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Gender roles in the Renaissance
Gender roles in the Renaissance
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A motif of doubling between a sane and insane woman exist in both of these works. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator is doubled with the creeping woman behind the pattern of the paper. Bertha serves as Jane’s double. The double in Jane Eyre is used to be a warning of the probable future that Jane could be facing if she marries Rochester. Throughout “The Yellow Wallpaper”, John patronizes her and ignores her intellect and requests that she makes. He refers to her as non-human names such as "a blessed little goose" (1394) On the other hand Rochester uses a similar diction when referring to Jane. He continuously calls her his “fairy” or “sylph”. The other despicable thing that Rochester does is the words in which he describes Bertha. He uses …show more content…
inhuman imagery to describe her. Even though the choice of words that he uses for Jane seem friendly and playful they are still non-human imagery. To a certain degree, his intent is not far off from the diction he uses to describe his mad wife. The non-human diction used reflects the sense of superiority that is sparked by a patriarchal society. A critic named Aubrey Mishou states: “Bronte uses the dichotomy of Jane and Bertha to explore an evolutionary struggle and presents an analysis of contemporary relationships in light of such scientific thought.” (Mishou 255). In other words, Mishou believes that if Jane were subject to being locked in just one room constantly she would turn into Bertha. The claim could also be made that she would end up like the narrator. Another critic Rula Quawas states almost the exact same thing but about the narrator from the Gilman story. “potentialities of American womanhood and struggled to free herself from true to the free woman. As a woman and as an author, she perceptively analyzed the most basic conditions under which women live out their lives and developed her seminal ideas: the crucial necessity for women to have careers outside the home.” (Quawas 36). Both authors are giving the idea that women being suppressed by men need to rise up and not succumb to a male dominant household or they will go insane. The last similarity that I will note is the fact that both of these women feel as though they are nothing in the world.
In Jane’s case, she knew her place as soon as she went to go live at Gateshead. “I was like nobody there; I had nothing in harmony with Mrs. Reed or her children.” (Norton 639) Here it is very clear that Jane understands that no one in that house cares what happens to her. On the other hand, the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” believes that what her husband is doing to her is merely out of love. I believe that what her husband is doing is not far off from attempted murder. I believe that he truly wants her to die with the way that he talks to her. He speaks to her as if he is speaking with a small child. He would read to her at night so she would go to sleep and then talk to her and say things like “darling” and “my delight”. What is strange about this is the fact that John never once lets her out of the room. He keeps stating that she must get better before he can let her out. This is very close to how Rochester speaks to Jane. Before their wedding, he tries to tell her what to do and buys her gifts. In this case, both men begin to attempt to take control of their significant other’s lives. In this sense, we can get a feel for how Bertha grew into how she is. Rochester tried to strip away all of the independence that she had and lock her up in the house. Which then eventually drove her to become the madwoman in the attic just like our narrator in “The
Yellow Wallpaper”. Greg Johnson wrote on the subject that Gilman wrote this piece as a gothic allegory. He states that “The Yellow Wallpaper”," who willingly accepts madness over repression, refusing a life of "unhappy, silent acceptance." (Johnson 522). Johnson demonstrates that Gilman wrote this to demonstrate that the narrator wanted to go mad so then this way she could break free of the shackles of her suppressive husband. On the other hand, Kirsten Parkinson’s essay “Mrs. Rochester's Story: Franco Zeffirelli's Adaptation of Jane Eyre” she states that Jane is the feminist icon that women needed. She was growing as an independent woman and did not like to conform to the ideals of being a back up to a man. “Jane’s independent womanhood comes at the expense of the colonized female” (Parkinson 19). In this way, the two characters become intertwined due to the shackles that are being put on them by suppressive male figures.
When we compare contrast the two stories "The Yellow Wallpaper" vs. "The Story of an Hour”. If we first look at the similarities that they have, they are both about women who are controlled by their husbands, and who desired freedom. But both women had different reasons for their freedom. It sounds as though both husbands had control over their lives and both women had an illness. But I don’t believe the husbands knew their wives were so miserable. So as we look at the lives of women back in the 19th century time they have the stereotypical trend of being a house wife, staying at home taking care of kids, the house, and aiding the husband in his work. Being in charge of the household makes women have many responsibilities to take care of but still women are often looked down upon and men who often thinks a women’s say is unimportant. The two short stories are about two women who have husbands that successful and the women who feel suffocated by their lack of ability to live their own lives or make their own decisions. The two stories present similar plots about two wives who have grown to feel imprisoned in their own marriages.
