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The role of women throughout English literature
The role of women throughout English literature
The role of women throughout English literature
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Louise, the protagonist of Katherine Patterson’s Jacob Have I Loved, infuriates me. She fights against ghosts of what she wishes to be and against what she really is, kicking and screaming all the way. I don’t debate that she struggles with good reason -- certainly the neglect from her family, whether perceived or real, and the expectations her culture (I really want to say environment here) has placed on her gender role have contributed to her plight -- but her great inner strength and insight belies her inability to overcome or at least circumvent those obstacles. To me, she is a rebel with the sole cause of declaring her independence from her expected gender role. And, in that, I find myself, a young man with no common ground with my same gender parent, knowing that I am strong in not being so, and yet flailing loudly but vacuously against that fact as if it were not good enough. I do not like Louise because she is a female reflection of me whose wounds are mine.
Early in the novel, the roots of Louise’s issues are easy to trace to her resentment of her sister and the attention she commanded, resulting in my initial disregard for her as, to use a colloquialism, a whiner. Indeed, I did not at all identify with this other than my experience with younger siblings (I am the oldest.) whining in much the same way about me. This certainly made it easy for me to create an objective distance from Louise and in fact, made it possible for me to tolerate listening to her since I could see nothing in her like me -- she was no threat and even though I didn‘t like her, it was more a matter of taste than sensibility.
This changed dramatically when she suggested that the school’s Christmas show be reconsidered in light of the war and was met with indifference by her teacher, Mr. Rice. Her reaction to his rejection (to her at least) cut me to the bone:
...but the hot shame and indignation inside me made me forget the wind as I walked. I was right. I knew I was right, so why had they all laughed? And why had Mr. Rice let them? He hadn’t even tried to explain what I had meant to the others... (31)
First, the power of this quotation overwhelms me with the exact same hurt I always felt when rejected by peers and/or abandoned by a trusted adult (whose gender and role also hold significance, as I will show shortly) in the face of that rejection.
Although I believe that Louise has a distorted image of love, I think that it is evident that society had pressured her into a constrained marriage. Louise exclaims “free, free, free!” after the news of her husband’s death (Chopin). This new overwhelming sense of freedom sends her into deep thought of a future to live for herself only. I do not believe that Louise was selfish because women of this time were forced into a selfless wife role. As a woman of the time she would be expected to live for a man, although this is not directly quoted in the story. Her husband’s death would break the bond on societal and marital constraints that had controlled her life for years. Because of this, she experienced a new sense of freedom like no other she had before. For once she had no pressure of a relationship or the expectations that come with it. I believe that she was not selfish for wanting a life of living only for herself. The thought of future excited her; death was not the consequence of her self
Chris McCandless lived a life in which he disgusted by human civilization, and left it, eventually being led to his death in Alaska. McCandless entered the Alaskan wilderness severely unprepared, a brutal error that cost him his life. In the novel, Into the Wild by John Krakauer, Chris glances into his mindset by they way of his journal, history, and analysis of his life reveals that Chris McCandless as an arrogant and judgemental narcissist, while not mentally unstable, had a condescending attitude towards society and perished not only from his reckless stupidity but also from his unparalleled ego. Chris McCandless was immune to love and had an obsession with nature and society, him showing characteristics that created the appearance of McCandless
Teenage rebellion is typically portrayed in stories, films, and other genres as a testosterone-based phenomenon. There is an overplayed need for one to acknowledge a boy’s rebellion against his father, his life direction, the “system,” in an effort to become a man, or rather an adult. However, rarely is the female addressed in such a scenario. What happens when little girls grow up? Do they rebel? Do they, in a sudden overpowering rush of estrogen, deny what has been taught to them from birth and shed their former youthful façades? Do they turn on their mothers? In Sharon Olds’ poem, “The Possessive,” the reader is finally introduced to the female version of the popular coming-of-age theme as a simple haircut becomes a symbol for the growing breach between mother and daughter through the use of striking images and specific word choice.
This is why many people continually criticize his actions. Chris went into the wild thinking he would be fine with just “a .22-caliber rifle and a 10-pound bag of rice and lived there for more than 100 days, hunting and foraging” (Saverin). Chris didn’t have nearly enough supplies to get survive. Chris eventually realized this but when he tried to turn back, the Teklanika River he had crossed getting there rose, rendering it impassable. This river would eventually take the life of another person. In 2010, 29 year old Claire Ackermann tried to follow the footsteps of the famous Chris McCandless but ended up drowning in the Teklanika River. Chris could not cross back over that overflowing river which caused him to face a death that would face investigation. “McCandless perished because he ate toxic seeds… it may prevent other backcountry foragers from accidentally poisoning themselves” (Krakauer). People still care about Chris McCandless enough to continually investigate his cause of death. Also, to inform people to not follow Chris’ ways in. Chris made some pretty dumb mistakes all in attempts to completely escape his normal life for a wild one. Unfortunately, some of those mistakes led to his death and that is why many people still try to convey that what he did was stupid and that his ways should not be followed.
Both Nora and Louise's lives have been shaped and molded to conform to their husbands' wishes. At the time these stories took place, it was basically unheard of for women to assert their beliefs or to act upon their ideas. As a result, Louise was forced to succumb to the role of an obedient wife, in order to abide by the norms of society. This is apparent because of the way she reacts when she learns of a false rumor regarding her husband's sudden death. While in deep thought, and staring out the window by herself, she has a sudden realization of complete happiness and total freedom. As she tries hard to repress these fresh, new feelings, she speaks the words, "free, free, free" (23)! These words help the audience to understand the repression she has been forced to withstand for many years. She feels sudden exhilaration as she reflects on what her new life will bring her. She speaks of the treatmen...
