Katherine Mansfield's Six Years After
In the short story ‘Six Years After’ written by Katherine Mansfield. There are many stereotypes (mostly aimed at men) and role-playing (played by men). When it comes to men and women, men are always the ones taking care of things or being ridiculed. In this essay I will prove that role-playing is what the author is trying to point out as the key theme in this short story.
The steward plays the role of a host type of character. He was doing everything he could do in his power to make this couple as comfortable as possible. He went out of his way to put up chairs where there was available shelter, and tried to place them in a spot with the least amount of smell as possible.
Another example of role-playing in this novel is when the Husband goes to tip the steward for his excellent work. The husband’s wife tries to tell him what kind of money he should tip the steward, but the husband just listens and tips what he thought the steward should get. This is a classic example of the man being in charge as the man of the house. The man has to show everybody that he is in charge and what he does goes. After the husband tips the steward, he asks his wife if she thinks that is a good tip. The wife simply agrees. When the wife does this it reinforces the husband’s ego of being the one in charge.
On the third page of this story, the wife makes fun of her husband by telling him that his hat makes her snicker. She tells him that he looks like a burglar. obviously he was not very amused. He tries to justify his hat by telling her that the hat that he was wearing is one of the best hats he has ever owned. He also mentions that the hat had very rich white satin lining. He believed that this was the hats better attribute. He then took off his hat and then made her touch the lining. Regardless of the fact that the hat made his wife snicker, he turns the conversation around and tries to convince her that the hat is nice. That is lined with very rich white satin. Surely it must be good! “how often had she rubbed between finger and thumb his coat, his shirt cuff, tie, sock, linen handkerchief” this quote shows that the husband is always doing this when his wife makes a comment about something.
Throughout the plays, the reader can visualize how men dismiss women as trivial and treat them like property, even though the lifestyles they are living in are very much in contrast. The playwrights, each in their own way, are addressing the issues that have negatively impacted the identity of women in society.
A hot button issue in our society over the years has been the topic of male and female circumcision. This issue has been portrayed in both ethical and political paradigms. “It is estimated that about 30% of males are circumcised worldwide for religious, cultural, and health reasons, most of whom live in major parts of the Middle East, Central Asia, West Africa and Israel, as well as in the United States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand,” according to Demuth (1). Male circumcision is the medical process of the removal of the foreskin that covers the head of the penis. In continuation, the article “Prevalence of Female Genital Cutting among Egyptian Girls,” estimates that between “100 and 130 million girls and women now alive in at least 28 African countries and the Middle East have been subjected to female circumcision or female genital mutilation (FGM)” stated by Tag-Eldin (3). The female genital mutilation is a bit different than a male’s circumcision, generally consisting of three types. “Type 1 is the removal of the clitoris, Type 2 is the removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, and Type 3 is the removal of all parts of the external genitalia, which includes: the clitoris, the labia minora/majora, and then sewing the rest of the tissues,” according to Pauls (4). The origin of circumcision is currently unknown, but according to the article “Circumcision”, there is a theory that in Ancient Egypt, Egyptians men were circumcised and eliminated all of their body hair for probably hygienic reasons. In addition, in the “Book of the Dead” it describes the sun god, Ra, to have circumcised himself (40). This suggests that it may have also been for religious reasons.
After spending more than half of the play looking down on her employee, the madam decides that she wants to switch places with her maid as part of a game. It is rather ironic how much the play follows the story line of the princes and the pauper. Where two women of different social standing switches places with each other, in order to experiences how their other side lives. It is arguable comedic that the women are able to assume their roles without much effort. The madam really acts the role of the maid, she acts how she believes the stereotypical maid should be, she sits behind her employer and begins to pay more attention to her son. Whereas the maid, clearly states to her employer that it’s not her job to pay attention because she is a “lady”. She puts her the tanning lotion, sunglasses and begins to
The husband was also selfish in his actions. With good intentions, the wife had planned a surprise for him, but he was not pleased. “Instead, he was hotly embarrassed, and indignant at his wife for embarrassing him” (13). When the narrator describes the husband at the beginning, he has a “self-satisfied face” (3). Embarrassment is a result of feeling self-conscious. Because of his self-conscious nature, he assesses first how the few people in the restaurant will view him because of his wife’s actions. He does not prioritize appreciation for his wife’s effort and care, but rather sees the worst in her misguided actions. The husband’s selfishness causes him to be prideful, which in turn causes him to destroy his relationship with his wife through his actions.
In the 19th Century, women had different roles and treated differently compared to today’s women in American society. In the past, men expected women to carry out the duties of a homemaker, which consisted of cleaning and cooking. In earlier years, men did not allow women to have opinions or carry on a job outside of the household. As today’s societies, women leave the house to carry on jobs that allow them to speak their minds and carry on roles that men carried out in earlier years. In the 19th Century, men stereotyped women to be insignificant, not think with their minds about issues outside of the kitchen or home. In the play Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, the writer portrays how women in earlier years have no rights and men treat women like dirt. Trifles is based on real life events of a murder that Susan Glaspell covered during her work as a newspaper reporter in Des Moines and the play is based off of Susan Glaspell’s earlier writing, “A Jury of Her Peers”. The play is about a wife of a farmer that appears to be cold and filled with silence. After many years of the husband treating the wife terrible, the farmer’s wife snaps and murders her husband. In addition, the play portrays how men and women may stick together in same sex roles in certain situations. The men in the play are busy looking for evidence of proof to show Mrs. Wright murdered her husband. As for the women in the play, they stick together by hiding evidence to prove Mrs. Wright murdered her husband. Although men felt they were smarter than women in the earlier days, the play describes how women are expected of too much in their roles, which could cause a woman to emotionally snap, but leads to women banding together to prove that women can be...