In "Miss Brill" and "The Yellow Wallpaper", the plot for both short stories consist of a female who is suffering from isolation. The short story "Miss Brill", the main character, who is an English tutor, wears her fur stole to the park. Every Sunday she attends the park to watch the live performances from her special seat. She believes that she is a part of the performances to a point where, "Even she had a part and came every Sunday"(Mansfield 268). Yet, one day she attends a performance and she is subjected to ridicule by a young couple sitting next to her. After, she returns home dejected and lonely. In "The Yellow Wallpaper", the narrator develops depression after the birth of her baby. Her husband, John who is a physician, misdiagnosed
“To jump out of the window would be admirable exercise, but the bars are too strong even to try,” (Gilman). There are an extraordinary amount of stories written about women that go insane for certain reasons. Two of those stories are, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner. Both stories are about women who are driven insane by situations that are happening in their lives; both women turn to isolation for different reasonings. Both A Rose for Emily by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner show similarities and differences with dysfunctional lives.
Women have traditionally been known as the less dominant sex. Through history women have fought for equal rights and freedom. They have been stereotyped as being housewives, and bearers and nurturers of the children. Only recently with the push of the Equal Rights Amendment have women had a strong hold on the workplace alongside men. Many interesting characters in literature are conceived from the tension women have faced with men. This tension is derived from men; society, in general; and within a woman herself. Two interesting short stories, “The Yellow Wall-paper and “The Story of an Hour, “ focus on a woman’s plight near the turn of the 19th century. This era is especially interesting because it is a time in modern society when women were still treated as second class citizens. The two main characters in these stories show similarities, but they are also remarkably different in the ways they deal with their problems and life in general. These two characters will be examined to note the commonalities and differences. Although the two characters are similar in some ways, it will be shown that the woman in the “The Story of an Hour” is a stronger character based on the two important criteria of rationality and freedom.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story that follows part of the life of a woman in the 1800 's in a diary-like format. The story follows a woman who has moved into a house while waiting for the previous one to be remodeled. She has just had a baby that she is not allowed to see, and her husband continues to keep her locked in a room unless she has an escort. In this era women were seen as delicate objects that were prone to intense emotion and in need of constant control by their husbands the escorts and ability to lock her away were, at that time, deemed appropriate ways to deal with his wife’s depression after birth. Strangely the wife was not forced to run the house, but the husband had his sister come and do this as well as take care
Women have traditionally been known as the less dominant sex. Through history women have fought for equal rights and freedom. They have been stereotyped as being housewives, and bearers of children. Only with the push of the Equal Rights Amendment have women had a strong hold on the workplace alongside men. Many interesting characters in literature are conceived from the tension women have faced with men. This tension comes from men, society, in general, and within a woman herself. Two interesting short stories, “The Yellow Wall-paper" and “The Story of an Hour," focus on a woman’s fix near the turn of the 19th century. This era is especially interesting
During the 1890’s married women had little to no freedom or rights, the men controlled
Because Jane is the narrator, the reader is given a biased point of view that St. John’s character is unfavorable. Throughout Jane’s life she has had oppressive male figures dominate her life, such as John Reed and Mr. Brocklehurst; thus, Jane can conditioned herself to be apprehensive when confronting men. After gaining her physical and emotional strength back, Jane studies St. John’s character. Jane’s first impression of St. John is pessimistic, she states “Had he been a statue instead of a man, he could not have been easier”(Bronte 329). By comparing St. John to a statue the reader is forced to see St. John as someone who is cold and rigid. Jane sets up the perception that St.John is disconnected from human feelings. Jane also presents a biased view of men when she first meets Rochester, who later becomes her husband. Furthermore, Jane’s first impressions of Rochester are also negative. Upon first being introduced to Rochester, after he asked to see her, Jane comments, “But it appeared he was not in the mood to notice us, for he never lifted his head as we approached. . . There was something in the forced stiffed bow, in the impatient yet formal tone, which he seemed to further expresses”(Bronte 111). Upon meeting Rochester for the fir...
