In his play, The Winslow Boy, Terrence Rattigan explores the formidability of the patriarchy in London in the early 1900s by following Catherine Winslow’s relationships with Sir Rogers, John Watherstone, and Desmond Curry. Through Catherine’s internal conflict, “Rattigan is careful to trace the play of male proprietorial gazes through which women have to pass.” Branded a “New Woman” for her commitment to women’s rights, Catherine faces adversity when seeking a role outside the home (9). Regardless of her strong-willed attitude, Catherine still feels pressure to adhere to the social norm of marriage. When her will to get married conflicts with her desire to pursue her intellectual passions like political advocacy, Catherine resolves to exercise …show more content…
Initially, Catherine fully anticipates marrying John, begging her father not to let her down and “forbid the match” (8). However, as the scene continues Catherine’s attitudes do not match the expected emotions of an engaged woman. Her mother criticizes, “You’re such a funny girl…You don’t behave as if you were in love,” showing that society has standards for women in love (9). Catherine, choosing to satisfy her mother, declares, “I love John in every way that a woman can love a man, and far, far more than he loves me” (9). Realizing his sister’s intellect and the superiority complex of patriarchy Dickie warns, “Suppress your opinions. Men don’t like ‘em in their lady friends, even if they agree with ‘em. And if they don’t – it’s fatal. Pretend to be half-witted…then he’ll adore you” (32). At this point in the play, Catherine still feels the looming patriarchal power and prioritizes her relationship with John. Placating Dickie, she assures him that in a battle between her heart and mind, “there’s not much doubt about which will win”
In the eighteenth century, the process of choosing a husband and marrying was not always beneficial to the woman. A myriad of factors prevented women from marrying a man that she herself loved. Additionally, the men that women in the eighteenth century did end up with certainly had the potential to be abusive. The attitudes of Charlotte Lennox and Anna Williams toward women’s desire for male companionship, as well as the politics of sexuality, are very different. Although both Charlotte Lennox and Anna Williams express a desire for men in their poetry, Charlotte Lennox views the implications of this desire differently than Anna Williams.
During the Victorian Era, society had idealized expectations that all members of their culture were supposedly striving to accomplish. These conditions were partially a result of the development of middle class practices during the “industrial revolution… [which moved] men outside the home… [into] the harsh business and industrial world, [while] women were left in the relatively unvarying and sheltered environments of their homes” (Brannon 161). This division of genders created the ‘Doctrine of Two Spheres’ where men were active in the public Sphere of Influence, and women were limited to the domestic private Sphere of Influence. Both genders endured considerable pressure to conform to the idealized status of becoming either a masculine ‘English Gentleman’ or a feminine ‘True Woman’. The characteristics required women to be “passive, dependent, pure, refined, and delicate; [while] men were active, independent, coarse …strong [and intelligent]” (Brannon 162). Many children's novels utilized these gendere...
As the story begins, the narrator's compliance with her role as a submissive woman is easily seen. She states, "John laughs at me, but one expects that in marriage" (Gilman 577). These words clearly illustrate the male's position of power in a marriage that is not only accepted, but rather expected at this time period.... ... middle of paper ...
...s did not have a lot of options. The two women in the end of the play are shown to be almost puppet like, and controlled by the will of the men around, and do not have a say in the outcome at all. The debate of love over friendship is placed back in a balance when Valentine says that they will all marry on the same day and live in the same place "Our day of marriage shall be yours, one feast, one house, one mutual happiness."
According to Elizabethan society, the center of Olivia’s dilemma with her marriage was ensuring her wealth, not marrying a man she loved (Joseph 170). Social class increases division among individuals in society. This play “ is not the story of a Juliet's or an Orlando's love .., but of the very realistic struggles and intrigues over the betrothal of a rich Countess, whose selection of a mate determines the future” (170). Readers looking past these boundaries created by class and gender, can find striking similarities in emotions characters have for each other. The personal struggles the characters face in this play demonstrate the obstacles that individuals faced because of their gender or place in the social hierarchy.
Module 1 assignment was to write our current vision of the future of education and learning covering each of the STEEP areas. STEEP includes Social, Technological, Environmental, Economic and Political. In the assignment, technology was said to be an area that a lot of educators are turning to. However, the question has always come up, is this a good idea? At times, it feels like a disadvantage to students who cannot afford the technology. Also, technology can handicap students, but since there is no way to turn from it now, why not try to do it correctly?
