As a result, those people found themselves a little expose and decided to tell their own side story about her. Thus, Yo is described from point of views of different narrators in each chapter creating a unique personality and character of her and providing the readers a unique insight about Yo, the protagonist. The author successfully created a protagonist “who never tells her own story yet one who comes to life vibrantly through the miscellany of impressions and observations that people make about her” (Shuman, “¡Yo!,” par. 2). In this novel, Julia Alvarez manages to capture and express the true feelings of women which deconstructs the stereotypes through Yo.
In the poem “Medusa” gender conflict through control is also illustrated when she says: “a suspicion, a doubt, a jealousy”. This depicts that she feels ownership over her husband and wants him to “be terrified” if he does not obey her commands. However, in “Les Grands Seigneurs” the narrator conveys that after she was “wedded, bedded … a toy, a plaything … wife” she is nostalgic for the first three stanzas to how men were towards her before she was married as she is now powerless. We can depict that there was less gender conflict before she was married. Moreover, in “Medusa” powerlessness is also portrayed when she rhetorically questions herself “Wasn’t I beautiful?
She then compares herself to those who live by society the "right" way, those are perfect people and she is not perfect so she does as she pleases (Lines 105-120). The highlight of that section explain this is where she states "Virinitee is a greet perfection". The Wife of Bath is not perfect but nobody is, her ways of living and doing things come from her sexual desire because in stories it's even said that she would go on these trips and "wonder". Harwood points out that before the Pardoner interrupts there are three points which are consistent, first one being the “wo in marriage” , the second one she insists she may be lawfully marry for sexual fruition and the third “tribulation” debt, and
Life is Nothing but a Hazy Shade of Gray Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” is a short story about two girls, Twyla and Roberta, their relationship and various run ins throughout the course of their lives. Recitatif’s main underlying theme deals with racism. The theme is obviously present, Morrison makes it known that the two girls are of different races, but he intentionally does not define them by their color. This decision forces the reader to come up their own assumptions and ultimately strengthens the message of racism and the understanding of the point that Morrison is trying to make. Toni Morrison gives clues that leads the reader to formulate their own guesses about the girls’ ethnicities by saying that they are “like salt and pepper” (Morrison 140).
Marie de France does this to criticize and combat the societal expectations and inherent inequalities in Norman England. The poem begins by Marie immediately introducing and defending herself as a writer. She declares that in her culture, People should praise anyone who wins admiring comments for herself but anywhere there is a man or a woman of great worth, people who envy their good fortune often say evil things about them. (5-10) This introduction reflects the negativity her society has against female writers. Where Marie de France comes from, many people disagree with women having power through literature.
I learned through our activity that this passage reflects Mishima’s Shinto beliefs, that nature is a force of good. Another important aspect of the novel that I learned during our presentations was gender roles. When we discussed the gender roles of Shintoism, I realized that Hatsue and Shinji’s relationship clearly did not go by the rules and that is why it created so much conflict. This is not something that I immediately grasped during my reading of the novel so learning about Mishima’s strict beliefs and traditional Japanese values made it clear why the characters of Uta-jima gossiped about Shinji and Hatsue so much. Overall, this experience greatly deepened
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.
As one reads the poem “Bedecked”, by Victoria Redel, a red flag is raised about the different approaches to parenting in a situation where a parents son is seemingly more flamboyant then society deems socially acceptable. Redel depicts two different types of mothers. A mother that is more open to her sons desire to be more feminine and a mother who will not accept nor allow such behavior in a son. This is troubling and provokes the reader to think about which mother they would be, and how they truly stand on this political issue. Is a caring mother one that gives into her sons affinity towards female accessories and the like?
Hardy seems always to be making a point about society and the way it treats women. This leaves his books open to social criticism, which is what they received, especially in “Tess of the d'Urbervilles” which was highly criticized, mostly for the overt sexuality within the book, and especially the scene when Tess is raped by Alec D’Urberville, when it is unsure if Tess resisted enough or was seduced by Alec. For a novel from 1891, it is bitingly
The Awakening “The Awakening” is a novel that depicts the life of a woman in a time where women were considered inferior to men and were expected to conform to the ways they were expected to act. Throughout “The Awakening”, Edna Pontellier encounters numerous situations where she is facing problems that goes against the prevailing attitude of society in America at this time in history. The allusions to the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self Reliance”, which discusses individualism of the human being and the importance of independence and non-conformity, contribute to the tone of the story and help the reader relate to what Edna is feeling. The main ideas of this story are the expression of one’s self through individualism, self thought,