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The roles of women in literature
The roles of women in literature
Modernism
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Stories and Modernism
Jose A. Romero
Keiser University Stories and Modernism
Modernism is best known as a movement where society goes through changes. The changes are related to literature and art. During this period the American society suffered the devastating effects of World War I, the market’s depression and World War II. Modernism movement happened between the years 1900 and 1950. During this period many writers expressed their ideas, helping and guiding the society to understand those changes that would come during this period.
Mina Loy was a British modernist artist, writer and novelist. As a modernist writer, she expressed her ideas of changes. Over the years, women started to feel more power and started revealing themselves during the 20th century. They felt that they had rights that were not being given, which made them angry and they started to protest. Mina Loy with her particular thought went beyond the demands to write the “Feminist Manifesto”. In this manifesto, Mina Loy was calling for a revolution of gender relations. Making her protagonist in this period of modernism,
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After all the events occurred during the 20th century that caused the crash market, Americans were in poverty and disillusioned. These are some characteristics that are quite linked with the changes of the modernist period. Moreover, in this return of Charlie to Paris, as Fitzgerald states “He thought, I spoiled this city for myself. I didn’t realize it, but the days came along, after another, and then two years were gone, and everything was gone, and I was gone.” (Fitzgerald 1929, p2166). After the crash market he lost all the money he used to have, now he is facing a new lifestyle. The modernist period is also marked with a great depression in the market for the Americans and many of them were disappointed about these changes because after having it all, many lost everything and fell into
F. Scott Fitzgerald third book, “The Great Gatsby”, stands as the supreme achievement in his career. According to The New York Times, “The Great Gatsby” is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s. In the novel, the author described Daisy Buchanan as childish, materialistic, and charming. These characteristics describing Daisy is also description for the way women were seen during the 1920s.
Since its publication in 1925, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald has indisputably been one of the most influential and insightful pieces on the corruption and idealism of the American Dream. The American Dream, defined as ‘The belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone,’ was a dominant ideal in American society, stemming from an opportunist pioneer mentality. In his book ‘The American Tradition in Literature’, Bradley Sculley praised The Great Gatsby for being ‘perhaps the most striking fictional analysis of the age of gang barons and the social conditions that produced them.’ Over the years, greed and selfishness changed the basic essence of the American Dream, forming firmly integrated social classes and the uncontainable thirst for money and status. The ‘Roaring Twenties’ was a time of ‘sustained increase in national wealth’ , which consequently led to an increase in materialism and a decrease in morality. Moreover, the
"There are all kinds of love in this world, but never the same love twice." (F. Scott Fitzgerald).
What is real? In a modernist point of view the world shouldn't be called reality. But if the world isn't reality what is it then? What is reality in modernism? Modernism is a rejection of realism, which believed that science will save the world and where notion of science and social determinism is idealized. In modernism, science explains everything, which took away all the power of God, He became useless. In a way, life had lost its mystery, man, not God, could rule the world. Irving Howe, a literary critic, once talked about modernism as an "unyielding rage against the existing order". (Van Dusen, 1998) Nevertheless, modernism is also an era of disappointment; people are preoccupied with the meaning and the purpose of existence. They are in search of new values and in something new. Modernism first took place in the Jazz age and/or the roaring twenties; this period was all about prohibition and intolerance, flappers, gangsters, and crime. In 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment made it illegal to manufacture or sell alcohol. This helped to create a network of criminal organization in the trade of illegal alcohol. Moreover, in 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment gave the women the right to vote, which is what probably helped alter the traditional moral and social standards dramatically; women began to assert new freedoms such as going out with no chaperon, wearing less constrictive clothing, and smoking in public. During that time, a circle of writers was formed "The lost generation". They moved to more culturally vibrant cities of Europe, especially Paris, after World War I. "These writers, looking for freedom of thought and action, changed the face of modern writing. Realistic and rebellious, they wrote what they wanted and fought censorship for profanity and sexuality. They incorporated Freudian ideas into their characters and styles." (Whitley, 2002) These authors wrote about what they wanted and talk openly about sexuality. They created a type of literature appropriate to what they thought was the modern life, after World War I. They used new techniques and addressed new subjects in reaction to the changes of the early twentieth century.
