Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The portrayal of women in literature
The portrayal of women in literature
Gender in literature
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The portrayal of women in literature
Lessons for Women explains the relationship between a husband and wife, the respect and caution the husband and wife must have for each other, and the devotion a wife should have to her husband. Bisclavret is about a man named Bisclavret who turns into a werewolf. His wife is worried about their relationship and asks him about his transformation and finds out his weakness. She uses his weakness against him out of fear, betraying him and leaving him for someone else. After a year of being apart, they see each other again and Bisclavret attacks her. The story of Bisclavret puts the concepts of Lessons for Women in a different light and shows how manipulation can lead to the destruction of a husband and wife’s relationship.
In Lessons for Women,
…show more content…
In Lessons for Women, it is said that a woman needs to use these cheap methods if she “seeks to win her husband’s heart”. This is for a woman who has a disconnection between with her husband, for example if the husband is cheating on his wife. Bisclavret is not cheating on his wife, but his wife’s thinks that he is, and she ends up using the cheap methods of flattery and coaxing words to gain intimacy with him, or in this case, the truth. They’re already at that level of love with each other that they don’t need to doubt each other, so when the wife does doubt her husband and tries to find out what his secret is, it is interpreted as Bisclavret being manipulated into proving his love to his wife. In Lessons for Women, the wife is trying to win her husband’s heart because she wants see if her husband loves her. In Bisclavret, he already loves her, but the wife doesn’t think that he does. The wife’s manipulation of her husband is the first instance of the destruction of their …show more content…
In the beginning of the story, the wife is a mouse. She is doubtful about their relationship and worries that Bisclavret doesn’t love her. When she finds out that he is a werewolf, she becomes a tiger, betraying him and leaving him for someone else. She tries to figure out “how she might get rid of him” (101), so she goes for his weakness; she hides his clothes so that he may never be able to transform back into a human, and “Bisclavret is betrayed, ruined by his own wife” (125-126). This shows how “if love and proper relationship both be destroyed then husband and wife are divided”. The wife’s mistrust and betrayal of her husband causes their love for each other to falter, thus ruining their relationship. Bisclavret is subject to living in the woods on his own with the fear of being hunted or killed, and his wife is with some other man. They are divided, and eventually brought together again by fate, but at that point, Bisclavret has turned into a weak monstrosity. After a year of living in the woods, the king finds him and takes him in. He holds a court and his wife, as well as her new husband, are there and Bisclavret, seeking revenge, attacks her. He lunges at her and “tears the nose off her face” (235). All this time, he’s been kind
The novel “Women Without class” by Julie Bettie, is a society in which the cultural you come from and the identity that was chosen for you defines who you are. How does cultural and identity illustrate who we are or will become? Julie Bettie demonstrates how class is based on color, ethnicity, gender and sexuality. The author describes this by researching her work on high school girls at a Central Valley high school. In Bettie’s novel she reveals different cliques that are associated within the group which are Las Chicas, Skaters, Hicks, Preps, and lastly Cholas and Cholos. The author also explains how race and ethnicity correspondence on how academically well these students do. I will be arguing how Julie Bettie connects her theories of inequality and culture capital to Pierre Bourdieu, Kimberle Crenshaw, Karl Marx and Engels but also how her research explains inequality among students based on cultural capital and identity.
Ihara Saikaku’s Life of a Sensuous Woman written in the 17th century and Mary Woolstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman written in the 18th century are powerful literary works that advocated feminism during the time when women were oppressed members of our societies. These two works have a century old age difference and the authors of both works have made a distinctive attempt to shed a light towards the issues that nobody considered significant during that time. Despite these differences between the two texts, they both skillfully manage to present revolutionary ways women can liberate themselves from oppression laden upon them by the society since the beginning of humanity.
Finally, even though, for a long time, the roles of woman in a relationship have been established to be what I already explained, we see that these two protagonists broke that conception and established new ways of behaving in them. One did it by having an affair with another man and expressing freely her sexuality and the other by breaking free from the prison her marriage represented and discovering her true self. The idea that unites the both is that, in their own way, they defied many beliefs and started a new way of thinking and a new perception of life, love and relationships.
In contrast, there is an alternative perspective (i.e. nurture) that has been gaining popularity. This
In “Women in the Twentieth Century and Beyond”, Kimberly M. Radek discusses the struggling events that occurred throughout history in order for gender discrimination to be eliminated.
