In both poems gender conflict is demonstrated between through the emotion of betrayal in a relationship. For example in Les Grands Seignurs she talks about “little woman” which could show the great depth of thought about how she feels towards men. The word “a toy, a plaything” suggests that’s once she got married she has became powerless and feels like she is a toy, this shows her betrayal as when you get married you expect the marriage to be fantastic and not to feel like a toy. In contrast, Medusa also demonstrates this when she says “wasn’t I beautiful?” this Is effective as I can infer that she feels insecure about her looks. It also suggests that she misses her past through the use of a rhetorical question which makes the reader feel sympathy for her.
She objectifies her body as a “hot topic,” and she uses phrases such as “my topic with back problems" (490) to describe the problem based on her personal experiences. In his essay, Stephen King explains the reasons why our society enjoys the horror movie genre, despite it’s grotesque and horrifying nature. In a humorous justification, King claims that if we are all insane, and that “sanity becomes just a matter of degree” (461). By using self-deprecating humor in “The Female Body” and “Why We Crave Horror Moves”, both writers can illustrate the serious undertone of their arguments in a more presentable manner. In both essays, Atwood and King use sarcasm to make subtle arguments about the state of society and its incongruent nature.
Despite common belief that Ophelia and Gertrude merely serve as subservient, foil characters among the men in the play, many critics see strong glimmers of feminism within the two. Many feel that the weaknesses in the women are highlighted solely to take attention away from the atrocities that the men commit. In other words, the men fear the weak, feminine characteristics within themselves, so they project the image of promiscuity onto the females in order to secrete their masculine bloodshed. This is found evident in Hamlet’s reaction to Polonius’ death in his infamous scene with Gertrude, where he attempts to “speak daggers to her, but use none.” (3-2-378) Upon the murder of Polonius, Gertrude’s "supposed sin is made to overshadow his actual sin and somehow to justify it." Moreover, it’s only when Ophelia dies that she is finally able to escape the “whore” image that the men in the play had branded her with.
Both men and women have evolved retention strategies to deter mates from infidelity. On the females behalf his includes threats to the other woman for example, bad mouthing. Verbal possession signals; these indicate to other women that the man us taken. Crying is also used as a mate retention strategy as it makes the male return thus encouraging proximity and protection. Speaking in terms of the male, he exhibits behaviour such as direct guarding, in which a male is especially vigilant to their mate in order to restrict her sexual autonomy.
The shared opinion by the men on the ranch is that they think ‘Curley’s married… a tart’ and that she is ‘giving men the eye’. Steinbeck uses this technique to create a biased opinion and set up the thoughts that men had of women in those days, calling her a ‘tart’ makes the reader think that she is unfaithful or prone to be, causing a disliking towards her. However given the fact that this is coming from gossip the reader realises it may be slightly exaggerated. Curley’s ‘glove fulla Vaseline’ make us pity Curley’s wife as it objectifies her as nothing but a sexual property to someone, which links in with her only ever being referred to as ‘Curley’s wife’ showing us that she is nothing but Curley’s property as she remains nameless throughout the whole novel. Even though we see a sense of power with Curley, we are then brought to the idea that she is ‘giving men the eye’ which makes us dislike her for we assume then that she is being unfaithful and portraying her as a floozy.
Carol Ann Duffy describes Medusa as a bitter woman, who has been betrayed by the man she loved. The poet creates the reader’s reaction to medusa’s character through a direst address to the reader. Rhetorical questions like ‘Are you terrified?’ and ‘Wasn’t I beautiful?’ bring the reader unto immediate contact with Medusa. Furthermore commands like ‘Be terrified’ and ‘Look at me now’ are used to build fear and allow the reader o experience her rage. This is just one method used to create the reader’s reaction to Medusa.
The readers decide whether Lady Macbeth is a supportive or a contrary wife, as Shakespeare exhibits her as an evil character as she continuously uses negative language throughout the play giving her an overpowering presence on stage. Lady Macbeth’s character contradicts with the roles of women in the Elizabethan Era as they were regarded as their husband’s possessions and weren’t entitled to an opinion. A stereotypical Elizabethan woman was expected to be innocent, gentle and dutiful as they were inferior to men. In the same way the lady from the lab presents her desires through a dramatic monologue that runs throughout Robert Browning’s poem. The use of this allows the reader to be involved in the description of the situation that the lady is currently undergoing, and this is simply her cheating ‘Lover’.
And also direct guarding which can be shown by a male monopolising the female’s time at a party which also prevents infidelity and cuckoldry. Cuckoldry is when a female deceives their male partner that they child they are investing their resources in is their own when really the child is a result of the females sexual infidelity. This is therefore argued why males aggressively use their mate-retention strategies to avoid this reproductive cost. Another example of mate-retention and violence is Buss and Shackelford’s study of mate retention tactics in married couples. It was found that men were more likely to use debasement which is doing what the female wants etc.
Lady Macbeth’s disposition brings to the fore many themes concerning gender, including; the definition of manhood and alternatively femininity, the role of women in the play highlighted through the characters of Lady Macbeth and the Witches, and the synonymy between masculinity and cruelty. Through key scenes in Macbeth, particularly Act 1, Scene 5 (Norton), Lady Macbeth’s gender is explored as she indicates that she must compensate for her husbands lack of masculine characteristics and thus propel him to commit Duncan’s murder. Similarly, the ambiguity of the Witches gender is reiterated through their very own being- a violation of how women were expected to behave. Act 1, Scene 5 introduces the audience to Lady Macbeth’s indifference to the feminine qualities not only of herself, but also those of which her husband possesses. Lady Macbeth decidedly usurps the dominant role because she feels her husband “is too full o’ the milk of human kindness” (i.v.16).
Shakespeare presents the stranglehold that men have over women and furthers the notion that men view women as items to be controlled in Messina culture. The characterisation of Hero can be seen as offensive to many female critics as Hero’s willingness to be ruled by male figures ’I will do any modest office, my lord, to help my cousin to a good husband’(2/1/346) presents how the Elizabethan society expects obedience from women and Hero helps promote this ideology. However, Leonato’s treatment of Hero addresses how gender relationships, even between family members are highly suggestive of harm. When Claudio slanders Hero, Leonato exclaims ‘vanquish’d the resistance of her youth and made defeat of her’ (4/1/45-46). This is pitifully sad,