Despite being written during patriarchal Jacobean society, the protagonist is a female, which is was highly unusual in those days. Of course this protagonist is Lady Macbeth. Throughout the play, through Lady Macbeth's actions we are forced to believe that she is evil. In contrast, the novel John Steinbeck tells a story of dreams, hopes and loneliness. We are introduced to a majorly significant and complex character, named Curley’s wife.
The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald’s portrayal of the female characters in The Great Gatsby reveals an underlying hatred for women. With reference to appropriately selected parts of the novel, and relevant external contextual information on Fitzgerald’s own experience of, and attitude to women, give your response to the above view. It was in the 1920’s when women become more independent, delegated, and responsible for more things in the world than just keeping the house tidy, as was the mentality back in those days. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a true literary masterpiece based on the tragic life of Jay Gatsby through the eyes of his acquaintance, Nick Carraway. Fitzgerald openly shows his opinion that women generally have low moral qualities, and demonstrates this by the actions and speech illustrated by the three main female characters in the novel; Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Myrtle Wilson.
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.
Since the dawn of man, societal roles and behavior have differed between the sexes. Even in today's modern and progressive society, women continue to be judged more harshly than men for their behavior, particularly when it comes to sexual impropriety. Not only are a woman's actions judged more critically, but within the American society, we often see other women acting as a woman's harshest critics. This societal characteristic is all too pronounced in two literary works: "Daisy Miller: A Study", and "Roman Fever". In both stories, women are painted as the ultimate judge of morality; but the women, not men, seem to be the only ones judged and held accountable to society for their actions.
In The Bloody Chamber Angela Carter reverses gothic traditions so that the males become the victims instead of the females. Consider at least two of the stories in the bloody chamber in the light of this view. The gender constructs of passive, young, virginal woman who are victimised by dominant, strong and wealthy males is a common trait throughout gothic tales including many of Angela Carters short stories from “The Bloody Chamber”. However, Carter received the criticism of “[extracting] latent content, conjuring up a new exotic hybrid” in which she challenges the typical stereotypes of gothic conventions, influenced by her feminist nature. These caused the post modern versions of her stories to adopt dualisms of combining sexual desires with naivety and give alternative interpretations that perhaps the male characters suffered victimisation instead.
There is an example of each in the stories “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen, Casablanca directed by Michael Curtiz, and “Sex without Love” by Sharon Olds (Patick). In all three if these stories, there is a relationship between two individuals who seem to love each other but somehow one or both of the individual’s feelings change and there is no longer love in the relationship. Tillie Olsen’s “I Stand Here Ironing” is an internal story told by the mind of a mother who reflects on choices that she made raising her now struggling daughter, Emily (Shmoop). Like all parents, Emily’s mother is infatuated with her daughter in the early stages of her life. Emily’s mother describes her as “a beautiful baby.
Although she is a ‘woman’, she is considered one of the many infamous murderers and remember her insatiable appetite for power, even at the cost of human life. Not only does modern society show women who behave against these stereotypes, but so do women of all ages. Take for example Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’, and the powerplay between the characters of the Three Witches and Macbeth. The Three Witches are more strong and provoking in character as they tend to dominate power over Macbeth. The Three Witches recklessly deal with their supernatural charms, spells and prophecies which make them seem ridiculous.
Women have always been thought of as the less domineering sex. All through history females have fought the stereotypes of being simple housewives with no greater use then producing babies and maintaining a household. This repression, combined with the social systems of years past has lead woman to feel inferior and naturally acquire an internal dependency toward the males in their lives who are viewed as superior. Many notable characters in literature have carried out the role of this inferior spouse and are no doubt created from the hostility of oppression women have felt for hundreds of years. We see two of these characters in Delia from Zora Neale Hurston’s story “Sweat” and John’s wife in Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s story “The Yellow Wallpaper”.
Ryan Cho Per 1 12/13/11 Women as Objects In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelly, women are perceived as mere objects rather than human beings. They are treated like property, having marriages arranged for them and being adopted as either potential wives or servants. Compared with today’s society, people throughout the novel definitely treasure women just as much as we do now but from a different approach. This causes women in the novel, especially Elizabeth, to become dependent on the people around them. In the novel, women play an important role being highly valued as objects but become passive as a result.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein The Basic Role of Family Mary Shelley's Frankenstein The Basic Role of Family A reckless, opinionated, driven feminist, who changed the face of literature, such is the perception of Mary Shelley. Truth be told, the general population would be correct in their assumptions. However, if they were to delve deeper into the psyche of Mary Shelley, they would be astounded to see the true harsh reality of Mary's existence. The Romantic era which took place between 1770 and 1848 promoted a profound shift in sensibility and a life rooted in the emotions and sentiments. Mary Shelley, rebellious by nature, produced a literary work of art which through gruesome descriptions, bleak dark imagery, and a scary, depressing