A White Heron Feminism Essay

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Feminism And Its Connection With Sexuality
In “A White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett the character of Sylvia is a young girl removed from the restrictive and uncomfortable town, who revels in the joys of the freedom of farm and country life. A hunter visits her world of natural innocence and wishes to use Sylvia’s knowledge of the bird’s life to help him track and kill a white heron for his collection in return for money. Thus causing a change in the young girls’ monotonous daily routine and awakening her sexuality “She had never seen anybody so charming and delightful; the woman's heart, asleep in the child, was vaguely thrilled by a dream of love.”(Jewett 53). Sarah Orne Jewett is able to establish a connection between feminism and sexuality through the fact that even though the hunter was admired not only sexually but also indirectly commanded power over Sylvia through the promise of money and his masculine presence, Sylvia was able to regain control of her self by making the decision to spare the White Herons life despite the fact that she would miss out on getting paid but more importantly satisfying the hunter and cause him to have a disappointment and discontent towards her.
Jewett tries to establish the relationship between the character of Sylvia and the hunter. Sylvia represents the ideal young women with all innocent and natural feminist attitudes and the hunter as the masculine figure who carries a gun and spends his time killing and stuffing birds. Sylvia doesn’t seem to live a “normal girl” life but due to the fact that she lives in the time and place she does you’d think shed fit in to the stereotypical mold society has made her fit in but the thing is that Sylvia comes from a manufacturing town and has the freedom ...

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...for the most part are more willing to partake in sexual activities.
When a young person starts to consciously or sub consciously exploring their sexuality it marks a new stage in their life, This stage being their loss of innocence this is apparent through the way Silvia describes her new feelings towards the people around her and her surroundings, ’The temptation that Sylvia has towards the hunter is what draws her in the first place: …Sylvia is both attracted to and somewhat afraid of him. This attraction to him is something she has never experienced before. It frightens her: Sylvia confronts and is tempted by the possibility of a new and traditionally masculine ethic for women”(Andyd1). This reaffirms the fact that Silvia does indeed lose her innocence and in essence connects the dot between her being a young girl and her sexuality in ways she never has before.

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