Margaret is an intelligent, articulate, and ambitious woman who desires to rise up in social status by marrying a man of higher social rank. She attends to those above her, in hopes of elevating her status as she becomes closer to the upper-class. As a minor character, she plays a small yet crucial role in advancing Don John’s plot to slander Hero and spoil her wedding. As a lower-class character, Margaret serves as a foil to the rich girls, particularly Hero, who embodies every attitude and mindset Margaret does not. But she also offers an alternative perspective on the upper-class characters in the play. Because Margaret is victimized because of her social ambitions, punished for wanting to rise above her ...
Americans were incarcerated during this time for acts of violence. Police officers would brutally beat those in involvement with the movement if they refused to go along with the social norm of the society and so on. Others were perhaps jumped by white men when the blacks came off as being ‘disrespectful” to their way of living. The acts of Civil Rights continued until Jim Crow laws were uplifted.
Describe how cognitive, functional and emotional changes associated with dementia can affect eating, drinking and nutrition?
However, the reader must always keep in mind the time at which this piece was written and how these relationships exemplify the realities of personal relationships during this time era. Her relationship with John is dominated by him and is almost like she is the child. Without anyone to speak to about her true feelings and stresses, she writes, another thing she must hide from John and Jennie. The reader feels a sense of fear from the narrator, “there comes John, and I must put this away,—he hates to have me write a word” (Gilman 78). Yet another sign of how he does not want his wife thinking for herself and doing what she pleases. When learning about the author and her background, her feminist side shows in this piece through examples like these. The true dark sides of marriage, the loneliness, and the female role of always being superior are portrayed perfectly in this short
It is well known that Shakespeare’s comedies contain many marriages, some arranged, some spontaneous. During Queen Elizabeth's time, it was considered foolish to marry for love. However, in Shakespeare’s plays, people often marry for love. With a closer look into two of his most famous plays As You Like It and Twelfth Night or What You Will, I found that while marriages are defined and approached differently in these two plays, Shakespeare’s attitudes toward love in both plays share similarities. The marriages in As You Like It’s conform to social expectation, while the marriages are more rebellious in Twelfth Night. Love, in both plays, was defined as
The style is often understood as the distinctive and recognizable way an author uses language to create a work of literature. In this story, the readers could easily see the diction is used by both the narrator and the characters showing how social norm affect their behavior and action. In a literary work, diction often refers to the writer choice of language, including words, phrases, and sentence structure. In the story, the readers witness how John repeatedly calls the narrator a “little girl or darling”; John addresses the narrator as something powerless and non-harmful, though she is an adult (Gilman 82,83). Even though John loves the narrator; he unconsciously treats her like an object just like other men in the society. John does what he thinks is right for the narrator regardless of her opinions. John treats his woman just like how society expects him to. He makes all the decision for her life which is emphasized by how undoubtedly he agrees with the narrator’s brother and Weir Mitchell regard of the narrator’s sickness (Gilman 80,81,82). Therefore, out of all the love John has for the narrator, he unconsciously sees the narrator as an object that he has to take care of where he feels “much easier” about the narrator when she eats and sleeps like he wants her to (Gilman 81). In the sexist society, most women are expected to please and worship
His lack of education has deprived him of good manners as well as good sense. The scene itself initially seemed inconsistent with the rest of the play. The prejudice the women tolerate is evidenced by their tendency to dress in men’s clothing in order to be heard or considered (Olson). As women, their voices are inhibited or disregarded; they are overshadowed and overlooked by society. Portia, for example, has little choice but to consent to being the prize in her “loving” late father’s lottery.
To give a little background on the play, the pursuit of marriage is the driving force behind the play. “I now pronounce you, man and wife.” This traditional saying, commonly used to announce a newlywed couple during a wedding ceremony, marks the happily ever after that many dream of today. In today’s society, marriage is an expression of love between two individuals. Marriage has not, however, always been an act of love.
Contrary to the stereotypical woman of the Victorian culture, both female characters Gwendolen and Cecily become instigators of love, from influencing the proposal to composing their own love letters from their lovers. Gwendolen affirms her forwardness in romantic matters when she exclaims to Jack who is hesitant about proposing, “I am afraid you have had very little experience in how to propose” (Powell, 132). Not only do the ladies have a skewed view of marriage and their responsibilities within that relationship, but the men do as well. Algernon says of proposals, “I really don’t see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted” (Ericksen, 150). He clearly has a skewed view of marriage. When it comes to Lady Bracknell, her view of marriage is primarily concerned with money and sometimes concerned with social respectability. When questioning Jack about the potential of marrying Gwendolen, she focuses on typically irrelevant characteristics. Lady Bracknell says of Jack’s confession to his tendency to smoke, “I am glad to hear it. A man should always have an occupation of some kind” (Greenblat, 539-540). She goes on to take interest in such things as his knowledge and education, finances, and family