Modernism is defined in Merriam-Webster's Dictionary as "a self-conscious break with the past and a search for new forms of expression." While this explanation does relate what modernism means, the intricacies of the term go much deeper. Modernism began around 1890 and waned around 1922. Virginia Wolf once wrote, "In or about December, 1910, human character changed." (Hurt and Wilkie 1443). D.H. Lawrence wrote a similar statement about 1915: "It was 1915 the old world ended." (Hurt and Wilkie 1444). The importance of the exact dates of the Modernist period are not so relevant as the fact that new ideas were implemented in the era. Ideas that had never before been approached in the world of literature suddenly began emerging in the works of many great authors. Two of the pioneer Modernist writers were Joseph Conrad and T.S. Eliot. The tendencies to question the incontestable beliefs embedded in all thinking and to focus on the inner self dominated. Old viewpoints were tossed aside to make way for the discovery of modern man's personal spirituality. Two works that are considered important forbears in the Modern period are T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
Modernism or modernist poetry refers to the time period where poems were written by various people between the 1890s and 1970s. Modernism poets have a lot of knowledge and their works reflect it. The Era of modernism brought on modern language as it referred to thought, practice or someone’s character. This brought on a lot of change in the world. The thought behind the thinking of modernist poets were that of individualism. The modern movement came about as the result of the industrial revolution. This was during a time were most people were moving out of the rural farm areas and began moving into cities around more people. The advancement in technology also played a big part in the modern movement. During this time new factories were being built, communication and technology became likely amongst people. Modernism can refer to not only literature but also to music, art and architecture to name a few. The goal of modernism was to attract the human mind, in so many words. Modern which definition in so many words means “current”, related to the current situations of the world during this time.
What is the American Dream and what exactly does it stand for? According to the dictionary, the American Dream is " the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work and determination", meaning that every American should have a chance to become successful in life if they work hard for what they want. In The Great Gatsby , F. Scott Fitzgerald refers to a lot of examples of the American Dream throughout the entire novel. However what he suggests about the state of the American Dream is that it has been corrupted by materialism.
Modernists portray a dull, gloomy and pessimistic picture of culture in America during this time period. This despair is often caused by an apparent boredom and the people’s feeling of uncertainty, of changes to come. Modernism uncovered has an anti-traditionalist theme instilled in it, because of the inevitability that changes will occur. “Modern” itself possesses the qualities, such as being simple and spontaneous along with an indefinite time frame to allow people’s acceptance of unknown. In many ways, this movement is difficult to define, but it can be generally applied to the work o...
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald shows many examples of modernism. Fitzgerald shows many modernism techniques like loss of control, alienation, corruption of the American Dream, breaking society’s rules and feeling restless. Fitzgerald also shows modernism through the fragmented writing.
In an era of new technology, new opportunity, and artistic expansion, does Fitzgerald’s novel comment on American morality and idealism? Is The Great Gatsby a satire or critique of American life? If not, why not?
The Modernist period was a time in history when there were many changes. These changes varied from the American Dream to the literary styles and techniques. The American Dream became less complex and was more flexible than ever. It varied from the changing lifestyles to the change in literature. Helping to shape the nation into what we see today. People were focusing more on themselves and wanting to be known, and they also wanted to have money. Living life with an optimistic viewpoint.
These first lines of Mina Loy’s poem “Parturition” indicate the way in which the poet distin-guished herself from other (male) modernist poets: “I am”, writes Loy, and puts a woman in “the centre” of her poem – a poem which has a distinctly female experience as its topic, childbirth. As modernism was a male-dominated literary movement, the experiences of women were largely disregarded but Loy aimed to give the “new woman” a voice and “pre-sented a new female perspective”. In 1914, Loy wrote her “Feminist Manifesto” that speaks out against the inferior position of women in society and stresses the importance of the aban-donment of the traditional view on women. Loy supported her position through her poetry in which she objected the position of women in a male-centred society and presented a new
Modernism began as a movement in that late 19th, early 20th centuries. Artists started to feel restricted by the styles and conventions of the Renaissance period. Thusly came the dawn of Modernism in many different forms, ranging from Impressionism to Cubism.
"Modernism is the moment where art stops making sense"( Wallace, Beginning Modernism). It is the art that is used to capture the real world through human lenses. Modernism shows us that the world is constant change and is difficult. Modernism intent is to be hard to understand. In addition, to this definiton it also is a style of art that focuses on the self. Modernism started as an artistic movement that begun in the 1890's to 1940's. Modernism is a way that helps us believe that everything hapepens at once
Modernism period in American literature is best described by the words of one of the most significant poets of the time — Ezra Pound, who famously exhorted Make it new. It was a period from the beginning of the XXth century until the start of the Second World War, when writers urged each other to apply new energy to established forms. Modernist authors covered various socially important topics such as race relations, gender roles, and sexuality. The period from the 1920s up to the 1940s is considered to be a peak of American Modernism.