Comparing Beggar Woman by William King and To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell 'Beggar Woman'(William King) and 'To His Coy Mistress'(Andrew Marvell) are two poems written in the 17th century when society was very different to how it is today: women had no status, rights, or independence. All aspects of society were male dominated, they ruled, and so all laws and acts were in the favour of males. The poems are great examples of how society was when they were written, they also mirror the roles each gender played in the various aspect of life, the males active and controlling, the women passive, and they had to be compliant. At the beginning of this poem, there is a description of a gentleman out hunting, which is an upper class activity, as they are the only people who could afford to take part in such an expensive activity, also by the fact he is described as a 'Gentleman' suggests he belongs to the upper class or 'Gentry'. The 'Gentleman spots the 'Beggar Woman' and she is described as 'game', because really to the man that is all she (the Beggar Woman) is, due to her gender and social status. When he wants the Beggar Woman's attention he addresses her as 'mistress' which shows respect, yet not so much as to call her a lady, just enough to keep on the right side of her until he gets what he wants, I think. The man then proceeds to issue commands to the lady, due to his class and gender this, at this period in time was socially accepted. The man thinks that the woman is going to give him what he wants, sex; however, the situation he is left with the end is very different to the outcome he hoped, and from his view, probably considerably greater commitment than he had hoped for. Aside for the obvio... ... middle of paper ... ...ionship, both women I assume, would rather not be in their respective positions. Many of the attitudes expressed in the poem are understandable such as the Beggar Woman's views, as shown at the end of 'The Beggar Woman' may have been revolutionary and uproarious at the time, are now seen as the correct and fair way to do things. However this is the only view in the poem I find acceptable, the rest I find dated such as, as I have explained the class divide, and also the sexual inequalities, women being treated as a inferior species almost. Still many of the views etc. expressed in these poems are applicable today, the 'Carpe Diem' attitude is still adopted, rather foolishly I think, by many young people. The modern reader of the poem should learn from the way some things were how not to do things again, to learn from the mistakes of previous generations.
People one can never really tell how person is feeling or what their situation is behind closed doors or behind the façade of the life they lead. Two masterly crafted literary works present readers with characters that have two similar but very different stories that end in the same result. In Herman Melville’s story “Bartleby the Scrivener” readers are presented with Bartleby, an interesting and minimally deep character. In comparison to Gail Godwin’s work, “A Sorrowful Woman” we are presented with a nameless woman with a similar physiological state as Bartleby whom expresses her feelings of dissatisfaction of her life. Here, a deeper examination of these characters their situations and their ultimate fate will be pursued and delved into for a deeper understanding of the choice death for these characters.
This essay will contrast a good and evil concept between two different stories. There is an obvious distinction that stands out between the stories; however they are similar in one way. In A Worn Path (Eudora Welty) and A Good Man is Hard to Find (Flannery O’Conner) the one thing that sticks out, is the main character in both stories. The main character in both stories being the grandmother. Grandmothers are of course an important part of the family. In each story we have a grandmother of a different race, appearance, and attitude. In each story the grandmothers take different journeys, but there is one thing they both face being treated disrespected. We live in a world in which the grandmother resides with the family and helps to take care of the grandchildren. In the world today things are different and times are still hard if not harder. We live in a time when respect is no longer earned. Now days it seems as if respect is not as important as it was in earlier years and it is evident in these two stories.
The grandmother and The Misfit of Flannery O'Connor's 'A Good Man is Hard to Find' are backward, opposite images of each other. However, the grandmother does have similarities with the character, Ruby Turpin in O'Connor's short story, 'Revelation'.
O 'Donnell, Angela Alaimo. "A Litany for Flannery." America 23 Mar. 2015: 33. Biography in Context. Web. 30 July 2015.
While reading Flannery O’Connor “A Good Man is Hard to Find” we read that a family of five are on a roadtrip to Florida where they go every year. We have The Grandmother who derailed her family from the actual road to see a house she thought was in those parts of town. When all of a sudden her helpers are the murders she is afraid of. The murder “The Misfit” kills off the rest of her family and leaves her to dwell in her sorrow that she will be next. The Grandmother tries to maneuver her way out of dying by sweet talking The Misfit into thinking she can love him as her own child and that he doesn’t have to kill anymore. When she tries to reach for him he moved back and shot her. The Grandmother didn’t want him to be violent anymore and thought
Comparing John Stuart Mill's The Subjection of Women and Florence Nightingale's Cassandra. For thousands of years, women have struggled under the dominion of men. In a great many societies around the world, men hold the power and women have to fight for their roles as equals in these patriarchal societies. Florence Nightingale wrote about such a society in her piece, Cassandra, and John Stuart Mill wrote further on the subject in his essay The Subjection of Women.
