Deviating from the norm within her time, Aphra Behn’s, “The Disappointment,” tackles the concept of sex from the female perspective, something still relatively taboo in the modern world. Behn offers readers a glimpse into the confusion and anxiety that accompany a woman’s loss of virginity, in addition to the heightened expectations of masculinity enforced on the man. By creating sympathetic and pitiable characters out of both Cloris and Lysander, Behn imagines a narrative in which there are no winners or beneficiaries in this uncomfortable exchange, directly resulting from societal expectations. During the specific instance in which Cloris gives into her desires only to discover that Lysander is unable to perform, the narrator illustrates …show more content…
the extent to which each party experiences a mutual disappointment. Although she appears to solely vilify Lysander for spoiling the occasion, Behn further criticizes the shame and negative social conventions surrounding sexual intercourse, particularly on the woman’s behalf, through the use of metaphors, allusions, and descriptive words that highlight the unnecessary pressure and ridicule that are placed on an event which should naturally derive from love but instead generates frustration. The narrator sets the scene following Lysander’s realization of his arousal issue and describes Cloris as “returning from the trance which love and soft desire had bred,” (100-101) thus far creating the impression that her passion is nothing but a dazed state where she is not in her right mind. By using the term “trance,” it is implied that Cloris is the victim of seduction into sinful actions. As she is “returning from the trance,” she enters back into reality and her hand is described as being “timorous” (102) as she reaches for his penis. Now self-aware, no longer in a trance, she is again fearful and nervous about what she is doing with Lysander and feels the weight of her actions. By noting the trepidation with which Cloris proceeds, Behn highlights the guilt that is instilled in women for taking part in sex. The use of the descriptor, “soft,” in relation to her desire allows the reader to empathize with Cloris for simply falling prey to the lure of passion, a human instinct. The need to have her under a trance for her to enjoy these feelings rather than enjoy the reality, however, is a critique of society’s necessity for women to conceal any notions of lust from the public eye or even to their partner. The comparison of Lysander’s penis to “that fabulous Priapus, that potent god,” (105-106) is a near hyperbole which ultimately condemns society’s need to worship and parallel a man’s sexual vigor and prowess with his masculinity, and therefore his worth.
Cloris forms a hyper-masculine, godlike image of Lysander which places an immense pressure on him to live up to her expectations. Although she is simply in accordance with the ideals of men that have previously been formulated by others, her compliance with such images only creates unrealistic expectations that will likely end in disappointment. The narrator states of Cloris’ discovery, “Finding that god of her desires disarmed of all his awful fires,” (112-113) which dramatizes Lysander’s downfall. The once fearsome thing is now characterized as, “cold as flowers bathed in the morning dew,” (114) becoming an altogether feminine portrait of something that is intended to be idealized as the epitome of manliness. His premature ejaculation is the ultimate sign of his descent into a non-masculine figure and a disappointment on both ends. Both Cloris and Lysander are similarly chastised only by society’s expectations, Cloris being a woman with lust and Lysander a man without his erection, and are unable to experience guiltless or unpressured pleasure,
respectively. Lysander additionally becomes the villainous figure in the story through the use of religious allusions which emphasize female naivety and an inclination towards becoming a victim to sin. The narrator muses, “But never did young shepherdess, gathering the fern upon the plain, more nimbly draw her fingers back, finding between the verdant leaves a snake,” (107-110)
...lass and sexuality by including papers like Stead's which brought middle-class readers in touch with the events of working-class London and provided workers with middle-class representations of themselves. City of Dreadful Delight is an assortment of cross-cultural contact and negotiation between class and sexuality in Victorian era London. Walkowitz's analysis emphasizes distinct “classes,” and the impact of events on each group. Through close social and cultural analysis of the explosion of discourses proceeding and surrounding Jack the Ripper, Walkowitz has demonstrated the historical importance of narratives of sexual danger particularly in the lens of sexuality and class. She explicitly demonstrated the conflicted nature of these discourses, outright showing the women marginalized by male discursive dominance, whose struggles continue to even generations later.
The hilarious play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare, tells the twisted love story of four Athenians who are caught between love and lust. The main characters: Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius are in a ‘love square’. Hermia and Lysander are true love enthusiasts, and love each other greatly. Demetrius is in love with Hermia, and Helena, Hermia’s best friend, is deeply and madly in love with Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander try to elope in the woods because Egeus, Hermia’s father, disapproves of Lysander. Helena, hearing about their plans, tells Demetrius, and all four of them end up in the woods where Lysander’s quotation, “The course of true love never did run smooth”(28), becomes extremely evident due to several supernatural mix-ups, authority, and jealousy.
Unsurprisingly, the novel is a classic coming of age story which centers on a young man who is confused about himself and his sexual identity in his early twenties. This confusion about himself and his sexual identity is the driving force of his interactions with his friends and lovers. Moreover, this confusion about himself and his sexual identity also facilitates the conflict and unforeseen consequences which occur during the novel.
A main purpose of women in the poem is to define the characters of Odysseus and Penelope. Women's seductive natures serve as a test of character for Odysseus. His choice to leave the sexual pleasures of Kirke and Calypso is proof of his virtue and desirability as a husband. The same depiction causes the virtuous Penelope to stand out in the large pool of vileness as a desirable wife. The contradictions also have a significant affect on the poem and the reader.