Les Femmes Savantes The Learned Ladies is an astounding play. As each new character enters time transforms characters are bedazzled, enchanted and wigged we know we are sharing the stage with royalty. The women’s gowns are extremely detailed with hoop shirts to make them puffy the men are wearing exceptionally detailed waistcoats. This comical drama is set in the living room or “salon” of the family. This plays plot is focused on one major couples chaotic and forbidden love. The characters are joined by blood and lead by the controlling wife, Philamonte (Maya Jackson) and her weak spouse Chrysale (Edward Brown III). Jackson’s voice is directing with a profound tone that would have the capacity to stop anybody dead in their tracks. It is not
Immediately, the narrator stereotypes the couple by saying “they looked unmistakably married” (1). The couple symbolizes a relationship. Because marriage is the deepest human relationship, Brush chose a married couple to underscore her message and strengthen the story. The husband’s words weaken their relationship. When the man rejects his wife’s gift with “punishing…quick, curt, and unkind” (19) words, he is being selfish. Selfishness is a matter of taking, just as love is a matter of giving. He has taken her emotional energy, and she is left “crying quietly and heartbrokenly” (21). Using unkind words, the husband drains his wife of emotional strength and damages their relationship.
Francis Macomber is a middle age man that is good at court games such as: tennis or squash, competitions where there are set standards and rules for play. Also, there are confined areas of play for his games. He is quite wealthy and some say handsome which add to Francis masculinity. His wife on the other hand does not think that much of him and thinks of him as a coward. Margot on the other hand his “beautiful wife”, whom really does not like Francis but stays with him anyway. She cheats on him and despises, basically because he married her only for her looks. Margot on the other hand is part responsible for the same thing because she only married him for his money. They are both stuck in a situation because they both married for the wrong reasons. Their gender roles are sort of fighting against each other because she doesn’t care about the relationship and cheats; and he tries to prove that he is a man and yet fails because he tries too hard. Masculinity is something that Margot and others at the Safari think it is an aspect of manhood that Francis lacks.
In The Taming of the Shrew, the concept of love is a means of emotional manipulation, and manipulation is nothing more than a means of control between men and women. William Shakespeare critiques the patriarchal social structure by ironically employing the manipulative stance Petruchio takes towards winning Katherine as his wife by charming her with words and manipulating her psychologically, and then taming her after their marriage through legal, physical, financial, and psychological control and manipulation. Though Petruchio may think he yields power over his wife, Katherine uses obedience as a tool of manipulation and has the control of the household, as can be seen by her ironic speech at the end of the play, where she claims women must serve their men. Shakespeare uses the irony of a man using manipulation as a tool for control to magnify the significance of the power women yield through manipulation, thus proving that men and women engage in a power-shifting struggle.
Fears are an overwhelming aspect of our life from birth until old age. Whether we fear an object such as something lying underneath the bed, a certain figure such as Michael Myers, or an intangible idea such as the future or even death, fear always exists. In several cases, fear leads to a suppression of one’s self and the wonderful ideas that one’s minds may contain. For example, the cure to cancer could very well be trapped inside the mind of someone who has been constantly oppressed and taught to believe that they are not smart enough to get far in life. In “Professions for Women,” author Virginia Woolf persuades her audience, intellectual women, to overcome her insecurities in order to improve her life. To soundly achieve this purpose, Woolf utilizes rhetorical questions, an extended metaphor, and allusion.
Modernism is the term of deviating from the norm. In the early 1900s, modernism influenced women’s role in society by providing more opportunities, jobs, and role models for girls today, in society.
In today’s society, it can be argued that the choice of being male or female is up to others more than you. A child’s appearance, beliefs and emotions are controlled until they have completely understood what they were “born to be.” In the article Learning to Be Gendered, Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell- Ginet speaks out on how we are influenced to differentiate ourselves through gender. It starts with our parents, creating our appearances, names and behaviors and distinguishing them into a male or female thing. Eventually, we grow to continue this action on our own by watching our peers. From personal experience, a child cannot freely choose the gender that suits them best unless our society approves.
The short stories “Souls Belated” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” have in common ‘Marriage’ as main theme. However, the marriage is treated quite differently in both short stories. In "Souls Belated", Lydia chooses to take control of her destiny, to deviate from conventions and to choose what is good for her. She is the strongest character of the couple. Whereas, in "The Yellow Wallpaper", the name of the main character who is also the narrator of the story is not known. She is identified as being John’s wife. This woman, contrary to Lydia in "Souls Belated" is completely locked up in her marriage. This essay will first describe and compare the characters of Lydia and John's wife in the context of marriage, and then it will look at how marriage is described, treated and experienced by couples in these two short stories.
A women's role has changed tremendously and is making its greatest impact in our society today. Many years ago, women's contribution to society was limited and controlled by men. Women are standing tall and are playing a major role in many important areas. Women's role has changed at an accelerating rate and have part in areas such as Politics, Professional Training Jobs, Medicine,Business and Law. Formerly they were not part of any political matter, but they have advanced in many aspects. For example, women have attained power and have been growing in political office.
The role women play in today’s society is a drastic change from the previous role. Women used to be confined to the superiority of the man. Physically, mentally, and emotionally abused, belittled, embarrassed, and silenced. These are just a few examples of the emotion from the isolated treatment of the past. A woman’s role in today’s society is more valued than ever before.