People are in search of understanding life and the happenings that surround them. When things go wrong, people turn to God for hope and understanding. As we look at the Jewish and the Christian faiths, both of which trace their origins back past Abraham and Moses, to the original stories of the Garden of Eden, we notice basic similarities and major differences between the two religions. The three main differences between Jewish and Christianity is the concept of God, judgment, and salvation. The most eminent difference between both religions is the concept of God. Christianity believes that God is trinity which means three persons in one the father, the son and the holy spirit. However Judaism sees God as a single entity, and viewsTrinitarianism as a violation of the Bible's teaching that ...
Similar to the first commercial Jackson had done, it uses ethos again by showing that they used a known celebrity in the branding of their products. Also, since the marketing was able to put a face like Jackson as the head of their campaign, it made buyers believe that because Pepsi got the King of Pop to like their drinks and even make a video persuading people to buy their drinks, it must be credible.
Both Christianity and Judaism are religions that have some relationship between them as much as they also have differences. Judaism and Christianity developed on the basis obeying God, on adherence to his rules and fulfillment of God’s will is a duty of a Jewish or Christian person, both religions fall into the rule deontological category.
Many years later, Heathcliff returns to the Heights to begin his plan of revenge. Therefore, Bronte suggests that society can distort one’s personality because it provides the situation in which money and greed can fulfill one’s vanity and ambitions for social status, and she indicates that revenge is an index of the hatred that the pressures of society can produce. Thus, one uses revenge to cover up their wounded heart and tricks themselves into a cycle of hatred and self-deception.
What similarities link Christianity to Judaism? This topic is often debated as Christians see them selves as a complete Judaism but Jew see Christians as mistaken. The main issue between the two religions is the existence of Christ. Christians believe that Christ came and walked the earth and died and was risen and will come again whereas Jews believe that the savior has not yet arrived and that the messiah will be coming in the future. Beyond this, there are few differences between the two religions.
Louise’s fate was tragic. But still I think that it’s better to live an hour of freedom and happiness than to spend an entire lifetime in the shadow of the “gray cloud”. Louise experienced real freedom that meant the absence of her husband’s domination. The irony of life killed her too early, but it seems to me that there is no need to feel pity for her. Even if it was a short hour, it was the time when all her dreams came true. She found the freedom from her husband that her lonely soul was searching for, and just for this we can consider her as a really happy woman.
One of the major differences between Christianity and Judaism is based on their belief of God. According to Judaism, there is only one supreme God who is the true creator and existed before the earth and will continue to exist. There is no one that ever existed before God. Christianity belief of God is different from that of Judaism in the fact that there is one God who works together with the son and the spirit. Although Jesus is the son of God, he is a God in his own right. The concept of Christianity of God is that he is all powerful but at the same time a merciful and forgiving God. Judaism does not believe in the holy trinity. In addition, the two religions have differences on their beliefs on salvation (Avery-Peck & Neusner 20...
The young girl in the story is struggling with finding her own gender identity. She would much rather work alongside her father, who was “tirelessly inventive” (Munro 328), than stay and work with her mother in the kitchen, depicted through, “As soon as I was done I ran out of the house, trying to get out of earshot before my mother thought of what to do next” (329). The girl is torn between what her duties are suppose to be as a woman, and what she would rather be doing, which is work with her father. She sees her father’s work as important and worthwhile, while she sees her mother’s work as tedious and not meaningful. Although she knows her duties as a woman and what her mother expects of her, she would like to break the mould and become more like her father. It is evident that she likes to please her father in the work she does for him when her father says to the feed salesman, “Like to have you meet my new hired man.” I turned away and raked furiously, red in the face with pleasure (328-329). Even though the young girl is fixed on what she wants, she has influences from both genders i...
She is marginalize from society by her partner and she has to live in the shadows of him. She is unbelievably happy when she found out about the death of her husband. She expresses her feelings of freedom in her room where she realize she will live by herself. This illustrates that Louise has been living in an inner-deep life disconnected form the outside world where only on her room away from family and friends she discovers her feelings. It is important to mention that even though Louise has a sister, she does not feel the trust to communicate her sentiments towards her. We discover a marginalization from family members and more surprising from a women, Louise’s sister. The narrator strictly described Louise’s outside world but vividly reveals what is in her mind. At the same time she feels guilty of her emotional state by recognizing that she loved Brently mallard sometimes, her husband. Louise contradict herself but this demonstrates her emotional feelings about her husband disregarding her marriage. The situation of this woman represents the unhappiness and disgraceful life that women had to suffer from their
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth, a noble thane, is corrupted because of his unchecked ambitions. Macbeth’s ambitious personality is awakened when three witches appear to hail him as the Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and King. This prophecy convinces Macbeth to murder King Duncan, so he can become King; consequently, he is forced to kill others to cover up his first murder. After so much blood is spilled, Macbeth becomes a barbaric tyrant. Macbeth’s 180-degree transformation is a result of the “weird sisters.” Despite the witches being present in only three scenes of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, they advance the plot by foreshadowing events, generating imagery, and introducing main themes.