In a person’s lifetime, one is able to see the cause and effect the world around the individual has on one’s life. People are affected by the culture in which they live in and are affected by the history of their homeland. One can see these effects in the real world and in the fictional worlds of books, plays, and poetry. In the land of fiction, readers can find several examples of how a character’s psyche has been shaped by the culture and history that surrounds the character. One such example would be Madam Lubov Ranyevskaya from Chekhov’s famous play, The Cherry Orchard. One can see how her cultural and historical context has shaped her behavior, her relationships with those around her, and her family dynamics. Madam Ranyevskaya’s behavior …show more content…
An article from the Library of Congress states, “Russian women did not enjoy the same position as men in society or within the family” (Curtis). In the 19th century, Russian men were dominant in the society over their female counterparts. In fact, it was not just social values that were held by the people. The patriarchy was codified into the law of Russia in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Russian legal code gave the husbands, or male head of the household, almost unlimited power to make decisions within the family (“Russian”). The wives were expected to obey their husbands every wish and demand without a say so. While Madam’s husband is dead by the time we are introduced to the character, one can still see the patriarchy involved. Gayev, Madam’s brother, seems to be the one to make the final decision for the family in the play and he is the one to go with Lopakhin to the auction of the cherry orchard, even though he has proved himself time and time again to be completely incompetent at doing business. Madam surely knows this and does not react as it has been conditioned in her to obey a male’s every
In this analysis includes a summary of the characters and the issues they are dealing with, as well as concepts that are seen that we have discussed in class. Such as stereotyping and the lack of discrimination and prejudice, then finally I suggest a few actions that can be taken to help solve the issues at hand, allowing the involved parties to explain their positions and give them a few immersion opportunities to experience their individual cultures.
Much of life results from choices we make. How we meet every circumstance, and also how we allow those circumstances to affect us dictates our life. In Marian Minus’s short story, “Girl, Colored," we are given a chance to take a look inside two characters not unlike ourselves. As we are given insight into these two people, their character and environment unfolds, presenting us with people we can relate to and sympathize with. Even if we fail to grasp the fullness of a feeling or circumstance, we are still touched on our own level, evidencing the brilliance of Minus’s writing.
In many short stories, characters face binding situations in their lives that make them realize more about themselves when they finally overcome such factors. These lively binding factors can result based on the instructions imposed by culture, custom, or society. They are able to over come these situations be realizing a greater potential for themselves outside of the normality of their lives. Characters find such realizations through certain hardships such as tragedy and insanity.
In Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour”, the main character, Louise Mallard, is a woman who appears to have everything life could offer her. She is a wealthy, intelligent, young lady who has a home and a husband that loves her. Similarly, the poem, “Richard Cory”, by author Edwin Arlington Robinson, also speaks of a character that appears to live a privileged life. Cory, like Mallard, is also very wealthy. He lives uptown, dresses exceptionally well and is envied by the people of his town. However, both writings present a theme that conveys the comparison of illusion versus reality. There are often times when people and situations in life appear to be a certain way, but in actuality that is not the way they really are.
The conflict between good and evil is one of the most common conventional themes in literature. Coping with evil is a fundamental struggle with which all human beings must contend. Sometimes evil comes from within a character, and sometimes other characters are the source of evil; but evil is always something that the characters struggle to overcome. In two Russian novels, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, men and women cope with their problems differently. Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment and the Master in The Master and Margarita can not cope and fall apart, whereas Sonya in Crime and Punishment and Margarita in The Master and Margarita, not only cope but pull the men out of their suffering.
Kate Chopin's "Story of an Hour" proves to be a timeless short story. Although this story was written in the nineteenth century, it is still reflective and relevant of today's society. It is still popular in many high schools and college classrooms. A critical examination of this piece of literature can be done using character analysis. This is an important tool in analyzing the meanings "between the lines" in this story. Mrs. Mallard is the main character and therefore plays the most important role in the story. This makes it necessary to examine her character in order to gain insights into the story's meaning. Several key elements relating to her personality surface in the story. These elements give insights into her feelings and her thoughts. The character analysis shows Mrs. Mallard is portrayed as insensitive, selfish and a wishful thinker.
To be inconsistent with traditional communities beliefs it is hard for many to accomplish. Nevertheless, writer Kate Chopin fights that conflict to deliver the readers a few of the greatest thought vexing literature that a human can get their hands on. Applying to her improvement reflections of narrative stories, such as plot control, irony, and character development, Kate is capable to take the reader towards a world of feelings that humanity would despise. Chopin shows her unbelievable literary ability in “The Story of an Hour” by joining character development and plot, with her use of thought-provoking vocabulary and narrative irony.