In all, the misogyny presented in these two poems is not restricted to the time period they were written. Just as in medieval literature, it is still common for today's woman to be recognized only for her physical attributes. I believe that in order to have equality of the sexes and to help overcome the objectifying of women, it is necessary for women not to use the misogynistic views placed against them to their advantage.
You must analyse at least six poems, ensuring you include at least one pre-1914 poem.
Question 1: Describe the responsibilities, roles, and aspirations of women in the passages of Christine de Pisan, Margret Patson, Alberti, and Martin Luther.
In" A Good Man is Hard to Find" there are a variety of themes. The themes in this short story are: the grace of the grandmother and The Misfit, the vague definition of a “good man”, and the class of the grandmother. All of these themes are apparent to any reader, but it does not quite seem to match O’Connor’s depth style way of writing. The two characters, the Grandmother and the Misfit change from beginning to end. Even though they are both different as night and day, they both have principles and stand by their principles no matter what the circumstance.
In Mary Wollstonecraft’s The Wrongs of Woman, or Maria and Mary Robinson’s The Natural Daughter women are subject to many hardships economically, simply because they are women. Women are not given sufficient opportunity, as men are, to pursue a living. Even if she is a woman of taste and morals, she may be treated as though she is a criminal and given no means to protect herself. In order for a woman to be sustained, she must marry into slavery, dishonor herself through unsavory work, or be lucky enough to be properly educated and given proper reference.
There are many different types of characters in stories, and each has been described differently leaving different impression to readers. Reading some stories gives the readers the feeling of empathy for characters. Speaking about characteristic, it is great to know how a character feels in order to understand the story. Through this essay, I would like to show how stories make the readers feel empathy to other’s concerns, feelings, and troubles.
Imagine being born into a world where your social status is dependent on your gender, where women are considered inferior to men. This idea is exposed in two Ancient Greece plays “Antigone” by Sophocles and “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes. In both plays most women are considered inferior and do not go against rules established by men. However, there are some women who do not let men restrain them from expressing their feelings. Therefore, the women in Ancient Greece were considered inferior to men, however, they were gallant.
In the late 16th century England experienced poverty, starvation, increase in population, inequality amongst women and men, and lack of opportunity in the work force. During this time England was torn between two religions, Catholicism and Protestantism. England’s economy was primarily agricultural, workers were tied to their land. Due to the social inequality of the 16th century, women were limited to their rights and men were superior. Women worked in the clothing industry and men worked primarily on the farm. Due to the economic hardships in England, men and women migrated to London for a better life. The nation was under the rule of Queen Elizabeth, who surpassed the restrictions placed on women. This paper explores the shortcomings and hardships experienced in Elizabethan England.
In the earlier years of literature and life women's roles within society were at a minimum and woman were shunned upon by men. They are also suppressed, unequal, and seen as the minority in the population. Within these three poems; "Goblin Market", "MacBeth", and "Sir Gawain and The Green Knight" the position of women and lack of power is displayed in broad context and is projected out to the audience, they also show the way woman are used for one’s self pleasures. Gender behavior is remarkably swayed by social factors than by natural differences, like how humans naturally are supposed or how they want to respond to certain thing. Gender roles of men and woman heavily depend on culture, race, location, religion, location, a stance on politics and so many more circumstances. The way society is determined is by your outside forces, the trend. It is basically what everyone expects you to do, to be, to look like, to marry and so forth. Believe it or not, when you learn to read, you are also learning your culture. As a child the first few books you read are set up to give you a vision of the ideal boy and the ideal girl and what to expect from them. This doing can shape the way you look at life as a child and you will grow off of that very platform and extend the branches. What is old English literature book without a woman either being stupid, sexual or trying to mock a masculine quality figure of a hero? Exploring these three works of literature, you can also gain a sense of where you came from and how you think subconsciously. Most people don’t realize that who they are today, and how they think today is based upon their past. Men and women both play important roles no matter what they “rank” in society in English Literature. To c...