Being obedient to a leader… what comes to mind? Most people would say a dog and it’s owner but in the 1900’s what came to mind was women being obedient to their husbands. The short story “The Hand”, by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, shows how the women were to be obedient to the male and what they were to do. This story uses the hand of the husband to show its power and strength over the women and simultaneously showing the roles of what the women were to do. In the short story, “The Hand”, it reflects the period of time by showcasing the women's roles due to the overpowering male role.
A young woman's role was to get married quickly so they could have the security from the male and start having children, so they can go into their stereotypical jobs. The women in the story was quick to get hitched for, “It had been
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only two weeks since she had began to live the scandalous life of a newlywed who tastes the joys of living with someone unknown and with whom she is in love.”(282 Colette) She jumped into the marriage very quick that she really didn’t know all the information about her husband or the true kind of person he was. From the Learning article about women it says, “Many young women were simply expected to get married and have children. The term “spinster”, though not a term of outright abuse, was still seen as having some form of stigma attached to it……that you were not good enough to get a husband.”(Trueman) Getting married was such an expectation that if they didn’t get married they were judged for it. Now that is getting the relationship started to next is the amount of force and power the men hold ove rhte women. This short story showcases how men have this more aggressive response and power then women possess.
Men are quick to react to something in violence when the hand, “..but the hand, offended, reared back and tensed up in the shape of a crab and waited, ready for battle.”(283 Collette) They have this aggressive response to certain things and really showed the more power they had over women during this time. Women were not looked upon as equal to the men they were suppose to be, “The ideal woman was submissive; her job was to be a meek, obedient, loving wife who was totally subservient to the men around her.”(Trueman) Their purpose was specifically to take care of the children and to make the men happy and to serve them. Then you have the power side where men say, “We do not believe women . . . are fit to have their own head. Without masculine direction or control, she is out of her element and a social anomaly -- sometimes a hideous monster”(Trueman) It was expected to have the guidance so this women in the story needed that control and direction from the masculine hand to keep her under control. Women being controlled can always lead to some
complications. Complications is where it gets tough for women because divorce in this time was not a thing that women were to do. The result would be women having to stick with their spouse and deal with the issues and possibly stay unhappy. The women had to overcome this fear of the hand and, “Then she concealed her fear, bravely subdued herself, and, beginning her life of duplicity, of resignation, and of a lowly, delicate diplomacy, she leaned over and humbly kissed the monstrous hand.”(284 Colette) They would have to just stick with their husband even though that is not what they would choose to do. IN this time the men were more in control when it came to divorce because, “ Legally, however, the husband had the final say – if he chose to exercise it.”(Trueman) This made it so hard for women because the men had the final say and more than likely they did not want their wife to leave. Which in the end like the short story cause the women to just deal with they life that she was living now. This story was well written to showcase all these problems but in a way keep them hidden and show this story instead. It also was well represented to show the time period and how the roles of women during this time were so different from what they are now. Women were truly not seen as equal and was treated like a servant. This Hand had complete control of this women and will keep control for the rest of her life now too.
...es clear that women are able to maintain their agency even when it seems impossible. They may not be able to make huge changes in their lives but the agency they do have allows them to manipulate situations in their favor and/or ensure their voice is heard. This fact is clear through Janie’s internal and externa rebellions in Their Eyes Were Watching God and Mrs. Ramsay’s ability to change views and her choice of language in To The Lighthouse. Overall, this demonstrates the issues with agency for wives. They often find themselves in an oppressive relationship that makes it difficult to sustain their agency, thus they must be creative in their choices in how they remain active agents. This issue is common in modernist narratives and beyond. It is a topic that needs to be explored in literature so it can be explored in the real world with real world consequences.
Women were put under heavy strain due to cultural expectations and norms. They were expected to be under their family's beck and call 24 hours a day and while husbands could escape household pressures such as screaming children, by going to the pub with their friends, women could never even dream of that kind of freedom.
Society plays a huge part in how gender roles still exist today because people are still stuck on the notion that women should always respect someone else.Now for Janie’s third husband, Teacake, he had the power to make Janie go wherever he wanted to go and make her believe he was a sweet and loyal man. He convinced Janie to leave town with him and go to a new city. Later on during the time they were living in the new city the reader can tell how Janie still played a part in these gender roles. In one particular incident Tea Cake had beaten Janie because he wanted to remind her that she is his possession. “ Tea Cake had a brainstorm. Before the week was over he had whipped Janie. Not because her behavior justified his jealousy, but it relieved that awful fear inside him. Being able to whip her reassured him in possession” (qtd. in Their Eyes Were Watching God). He even bragged to his friend, Sop-de-Bottom, about beating his wife. Sop-de-Bottom told Teacake how lucky of a man he was for having a wife who does not fight back and how he wished he had a wife like her. “Lawed! wouldn’t Ah love tuh whip uh tender woman lak Janie! Ah bet she don’t even holler. She jus’ cries, eh Tea Cake”. They thought that when a man beats his wife it shows who is boss and lets their society know as well. It was seen as a good sign back
Thesis Statement: Men and women were in different social classes, women were expected to be in charge of running the household, the hardships of motherhood. The roles that men and women were expected to live up to would be called oppressive and offensive by today’s standards, but it was a very different world than the one we have become accustomed to in our time. Men and women were seen to live in separate social class from the men where women were considered not only physically weaker, but morally superior to men. This meant that women were the best suited for the domestic role of keeping the house. Women were not allowed in the public circle and forbidden to be involved with politics and economic affairs as the men made all the
Domestic principles of Victorian England also promoted the dominance of men. The husband was the supreme being in the house and it was “a husband’s duty to protect his wife […] this authority also allowed for him to use violence, if necessary, in order to keep her in line” (Nolte 3). Caroline Norton gave evidence of this when she disagreed with her husband upon the actions of another lady.
