She seems to be only happy when she has control over her husbands. They have to hand over this power because without their consent she has a battle on her hands, both challenging the other for dominance in the relationship. The Wife of Bath's Tale resembles what she described of it in her prologue. Although The Wife of Bath contradicts herself, essentially she comprehends the link amongst her. The wife of Bath’s tale is the struggle of who has the bigger pants in the relationship.
Women during this time were only allowed to go so far and do so much without being restrained it seemed like. She doubts herself in letters she sends to her female friends who sympathize with her problems in choosing her partner for marriage. As a result to her resent of her thoughts about female powerlessness, and her outspoken thoughts of marriage. Virtue also resulted in achievement of morality, which was identified with marriage. Also Eliza resisted the sexual double-standard which I found really amazing.
The author also uses irony to add a bit of humor, and also emphasize judgment on men’s idea of the gender roles. “ I want a wife who will work and send me to school”. Hyperbole: The author creates an unrealistic image of the typical wife and exaggerates to make a point. “I want a wife who will go along when our family takes a vacation …rest and change of scene”. This is an exaggeration because even on her free time, the wife is portrayed as a slave to the husband.
Many debates have happened whether or not these women approach feminism for their time period. The answer to that is ambiguous and depends on how the reader takes in their writings. One can say that even though Wollstonecraft is so obviously pining for co-education, and in that way to be equal to men, she is not promoting equality for anything else. By not wanting to be equal in anything else, how can she be approaching feminism? Pizan so obviously from the start of her writing, introduces how women should behave (from the perspective of a princess), so that her actions shall be beneficial to her and her husband.
Women in The Count of Monte Cristo “Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, "She doesn't have what it takes." They will say, "Women don't have what it takes”. This quote strongly reflects how when were thought of in the 1800s. Women in the 1800s were considered weak links; they were supposed to depend fully on their husbands for survival.
She grew up very close to her father, but didn’t have too much of a relationship with her mother. Her mother favored Maudie more than Peyton. As stated by Hadaller “Helen ostensibly devotes herself to Maudie, but at the expense of her marriage and in so doing she takes on a martyr complex, becoming self-righteously indignant that she is not recognized in her role as a devoted and caring mother.”(Hadaller29) Helen often acted jealous of her. “Helen Loftis has been seen by various critics as a woman filled with “insane jealousy” that leads to her acts of “great cruelty” toward her family and as a mother who wears a “hypocritical mask” of love and understanding when in reality she feels naught but jealousy and hostility.” (Hadaller35) The parents’ preferences put a strain on Peyton. It was hard for her to receive so much attention from her father, but have her mother abandon her emotionally.
Throughout the Awakening, the direction of the plot fluxuates based on the choices made by the characters. Of all the characters, none make choices as drastic as Edna Pontellier. Her decision to turn away from her husband defines her as one of the rarest types of women in that time period. The American society of that time was not used to seeing a woman even think of leaving her husband, which is what made this such a controversial novel. Robert Lebrun realizes that his love for Edna will come at an expensive price and is forced to come decide if he will let a family be torn apart in the name of love.
Wright was a wonderful woman who got along with anyone and was very caring. She was manipulated by her husband he dominated her, keeping her from the rest of the community. Mrs. Wright could only hide her emotions deep inside her and only worsening that torture day by day as he abused her. She had no one to turn to because they had lived so far away. Mr. Wright was killing her slowly but surely and she had no choice but to deal with the agony he put her through.
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. Alcee loves her but she only uses him as an affair while her husband is doing business. Robert truly loves her, and she felt the same way about him, but he can’t have her, because her husband already owns her. Edna doesn’t want to be owned by anyone, but no matter how many times she rebels and takes control of things, men still think of her as a possession. Edna ends her life in search for herself, and her
These topic choices come from truthful circumstances, but readers generally really sympathize with Plath because of her suicide and what led her to it. So, we readers in turn often see even more than what she intended for us to see. Plath could not take herself out of her writing. She could not write outside of her own perspectives or circumstances. She knew this about herself and was highly criticized for it.