Both women are contrasting representations of Hedda. From the opening of the play her [Hedda’s] relationship with Aunt Julie is a strained one. Hedda views Aunt Julie as a symbol of what she herself loathes and could at the same time could quite easily become. Aunt Julie epitomises the idea of the domestic, dutiful woman with no true purpose of her own. She instead finds her purpose through the lives of the male characters and the arguably mediocre success that Tessman has had.
In the novels, women are treated like second class citizens when compared to men and are expected to be content with this Victorian idea of patriarchal domination. In Jane Eyre, Jane develops throughout the novel moving from Thornfield to Gateshead, to Lowood and to Marsh End. Each location challenges her identity and her integrity as she desperately tries to maintain her dignity with the different conflicts she is confronted with. The three main male characters in the novel are Edward Rochester, Mr.Brocklehurst and St. John Rivers. Each male, in their own way, continuously get in her way of trying to achieve equality by oppressing her into a submissive position.
Charlotte Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a work that criticizes the limitations, status, and ability of 19th century women as effective second-class citizens through the narration of a woman’s psychological deterioration. Through the literal and metaphorical narration carried through the work, Gilman cries for a change in gender ideologies prevalent in the late 1800s and greater female empowerment beyond the domestic sphere of society. The narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” suffers irreparable mental damage arguably because of her gender and established gender roles and ideologies in the late 19th century. It is important to note that the narrator is not a woman who is struggling to make ends meet. Rather, she is depicted as a troubled middle class woman who is in an established, acceptable marriage with a respectable physician.
This concept is also shown in another work of literature, Le Père Goriot written by Balzac. Here we also see the patriarchal figure, Goriot, as weak and emotional. His life is run by his daughters. He gives up everything he has for them and we witness the downfall of his character within society. This weakness shown in Goriot feminizes him and his daughters, which shown to have all the power, are masculinized as far as their relationship with their father.
Assess the fashion industry using the feminist perspective Feminists argue that that in society men oppress women and that women do not have equal rights when compared to men, they argue that the family serves the needs of patriarchy and that we reside in a patriarchal society where males are the dominate sex. Feminists take a critical view on most things in society but a main one being fashion. Feminism itself simplifies down to equality. It is shown to be not about attacking men but improving society and having equal chances between both sexes. It states that many women’s focus is on her wardrobe so they can impress the opposite sex as they feel useless if they fail to impress, they also argue that fashion is a more female dominated area, they show that most of the top fashion designers are male ruled and that Radical Feminists such as Germaine Greer believe that all key societies (including fashion) have been found on patriarchy (ruled by men).
Most analyses of this piece have been from prominent feminists, who targeted the patriarchal structure of the society in the 19th century as the major cause of insanity of the narrator. Some of the most extreme feminist critics have even stepped further to claim that the narrator is initially not ill at all, hinting that the societal bonds of marriage imprisoned and twisted the mind of the poor narrator. Though this claim has not yet been verified, there are indeed several conspicuous signs that showcased societal imprisonment of women in The Yellow Wallpaper. For example, John’s overconfidence of his own medical knowledge led to his misjudgment of the narrator’s condition; whereas societal norms seem to force the narrator to believe in that misjudgment: “If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do? (1.10)” And under these torturing social rules,[change] the narrator, as a women and a wife, has no control over the pettiest details of her life, and she can do nothing for herself except from asking help from men, who dictates her life: “My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing” (1.11) And it is obvious that the chauvinistic ideas during
And what is a greater crime than making women hate themselves for reasons that they cannot change? The “anti-narcissism” that men have made consists of women not liking anything about them and wishing that they were the opposite sex just to get more respect. They don’t have any self-respect for themselves because of the nonsense that the “dominant” males have fed them their whole lives. This makes everything hostile for women and while men are busy controlling what the rules are and what can be published, women are struggling with this internal conflict that they’ll never get far in life because of their sex. Cixous boldly declares that women have been “kept in the dark.” What is this darkness you may ask?
Although critics disagree on how the vastly different gender perceptions within the play are used to portray the theme of women’s power within law and justice, all of their arguments tie back to the fact that the women in the story act as a surrogate for the female society of that time, showing them that they have more power than they realize. Phyllis Mael asserts in "Trifles: The Path to Sisterhood," that the evolution of the women's relationships from acquaintance to co-conspirators illustrates the female psyche. Mael says the she feels the play's "moral dilemma" stresses the inherent differences between male theoretical sense of morality and female sensitive ethical sense which includes "moral problems as problems of responsibility in relationship" (Mael, 282-83). Although the women draw closer to solving the crime as the men, using "abstract rules and rights," make comments that "trivialize the domestic sphere," ethical agreement comes only after Mrs. Peters moves from "acquiescence to patriarchal law" to
The very first descriptions illustrate her initial animus by describing it as “one of those sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic sin” (Perkins 41-42). This is significant for it reflects the narrator’s own presence—she is committing an artistic sin during her marriage by having her engaging imagination and her need to compose. Her husband, John, dislikes this, and as a result, the narrator deliberately feels stifled and has to obscure her writing so that her husband will not know. The narrator is characterized as having a nervous state and is overly protected by her
“The Boarding House”: An Bitter Perspective In “The Boarding House” by James Joyce, Mrs. Mooney is appropriately called “The Madam”. Mrs. Mooney’s unscrupulous outlook on life forces her to become selfish in her actions. As a result, Mrs. Mooney is viewed as an intimidating and rigid entrepreneur. Mrs. Mooney’s cynical perspective compromises her relationships with others. Mrs. Mooney was previously involved in a dysfunctional marriage to a “shabby stooped little drunkard” (61).