Both women are contrasting representations of Hedda. From the opening of the play her [Hedda’s] relationship with Aunt Julie is a strained one. Hedda views Aunt Julie as a symbol of what she herself loathes and could at the same time could quite easily become. Aunt Julie epitomises the idea of the domestic, dutiful woman with no true purpose of her own. She instead finds her purpose through the lives of the male characters and the arguably mediocre success that Tessman has had.
How do Friel and Frayn present the role of women? In the novel 'Spies' and the play 'Making History' the authors Michael Frayn and Brian Friel portray the roles of women in different ways throughout each of the texts. They do this because they are trying to present both of these women in the stereotypical role of women but then also showing that they’re different. In the novel 'Spies' the women are presented as women who are dependent on men but they can also do a lot for themselves and they do have a bit of independence. Whereas in 'Making History' the women are a lot more dependent, although they do have to marry a man while they are quite young to fill the stereotypical purpose which was to be a housewife, so they would just cook, clean and have children.
Jane Eyre voices strong opinions on; women’s rights, class and property, religious sincerity, love and justice. Brontë’s scrutiny of these topics relates flaws in each, despite the appearances of some. The novel is subtly humiliating towards males, displaying them a insincere. These flaws are demonstrated through…; consistent character action, The narration from a woman’s point of view establishes a strong voice for women rights, or lack thereof. At the commencement of the novel, Jane’s character is “… a picture of passion!” (pg7, Jane Eyre), when she rebels against harsh treatment at the hands of her cousin John.
A critic has written that women in Tennyson's poetry are 'Tragic in their lack of self determination'. How far do you agree with this claim? Hannah Ellis It could be argued that Tennyson show's women's self determination - their freedom to live as they choose, without the influence of others - in a negative light; many of Tennyson's poems support this belief, such as the poem 'Mariana', however there are also contradictions to this point through poems such as 'From Merlin and Vivien', and there are more ambiguous poems which seem to both agree and disagree with the statement, for example 'The Lady of Shallot'. 'Mariana' is a poem which portrays a theme of isolation throughout; he does this through using the woman Mariana to show the issues with society and lack of connections to society. He does so by describing things in an emotive, melancholic way, for example by describing the moss as 'blackest' and the nails as 'rusted.
In correcting this image, women are writing themselves and their stories. At the ferment of feminist literary criticism in the West, proponents like Kate Millet, Mary Shelley, Julia Kristeva and Elaine Showalter agitated for women’s work to be included in the literary canon this included women writers who wrote under male pseudonyms. Again, they criticised the acquisition of language in itself bringing out the biases which make it gear towards patriarchy more than being universal. Showalter also introduced the angle of Gynocriticism which she says is developing new models that are based on female experiences and not adapting male theories. The stereotypical images they talk of ranges from the women been represented in literature as a shrew, a cute-like angel, a nagging wife, a mother and other representations which continually aids the subordination of women in all spheres of life.
The whole poems started during the time woman were tending to stay quite. She wrote the poem to express her opinion of a female’s voice in the society. She speaks in a worthless tone. In her view women were not different than men. Bradstreet also shows identity for the Puritan men that criticize her work because men had more talent and skill, which come in handy in the society, but she sees that it’s unfair.
The gender dichotomy in Susan Glaspell’s Trifles has allowed the variant of critical opinions of Glaspell's main themes of women’s power within law and justice. Most literary critics focus on female unity as a means of gaining power; however, as Karen Alkalay-Gut notes, "Underlying this attitude is the assumption that . . . women's lives are individually trivial, and their only strength and/or success can come from banding together" (1).
She uses the room as a symbol for many larger issues, such as privacy, leisure time, and financial independence, each of which is an essential component of the countless inequalities between men and women. Woolf predicts that until these inequalities are rectified, women will remain second-class citizens and their literary achievements will also be branded as such. In A Room of One's Own, a canonical text in feminism, Woolf asserts that intelligent women have been denied the expression of their talents, forced to spend their lives at menial domestic tasks. She used fictional narrators whom she called Mary Beton, Mary Seton, Mary Carmichael and Judith Shakespear as she relate how her thoughts on the lecture mingled with her daily
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.
Amal Kassir in 'This is For the Ladies' speaks about the perceived concept of feminism that is prevalent in the 21st century and expresses her disapproval of it. Feminism basically advocates equality of men and women.However,today the notion of feminism is perceived different.To be a feminist/empowered woman is to bare your skin,dress well,talk well,and most importantly,be flirty,according to Amal Kassir. Amal Kassir through her poem expresses her abject disapproval over how the idea of feminism is painted which according to her is only degrading the females. She further questions the patriarchal society that under the guise of supporting women empowerment is suppressing and oppressing the women and makes a stand stating thatshe is 'not drowning in any man's drool'. She belive that by succumbing to the 'idealised' image of a woman that in reality does not give women the liberty of having a mind of their own,the women are being disrespectful to themselves.