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Role of the woman in literature
Women's roles throughout the centuries
Role of the woman in literature
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Although, over time females presences has become very prominent in the world, seemingly this trend first started appearing within stories. First making their appearance as maybe a motherly and caring damsel in distress character archetype that was meant to push the main male protagonist forward on his quest. However, this stereotype was broken and barriers were left behind within True Grit and The Personal Recollection of Joan of Arc. In both these novels the main characters were in fact females and acted ahead of their times in terms of creating equality within a male dominant society, otherwise known as feminism.
In The Personal Recollection of Joan of Arc, Joan was said to be sent by God to lead France to be an independent country,
after England took over. When Joan set out to consult the King of France, she explained to him that she was indeed a messenger of God. However, whoever heard of her abilities brushed her off as a lunatic religious women. They never questioned her sanity because they already knew she was insane by simply associating herself that close with God, which during this time only the religious leaders and monarchies had such abilities. She rose to the occasion as a leader even went as far as to make herself appear as a man to make people follow her. She indeed go to great lengths to accomplish her missions and soon gathered an army of followers that began to listen to the lies and believed she was a man. However, regardless of her appearing as a man when questioned by those of her gender she never denied herself and her mission. In True Grit Mattie is a young well educated girl that sends herself to handle some business after the murder of her father. She then hires a man to search for her father killer, and soon she assists him in his adventure to find and bring him to justice. During her adventure she is faced with many obstacles and adversities that she soon faces, and soon realizes the being a 14 year old can present even more problems for herself. In both sections these females are the role- models that our current society should be striving to accomplish, in comparison to many of this generation's “role models.” In efforts to face their problems and obstacles these young women had learn that not all things are handed to you simply because you are a women or even in a lesser than, but to face the problem head on and taking action.
Like in Gilgamesh and the Iliad, women help encourage and influence the protagonists to be the heroes and protectors they are meant to be. Adventures and wars
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’
Due to traditional stereotypes of women, literature around the world is heavily male-dominant, with few female characters outside of cliché tropes. Whenever a female character is introduced, however, the assumption is that she will be a strong lead that challenges the patriarchal values. The authors of The Thousand and One Nights and Medea use their female centered stories to prove their contrasting beliefs on the role of women not only in literature, but also in society. A story with a female main character can be seen as empowering, but this is not always the case, as seen when comparing and contrasting Medea and The Thousand and One Nights.
A deeper look into the authors provides a clarity into why their heroines acted differently. As a feminist, it only makes sense that Gilman’s protagonist embodied her belief of a strong and independent woman. Meanwhile, as part of the authoritative patriarchy, Faulkner’s heroine could be nothing less than an objectified character in need of a man in her life helping sort her issues, as Faulkner writes, “He could do so much for me if he just would. He could do everything for me” (19). Therefore a woman’s role in society is, although culturally set, is ambiguous and meant to be defined by the individual and his or her own
Joan of Arc showed her caring nature at a young age and this helped her strong influence over the culture of her time. Joan
For readers who observe literature through a feminist lens, they will notice the depiction of female characters, and this makes a large statement on the author’s perception of feminism. Through portraying these women as specific female archetypes, the author creates sense of what roles women play in both their families and in society. In books such as The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the roles that the main female characters play are, in different instances, both comparable and dissimilar.
These women authors have served as an eye-opener for the readers, both men and women alike, in the past, and hopefully still in the present. (There are still cultures in the world today, where women are treated as unfairly as women were treated in the prior centuries). These women authors have impacted a male dominated society into reflecting on of the unfairness imposed upon women. Through their writings, each of these women authors who existed during that masochistic Victorian era, risked criticism and retribution. Each author ignored convention a...
Throughout time women have been written as the lesser sex, weaker, secondary characters. They are portrayed as dumb, stupid, and nothing more than their fading beauty. They are written as if they need to be saved or helped because they cannot help themselves. Women, such as Daisy Buchanan who believes all a woman can be is a “beautiful little fool”, Mrs Mallard who quite died when she lost her freedom from her husband, Eliza Perkins who rights the main character a woman who is a mental health patient who happens to be a woman being locked up by her husband, and then Carlos Andres Gomez who recognizes the sexism problem and wants to change it. Women in The Great Gatsby, “The Story of an Hour,” “The Yellow Wall Paper” and the poem “When” are oppressed because the fundamental concept of equality that America is based on undermines gender equality.
Throughout literature’s history, female authors have been hardly recognized for their groundbreaking and eye-opening accounts of what it means to be a woman of society. In most cases of early literature, women are portrayed as weak and unintelligent characters who rely solely on their male counterparts. Also during this time period, it would be shocking to have women character in some stories, especially since their purpose is only secondary to that of the male protagonist. But, in the late 17th to early 18th century, a crop of courageous women began publishing their works, beginning the literary feminist movement. Together, Aphra Behn, Charlotte Smith, Fanny Burney, and Mary Wollstonecraft challenge the status quo of what it means to be a
Throughout American Literature, women have been depicted in many different ways. The portrayal of women in American Literature is often influenced by an author's personal experience or a frequent societal stereotype of women and their position. Often times, male authors interpret society’s views of women in a completely different nature than a female author would. While F. Scott Fitzgerald may represent his main female character as a victim in the 1920’s, Zora Neale Hurston portrays hers as a strong, free-spirited, and independent woman only a decade later in the 1930’s.
...present powerful characters, while females represent unimportant characters. Unaware of the influence of society’s perception of the importance of sexes, literature and culture go unchanged. Although fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty produce charming entertainment for children, their remains a didactic message that lays hidden beneath the surface; teaching future generations to be submissive to the inequalities of their gender. Feminist critic the works of former literature, highlighting sexual discriminations, and broadcasting their own versions of former works, that paints a composite image of women’s oppression (Feminist Theory and Criticism). Women of the twenty-first century serge forward investigating, and highlighting the inequalities of their race in effort to organize a better social life for women of the future (Feminist Theory and Criticism).
Women roles have changed drastically in the last 50 to 80 years, women no longer have to completely conform to society’s gender roles and now enjoy the idea of being individuals. Along with the evolution of women roles in society, women presence and acceptance have drastically grown in modern literature. In early literature it was common to see women roles as simply caretakers, wives or as background; women roles and ideas were nearly non-existent and was rather seen than heard. The belief that women were more involved in the raising of children and taking care of the household was a great theme in many early literatures; women did not get much credit for being apart of the frontier and expansion of many of the nations success until much later.
Joan of Arc was a just young girl when she had to endure great amounts physical and emotional torture. To Joan, this was a small price to pay since it was God’s will for Joan to risk her life. Joan’s extreme devotion to God influenced her life to be a brief one, yet Joan experienced happenings that a person who lived a long life most likely would not have. Joan’s life may have been short but it was full in every way. Joan broke through the limits held for women of her time for a purpose greater than she: to serve her beloved God. She is one of the most famous figures in history and her name is widely known across the world. Joan of Arc stands in the minds of many as the unrelenting triumph of she who apprehended nothing, knew herself and knew her God, absolutely and unmistakably.
“Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.
Joan of Arc, also known as Jeanette d’Arc, was born in Domremy, France in the year 1412. So long ago that the things she succeeded in were incredible. She was a typical rebellious peasant until she ran away to join the army. Disguised as a man, the French Army suspiciously allowed her to command the army. Joan led a series of strategic victories that were used more than centuries later. Once the English got hold of Joan, they burnt her to stake of crimes such as dressing as a non legal man. Then, she was only 19 years old. Nearly 500 years later, Joan was then canonized as a saint.