Critical Analysis: The Death of Woman Wang Jonathan Spence’s The Death of Woman Wang is a combination of factual and fictional material which paints a picture of T’an-ch’eng, a poor, rural county of mid-seventeeth century Eastern China. Among the book’s many recurring themes is that of the plight of women. Women are important in an effort to convey a history of peasants. Studying the common people is like giving a voice to the voiceless, so a focus on women’s issues in a patriarchic society is a way of viewing history starting from the bottom, and is thus an excellent way to begin looking at peasant life. The roles of men and women are defined clearly in this book.
Thus forcing the audience to acknowledge the horrific conditions the women faced. Therefore further highlighting the hardships faced by these women POW’s. The creation of these images forces the audience to attempt to understand the conditions faced by the women due to the oppression forced upon them. The use of the dialogue, “You don’t know what Christmas is line in a camp. Hungry women-dirty rice.
In what ways does Hardy convince you that ‘a pure woman’ is a suitable subtitle for the novel? ‘Tess of the D’urbervilles’ is a novel written by Thomas Hardy, fixated on the portrayals of the made up county ‘Wessex’ in which he imitates his social pessimistic sense of tragedy in humans life, represented by the main character ‘Tess’ who gets exploited by Alec later on in the novel. The subtitle itself proposes the concepts about purity are misguided and societies perceptions on the purity of the time; which appeared to have a robust consequence on the perception of Tess and the tragic events that defined her; Hardy characterises Tess as a product of her time and a person of the Victorian time they existed in. The novel ‘Tess of the Durbervilles’ successfully raises questions about the hardship of Victorian life on the reader which attempts to force the reader of the time to re-evaluate the society they live in. Part of the subtitle Hardy added is to promote additional questions; particularly how it would of at that time, making opinions differentiate about the novel.
Scars tell Stories in Beloved Scars are an incredible means of story telling throughout Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved. As the story of Sethe and her children unfold, scars are seen on the skin of many characters, and along with them are deep painful memories that cannot be repressed. Within the first chapter, scars are seen on Sethe’s back as she explains to Paul D. the traumatic events that occurred on the plantation where they both once lived as slaves. These scars set a stage and a metaphor for the scars, both figurative and literal, to come. Morrison demonstrates that scars are much like painful pasts that people wish to hide and forget.
Another outstanding composer who can recognise and utilise the power of language is Alistair McLeod. His short stories are laden with implied meaning and encourage his audience to think more in-depth about the themes and ideas displayed in his texts. His collection of short stories, The Lost Salt Gift of Blood, is set in Nova Scotia, a remote region of Canada where Gaelic is still spoken and tradition triumphs over technology. It explores many universal themes, like man vs. nature and tradition vs. individuality. The stories are often disturbing, delving deep into the realm of human emotion.
The audience is challenged throughout the text, as the reader’s assertiveness and insight into Sallies character is provoked through literary techniques, such as simile, symbolism etc. The biography is also a mix of detective novel, so the reader discovers what happened to Sallie and what she stood up against. Her pain and suffering from abandonment is explored and described by Sallie Anne as well as her sister in the following insightful narration. “when pat (sallies mother) abandoned Sallie for the second time, that really fucked her up… when your mother makes a habit of walking out on you, it doesn’t do much for your self esteem” and Sally stated “if only I’d had my mother, things would Have been different”. These lines emphasize the dramatic impact the repeated abandonment had on Sallie, and the course her life took.
Edna’s life which contains of unhappy marriage, adultery affair, and a force to be mother woman creates a complex character and problem, and somehow a metaphor of life and death contemplates her life in the story. Furthermore, life that is interpreted as a love, friendship, creativity and freedom fights with a death which is interpreted as adultery affair, unsatisfaction life, bond of marriage, a force to be mother woman, and rejection of society. Hereby this essay will also insert the symbols of both life and death concept in Edna Poltellier’s life, the struggle and reason behind the dual concept about life and death in Edna Potellier’s life are either explained. The Awakening serves the idea of life so bold in Edna’s life, not only the physical but also a soul and mind awakening. She has been awakened from her artificial life and all of a falsity she has experienced during her boring marriage.
Symbolism is a concept the author, Shirley Jackson displays throughout her short story, “The Lottery”. The story represents several aspects of society. It shows how one does not realize how fragile a life is. The story displays the cruelty of ancient society and how it is still present in today’s world. Shirley Jackson uses symbolism in the story to represent ancient rituals being symbolic of religion, death, and life itself.
She misplaces the value of her true heritage in a desire for what she believes is her historical heritage. Dee’s true heritage is quite clear in the description Mama gives at the beginning of the story. Mama tells us how she can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man (394). Instead of Dee realizing that she cannot forget her past, she is still lost and unsure of her true and original self. Eshbaught,Ruth.
Finding the ritual roots of tragic fate in these works is equally finding the cause of their success in striking an inward chord widely. The study shows that the tragedy of the hiding ritual in the four tragedies is the very underlying roots of the tragedy of these plays. This study has promising implications for the ritual interpretation of Shakespearean tragedies, and furthermore, this study as well indicates that exploring the tragic roots in the field of literary anthropology, based on the theory of ritual, will help readers understand the tragic beauty in Shakespearean tragedies and realize that the tragedy in plays is the mirror of the tragedy in human society. Key Words: ritual roots, tragic fate, four tragedies of Shakespeare 摘 要