Cultural experience can influence a person’s perspective, view and change in the world. In the book, Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah, it is shown and proven that culture affects a person’s society, decisions, and human perspective. Adeline’s life is shaped around the Chinese culture she lives by that is enforced by her stepmother while being restricted of freedom and influenced by outside cultures, such as her classmates.
Every culture influences its members and there are common characteristics of people in every culture throughout the world. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Chinua Achebe Things Fall Apart are separated by three centuries and yet Macbeth and Okonkwo have the same tragic flaws. Culture has a major influence on the development of tragic flaws, and although the cultures differ, tragic heroes remain constant.
In S. Salina Jamil’s “Emotions in The Story of an Hour,” she explains the emotions of the main protagonist Mrs. Mallard and her transformation from the dull individual at the beginning to the story to the vibrant independent person over the course of an hour. She takes into consideration internal factors, as well as external factors including time “The Story of an Hour” is set inside of. Jamil also analyzes the story and manages to pull out multiple uses of symbolism and how they relate to Mrs. Mallard’s emotions, overall creating a convincing argument that is hard to disagree with.
It often goes without being said that usually the main focus of a story is the character that is the most obvious and talked about. However, Jamaica Kincaid proves in her story “Girl” that sometimes the unspoken and unmentioned character is the most vital to the story. To truly grasps a story, one must observe how other characters in the story affect the main character and their affect upon the story’s outcome.
Exploring fictional texts with different national settings provides a comprehensive insight into how relationships developed with other individuals in a community can alter a person’s sense of identity. Khaled Hosseini’s And the Mountains Echoed (2013) and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye (1970) are texts that present cynical portrayals of relationships amongst various groups within a society. The protagonists of both texts, Pari and Pecola, as well as other central characters are used as vehicles to express how adversity faced by individuals can negatively affect familial and interpersonal relationships, especially in association with notions of abandonment, ethnicity and beauty.
Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard projects the cultural conflict of the turn of the twentieth century of Russia. With a historical allusion, Chekhov exhibited the changing Russia with "slice of life" in his play. The Cherry Orchard is not only a depiction of Russian life but also an understatement of changing traditional value. Cultural conflict itself is an abstraction. To explain it, it is the traditional culture that is unable to resist the invading one. In the play, each character has his or her own personality, which symbolizes their individual social levels of Russian society. But these characters distinguish themselves into two sides, which are conservators and investors; therefore, they conflict each other in opinion. The following developments will begin with an outlook of The Cherry Orchard to acknowledge the basic concept of the play. The second part is culture in change that explains historical background of modern Russia. Third by a contrasting method, the main idea of this part is an illustration of conflict. And, in the fourth section, explaining symbolic meaning of The Cherry Orchard is an approach to highlight the conflict. Finally, the prospective development of different groups of characters is another contrast that echoes their attitudes in the beginning.
A remarkable trait in which literature embodies is the ability to capture and preserve cultural and societal beliefs. One may read a literary work published in the 1800’s and observe how society has evolved since then, or in contrast observe how society has digressed since then. Regardless of the genre and content, one may still infer when the piece was produced based on the diction and syntax of said piece. This is possible because literature is essentially written picture- it is a time machine for your conscience, a window to the past. This beautiful quality can be exemplified through analyzing “A Doll’s House,” a play written by Henrik Ibsen in 1879 that portrays a Marxist view of society and oppresses women unreadily seen today.
During the course of this class, I have had the opportunity to read literature from authors who come from different backgrounds and places in the world. Some of the stories and poetry we read were straight forward while others were confusing and sometimes required a second look. But one thing is clear, it changed the way I think about literature in a few ways that I wasn’t expecting. Three works in particular stand out in my mind. “ I Wont Let You Go” by Rabindranath Tagore, “To New York” by Leopold Senghor, and Pedro Peramo by Juan Rulfo all had an impact on my thinking for similar yet different reasons. They all incorporate their cultural backgrounds into their work through the setting of their pieces. They also compose their pieces in a way that makes you want to research their history to find the deeper meaning. Finally, a couple of the authors write about things they are emotionally connected to. Some of the examples we will look at, really opened my eyes to going beyond a superficial understanding of literature.