A feminist theory approach might have one interpret “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” as a clarion to the sexual ambiguity in the text. As Marilyn French points out re: the witches, “They are female, but have beards,” in itself pointing to the gender ambiguity in the play. (91). French goes on to suggest deeper issues with regard to gender roles in a male dominated society when she notes of women, “They are aggressive and authoritative, but seem to have power only to create petty mischief.” This all seems to suggest that the witches represent members of a society, (read here: women) characterized as having no true power, and with a penchant for wrongdoing. Lady MacBeth’s wish to shed her sexual identity, as seen through the “unsex me here” line, stamps an even greater importance on the notion that traditional male qualities alone are of any
Module A: Comparison of Texts Individuals challenge the values that permeate time, in a manner that is relevant to their society. This rebellion is evident in William Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew and Gil Junger’s film 10 Things I Hate About You whereby Katherina and Kat initially disregard the social expectations for women of their context. The composers portray this comparably, using textual integrity so the women’s misunderstood, shrew-like behavior is suited to their culture and society. This in turn, provokes both characters to experience a transformation of self and their values. In The Taming of The Shrew, Katherina challenges the values and themes of courtship and marriage, dismissing the female etiquette when meeting her suitor.
It also suggests that she misses her past through the use of a rhetorical question which makes the reader feel sympathy for her. In the poems “Medusa” and “Les Grands Seigneurs” both of the poems explore gender conflict through love/relationships and they are both written from a woman’s perspective. In “Les Grands Seigneurs” the character was single and she was able to manipulate men and was “their queen”. We can interpret that she controlled the men through lust. In the poem “Medusa” gender conflict through control is also illustrated when she says: “a suspicion, a doubt, a jealousy”.
In The Bloody Chamber Angela Carter reverses gothic traditions so that the males become the victims instead of the females. Consider at least two of the stories in the bloody chamber in the light of this view. The gender constructs of passive, young, virginal woman who are victimised by dominant, strong and wealthy males is a common trait throughout gothic tales including many of Angela Carters short stories from “The Bloody Chamber”. However, Carter received the criticism of “[extracting] latent content, conjuring up a new exotic hybrid” in which she challenges the typical stereotypes of gothic conventions, influenced by her feminist nature. These caused the post modern versions of her stories to adopt dualisms of combining sexual desires with naivety and give alternative interpretations that perhaps the male characters suffered victimisation instead.
She shows how women can only be categorised as either an angel or a whore. It shows the way that women can only be judged at the time. She also frequently alludes to the “bad” women in literature to show how women could only be categorised in those binary opposites like Lady Macbeth or Eve. She uses rhetorical devices to explain how bad women are needed to disrupt the static order which is Patriarchy. Atwood also shows her opposition to the extreme feminism that existed in her time where feminism was influencing the creation of literature at the time.
Fitzgerald openly shows his opinion that women generally have low moral qualities, and demonstrates this by the actions and speech illustrated by the three main female characters in the novel; Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Myrtle Wilson. His portrayal of them appears to expose a disturbing, misogynistic view of women in the 1920’s. Others would say this is not the case and his approach to how he presents the women has a much deeper meaning therefore implying that Fitzgerald could in fact be a feminist. In my essay I will discuss how I feel that Fitzgerald’s experiences with women are mirrored throughout the novel and undoubtedly display his general ‘underlying hatred’ for the female kind in the Jazz Age through his constant implications of the negative characteristics women possess. Like the central character of The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, Fitzgerald had an intensely romantic imagination; he once called it "a heightened sensitivity to the promises of life."
Female Chauvinist Pigs are women who sexually only objectify other women and themselves. Some women gain empowerment by disciplining oneself from women who are “girly girls”, while simultaneously objectifying such women like going to strip clubs and reading Playboy. Others gain empowerment by objectifying themselves through sexual appeal. Both are an attempt to gain status whether being through the attempt of acting like a male chauvinist or through embodying what society portrays as the ideal object of male desire. As an example, Camille Paglia, in an interview with spin magazine expresses “The people who criticize me, these
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
Until, at the ending one finds out Lady Bertilak was tricking Gawain, the whole time. The two stories, Le Morte d’Arthur and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, compare because one would get the idea to never trust woman, although Lady Bertilak was just tricking him, but, in d’Arthur, Guinevere actually did have an affair with Lancelot, giving King Arthur the right to say, “Never Trust Woman.” At the time, in medieval times, men had the idea of anti-feminism, which is why woman were less dominant; why woman were more scandalous, because they felt the need of having their own
Millay uses the word “distressed” as a connection to the concept that all women are helpless; hence the familiar expression “Damsel in distress” originated in the Arthurian Legends and the idea of chivalry. In this way Millay expresses her detest of the common association between women and inferiority in a clever and innovative fashion. “By all the needs and notion of my kind” (line 2), Millay again mocks the general assumptions made