Their enticing sexuality, he believes, tempts men to behave in ways they would otherwise not. A visit to the “flophouse” (a cheap hotel, or brothel) is enough of women for George, and he has no desire for a female companion or wife. Curley’s wife, the only woman to appear in Of Mice and Men, seems initially to support George’s view of marriage. Dissatisfied with her marriage to a brutish man and bored with life on the ranch, she is constantly looking for excitement or trouble. In one of her more revealing moments, she threatens to have the black stable-hand lynched if he complains about her to the boss.
Euripides' use of extended descriptive sentences in the prologue allows him to portray two sides to Medea, a fragile woman and a strong-willed one. During the time in which she was still married to Jason, Euripides draws on the powerlessness of women in a marriage, evident when the Nurse says that 'to Jason [Medea] is all obedience - and... that's the saving thing, when a wife obediently accepts her husband's will.' To further emphasize on the male dominated society of Corinth, Medea, in the presence of King Creon, was immediately ordered to 'remove [herself]'. Despite being exiled due to fear, Medea adheres to the parental role in Creon, saying that '[he is] a father too', manipulating him into giving her one day to plot her revenge. This shows that
Throughout Browning’s poems there is a reoccurring battle of power between men and women. The majority of Browning’s poems show women as inferior and naive beings who are owned by men, however Browning sometimes reverts the stereotypical Victorian women in a couple of his poems; making them the powerful figure. One poem which agrees with the statement is My Last Duchess. The Duke starts off by lacking the power to control his flirtatious Duchess but by murdering her and immortalising her into a painting the Duke gives himself ultimate power and control. “Since none puts by/The curtain drawn for you, but I”.
Power in Charlotte Perkin Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" "The Yellow Wallpaper" written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman explores the idea of inequliaty between men and women. The story shows how power affects one person which is portrayed through the narrator and her dominant husband John. "The Yellow Wallpaper" suggests that a male dominant relationship leads to a downfall in marraige. John's dominant power over the narrator suggests she is incapable of expressing herself. The narrator says "There comes John, and I must put this away,- he hates to have me write a word (79).
The workers speak of her, basically, as Curley’s problem that needs to stay at home away from the other workers. She opens herself up to Crooks and Lennie because they possess equal amounts of powerlessness as she does. Curley’s wife feeds off of character’s insecurities, so she can strengthen herself against harm. At the end Curley’s wife’s powerlessness shows greatly when she is strangled at the hands of Lennie who she tries to seduce. This just shows how women then were little to any powerful.
Manding Bory. Once again, we are instructed to see women as inhumane, one-dimensional, base creatures of the fairer sex. She is portrayed as a tyrannical leader after the death of her husband, King Nare Maghan, as she disobeys his wishes and acts as imperious force against his other wives and their offspring, including the prolific Sundiata, the supposedly deserving heir to his throne. It is important to note that this emphasis on her cruelty ties hand in hand into another archaic and paternalistic ideal that women are neither capable nor suitable of being nonpartisan rulers, and are bound to the emotional feminine binary, rather than the dichotic male rationale. Yet, it can be noted throughout the text that although her actions were supposedly of a dishonourable and sinister nature, but they may also be construed as an attempt to protect both her own and her son’s future prospects.
A door that once kept her shut-off from the outside world, not shuts out society’s view of women and their place in the world. “Iv got out at last...in spite of you!” (70). The narrator of 'The Yellow Wallpaper' has been driven into psychological madness through the imprisonment of male dominance. Gilman's use of symbolism to portray patriarchal dominance, through locked doors and bared windows, has been an effective way to communicate the suffering and trapped feeling of women during the 19th century. While many women would be to afraid to question their role in society and in marriage, Gilman has created a strong female protagonist who overcomes her husbands authoritative
Adams continues his onslaught of anti-matriarchal values and sexism by upholding “his commitment to the social hierarchy…based on the belief that women along with other disenfranchised groups must remain subordinate because they lack the capacity for reason, and therefore, for the responsible use of liberty” (Martin 332). His wife, Abigail Adams, resorts to feebly admitting and even pleading, “That your sex are naturally tyrannical is a truth so thoroughly
The use of the word 'mistress' explains her role at the time. Even though she was a ruler, to Mark Anthony she was a 'mistress' who had no rights. Being 'utterly devoted' to him didn't have any effect because 'he was killing her' by his behaviour, he seems to have the power. He also seems to have the power over Octavious’s sister
Other characters who suffer a similar (though less drastic) fate as the creature include both Elizabeth and Justine. The fates of both women are decided by the men of their lives, nearly all of who are depicted as progressing feverishly in the never-ending quest for knowledge. For Shelley, the daughter of a feminist writer and a feminist herself, it must have been all too tempting to include the idea of equal women being unfairly sidelined in the aforementioned quest. Instead, Shelley plays it down, letting the diminutive roles of the women in a novel penned by a women to speak for themselves. Like the creature, the women of Frankenstein are banished from society for no fault of their own.