Women in this era had just begun to secure some freedom from their typical cultural expectations. They were expected to take care of the children, cook, clean, sew and be presentable to society. As jobs were made available to women, only a low percentage of these women started to work outside of the home. This means that many women had chosen to stay inside the home to remain in the role of “house keeper”. Even though the woman attained some freedom they were still considered inferior to men. Men still had the most authority in the household and
“The Black Finger” is a short poem that was written by Angelina Weld Grimke around the Harlem Renaissance period, which was an era in which stood for change and the persistence for African American rights. This is why Weld’s poetry demonstrates strong characteristics of African Americans in her writings. “The Black Finger” is one of her more well known pieces of poetry. This poem, at first glance, looks to be short, a mere two stanzas with an average of four words per line. Nevertheless, with a straight to the point, freeverse take, she manages to still get her main point across to her readers.
Throughout history society has been controlled by men, and because of this women were exposed to some very demanding expectations. A woman was expected to be a wife, a mother, a cook, a maid, and sexually obedient to men. As a form of patriarchal silencing, any woman who deviated from these expectations was often a victim of physical, emotional, and social beatings. Creativity and individuality are dirty, sinful and very inappropriate for a respectful woman. By taking away women’s voices, men were able to remove any power that they might have had.
Women “were expected to bear children, stay home, cook and clean, and take care of the children” (Cobb 29). They were expected to be weak, timid, domestic, emotional, dependent, and pure. Women were taught to be physically and emotionally inferior in addition morally superior to men. During this time, women were ostracized for expressing characteristics and wants that contradicted those ideals. For women, the areas of influence are home and children, whereas men’s sphere includes work and the outside world” (Brannon 161).
III. The Obedience of Women Introduction Not only are women expected to lead lives in which they depend on men to be happy and wealthy, but they are expected to do so with total obedience to the expectations of men. It is important to see how women react to the requests of men and how much freedom for thought and action they are allowed to have and what consequences occur when a woman disobeys what is asked of her. Cinderella In the Brothers Grimm, the first characterization of Cinderella is a description that “she was always good and said her prayers” (Grimm 122).
Within the text, the mother that has been sought out for, says: “‘Perhaps because he’ ‘didn’t give birth’ ‘He lost his’ ‘connection’ ‘to the beginning’ ‘of the world,’ ‘to freshness” (Notley 91). This lack of nurture and disconnect of man is what initially constructs the patriarchal society. Due to the lack of affection in the primal stages of men, they become more bitter while growing up. Possibly, the lack of male birth gives women an advantage reproductively which could instill insecurities within man. In this portrayed societal cycle, once they become a ruler or war marker is when the degradation of women starts. The mother, that Alette has been searching for, said: “‘Made me dance naked alone’ ‘before all men’ ‘any man’” (Notley 91). After the mother’s head became dismembered from her body, she continued to dance at the will of the males rather than her own free will. The mother’s form is no longer unified, it is broken and divided. Ultimately, the male’s dehumanization and objectification of female form and identity are what caused the dismemberment of the mother’s
Men were the ones in the family who worked and provided for his family's wellbeing. Because of the family's economic dependence on the husband, he had control over all of his family members. This showed the amount of progress needing to come in the future to allow women to start receiving some of the many rights they deserved which men had and so frequently took for granted.
...he stopped being the protector and the only rational thinker in the family. In this short story, the men had power over women and they undermined them. The narrator insisted to her husband that she was sick, but he never took her serious instead, he confined her in an isolated place away from home and her child. Eventually both husband and wife loose because, they are trapped in fixed gender roles and could not go against them.
...r’s household most women in this period had no self-respect and were controlled by their husbands.
It reflects a belief in an ideal woman such as the Virgin Mary. This ideal woman is gentle, passive, virtuous and self-sacrificing. In the 19th century, there was an belief in the “Cult of True Womanhood.” It was an idea similar to marianismo, where the virtues were piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. Religion was considered a natural sphere for women and for the ability as moral centers to influence men. To be a “True Woman” gave a woman the ability to make a better man. Purity, of course, was essential. No good woman ever considered lewdness or sin. Submission was dictated in the Bible and was an essential part of family life. Women wanted a strong man and the man needed to be the head of the family. It carries over into modern households, where the man is the breadwinner and often domestic violence is just the man getting his wife in line. Domesticity was the obvious “women belong in the home” and “real women take care of their children, not their career.” Women were wives and mothers, taking care of their kinfolk and making a beautiful home. Few women were able to live up to this ideal, then and now. However, the traces of it still linger in the media and in social expectations of