Bertha and Mr. Rochester were set up and pressured into marrying each other. Mr. Rochester claims that isolating Bertha in a secret room is a justifiable act because of her mental instability. However, The Bertha that the reader gets to see exhibits an accumulated maniacal rage as a result of her imprisonment. Jane describes her as a savage woman. The very sight of her when she attacked her brother or when she ripped the wedding veil traumatized Jane. However, Bertha impacted more than her safety. When Bertha is revealed to be Mr. Rochester’s wife, Jane finds out that despite the love she and Mr. Rochester have for each other; Jane can be nothing more than a mistress because it is illegal to divorce an insane women who is not in control of her actions.
There are notable similarities between Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. These similarities include the treatment of space, the use of a gothic tone with elements of realism, a sense of male superiority, and the mental instability of women.
Jane started out with no family, causing her to yearn for someone to accept her as their family, treating her with love and respect. At a young age, Jane lost her parents, leaving her with her aunt and cousins. They treated her poorly, acting as if she was incompetent and considering her more of a servant than a family member. Then, they sent her off to school, forgetting about her entirely. Eventually, Jane acquired the family she had always dreamt of. She never felt quite right with other people accepting her, that is, until Mr. Rochester came into her life. She did not feel as though she had found her true family until she had met him. "All these relics gave...Thornfield Hall the aspect of a home of the past: a shrine to memory.” (92). When they get married, her dreams are achieved, as she finally got the family she had always wanted.
Harry Potter and Jane Eyre are two novel characters who have quite a lot of similarities. In their early childhood, both were raised as orphans, both experienced cruelty and unkind treatment from relatives who were supposed to take care of them, both were given opportunity to study and live far away from the people who treated them harshly, and both of them had a life-changing experience in their respective schools.
When Bertha Rochester is first introduced in the novel she is much of a mystery. Her name isn’t stated and it isn’t really clear if she is the one causing trouble. Jane has assumptions of who might be committing all these problems. Bertha tries to kill Mr. Rochester by setting the curtain around his bed on fire. Jane is hearing things inside her room and wished she kept her candle on so she could see. Jane says, “This was a demoniac laugh-low, suppressed, and deep-uttered, as it seemed, at the very keyhole of my chamber door. The head of my bed was near the door and, I thought at first the goblin-laughter stood at my beside-or rather crouched by my pillow: but I rose, looked around and could see nothing; while, as I gazed, the unnatural sound was reiterated: and I knew it came from behind the panels. My first impulse was to rise and fasten the bolt; and my next again to cry out, who is there?” (155) Jane stated that “Something gurgled and moaned. Ere long, steps retreated up to the gallery toward the third-story staircase: a door had lately been made to shut in that staircase; I heard it open and close and all was still.
With the death of Bertha, Jane is now able to live with the man she loves. Bertha's death precedes a successful union between Rochester and Jane. When they are finally reunited, they are equal (Showalter 122). When Rochester and Jane finally get together, their relationship succeeds due to the fact that he has learned how it feels to be helpless and how to accept the help of a woman (Showalter 122).
Charlotte Bronte utilizes the character of Bertha Rochester to interrupt Jane’s potential happy ending with Mr. Edward Rochester. Bertha is announced by Mr. Briggs as a way to stop the wedding and it also shows how hopeless Jane’s situation is. “That is my wife “said he. ‘Such is the sole conjugal embrace I am ever to know—such are the endearments which are to solace my leisure hours! And this is what I wished to have,’” (312) and “’I wanted her just as a change after that fierce ragout,’” (312) are quotes that express Mr. Rochester’s reasons for trying to remarry while he already has a wife, meanwhile showing his disposition towards said wife. Had Mr. Briggs and Mr. Mason not been present for the ceremony, Jane may have lived happily in ignorance. Due to Bertha’s involvement however, Jane could never truly call herself Mr. Rochester’s wife. She says, “’Sir, your wife is living: that is a fact acknowledged this morning by yourself. If I lived with you as you desire—I should then be your mistress: to say otherwise is sophistical—is false.’” (323) This quote shows that as a result of Bertha’s exposure, Jane refuses to marry Mr. Rochester. The influence that Bertha’s brief debut had on Jane’s life was significant enough to hinder the growth of her relationship with Mr. Rochester.