The two texts present a woman from a disadvantaged point of view and how she struggles to establish a foothold in a male-dominated society. In Hamlet, analysis of the plight of women falls on Ophelia and Gertrude. The two women endure chauvinistic suffering and finally break loose. Gertrude transgresses the patriarchal bounds of femininity by marrying soon after her husband’s death, much to Hamlet’s chagrin. Consequently, he refers to her as “frail” (Act 1, Scene 2, line 146).
In “Pathedy of Manners” by Ellen Kay, the character seems to represent lack of satisfaction, lost opportunity and regret. The poem paints for the readers, an image of a girl that had it all. She was Phi Beta Kapa in college, smart, pretty and sought after by men. She even went on to get married, “They had an ideal marriage and ideal but lonely children in an ideal house.” This shows that the children were not given much attention. Not even the children are happy in the “ideal house.” Later the poem says: “I saw her yesterday at forty-three, her children gone, her husband one year dead, toying with plots to kill time and re-wed illusions of lost opportunity."
The author illustrates to all the women how lonely and dependently women have in the family. In the story, Calixta’s husband doesn’t quite recognize her sexual desire. For that reason, Calixta and Alcee experienced the passionate moment while her husband is away with their sons. “When he touched her breasts they gave themselves up in quivering ecstasy, inviting his lips. Her mouth was a fountain of delight.
In both poems gender conflict is demonstrated between through the emotion of betrayal in a relationship. For example in Les Grands Seignurs she talks about “little woman” which could show the great depth of thought about how she feels towards men. The word “a toy, a plaything” suggests that’s once she got married she has became powerless and feels like she is a toy, this shows her betrayal as when you get married you expect the marriage to be fantastic and not to feel like a toy. In contrast, Medusa also demonstrates this when she says “wasn’t I beautiful?” this Is effective as I can infer that she feels insecure about her looks. It also suggests that she misses her past through the use of a rhetorical question which makes the reader feel sympathy for her.
Brenda is the typical “invisible woman” who is unexpectedly discarded by her husband following a life of sacrifice. Always daddy’s girl, Kate’s relationship with her father has always been more important to her and her anger misdirects towards Brenda. When Brenda’s husband fails to return for dinner one night, her emotionally estranged daughter Kate appears in his stead, armed with an email declaring his love for another (much younger) woman, as well as his intention never to return. Always daddy’s girl, Kate’s relationship with her father has always taken precedence and her anger misdirects towards Brenda. Left to deal with his abandonment, Kate is hurt by his disappearance, but Brenda rediscovers her own voice, buried for decades
Jessie and her mother portray a bizarre situation of illness and alienation in ‘Night Mother. Jessie lives with her mother as middle-aged divorcee, and is bound to the house due to epilepsy. Even still, Jessie has assumed the role as care-taker for her mother. The audience understands her plan of suicide from early on, however the two characters behave ordinarily throughout this extraordinary situation (Norman). Jessie’s loneliness is hinted at throughout the play, most notably her brother giving her the same wrong-sized gift every year.
Short Analysis of Jane Eyre , Chapter 21 This chapter shows the developments of some major characters who influenced Eyre's childhood, making it miserable. Also, it can be called reward and punishment chapter because everyone gets what he/she deserves; Mrs. Reed's spoiled son John has committed a suicide, so her health deteriorates, "her life has shorten by trouble." And then a spasm constricted her mouth for an instant." P. 290. And when she passes away, no one feels sad or pity for her.
Although Mrs. Mallard loved her husband the overwhelming thought of a life without him brought about emotions that she had buried inside which was a sense of freedom. The theme of this story comes together as Mrs. Mallard descends to her room to be alone. Mrs. Mallard was a sickly women afflicted with heart trouble. Her ailment was known to her family and friends. When the word come down that her husband had been in a train accident and feared dead her family and friends knew to break the news to her as easily as they possibly could.
Louise was grieving and at the time she felt a joy from the feeling of independence, but she was afraid to show it for a while because she knows it’s not right to feel like that. Her marriage wasn’t a bad marriage but even the best marriages can be a burden on someone. The window that was open in her room expresses the idea of freedom and chasing after something you want. First, when Louise’s husband dies she is overwhelmed with sadness and grief “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone.
Charles Bovary, who is a second class country doctor, falls in love with Emma, the daughter of one of his patients and gets married to her. Since young, Emma thinks that marriage and love are the remedies of her predicament. However, after getting married to Charles, she realizes that the marriage failed to fulfill her expectations. After she goes to an extravagant ball, she begins to dream constantly of a more stylish life. Depression overwhelms her when she evaluates her fantasies to the everyday village life, and eventually her apathy makes her ill.