Langston Hughes and Leah Umansky have extremely different writing styles, as evidenced through their poetry. However, through the analysis of two poems, one by each, one can see many ethical similarities displayed throughout their poems. The overarching theme found in between the lines of these two poems is that women can use speech as a form of power to show their independence and self-reliance, instead of stereotypically being shown as a lesser person than a man. Hughes wrote the poem, “ Madam and the Rent Man,” around 1940, which describes the defiance a madam displays when put up against the pressure of having to pay her rent. “Khaleesi Says” is a poem based off of a type of character from the popular TV show, “Game of Thrones,” and it …show more content…
circulates around a woman who acts and lives according to her own will, not necessarily to the will of her husband. Both poems show women speaking out and establishing themselves as strong, fearless and independent. One common characteristic of the two women in both poems is the lack of fear they show, regarding their circumstances.
For example, in Hughes’ poem, the madam says, “I said, Naturally/ You pass the buck/ If it’s money you want/ You’re out of luck” (Lines 23-26). These lines show a specific example of a madam who is angered out of her wits by the conditions of her flat, lashing out at the rent collector about how she simply will not give him any money until the landlord fixes all of the problems in her living space. This defiance speaks to the point that women have the right to defend themselves and speak out, instead of giving into those who think that they can rule unfairly over her. Similarly and yet straighter to the point, Umansky writes from a third person view that, “In this story, she knows no fear/… fear is a house gone dry/Fear is not being a woman” (Lines 3, 7, 8). From these lines, one can picture a woman (in context with the fact that this is a character from Game of Thrones) who is not supposed to be fighting in war, yet wields a sword and is not afraid of doing a man’s job. Overcoming supposed obstacles such as being discouraged from becoming a female warrior in a man’s world shows that women can be indifferent to fears and obstacles they may have to overcome in order to become who they truly want to
be. Secondly, both poems show women who act out of the supposed “ordinary” when they are portrayed in the poems, in order to go against the stereotypes and standards that are usually held against women by sexists. One of these stereotypes is that women cannot defend themselves, whether it is physically or verbally. In Hughes’ poem, the madam speaks out against the rent collector and specifically describes why she refuses to pay him. In lines 11-18 of the poem, the madam chronicles all of the features of her living space that hinder her from living well, including,” The sink is broke/The water don’t run/Back window’s cracked/Kitchen floor squeaks” (lines 11, 12, 15, 16) and so on and so forth. One could find this disrespectful to the man, and would say that a woman should not speak out like this at all, when of course she has the right to question those in authority if they are not consistently taking care of her. In Umansky’s poem, lines 9 and 10 specifically address the idea that a woman can dream big with the idea that she is empowered. “ ‘I’m no ordinary woman,’ she says/My dreams come true” (lines 9-10). Here, Umansky writes through the lenses of the Khaleesi, who says that since she is out of the ordinary, her dreams can come true. Often in the 1400/1500’s when this show occurs, the place of women in society was as housewives. Many girls may have had aspirations to do greater and nobler things in a culture that limited their dreams. Here, the Khaleesi is living out those dreams to the fullest of her capabilities. Lastly, both poems utilize strong imagery and word use in order to display a sense of independence from each of the women. In Hughes’ poem, the language and tone he uses while talking through the madam’s voice exhibit a sense of defiance and separation from a unified feeling between man and woman. While the rent man and the madam end up agreeing over the madam’s awful living situation, she only separates herself further from gender overall. The unreliability of her landlord directly correlates to the undependable and irresponsible actions that often cause women to leave men. In Umansky’s poem, independence from man is bluntly addressed in line 8, which states, “Fear is not being a woman.” While the obvious is suggested (fear is being a man), Umansky also uses this line to tie into the limitations and restrictions that women usually face from men in dismal situations. From both of these poems, one can see that this idea of independence and self-reliance is constantly repeated and emphasized by both poets. Poetry is often used to address social issues from many different standpoints. It is interesting to analyze how distinct styles of poetry from different time periods are able to come together and spread the same message. The two poems looked at in this essay could not be more diverse and unalike from each other, yet when they are analyzed together, they have much in common. “Madam and the Rent Man” and “Khaleesi Says” are set in two completely different settings, and initially, one would not see any correlation between the two. However, upon closer analyzation, both poems address the issue of feminism and sexism in society, and ways in which women can break those stereotypes.
