Robin Flores Professor Anderson English 103 25 October 2012 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest One is to say, woman are portrayed inferior to men because they were never given a position of power, men see themselves superior than women, and are consider as sexual objects. The movie, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” shows the audience that women should stay in a patriarchy system. The female character Miss Ratchet, abused her power as a leader by being over dramatic on her job. The main character, McMurphy never agreed with Miss Ratchet on anything because he feels superior. Two other females that had nicknames are known as a sexual need in the film because McMurphy invited them over to seduce the guard and Billy.
Gilman provides the point of views of these women who know nothing of marriage to allow us to see our own society’s faults in the way we think things should be. By denying the men’s proposition of name change, the women point out the idiocy of the concept we accept to be the norm in our society. This problem of possession and power shows up in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” as well. The husband in that piece has possession of his wife by controlling her every move. The men in “The Yellow Wallpaper” make the decisions and control their households.
In one of her more revealing moments, she threatens to have the black stable-hand lynched if he complains about her to the boss. Her insistence on flirting with Lennie seals her unfortunate fate. Although Steinbeck does, finally, offer a sympathetic view of Curley’s wife by allowing her to voice her unhappiness and her own dream for a better life, women have no place in the author’s idealized vision of a world structured around the brotherly bonds of men. In Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men women are portrayed as discriminated. In the times John Steinbeck lived in women were not held in high regard but they were just present to serve men.
In a Proof of Marriage, the writer Isaeus is trying to convince the jury the wife and mother had a legitimate marriage so the woman can inherit her father Ciron's estate. Like the previous speech, the woman is considered respectable, so her name is not mentioned throughout. A Husband's Defence was written by Lysias. He is trying to convey how he believed his wife was “the chastest woman in all the city” and puts the majority of the blame onto her lover, Eratosthenes. This is because he is trying to justify why Euphiletus murdered Eratosthenes.
Steinbeck leads the reader to believe that Curley does not really care about his wife; if he did, he would not be flaunting their private life and he would consider her dignity. This instantly degrades Curley’s wife’s reputation. Candy goes on further to describe her character by telling George that ‘she got the eye…I seen her give Slim the eye’. ‘The eye’ is suggesting that she is looking at other men whilst being married which creates a negative impression of her character on the reader. Steinbeck raises
Her character is harshly judged from the start simply because she’s a woman and no one saw things from her perspective. Because of this, the reader is influenced to feel sympathy for Curley’s wife. Her husband, who is always trying to keep a close eye on her, controls her. He is exceedingly possessive of her, and is easily angered when he catches her talking to another man. “I get lonely.” She says to Lennie, “You can talk to people, but I cant talk to nobody but Curley”.
When Alexandra confronts her about the Cunninghams, she judges the Cunnighams based on their family status, saying, “Don't be silly Jean Louise... women aren't interested in that kind of people.” (300). The significance of this is that Alexandra shows her ignorant views by saying that even if Walter is perfect in every physical way, his heritage brands him to be inferior to their family. While Scout believes that people are not related to their heritage, the rest of the town shows that the status of an individual is bound to their initial families. This is shown when Ms. Merriweather complains that it was the Robinson family’s fault that Tom was convicted “Thing that church ought to do is...they grumbled all day after that trial” (309-310). Scout learned that Ms. Merriweather thinks Helen Robinson should be reprimanded because it is her skin color and her unfaithfulness to the church that caused their misfortune.
The men in the society are trying to live up to the social expectations to be the ones in charge and take care of the women. The moral high ground of George Wilson and Gatsby are above Tom in that they are willing to sacrifice themsleves for the ones they love. Neither men nor women appear to have absolute influence on each other’s desires; rather the act of selfishness and destruction which leads to tragedy. Women have minor roles in the Great Gatsby, and only have the function of seducing and undermining men. A Feminist Critique of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” (June 2009) “Even if they disagree about other issues, all feminists believe patriarchal ideology works to keep men and women confined to traditional gender roles so male dominance may be maintained.
(Gen 14 2012, p.24) Women find it difficult to plead provocation as they are expected to be submissive whereas male stereotypes suggests it is acceptable to be aggressive and abusive to keep the women obedient and in her place. (Scutt in Gen 14 2012, p.24) This allows men to quite easily claim provocation for spousal murder because the courts are historically sympathetic to a husband controlling a wife who has stepped outside her position or role as wife. (Gen 14 2012, p.24) Whereas woman who have suffered long term physical and psychological abuse who kill their husbands are charged with pre meditated murder rather than self-defence. This is due to the fact that a women who has suffered long term abuse and violence knows when the violence is about to erupt. These women tend to act to prevent the violence happening and are therefore within the law classed as pre meditated murderers.
Alcee Arobin is a lady’s man who has many affairs with different women and intends to make Edna another one of his affairs. But Edna doesn’t let Alcee take control of the relationship; she writes him when she wants and decides when they should go out. Being in control is a reverse role for Edna, but she knows it is really who she is, and it is what she wants. Alcee plays along and lets Edna take control, and Edna discovers the satisfaction of using a man the way men usually use women. Although Edna has taken control of her own life, she is still not happy with her life because of the many different types of love she has experienced.