How are Hester and Cathy characterised as Romantic Heroes? The definition of a ‘romantic hero’ is a literary archetype referring to a character that rejects established norms and conventions, has been rejected by society, and has the self as the centre of his or her own existence. Both Hester and Cathy are characterised as romantic heroes through their; internal dialogue, physical appearance and actions, their attitudes to others and the values they embody. Both women are illustrated as being elegant, but have feisty personalities. Hester is found to be very beautiful physically, “Young woman was tall…figure of perfect elegance,” however other puritan women would feel that she is trying to show off her beauty which was a sin.
The moral of being human is to necessarily be flawed, and to strive for perfection is to deny one’s own morality. The themes of both narratives can be understood as morality. The morality of Aylmer in “The Birth-Mark” can be seen through his journals. “The volume, rich with achievements that had won renown for its author, was yet as melancholy as record as ever mortal hand had penned” (Hawthorne 220). This example shows the reader that Aylmer is trying to hide his imperfections by trying to make his wife completely perfect.
Moral Ambiguous Characters Throughout Oscar Wilde’s novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, the moral ambiguity of the central character, Dorian Gray, becomes more and more distinct. The story starts with Dorian being venerated by the artist Basil Hallward, and throughout the story the reader learns of Gray’s several wrong doings. Meeting Lord Henry almost straight away negatively influenced Dorian. He had started out blameless and innocent, but by the conclusion had been the cause of numerous deaths, all because of his selfish wish to stay beautiful forever. “His actions show a character who insists the soul is real, but loves the gaping chasm between the beauty of his body and the corruption of his soul” [ (Wilde 105-123) ].
To go against the natural aging process is unquestionably unnecessary and irrational. Society today teaches people to torment themselves, to alter themselves by means of balms, medicines and plastic surgeries, to savagely fight to conserve the long gone look of youth that modern humanity idolizes. This is a sad image. Today’s standard of beauty is based primarily on achieving the “model” appearance- the ideal makeup, the ideal hair, the ideal weight, and the ideal clothes. This is not beauty.
Nevertheless, Elizabeth Barrett Browning advocates that the strength of love can help overcome the obstacles. In contrast, F. Scott Fitzgerald sees the world dissolved in excessive corruption shown through The Great Gatsby as it exemplifies the failure of the American Dream as well as the broken world where love struggles to exist. Love through the two texts is shown to be powerful and necessary for fulfilment. The love presented through the Sonnets from the Portuguese suggests that her life was completely changed as a result of the dominance of love. Prior to this her life was shown as dark and deathly through the personification of the “mystic shape” that moves behind her.
Machado way of expressing his ironical approach to writing gives the women characters a dilemma attitude especially when he infers that the best way to define love in the world is not worth one kiss from the girl you love(pg 60). Allende on the other hand foreshadows much of the sensuality of the stories in the Prologue, as the Carle and Luna rest after love making, and in the painting that is their images, their skin gleaming moistly and lying in intimate complicity. Onetti portrays love and women as geared by unreasoned sexual desires and so women presents a distorted image of men, but Allende depicts women as the main cause of suffering irresponsible men inflict left to rear the children in
The Consequences of Truth in “The Lady’s Dressing Room” “The Lady’s Dressing Room,” by Jonathan Swift is on the surface a poem commenting on the deceptions of womanly wiles. However, Swift also uses the poem to provide an underlying argument against the seeking of certain truths. The magnifying glass reflects those truths not visible to the naked eye, which require greater effort to reveal. Celia’s chest hides the most forbidden truths from sight. It is these hidden and grotesque truths that are the most damaging to Strephon.
Gwendolen wants to marry a man called Ernest, not caring whether he possesses the qualities that comprise earnestness. This is evident as Gwendolen quickly forgives Jack’s deception and Lady Bracknell quickly forgets her earlier disapproval of Jack’s suitability for Gwendolen. Jack, the central character, is initially neither ‘Ernest’ nor ‘earnest’. Through forces at times beyond his control, he becomes both: a symbol of Victorian hypocrisy. Both Jack and Algernon lead a double life, known as ‘Bunburying’, the practice of creating an elaborate deception so as to misbehave whilst maintaining expected social standards of duty and responsibility, essentially, pretending to be earnest.
Romantic love, in other words, is a big bucket of worms. Secret engagements, imagined crushes and crushed hopes are all too common in Emma. One of the most popular quotes is Mr Knightley’s proposal to Emma Woodhouse where he says he is true to form. He promises nothing but honesty which is something Emma is more than willing to take. Mr Knightley quotes, “ If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.
Love is used to depict the greedy feeling of obsession or infatuation of competence. Power terms the capability to overrule or authority among others. When using love and war in these ways things can get unpleasant. This is where “All is fair in love and war,” ties into the way people misuse love and power. Better said by John Lyly's 'Euphues', “The rules of fair play do not apply in love and war.” When the love of power becomes a competition or an insecure status, things can get