In June Jordan's essay “Many Rivers to Cross,” Jordan explains how multiple events in her life, including her mother’s death, led her to realize that women should “stand up” and not allow men to control them. The title of the essay is very indicative of the process that she had to go through before she came to this epiphany. Jordan’s husband is a man who is a part of the patriarchy that disrespects women. Her father is another example of a man who doesn’t know better than to oppress women, while Mrs. Hazel Griffin is the antithesis to his misogynistic ideology. Mrs. Griffin is a strong, independent women who doesn't need a man to be happy or successful. Jordan believes that women should be strong, like Hazel Griffin, and not give up when they are being persecuted, rather than being weak and submitting to oppression, like Jordan’s mother.
Women are equated with water and the greatness that it possesses. In both poems Hughes displays African-American’s view of women and how they the key to maintaining a family. R. Baxter Miller states “her symbolic yet invisible presence pervades the fertility of the earth, the waters and the rebirth
The speaker in “Harlem” is an African-American activist in Harlem who is fighting for rights of the African-Americans who live in Harlem. Although written by the same author, “Harlem” and “Harlem Night Song” have similarities and differences in literary devices, tone and mood. In “Harlem Night Song”, Hughes used non-consistent rhyme. In the poem, it states, “The Harlem roof-tops/Moon is shining./Night sky is blue./Stars are great drops/Of
The first thing the author, Langston Hughes, used to bring out his purpose for writing is the use of hyperbole. This can be seen in lines twenty-three and twenty-four of the poem. “He’s trying to ruin the government, And overturn the land!” (Hughes 23, 24) The landlord immediately jumps to an extreme in these lines. The landlord immediately jumps to this conclusion when the African-American man is trying to resolve the issue of the condition of his house. The landlord immediately viewed the man as a hostile person when he tried to
Society continually places specific and often restrictive standards on the female gender. While modern women have overcome many unfair prejudices, late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century women were forced to deal with a less than understanding culture. Different people had various ways of voicing their opinions concerning gender inequalities, including expressing themselves through literature. By writing a fictional story, authors like Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James were given the opportunity to let readers understand and develop their own ideas on such a serious topic.
Throughout history women have learned to find a voice against men through writing. Writing has been a medium where women have learned to speak their minds and allow their ideas to be broadcasted to the world. Women have used writing to discuss issues, such as discrimination, inequality, sexual frustrations, and many more that they have dealt with. In the poem, “A Loyal Woman’s No”, written by Lucy Larcom. She gives power to women to say no to men. Her poem discusses the issues that many women face. They face issues of men taking advantage of them, men objectifying them and using them. However, Larcom’s poem shows a clear progress of women standing up against men, and being firm in saying no to them. Larcom has given women the ability to stand up to man and show the true power that women have over men. Many women fear standing up to men due to the repercussions of their actions, however, Lucy Larcom uses the symbolism of nature and her rhetoric to show a woman’s true power against men and say no and to free themselves of the rigid grasp that so many men have over women.
“Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words.” –Edgar Allan Poe. Poetry is one of the world’s greatest wonders. It is a way to tell a story, raise awareness of a social or political issue, an expression of emotions, an outlet, and last but not least it is an art. Famous poet Langston Hughes uses his poetry as a musical art form to raise awareness of social injustices towards African-Americans during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Although many poets share similarities with one another, Hughes creatively crafted his poetry in a way that was only unique to him during the 1920’s. He implemented different techniques and styles in his poetry that not only helped him excel during the 1920’s, but has also kept him relative in modern times. Famous poems of his such as a “Dream Deferred,” and “I, Too, Sing America” are still being studied and discussed today. Due to the cultural and historical events occurring during the 1920’s Langston Hughes was able to implement unique writing characteristics such as such as irregular use of form, cultural and historical referenced themes and musical influences such as Jazz and the blues that is demonstrative of his writing style. Langston Hughes use of distinct characteristics such as irregular use of form, cultural and historical referenced themes and musical influences such as Jazz and the blues helped highlight the plights of African-Americans during the Harlem Renaissance Era.
