‘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.
Clearly the way to get beautiful women is to ignore them, perhaps mistreat them" (272). The ad Kilbounre is describing is similar to the picture in the Bebe ad, and she is trying to make women see just how degrading these images are. The woman in the Bebe ad is very desperately attempting to get the man's attention by leaning on him and focusing her attention on him, but he doesn't seem interested. The image is posed like that to show superiority and power that men supposedly have over women. This teaches women that they need to constantly dote on the man, whether he pays attention or not.
How does Andrea Levy explore the themes of discrimination and prejudice through the distinctive voices within her unique characters? Andrea Levy’s novel Small Island encompasses the themes of discrimination and prejudice through the distinctive voices of her characters. Through Levy’s extensive depth of characterization, divides within post World War two England are evident. Her book conveys the divide through the use of both Jamaican and English characters, contrasting not only the injustice and hardships faced by the ‘black’ society but also highlighting the divide within class due to the colour of one’s skin. Through the use of monologues through the characters of Hortense, Gilbert and Queenie Levy is able to segregate the individual characters points of view, exploring the themes of discrimination and prejudice.
The Rights of a Metaphoric Flower In Julie Lechevsky’s poem Dandelion published in 2001, Lechevsky conveys the theme of a lack of equality and social acceptance symbolized by the mistreatment of the dandelion. Lechevsky focuses mainly on the LGBT Movement; a popular movement, sparked from the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s, continuing in today’s society. The title hints to an annoyance or nuisance to the public as dandelions can come in the form of invasive weeds in driveways or gardens. The title also conveys the theme of homosexuality. The dandelion itself is “symbol for specific sexual behaviors – homosexuality and bisexuality – due to its androgynous form” (Andrea Frownfelter 30).
Do you agree that Shakespeare presents Beatrice and Katherina as “offending against society’s expectations about women”? The idea that both Beatrice and Katherina offend against society’s expectations of women in the plays Much Ado About Nothing and The Taming of the Shrew is open to personal interpretation. We must take into account which society it is we are suggesting they are offending against, if we are judging it on Shakespearean society’s expectations we could, in theory, agree with the statement, due to the fact that at that time, women were largely expected to be submissive, quiet and respectful to the superior sex, males. However, it would not be correct to say that Beatrice and Katherina offend against modern day expectations of women. Further to this, it would also depend on at which point in the play we are making our judgement.
However, the idea of women being unequal to men is quickly dispelled by Webster who appears to mock the misogynistic characters of the play and indeed, very possibly the misogyny of society as a whole at the time. This is most apparent through his evolution of Vittoria as a character and also a symbol of the downfall of sexism. This is most striking when considering Flamineo’s comment that “[perfumes, when chafed] expresseth virtue, fully, whether true, or else adulterate.” Portraying a key theme throughout the play of a true nature disguised beneath a thin veneer of sweet nothings. This facade of Vittoria’s is first revealed to the audience through her manipulation of Bracciano in her dream sequence. Whereby her constant play on the word “yew/you” (“both were
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.
While she points out data and statistics to support her opinion, the factual information used to validate her ideas is flawed. Pollitt compels us to listen to her rant on the inadequacy of society by appealing to our sense of guilt but the information provided does not back up her opinions. In her article, Pollitt claims that society cares less about crimes against women than it does men. Some of her theories are statements that haven't been well established. For example, Pollitt says, “She was a woman killed by a man because she was a woman.” She never uses any facts to support this idea.
During her trail scene, she is accused of being a whore and it is at this point in the play that she gains a voice. In this scene Vittoria exploits the constraints held over women by men. She refused to listen those talking in Latin, “I will not have any accusations clouded/ in a strange tongue” and begins to personate masculine virtue. As Vittoria speaks she is damned because she breaks her silence, her bad reputation is her ‘public fault’. A women who publicly speaks ultimately becomes a public women and is guilty of public sexuality: she is publicly accused of being a whore in this scene.
Through the use of symbolism, allusion, and derisive diction Rexroth portrays how a strong belief, although seemingly righteous, may in turn be detrimental to one’s potential as it allows for the human desire for indulgence to subdue the individual. Rexroth uses clearly scathing language within “Vitamins and Roughage” to portray contempt towards the conduct of the Californian country club privileged class, and to emphasize how their ways are their weakness. After painting the humble beauty of the “daughters of California” (2) (“daughters”, specifically, as women are the ones who give birth to and notably influence the following generations), Rexroth describes the class’ humanist belief as “reluctant” (3), and then portrays their actions as barbarous, “Drive into their skulls with tennis balls” (4). He shows that the belief is a strong center within the class, and how their country club pastime of tennis has seemingly no substance despite the core of humanism being self-bettering. Rexroth continues to use derisive diction in the form of sarcasm in lines seven and eight as he repeats the word “special” in regards to the intellect of the class, thus implying that the class is pompous, while in