The Second Sex: Mythologies and Contradictions, “What is a Woman”? Racel Robles Phiolosophy 327 Professor Conway Woman, Wife, Mother, Lover, Slut, Bitch…is this what a women is, what she is defined to? In andocentric society, women have been place in many lights, from the “good mother” to the “treacherous whore”. In The Second Sex, Beauvoir breaks down the construction of myths created by men in society to establish patriarchal “supremacy” over women. Such myths, Beauvoir explains, are derived trough literature and Social beliefs.
Pope's gender ideologies deflate the power, intelligence and beauty of women while supporting man's violence and belittling of women. The symbolism of the lock of hair can be viewed with two different types of gender criticism, one that defies the patriarchy and one that feeds into the power of the patriarch. In Ellen Pollak's essay, "Rereading The Rape of the Lock: Pope and the Paradox of Female Power," Pollak maintains that the lock of hair is a phallic symbol and therefore it is cut off to reduce Belinda to femininity. The symbolic loss of the Belle's much-coveted virginity is realized in the form of a castration or literal cutting off of that body part of her associated most strongly with those 'masculine' attributes of the coquette - her power, skill, and pride (Singh 472). Julie Kristeva, author of "Women's Time" while not accepting Pollak's theory of castration believes that castration is unique only to men: "castration results in the creation of a sense of separation which is symbolized by the penis"(Singh 472).
He treats her with little regard and believes that she is a “breeder of maggot” This is also evident when Hamlet says to her, “ I say we will have no more marriages. Those that are married already, all but one, shall live; the rest shall keep as they are. To a nunnery go” (3.1.150) Here Hamlet almost commands Ophelia to go to a nunnery, suggesting that she, as a sexually corrupt female, needs improvement. Therefore, Shakespeare’s use of language, illustrated by words adopted by male characters, not only identitifies how women are marginalised, but their ill-sentiments towards
By utilizing the Handmaids as a representation of the females in the Gileadean society, the author exposes the flaws of an anti-feminist society through objectification and the absence of agency. The Handmaid’s Tale illustrates women who are strongly objectified by men. An example of how Handmaids are objectified is through their names. The women are named after their assigned Commander; their name which consists of two parts is constructed with the prefix, ‘Of’, followed by the suffix of their Commander’s name. The main character’s Handmaid name is Offred, meaning that she is property of Fred.
Some people believe that Shahrazad's stories are the beginning of feminism while others not. The work is contradictory since it has extremely misogynist parts and feminist parts. The purpose of this essay is to find out can this text be viewed as a feminist text or not. 1) We can notice Shahrazad’ feminist views in some places. For example, there are many cases in the first several stories of Arabian Nights when women are disloyal and evil, but there are also stories about the wrong of men.
I think Chaucer was trying to voice his opinion about feministic ways through a female speaker, hence Alisoun (the Wife), though contradicted his ideas in both the Prologue and Tale. In my opinion this lead to both feminist and anti-feminist thing about the text. Some essayist also address the anti-feminist views present in” The Canterbury Tales” and that maybe Chaucer’s use of the character Alisoun was meant to overthrow these views or possibly reinforce them (Trudeau). Chaucer begins the Prologue with Alisoun, the Wife of Bath, described as bawdy, lusty, strong-willed and one of the most fully developmentally discussed women in medieval literature (Trudeau). Viewed as an early precursor of feminist thought, some scholars argue that the majority of her Prologue can be seem as anti-feminist rhetoric (Trudeau).
Vincent Wu Hurston 19 October 2017 AP Literature Critical Lens Essay Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow --A Psychoanalytical Critic of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a campaigning feminist writer in the early 20th century, was primarily concerned with showcasing the societal bonds that imprisoned most women in their marital contracts. Since its publication in 1891, The Yellow Wallpaper has created a huge stir over this often neglected issue. Generally, there are two major psychological critical lenses to examine this work: one that blames the illness of the narrator on the patriarchal structure of the society; and one that looks at medical causes for the depression the narrator suffers from. However, these
The Declaration of Sentiments was an inspiring and powerful speech written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton where she argues about the inequality of women and the lack of rights given to them, regardless of them being poor, wealthy or a different race. She mentions that all men and women are “endowed by their Creator with certain alienable rights” to provide the idea that the government has no authority to decide on who has freedom and who does not. A strategy she uses is including parallel structure to intensify her message which gives details on the list of grievances that can be identified in the repetition of the infinitive phrases of “he has...”. Her syntax and organization of her passage establishes an extended analogy to the Declaration of Independence which forms a satirical piece to create a powerful argument to support her position of all females wanting the same rights as white men. Since she is a witness of bearing the lack of freedom, she creates a high credibility in her speech knowing that women and male supporters will believe in her claim of demanding equal rights to women.
Carol Nguyen English Literature Q: Explore Carol Ann Duffy's reversal of traditional gender roles in her collection of 'The World's Wife' with a particular focus on the poems 'Little Red Cap', 'Mrs Beast' and 'The Kray Sisters'. Carol Ann Duffy challenges traditional gender roles through the satirical subversion of classical myths in her collection 'The World's Wife.' Duffy employs a critical feminist tone in order to place emphasis upon the female perspective and undermine societal perceptions of women within literature as 'cute but essentially hopeless.' She aims to invert the stereotypical gender roles by reinterpreting the archetypal 'female' through empowering the voices of the female character whom would usually be overshadowed by males. Although, it has been disputed that Duffy's poetry is misandrist due to her dismissive persona towards men.
Analysis of Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar” The Bell Jar like one of Mrs Guinea's novels is 'crammed from beginning to end with long, suspenseful questions'. It examines the character of feminism and, in so doing, begs the question of the relationship between men and women. It looks at the nature of insanity and enquires as to its causes and cure. It questions literature, novelists, suicide, medical practice, American society and so on and so forth. But are these questions ever answered?