetuses are not persons then abortions must be permissible. Thomson, though, thinks that reasoning in this way is misguided, or at very best is incomplete.