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Gender stereotypes literature
Gender stereotypes in literature a level essays
A literary criticism essay on gender stereotypes
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Atwood’s speech “Spotty-handed Villainess” highlights how gender construction is inherently influenced by certain social delimitations which consequently contorts reality as the real nature of woman is overlooked in literature successfully belittling the idea of gender equality. The oxymoronic allusion “Angel/Whore split” in her exordium compels the audience to process the dichotomous image of women portrayed in literature. The inclusion of this academic allusion enlightens the understanding of the audience as explored in Campbell’s: Four Ends of Discourse, as the audience are coerced to question the neat categorisation of women in literature that has lead to “bland” female characters. Atwood furthers the pursuit of gender equality as she appoints
In this dissertation, ideological systems considered to limit the creation of Western female identity were explored through feminist discourse: Angela Carter’s The Passion of New Eve (1977) and Kathy Acker’s Don Quixote (1986). The former discussed the extent to which gendered identities are founded on biological difference and binary structures, looking at how these dichotomies work to confine female identity to a concept of fixed ideals. With reference to the work of Butler, Carter undermines essentialist views which limit identity, demonstrating through multifaceted and changeable characters that identity is constructed as opposed to determined. By engaging in multiple discourses, Carter’s characters reject conforming to regulatory norms, and are consequently revealed to be living out simulacrums, as Butler suggests all people do. The motif of the mirror was explored with reference to the work of Lacan and Mulvey, looking at how the novel presents female identity as contingent upon male desires due to society’s preoccupation with the phallus. Female identity is therefore constructed to appease masculine appetites, with the mirror revealing the discord between unified appearance and incoherent inner identity. The lack of female representation was discussed with reference to speech and narrative structure, with patriarchal systems of communication shown to exclude women from representation. Carter uses the dual perspective of Eve(lyn)’s narration to destabilize gender identity, revealing it as cleft and uncertain. Lee suggests that the incongruity of the narration also works to mount a critique of the role of the gaze, with the fact that Eve(lyn) narrates in retrospect hindering the reader’s ability to know whether the narrator ...
...ce from men. Atwood is not a lone though, Alicia Ostriker attests to many female writers and poets changing the way language is used. Women are not just defined as weak, vulnerable, conniving, and evil, they can also be strong, intelligent, loving, and fierce. The Siren is a woman stuck in a stereotype but if set free, as contemporary women seek freedom, then she will show everyone a different character that they may have never imagined her to have.
The roles and definition of gender and its implications have been and still are complex and often times confusing depending on the circumstance. What really defines masculinity/femininity and can they be interchangeable in the sexes? Can a woman act like a man and vice versa without it somehow going against nature? With this ever changing definition and implication of gender, it is interesting McEwan sets us up in a world seeming to have black and white view of this debate. Throughout Atonement the divide between masculinity and femininity is un-doubtfully present and is almost always hard and fast. The fact that this representation of gender creates ideal circumstances, within the world McEwan’s characters inhabit, and the fact that Briony
The role of female characters in literature has gone through many transformations and radical changes. Until recently, women were often perceived as the other sex by many cultures. The remains can still be witnessed is several societies around the world. This notion obviously enabled the same view to thrive in literature. In epic fantasy, women can rarely stand alone. Many female characters’ purpose in the genre consists of the beautiful prize for the hero, the nurturing caregiver, or the villain itself. Many of the most popular epic fantasy novels seldom break away from that convention. Philip Pullman created His Dark Materials and inevitably put a new spin to females in epic fantasy. Not only did Pullman write one of the two main protagonists female, he created a noteworthy female villain as well. Pullman’s His Dark Materials not only challenges female norms in epic fantasy by creating Mrs. Coulter as a multi-faceted powerful woman and Lyra as a more modern embodiment of Eve, the trilogy manages to reimagine the role of women since the biblical period.
Female characters in literature became more prominent at the turn of the last century as women's role in society changed. At the beginning of the 20th century, men were at the front lines fighting prolonged wars, while women were left to fulfill traditionally masculine roles back home. Women were performing the essential duties at the home front, without which everyday life would not have been sustainable. In Fifth Business, Davies employs an unorthodox approach creating anomalous female characters attemptin...
Charlotte Bront’s Jane Eyre entails a social criticism of the oppressive social ideas and practices of nineteenth-century Victorian society. The presentation of male and female relationships emphasizes men’s dominance and perceived superiority over women. Jane Eyre is a reflection of Bront’s own observation on gender roles of the Victorian era, from the vantage point of her position as governess, much like Jane’s. Margaret Atwood’s novel was written during a period of conservative revival in the West partly fueled by a strong, well-organized movement of religious conservatives who criticized ‘the excesses of the sexual revolution.’ Where Bront’s Jane Eyre is a clear depiction of the subjugation of women by men in nineteenth-century Western culture, Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale explores the consequences of a reversal of women’s rights by men.
