Especially when she reminisces in the final stanza about the time she was young and beautiful, illustrating her complete lack of confidence. Nevertheless, she is still presented as a foul character who threatens the reader, with the line ‘Be terrified’. The poem also ends with the line ‘Look at me now’ which has a double entendre (double meaning). It could be read as a cry of despair or, as a threat – if you did look at Medusa you would die! This leaves the reader feeling conflicting emotions for the character, probably similar to how Medusa herself feels in the poem.
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”.
This is used in the last line of the poem ‘Bide you with death and sin’; this symbolised her outrage at her sister and her hope that she will pay by going to hell after death. The word ‘Bide’ implies that she will have to live with what she has done, even after death. In contrast, Farmers Bride uses sibilance to emphasise that there are few good point about their relationship; ‘sweet as the wild violets, she, /To her wild self’ this symbolises his love and admiration for her, which is short lived as je cannot get near her. The word ‘wild’ has connotations of unspoilt freedom and rejection of people suggesting that she would rather be with nature than with another person, particularly a male. In sister Maude juxtaposition is used to show the emotion change from one stanza to the next.
Neither of the characters have a voice in the historical books however Duffy gives both the women their own voice in the poems. These poems are very much alike however very different. Duffy uses an oxymoron in the first line of Havisham. `Beloved sweetheart bastard` show that the character has mixed emotions about her lover and gives an air of uncertainty about the characters emotions for her lover. She calls him a bastard because he walked out on her however Duffy uses beloved sweetheart to symbolise her unconditional love for him.
Because it causes him to leave Lucasta, it acts as a mistress in that sense. The rhyme scheme of this poem is abab cded fgfg. Though not seen throughout, alliteration is used with Foe/ Field and also Sword/ Shield. The poem utilizes mainly ending consonance. The tone I feel in the poem is apologetic and chivalrous but determined.
Margaret Atwood’s speech “Spotty Handed Villainesses” explores Patriarchy, feminism and “bad” women in literature. She uses wit and humour to disarm the audience and often uses anti-climatic statements to grab the audience’s attention. Margaret Atwood’s speech resonates through time with her critical study of feminism in a social context and the impact that feminism has had on literature. In the speech Atwood explores the moral dichotomy that exists in Women at the time. She shows how women can only be categorised as either an angel or a whore.
she demonstrates the absurdity of the men of the industrial era’s repeatedly and calls attention to the erroneous and backwards thinking of the times through comedic satire. A powerful example of such satire from Howe's speech is in her introduction. she sarcastically proclaims “woman suffrage is the reform against nature” and continues to point out the ladies present in the crowd and their physical, mental and “general debility”. she sarcastically demonstrates the “debilities” of women to a point which they couldn’t possibly mark a ballot or drop it in a box and continues to lay on the sarcasm as the possibility of a woman completing such a simple and menial task is impossible because “all nature is against it. the laws of man cry out against it.
“Though restrained by social convention, the passions of the female characters in Jane Eyre emerge with great force.” Discuss Brontës presentation of female characters in Jane Eyre. “Restrained by social convention”, orphaned Jane begins in exile at Gateshead hall. Brontë describes her as a ‘rock standing alone in a sea of billow and spray’, suggesting the extent of her isolation due to the cruel treatment (the billow and spray) from her Aunt Reed and cousins. In the Victorian era, orphaned children were regarded as classless; the “abandoned child” was society’s scapegoat, as a person without a past, without connections, without status. Furthermore, orphans were also often treated with disdain and distrust, due to their reputation as “criminally prone” individuals, and were frequent targets of classic “Victorian contradictions”, that characterized the social conventions of Victorian society.
Lear, assaulted womanhood and his attitude towards women was revealed in the depth of the curse and what omens he wished upon Goneril. This may be Shakespeare using Lear as a tool to express his own dislike towards women or conversely, show how devastating it is for a parent to have an ungrateful child that turns her sadness into joy. Furthermore, through statement from “Never afflict/That scope” spoken by Goneril may be an indirect reference to the elderly and how they may rave on about senile matters that are of no concern to the younger generation as this is what Goneril thinks of Lear when he is this angry ranting on about cursing Goneril. The bulk of this text is very emotional as it focuses on Lear degenerating Goneril as a female. The mood is very dark and gloomy.
This sort of pain is compared to death when he refers to the woman “[having] put on black” .This typifies the pain that men can feel and shows a somewhat excellent sensitive side that not only Shakespeare but other patriarchally born men of his time may have shared. Following these somewhat harsh words seen in the opening lines it can be noted this isn’t a normal petrarchan sonnet, instead it is labelled an anti-petrarchan sonnet due to its subtle attack on a unattainable idealized female. Shakespeare uses the senses as well as emotions cleverly in the poem. Although he knows this beautiful woman has no similar feelings towards him the man still can’t help but proclaim her beauty. In line 4 the poet shows just how