The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and Top Girls By Caryl Churchill both feature motherhood and marriage as one of their main themes even though the texts were set at different points in time. The Bell Jar was published in 1963 around the time of the publication of Betty Freidan’s Feminine Mystique. The Feminine Mystique stated that the ideal housewives of the 1960’s were a myth as each one of them were secretly unhappy but never spoke out about their unhappiness due to fear of not abiding by the social normality of the time. This feeling of displacement in the social norm is what Plath bases the experiences of protagonist Esther upon and what eventually drives Esther into mental instability. Motherhood and marriage is seen to be a key factor in the society of which The Bell Jar is set ,and is portrayed as one of the things that supresses female identity when Esther is asked to be “Mrs Buddy Willard” as if she is owned by Buddy and not her own person.
He claims that to find a wife of honor, she needs to posses no other wits about her but essentially only the knowledge of how to sew, pray, and love her husband. Her library must include merely of two books, the Bible, and the Maxims of Marriage. Thus he designs and obsesses on what he believes to be the perfect woman and hopes to instill ignorance in a girl named Agnes in such a manner that she will be too innocent to outwit him when he proceeds marry her. Likewise, in the beginning of the story Life of a Sensuous Woman, the narrator (whose name is never mentioned) seeks to become the epitome of the elegant and refined ways of the aristocrats, though later we will learn that this story isn’t about wanting to be loved by men, because she is loved by several; she yearns to love herself. “Born with a beautiful face” (Saikaku 607) to the middle-class, her family soon hit the rough, and she became a servant of the court.
In this novel, Julia Alvarez manages to capture and express the true feelings of women which deconstructs the stereotypes through Yo. Feminism is defined as “a political movement that works to achieve equal rights for women and men” (Hirsch 113). For the past ages, women were seen in the society as inferior to men and were greatly excluded from education and the right to property ownership. A British feminist named Mary Wollstonecraft argues, “educational restrictions keep women in a state of ignorance and slavish dependence” (Blake 117). The shattering of classifications and stereotypes, and the subversion of traditional gender roles, and the concept of sisterhood or unity among women are among the main tenets of feminist criticism.
For example, women now go out to work and become wage earners, just as men now help with housework and childcare. However Feminists reject this theory, and argue that women remain unequal within the family. Anne Oakley argues that we still live in a patriarchal (male dominated) society, and that children are being taught from an early age that the traditional roles are the norm. She also rejects Parsons Theory of saying that it is controlled by biology she believes it is controlled by society. Overall it could therefore be
What does it mean to be a woman? Where does it all originate? Prior to the 18th century women had no equality they had to combat social and cultural inequalities .Soon after feminism started to take root and in today’s world women see themselves on par with men. However they still identify themselves by the role they fulfil. If you ask a woman the question “who are you?’ immediately the response would be mother, sister, wife, grandmother or they give their professional title.
If she were a "kind" child, by the eyes of Mrs. Reed, she would never go to Lockwood school; she were able to grow up in terms of knowledge in the school, because she had the need of being liked by others and was strong enough to improve herself in many ways; she, by herself, took a chance when announcing to be a governess. Charlotte Brontë Persuasion (Jane Austen) Anne Elliot is the oldest female heroine and one of the most solid characters in Jane Austen's novels. She is level-headed in difficult situations and constant in her affections. Such qualities make her the desirable sister to marry: she is always the first choice (for Mr. Musgrove, Mr. Elliot and Mr. Wentworth). Jane Austen Comparing both novels Women Both characters are strong, vivid, self-confident and, in some way, a rupture to the normal behavior on that time.
Assignment 1 Legal rights and privileges of women in Blackstone’s day with those of American women in the mid-twentieth century bear no resemblance. Over the years women have fought long and hard to be able to obtain and maintain legal rights and privileges that the male gender is born into. Females were molded and primed to play the part as an obedient wife and mother with instruction that your thoughts and opinions are kept to yourself. The perseverance of brave women helped today’s generation of women such as myself have the same equal rights as that of men. During the Blackstone era women lost the limited amount of rights they did possess when they got married for example; “that is, the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended
History 201 Professor Studebaker “Her-Story of Women’s Suffrage” Makyla Pittman Imagine living a life filled with all forms of discrimination where you have no voice in the government under which you live and in the equality of social life where you are a chief factor. It is a difficult scenario to visualize and before the 19th century that was the reality of a women’s position in this world. With limited access, a young wife and mother was expected to manage a household, train her children, keep her friends and sustain the affections of her husband. In a world filled with patriarchal constraints women were forced to fall back on their instinctive resources of common sense, wisdom, diplomacy and knowledge of human nature. Education, employment, and politics are all barriers where women were held back from the full development of their faculties.
Someone who contributes to society as individual just as much as others should not be denied rights because of their gender. A woman contributes from the time of birth till throughout life teaching her kids how to be strong individuals in society, and that woman herself needs to be heard out as she plays the most
Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform.” (Lopez A5) It is evident that over the course of history, the plight of women has caused women of different circumstances and problems to be empowered and exert their full efforts to bring about necessary reforms and many times have they succeeded. With that said, women empowerment should be about more than just breaking the bounds of repression, but more than that, being truly free to be women who remain true to the authentic set of morals and standards they have set for themselves. It is important that women develop a sense of purpose within them and make use of their personal potential, not only for the benefit of themselves, but more importantly, for the betterment of society. That spark of purpose has to emerge and start with the self until it burns brighter to enlighten those around them; the potential of a woman has the power to be truly