Women in Literature: Reading Through the Lens of Gender. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003. Print. The. Bailey, Carol. "
Throughout history women have always been considered lesser than men. Women were portrayed as property to men, nothing more. They were supposed to be seen and not heard, and were basically servants to their husbands and fathers. In order for women to even be considered more than property their father or spouse had to be established in the community or a man of high rank. Despite their subservient roles women in British literature have always been depicted as obedient or unruly, from William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, to Beowulf, to Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market.” For example, women have always been portrayed as being housewives, and care takers. Women were supposed to tend to the men and all of the house hold duties and chores; however some women broke away from that stereotype. They became more and curious and aware of their worth, so they were viewed as temptresses or “rebels” against the social norm. Despite the fact that women have evolved throughout history, British literature has always characterized women in two different lights, one being obedient and submissive and another being powerful and strong willed.
With more and more women taking ownership of their lives (and our hearts) onscreen and in pages, we ought to do a throwback to our foremothers, who helped to make it a thing to talk about women in the first place. Long before female characters became trapped as tropes, flattened and insignificant in today’s media, they were written in all their glory by women like Austen and Woolf, as well as many others. Here are three famous ones, who, when compared to three infamous tropes, illustrate the complexity of women as born at the pens of equally excellent women.
The Handmaid's Tale presents an extreme example of sexism and misogyny by featuring the complete objectification of women in the society of Gilead. Yet by also highlighting the mistreatment of women in the cultures that precede and follow the Gileadean era, Margaret Atwood is suggesting that sexism and misogyny are deeply embedded in any society and that serious and deliberate attention must be given to these forms of discrimination in order to eliminate them.
The fundamental notion of the female writer evolved within the nineteenth century when women were, and continued to be, considered as inferior beings when compared to their male counterparts. This is especially noticeable within the literary canon, where female writers are sparsely included in ‘reputable’ works of literature, let alone incorporated into any canon at all. Virginia Woolf, in her essay titled “In a Room of One’s Own” (1925), details the apparent trials and tribulations that female writers in the Victorian era experience when attempting to become recognized within a literary community. The female author is revisited during the second-wave feminist movement by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar in their psychoanalytic text, “Infection in the Sentence” (1979), which focuses on the “anxiety” associated with the act of writing as a woman. The approach to identifying the complex social constructs applied to women writers differ due to Woolf’s insistence on androgynous writing in order to unify perceived male and female characteristics, whereas Gilbert and Gubar celebrate distinctly feminine literature as a means to encourage an active literary community of women. Both texts acknowledge the socially challenging function of authorship when considering the role of women as writers in a male-dominated literary community. By analyzing these texts through a feminist lens, it is evident that the notion of the female author is, and will forever be, encapsulated within the concept of gender, itself. Female authorship is discussed through literary concepts of genius, androgyny, popular canon, and psychoanalysis. In order to analyze the ways in which women writers have traditionally been rejected from the Western literary sphere and the ...
The construction of women in male literature is extremely important. Peter Barry, in his chapter on feminist literary criticism in his book Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory, asserts that observing the female characters in works by men is important because it provides “role models which indicated to women, and men, what constituted acceptable version of the ‘feminine’ and legitimate feminine goals and aspirations” (122). Looking into the roles of the women within the works helps us determine the kind of role women and men occupy in relation to each other in addition to the personal characteristics of the women. This insight into the relations between men and women adds a new layer of knowledge for feminist critics.
The exchanges that occur between the Marian and Peter reveal a great deal about the imbalance of power associated with male and female gender roles in the novel. Atwood creates associations between femininity and victimization in Marian’s mind, as becomes apparent via Peter’s discourse at the bar of the Park Place hotel involving a hunting story told to Len. Peter recounts the tale, telling how he “let her off and Wham. One shot, right through...
Giovanni, Nikki. “Woman”. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing.7th ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2004. 1098.
Throughout the early years literature has classified women as inferior to men in a sense that they must succumb to their wishes and demands. Women have been victims in novels partially because of how they are portrayed in texts. Not only that but male writers and many authors in general are also the reason women have difficulty representing themselves as individuals. However, Samuel Richardson’s epistolary novel played a major role in changing society’s perspective on gender and class. He ventured outside of this categorization and incorporated new ideas and characters into his novel. Richardson’s love story showcased a protagonist who was more than just a poor servant because he chose to focus on creating a character that was valued for her belief versus her superficiality, gender, and class. He challenged traditions and culture by exemplifying Pamela as a true complete definition of virtue. According to our class lecture, the 18th century was also known as the time of the industrial Revolution. During this era women were taking on men roles by accepting jobs in the work force and supporting their families economically. Despite this, they were still being viewed as inferior to men. Richardson started a movement by writing this risky novel and proved that women were not just used for sexual pleasure. The people and the press debated this novel and were either pro or anti Pamela. Supporters of Pamela were interested in this new fictional world, which was made his book wildly popular in England. In addition, the novel criticized gender roles to the extreme. The characteristics of Pamela were depicted in a way that challenged the role of womanhood but at the same time strengthened it. She not only kept her virtue but als...