However one could also argue that Larkin seems to justify violence against women by suggesting that access to women is something men have been unfairly deprived of. This becomes evident in the first stanza where Larkin presents the girl in ‘white satin’ suggesting her purity and virginity. One could disagree with this statement and interpret the de-feminizing of women differently. It could be suggested that Larkin combines masculinity and femininity together, ‘moustached lips’, to show his view that men and women should be viewed more equally in society. However I disagree with this alternative interpretation as I feel Larkin tries to portray the attacks ‘snaggle-toothed’ and boss-eyed’ are sadistic and grotesque but he does not disagree with
In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are numerous examples of failed relationships throughout the novel which supports the statement that “love is presented as an unobtainable fantasy”. One example of a failed relationship in The Great Gatsby is the affair between Tom Buchanan and his mistress Myrtle Wilson. Their affair is based on mutual exploitation as Tom uses Myrtle for sex while Myrtle receives gifts and money in return. The fact that Myrtle believes that Tom will leave Daisy and marry her is a clear example of unobtainable love as Tom does not see Myrtle as a person but rather as a sexual object. This is made clean by his degrading treatment of Myrtle at one of their parties, when he breaks her nose for mentioning his wife's name.
‘Although we condemn Vittoria’s wickedness, we also reluctantly admire her.’ Consider Vittoria’s role in the play in light of this comment. Sigmund Freud coined the Madonna-Whore Complex, a condition where men identify women as either saintly virgin Madonnas or sexual “whores”. This can apply to Vittoria in The White Devil who could be seen as the whore in the complex, therefore suggesting that she is should not be admired as she is wicked. In a society that was focused on women being virtuous and chaste, Vittoria’s adulterous affair with Brachiano shows her wickedness, as sexual promiscuity was an extremely serious crime. Their affair is the catalyst for the murders and betrayal within the play.
Annabella’s claim to be a part of ‘a wretched, woeful woman’s tragedy’ offers no solace to the other women in the play as she bought her punishment on herself. To what extent does the play as a whole appear to criticise or endorse the misogynistic attitudes shown by so many of the characters? T’is Pity she’s a Whore is undoubtedly a play that can be characterised by the sexism present in it, particularly in terms of the negativity associated with female sexuality. Ford presents misogyny through women and love, women and sex and the male advancement, but what is unclear is whether or not he endorses such an attitude or criticises it. 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.
It is rumoured that Othello has slept with Emilia “he’s done my office”. The offence not being the emotional betrayal that modern society would take from an affair but rather the seizure of his property. By using the term “office” and also saying in another part of the play “leapt into my seat” he commodifies Emilia just as Othello and Brabantio do to Emilia. Also, Emilia by obtaining the handkerchief is useful to Iago but in the grand scheme of things is secondary to his grand schemes. Evidenced by the contempt he shows for her throughout the
A Feminist Critique of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” (June 2009) “Even if they disagree about other issues, all feminists believe patriarchal ideology works to keep men and women confined to traditional gender roles so male dominance may be maintained. Utilizing the precepts of Feminist criticism, it could be argued “The Great Gatsby” promotes a thinly veiled patriarchal agenda. Through Fitzgerald’s treatment of the three women in “Gatsby”, as well as masking the
By having sex to rebel against the mind-controlling Youth Movement’s talks about pro-creational sex, Julia goes against the Party because “sexual privation induces hysteria…and could be transformed into war-fever” (822). Sex poses danger to the Party, and because the Party outlaws it, Julia becomes an outsider. Unlike Winston and Julia, Parsons transforms from an outsider who hated Big Brother to an insider after staying in “the place where there is no darkness” (757). The place Parson transforms in refers to the room in the Ministry of Love in which torture alters people’s beliefs. Parson originally holds the belief that evil exists inside the Party, but he changes his beliefs to a pro-Party stance, even going as far as to thanking the Party for saving him.
Modern context in where social movement and increasing gender and equality threaten the traditional male dominance may be directed on those woman who challenge the power of a man and the status (e.g. career women), as well as towards women who are alleged as using their sexual appeal to gain power over men. However, sexual reproduction and the dependency and intimacy that man have on women and the domestic fulfillment of women. These roles create a dependency and intimacy between the two counterbalances the sexist hostility with a subjectively benevolent view of women. As per the 22-item ambivalent sexism Inventory (ASI; Glick & Fiske, 1996) initiated and validated in six
A patriarchy is defined as a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it. Such systems currently exist in several forms and areas around the world; however, the most common place for these patriarchies is in our literature. Men are distorted by patriarchy both in being socially labeled as aggressive but, also shamed as they look into the mirror and see themselves. Shakespeare uses polarizing examples of feminism in Hamlet. He depicts women as completely sexual creatures and also devalues women in the eyes of men.
Her actions ultimately lead to the murder of her first husband Camillo, her sexual presence and beauty creating jealousy and envy in the men that meet her. Vittoria is not an innocent character, but she is a product of women’s social limitations in the patriarchal society Webster has chosen to set the play in. Vittoria is undoubtedly the central character of the novel, the events throughout are as a result of her liaison with Brachiano, sparking a journey of murder and treachery. The title of the book ‘The White Devil’ describes Vittoria well, and helps display that she is not an innocent character. Being compared to the devil in a novel set in a heavily catholic country shows that she is evil, and the subtitle ‘The Tragedy of Paulo Giordano Ursini, Duke of Brachiano, With the Life and Death of Vittoria Corombona the famous Venetian Curtizan’ supports this.