Throughout history, women have struggled with, and fought against, oppression. They have been held back and weighed down by the sexist ideas of a male dominated society which has controlled cultural, economic and political ideas and structures. During the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s women became more vocal and rebuked sexism and the role that had been defined for them. Fighting with the powerful written word, women sought a voice, equality amongst men and an identity outside of their family. In many literary writings, especially by women, during the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s, we see symbols of oppression and the search for gender equality in society.
...Throughout American history, many men and women have faced difficulties such as inequality, and discrimination. However, with perseverance and determination, both early colonists, and women, have overcome these things. Women, now have every right that men do. As for the colonist; we have our own government, not a British one. “The Declaration of Independence,” by Thomas Jefferson uses pathos and diction to express why the colonies need to be free and independent from British rule. “The Declaration of Sentiments,” by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott uses logos and analogies to reveal how unequally women are treated. Finally, “A Disappointed Woman,” by Lucy Stone uses ethos and imagery to describe how women were treated and to demand equality for them. “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal” (Stanton and Mott).
Throughout most of literature and history, the notion of ‘the woman’ has been little more than a caricature of the actual female identity. Most works of literature rely on only a handful of tropes for their female characters and often use women to prop up the male characters: female characters are sacrificed for plot development. It may be that the author actually sacrifices a female character by killing her off, like Mary Shelly did in Frankenstein in order to get Victor Frankenstein to confront the monster he had created, or by reducing a character to just a childish girl who only fulfills a trope, as Oscar Wilde did with Cecily and Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest. Using female characters in order to further the male characters’
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 were 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. In both Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” and Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening”, we see that there are two types of women who arise from the demands of these expectations. The first is the obedient women, the one who has buckled and succumbed to become an empty emotionless shell. In men’s eyes this type of woman was a sort of “angel” perfect in that she did and acted exactly as what was expected of her. The second type of woman is the “rebel”, the woman who is willing to fight in order to keep her creativity and passion. Patriarchal silencing inspires a bond between those women who are forced into submission and/or those who are too submissive to maintain their individuality, and those women who are able and willing to fight for the ability to be unique.
What is Feminism? How does feminism affect the world we live in today? Was feminism always present in history, and if so why was it such a struggle for women to gain the respect they rightly deserve? Many authors are able to express their feelings and passions about this subject within their writing. When reading literary works, one can sense the different feminist stages depending on the timeframe that the writing takes place. Two such works are ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by, Charlotte Gilman and ‘Everyday Use’ by, Alice Walker; the feminist views within each story are very apparent by the era each author lives in. It is evident that a matter of fifty years can change the stance of an author’s writing; in one story the main character is a confident and strong willed young woman looking to voice her feminist views on the world, while the other story’s main character is a woman trying to hold on to her voice in a man’s world which is driving her insane.
Reading literature, at first, might seem like simple stories. However, in works like William Faulkner's “A Rose for Emily,” Katherine Mansfield's “Miss Brill,” and Kate Chopin's “The Storm,” the female protagonists are examples of how society has oppressive expectations of women simply because of their gender.
An example of this is when Elizabeth in “The Leaving”, is ordered around by her husband “get over her ‘n’ make my supper wom[a]n!”, (Wilson, 1990 p. 3). This is a strong example because she is not appreciated or respected. Even though she lives in a different culture and time frame, the same sort of situation can be observed in “Another Evening at the Club”. This occurs when Samia does not have a choice of who she marries “you're a lucky girl,... he’s a real find” (Rifaat, 1998, p. 255). Along with these two women Anilam, Aqsa has to overcome their families not approving who they want to marry or how they want to dress. Finally, Mrs. Mallard also experiences this while she does not really love her husband but cannot confess to him as he has more power over her, so she has to just put up with him. This is shown when she says “free, free, free!” (Chopin, 1894 p 2), and she is finally happy even though he had died. Since all of the women in the story live in a patriarchal society or a repression they face really similar
‘Patriarchy is like the elephant in the room that we don't talk about, but how could it not affect the planet radically when it's the superstructure of human society”(DiFranco). Wife of bath explains to a few men on why women and men are equal. Women are looked down upon and are “not as powerful as men.” With her witty words she stands up for what she is. Women are better because they are great liars, they are smart, let men think they have power, and always keep them off guard. “Truly there's not a woman in ten score who has a fault, and someone rubs the sore, but she will kick if what he says is true; you try it out and you will find so too”(lines 85-88). Women are just as good, if not better because they know how to run things and