In Alice’s case, her characteristics and values have been drastically influenced by what her family has been through in the past. An example of the influence of past lives on the behaviors of family members is the relationship between Alice’s mother and her grandmother. There is great conflict between the two of them during Alice’s childhood because her grandmother has such high expectations of Alice’s mother that she finds difficult to fulfill. Alice’s grandmother is an old fashioned Chinese woman, who believes that the wife of the house must bring honor to her family by perfecting all domestic duties. Juggling four children, cooking, cleaning and adjusting to a new society puts pressure on Alice’s mother.
The Women of Waknuk The Chrysalids by John Wyndham illustrates women differently towards their husbands, and their family members. Women in Waknuk are pressured to be perfect. Most likely women like Elias Strorm’s wife, who was a beautiful young lady. Elias Strorm’s strict ways turned his wife into a withered, grey woman, who was almost glad to die one year after David’s father was born. This explains that such a society stifles life.
It is evident that Tan’s mother is considered by the society as inferior because of her broken English. Even her daughter was first ashamed of her due to the fact that she cannot speak good English that is understood by many people in the society. However, the significance of “Mother Tongue” in our lives is the overriding theme in the article. From the beginning, Tan struggles with her two different worlds. Being born in China but living in America, she seems ashamed of her roots and that is why she is embarrassed when her mother speaks broken English (Tan 142-146).
Vulnerable mothers that do not finish getting their education become discouraged and loose the motivation and drive to tackle the oncoming challenges that life brings, creating for them another barrier on the micro level; it being a financial barrier. “Poverty and economic loss diminish the capacity for supportive, consistent, and involved parenting and render parents more vulnerable to the debilitating effects of negative life events” (Vonnie C. McLoyd, 1990 p.311). Not being financially stable brings on a lot of stress that impacts the relationship between the mother and child. Education has a large impact on a person’s life and it can change it for the better.
Women in Late Imperial China In Chinese history, women were usually considered useless and foolish. They were never to be respected from other people, sometimes even their husbands and relatives. And in some circumstances, they were even considered a problem. In the book “Chinese Civilization” by Buckley Ebrey, he gave us some examples according to the authors from the twelfth century who took fresh look at women. During the sections, all the stories were chosen from Song dynasty, one of the well-known dynasty in Chinese history, and a lot of important events happened during that period such as, the famous minister and literati Wang Anshi who took reforms.
Therefore, Maria was an innocent victim of the French corruption that nicknamed her Madame Deficit despite she often gave examples of almsgiving. As Campan observed in her Memoirs of Maria Antoinette, when she married the dauphin, Maria Antoinette was a frightened adolescence who had to defend herself from the enemies of the court. And it was exactly “the mistreatment undergo everyday that made her decide to enjoy life, organize parties, look beautiful and avoid the senseless rule of the French etiquette.”12 Those logical wishes for a 19 year old were used by pamphlets as a way to damage even more the reputation of Maria Antoinette. In fact they exaggerated by assuring that “in one day Maria was able to spend more money than a thousand peasants living in Paris.”13 This was a pure calumny. Though it must be admitted that when Maria Antoinette became queen she refused to understand the privileges that came with the position, she was not the responsible for the poverty and the high inflation of France.
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”.
In many early Chinese portraits, women were often depicted as weak and fragile individuals. The physical weakness opened them to the hostility of men and slowly became a subject of family violence. In Zhou dynasty, when a husband struck his wife, no charge was pressed upon the man; whereas when a woman struck another man, she was to be punished and humiliated. In addition, because of their physical attractiveness and sexuality, women were thought as a form of evil that could potentially lure man into ruins. Many books draws on a historical context in which Daji, the concubine of the last king of Shang, lured the king into being obsessed with her and therefore, dilapidated country’s affairs.
Maxim de Winter hates his wife very much as she was a profligate woman. Rebecca had secret relationships with many other men including ger cousin. She threatened de Winter and forced him to accept the situation and promised to play as a perfect wife. When she was diagnosed as cancer, she cheated de Winter by saying that she had a child with her cousin and almost made de Winter kill her. She was finally died of an accident, but continued to bother him even after he had married the heroin.
Once one thing goes wrong you’re scared to try it again. When Janie went through two marriages where they controlled her, where she had no freedom, and where they both ended badly, we can understand why she is hesitant. After Janie and Teacake got married she had all the fears and doubts in the world, especially after he stole her money. But after returning from gambling the money away with almost double of it back she realized she wanted to be a part of everything Teacake did. “…Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love.