It is rather surprising that a novel written by the daughter of so prominent a feminist should be so strikingly devoid of strong female characters. Many critics agree that Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel Frankenstein is littered with passive women that suffer placidly, then expire once exposed to the transgressions of the world . An initial reading of the novel might produce the notion that Shelley had very little to say on the subject of women. The entire cast of female characters appears to remain within the domestic realm, quietly performing their duties as mothers, sisters, wives and daughters for the men. Some might even say Shelley ardently agreed with the position in which they found themselves and the securely fixed roles during the Victorian era.
Elizabeth is one character that has very few thoughts on money and social positions, and because of this is able to rely her own judgements on characteristics and personalities. Elizabeth’s misconceptions of characters are clearly shown with Darcy and Wickham. At the beginning of the novel she is anything but fond of Darcy and believes that Wickham is a good man. She then goes to state… “There certainly was some great mismanagement I the education of those two young men. One has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it.” It this Elizabeth is stating that Wickham is basically evil and that Darcy is not.
Chekhov’s protagonist, Gurov is a man who is rough, arrogant and manipulative. He refers women as ‘inferior race’ (Chekhov 205). He does not have feelings for his wife and describes her as “a tall, erect woman with dark eyebrows, stately and dignified and, as she said of herself, intellectual” (Chekhov 205). She rather seems indifferent towards Gurov. The reader gets an impression that she is aware of his infidelities and does not seem to care.
These qualities of strength and independence set her apart, as does her love of beauty, since we meet the Puritans as a crowd of "bearded men, in sad-colored garments and grey steeple-crowned hats” (Cain 626). As Hester Prynne builds a new life, her hard work and charity end up altering the letter's meaning. Some people even "refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification" (Cain 707), which appears to mean that they forget, or choose to forget, that it's a symbol of her sin. Instead, they say that the "A" stands for "Able"—as in, Hester is such an able woman. Eventually, the letter even achieves a kind of holiness.
The emotional complexity of human nature ranges from weak and frail to survival and strength. Human consciousness of right and wrong is a blend of societal rules and the innate will to do good. Hester Prynne, in the absence of her husband, falls in love with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. This love is tested by seven years of denial, but love and caring prevail. What was once considered a mistake is now seen as a mischievous child named Pearl.
She’ll do whatever she can to keep herself safe and so she enjoys life. Jule’s character is rebellious with an attitude and goes after what she wants. She lies, cheats, steals, and does whatever she needs to do to survive. Jule is a character unlike any other. In most stories there’s the perfect, well behaved main character who does nothing wrong the entire book, right?
Rita is desperate to aquire the knowledge that Frank has from his highly educated background. However, she is unable to see how unhappy Frank actually is in his world, using alcohol to escape. Frank “you should be careful with that stuff; it kills your brain cells, y’know”, Russell portrays Rita initically as a ditsy sterotypical working class woman. However, deep down she clearly has more underlying understanding than first thought as she is able to visualise the danger of substance abuse. Ironically Frank being the well educated half of the comic duo he is slowly killing his knowledge with the drink, as this creates a humorous effect for the audience as they are able to see that Rita longs for the intellegence that Frank has.
Throughout his life, Housman faced many hardships. He was frail, often sickly, very devoted to his mother, and alienated from his father. (Magill 922) The loss of his mother at age 12 shattered his childhood and left him with tremendous feelings of loneliness, from which he never fully recovered. His father began to drink as a result of his mother's death and began a long slip into poverty. When Housman went to college, he had a deep and lasting friendship with Moses Jackson.
Alice Walker has associated the qualities of goodness and the sense of emancipation together, which I feel works well to convey the message that despite all the abuse and brutality Celie remains resilient and is rewarded with the freedom of her Spirit. She was able to hold on to her inherent power and strength of character and by the end of the story she is the victor. Celie finds no sexual pleasure or satisfaction in her marriage to Mr. ___. When Celie becomes aware of Shug in a photograph (Letter 6), she says, `Shug Avery was a woman’. The most beautiful woman I ever saw.
Although, by Act IV of the play Othello is convinced, by Iago, that Desdemona is a “whore” and dishonorable to their marriage. Despite Othello’s false and harsh accusations toward her, Desdemona remains pure and honorable to her husband throughout the entire play. This innocence assists the theme because to the audience it is clear that she has done no wrong, and is in fact a very honorable wife, though Othello has been