Several societies place large burdens upon their women whether it is their looks, mothering skills, or other special cases. A special case that is widely known across the world is a practice that done in China several years ago. In China they had a custom where they broke girl’s feet, and tied them down so that their feet would remain unnaturally small. This practice led to the mutilation of thousands of girl’s feet, but if they did not get their feet broken they would not be able to get married. To my knowledge this practice no longer occurs in the twenty-first century, but another practice similar to it does. This practice is called female circumcision and is widely known in the United States as female genital mutilation (FGM). Female circumcision is a practice that is conducted in Ethiopia and Africa; it can have extremely harmful side effects which have led to it being banned in the United States. Anyone found practicing FGM in the United States could face a sentence of five years in prison. FGM is viewed as abuse in the United States even if the female wishes to be circumcised. However, despite the United States obvious views of female circumcision as immoral; some societies view female circumcision as a part of their culture which is why it still occurs today.
In Arcadia, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Look Back in Anger, the women characters play distinct roles in the dramas. However, the type of roles, the type of characters portrayed, and the purpose the women’s roles have in developing the plot and themes vary in each play. As demonstrated by The Importance of Being Earnest and Look Back in Anger, the majority of women’s roles ultimately reflect that women in British society were viewed to be unequal to men in love and in relationships and generally the weaker sex, emotionally, physically and intellectually. However, I have found an exception to this standard in the play Arcadia, in which Thomasina Coverly plays the role of a young genius.
Female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision, is a practice that involves the removal of part or all of the female external genitalia. It occurs throughout the world, but most commonly in Africa where they say that it is a tradition and social custom to keep a young girl pure and a married woman faithful. But to some Westerners, the practice is viewed as being primitive and barbaric. We react with disgust and find it nearly incomprehensible that female genital mutilation can occur in the world today
Throughout the historical literary periods, many writers underrepresented and undervalued the role of women in society, even more, they did not choose to yield the benefits of the numerous uses of the female character concerning the roles which women could accomplish as plot devices and literary tools. William Shakespeare was one playwright who found several uses for female characters in his works. Despite the fact that in Shakespeare's history play, Richard II, he did not use women in order to implement the facts regarding the historical events. Instead, he focused the use of women roles by making it clear that female characters significantly enriched the literary and theatrical facets of his work. Furthermore in Shakespeare’s history play, King Richard II, many critics have debated the role that women play, especially the queen. One of the arguments is that Shakespeare uses the queen’s role as every women’s role to show domestic life and emotion. Jo McMurtry explains the role of all women in his book, Understanding Shakespeare’s England A Companion for the American Reader, he states, “Women were seen, legally and socially, as wives. Marriage was a permanent state” (5). McMurtry argues that every woman’s role in the Elizabethan society is understood to be a legal permanent state that is socially correct as wives and mothers. Other critics believe that the role of the queen was to soften King Richard II’s personality for the nobles and commoners opinion of him. Shakespeare gives the queen only a few speaking scenes with limited lines in Acts two, four, and five through-out the play. Also, she is mentioned only a few times by several other of the characters of the play and is in multiple scenes wit...
...ve been suffering mental abuse by their husband. This play presents the voice of feminism and tries to illustrate that the power of women is slightly different, but can be strong enough to influence the male dominated society. Although all women are being oppressed in the patriarchal society at that time, Glaspell uses this play as a feminist glory in a witty way to win over men. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters solve the crime by reflecting on Minnie Wright’s unhappy marriage that leads her to murdering. Using the relationship between female and male characters throughout the play, Glaspell speaks up to emphasize how the patriarchal society underestimated women’s rights and restricted women’s desires.
Things are different now than they were a while ago. The idea of gender roles in still an issue but isn’t as bad as it was when this story and play were published. According to Dr. Gray, part of Exploring Grays Anatomy said “That it appears our society still believes in sex-role theory, which says that we humans learn from society 's institutions to behave in ways appropriate to our sex.” In Author Miller’s Death of a Salesman and Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground, gender roles can be seen as the stereotypical traditional or normal roles that men should be the money maker and ones in charge and women should be the care taker.
The portrayal of gender roles in William Shakespeare’s play Othello, demonstrates the inferior treatment of women and the certain stereotypes of men placed on them by society. Both the male and female characters in the play have these certain gender expectations placed on them. In a society dominated by men, it is understood that the women are to be seen rather than heard. The women are referred to and treated much like property. If indeed they do speak up, they are quickly silenced. One woman’s attempt to be the perfect wife is what ultimately led to her demise. The expectations of men are equally stereotypical. Men are to be leaders and to be in control and dominant especially over the women. The male characters compete for position and use the female characters in the play as leverage to manipulate each other. Shakespeare provides insight in understanding the outcomes of the men and women who are faced with the pressures of trying to live up to society’s expectations, not only in the workplace, but also in the home. The pressure creates jealousy issues amongst the men and they become blind to the voice of reason and are overtaken by jealous rage, leads to the death of many of the characters.
...ss to go beyond the brain and powers of imagination; however, a strong relation between consciousness and the brain could be obtained from the study.
...a big disparity between the rich and the poor, as only the rich could afford this technology.
Religion is an important factor in many lives in today’s society. A particular western religion that is taken very seriously by many is known as Islam. Essentially, Islam means “submission”, or in other words a person is to abide by God and peace will follow. In order to comprehend the Islamic religion, it is consequential to view the major themes associated with this religion. By going through the central themes of Islam it could help others comprehend what is involved with this specific religion.