That Lysander, the devil who stole Hermia’s heart with bewitched “knacks, trifles, nosegays” and “sweetmeats”
Lysander calls Demetrius a?spotted and inconsistent man?, indicating Demetrius? fickleness towards women, that he is flirtatious and flawed. Demetrius is willing to go to any extent to have Hermia marry him, even allowing Hermia to be subject to a life of a nun or death, if she does not marry him. Demetrius. infatuation with Hermia brings out the tyrannical and possessive part of his character, as can be seen when he says?and, Lysander, yield thy crazed title to my certain right?
The relationship between Demetrius and Hermia is problematic, in that Demetrius is seeking the affections of Hermia, while she is in love with Lysander. However, Hermia’s father approves of Demetrius and tries to force her to marry him, but Hermia refuses because of her love for Lysander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1.1.22-82). Lysander points out the flaw in the situation through this comment, “You have her father 's love, Demetrius –/Let me have Hermia 's. Do you marry him,” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1.1.93-94). The second flawed relationship is between Lysander and Helena, as a result of an enchantment put on Lysander that made him fall in love with Helena. Helena does not want the affections of Lysander, but rather the love of Demetrius, and believes that Lysander is taunting her. In addition, this relationship creates tensions because Hermia is in love with Lysander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2.2.109-140). Both relationships are not desirable due to a lack of mutual admiration and the creation of non-peaceful and unsatisfying
Shakespeare creates a situation in which two pairs of young lovers, Lysander and Hermia, are forced to elope from the oppressive authority of their Elders, here we see Lysander asking Hermia to flee to the woods, “there gentle Hermia may I marry thee; and to that place the sharp Athenian law cannot pursue us” Freedom is not permitted in Athens, therefore the two lovers plan to escape into the woods. Hermia has two options given from her oppressive father, ‘either to die the death, or to abjure for ever in society of men’. She disobeys his commands. Shakespeare uses images to reflect Athens, and to magnify and to solidify Lysander and Hermia’s love for each other, which is strong and cannot be broken, without the use of magic. ‘Withering on a virgin thorn, grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness’.
Pride and Prejudice is a classic novel about love and the role of women. Though times have changed, there is still a struggle for female independence and respect, in both relationships and the work place, despite the past desperate efforts of the suffragettes in the early 1900s and the present work of feminists and strong female characters today. However, Jane Austen’s novel has forever been the dream world of women all over the world because it’s a real story of the hardships in romance and the oppression of the ‘weaker sex’. In contrast, Liz Lochhead’s modern poem Rapunzstiltskin is less impressed with these romantic notions and looks unkindly on fairytales and the like, with their clichéd characters and false intentions. But on closer inspection, the two pieces may not be as different as they first appear.
In the first part of the play Egeus has asked the Duke of Athens, Theseus, to rule in favor of his parental rights to have his daughter Hermia marry the suitor he has chosen, Demetrius, or for her to be punished. Lysander, who is desperately in love with Hermia, pleads with Egeus and Theseus for the maiden’s hand, but Theseus’, who obviously believes that women do not have a choice in the matter of their own marriage, sides with Egeus, and tells Hermia she must either consent to marrying Demetrius, be killed, or enter a nunnery. In order to escape from the tragic dilemma facing Hermia, Lysander devises a plan for him and his love to meet the next evening and run-off to Lysander’s aunt’s home and be wed, and Hermia agrees to the plan. It is at this point in the story that the plot becomes intriguing, as the reader becomes somewhat emotionally “attached’’ to the young lovers and sympathetic of their plight. However, when the couple enters the forest, en route to Lysander’s aunt’s, it is other mischievous characters that take the story into a whole new realm of humorous entertainment...
...for giving birth, her obedient stay after being caught, and her sudden yet unsurprising death describes, in Lispector’s viewpoints, the natural course of an average female’s life. Although Lispector wrote these stories in the 1940’s, reflecting on the then current gender inequalities and
...the helplessness of a beautiful woman like her in a society of men like the Baron. At times we are given the impression that the mistake was indeed hers when Belinda cites examples of things she could have done and should have done to prevent the rape of her lock. Such a reaction from Belinda reinforces the notion of the rape serving as a metaphor for a sexual rape. The reaction of many women in our time to sexual rape is almost exactly like Belinda's reaction to the rape of her lock. However, it becomes clear that Belinda is only over exaggerating after she goes on and on speaking of radical changes that would have prevented her loss. It is evident that she is attempting to convey the idea that it was not herself who was at fault but men in general, particularly the Baron.
By placing an emphasis on the man who uses women as sex objects by titling her play after him; by having almost all the female characters in the play treated horribly, used, and manipulated; and having the female characters barely putting up a fight, Aphra Behn suggests the heavily patriarchic society that exists is too extensive and is dangerous for the women in it.
On the other hand Brantenberg’s novel exploits the real worlds views of sexuality and applies them in th...
In Aphra Behn’s “The Rover”, between the categories of virgin and whore lies a void rather than a spectrum. The three leading ladies of the play Hellena, Florinda and Angellica most certainly fall into these categories; Hellena and Florinda being virginal ladies of quality and Angellica being a famous courtesan. These three women attempt to challenge these roles throughout the play. Aphra Behn uses the domination of the men over the women, the objectification of the women and the double standards that exist between men and women to illustrate the impossibility of taking one’s sexuality into one’s own hands, and challenging the assigned roles of the patriarchal society for the female characters in the play.