Since time immemorial, women have borne the brunt of abuse in relationships. Katherine Minola’s monologue from act four, scene three of William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew”, as well as Brooke Axtell’s 2015 Grammy speech, explore this same topic in different ways. Although both are personal narratives about abusive relationships, the context of broader awareness of the narrators’ experiences, as well as a larger cultural context, inform the similarities as well as differences between these two speeches. Perhaps the most striking similarity between these narratives is their subject matter: that of a personal story about a toxic relationship experienced by the narrator. Both narrate their experiences and related emotions to the audience, specifically regarding abuse they’ve faced at the hands of their partner. Katherine talks about Petruchio’s manipulation of her by keeping her from eating and sleeping, a tactic meant to keep her weak and docile, and its effectiveness. Likewise, Axtell talks about the effectiveness of her partner’s abuse, and how his manipulations “used her empathy against her” by making her sympathise with him (Ward). …show more content…
Both women have different levels of distance from the situations; giving them different abilities to see the bigger picture. Katherine is experiencing the abuse in real time and expresses that in her confusion. She knows what is happening but doesn’t know why it is or how to deal with it. Axtell, on the other hand, is looking at her relationship in the past tense, and has had time to look at it from an analytical and self aware perspective. When Axtell says, “My compassion was incomplete because it did not include me,” this demonstrates the ability to recognize what she was feeling and why she reacted the way she did that results from time and distance from the situation
Spousal Abuse in today’s society is extremely prevalent. All across the world, cases of spousal and domestic abuse are happening. In Khaled Hosseni’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, Spousal abuse plays an imperative role as development to the character’s emotions.
So what can go wrong with a long so strong, a hold you so tight, a night so calm
Far back, in the midst of a time when the world was very young, there lived a princess named Lucille and a bunny named Fluffy. Lucille was a beautiful girl with chocolate brown hair, and eyes as blue as the sweet summer sky. Fluffy was as white as snowflakes and as soft as clouds. He offered plenty of razzmatazz but little manners. They lived together in a tall castle, covered in green vines and grey cobblestone, hidden in the dense forest filled with animals and nature.
The response to abuse has metamorphosed drastically from Janie’s time to present day. During the days of the early 20th century in which the novel was set, spousal abuse was accepted and even promoted in some cases. Astonishingly, when Tea talks with the men about beating Janie the men respect Tea Cake and admire the way Janie stays quiet during the ordeal saying, “wouldn’t Ah love tuh whip a tender woman lak Janie” (Hurston 148). They ignore the fact that Tea Cake beats her just to show other people that he is in charge; he beats her because of his own insecurities. In Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple it is shown that the men as well as the women encouraged spousal abuse. When Harpo seeks advice on how to deal with Sophia it is Celie, another woman, who advises him to beat her. Although spousal abuse still occurs in many households today, it occurs in secrecy because there are laws that have been erected to protect against this type of abuse, and the punishment for this crime is harsh. Today, if a man hits a woman he is less of a man and a disgrace, not praised and admired as in the past.
In Queen’s “Being Emotionally Abuse: A Phenomenological Study of Adult Women’s Experience of Emotionally Abusive Intimate Partner Relationship”, she focused on a total of 15 women, who have been emotionally abused from an intimate partner relationship and wanted the women to describe, “What is it like to live the life of a woman who is emotionally abused by her intimate partner?” When experiencing emotional abuse, it can be expressed as “not easily detected; it is non-transparent in that there are no physical markers.” (Bornstein 2007, Campbell 2000). The. The emotional abuse can be very hurtful towards the women at times because while in the cycle of the relationship, the woman cannot tell when something bad or good will happen.
Catherine, Catherine is who I am. I am a young American-Italian girl, that loves making people happy. Yet I get hurt easily, and can’t make decisions on my own. I lived with ma aunt (Beatrice) and ma uncle (Eddie). Sadly, Eddie died because he snitched to the immigration bureau on ma husband Rodolpho, but you will find out later exactly how he died. For now, all ya need to know it dat it wasn’t a smooth year.
I’m Freda Josephine Baker born to Carrie McDonald and Eddie Carson on June 3rd, 1906, in St. Louis, Missouri, but most of you may know me as Josephine Baker. At the age of 12 I dropped out of school to become an entertainer, yes yes, I remember it like it was yesterday, I was young and ready to become a star. I grew up cleaning houses and babysitting for white families, and they always reminded me “be sure not to kiss the baby”. When I was 13, I got a waitressing job at the Chauffeur’s Club, which was where I met my first husband, our marriage was very brief; I had never hesitated to leave anyone, never depended on any man for anything, that’s for sure.
“Straining his eyes, he saw the lean figure of General Zaroff. Then... everything went dark. Maggie woke up in her bed. “Finally woke up from that nightmare. Man… I miss my brother. Who was that person that my brother wanted to kill?” she looks at the clock and its 9:15am “Crap I’m late for work!” Maggie got in her car and drove to the hospital for work.
In both of these stories there are certain characteristics of females that are the same, they are inner strength, obedience, honor and respect, the good of the family is better than the good of the individual.
Consequently, emotional abuse is the part of the chapter that to me was the most interesting. This is mainly due to the uncertainty and my past involvement with this particular issue. Evidently, emotional abuse can be further explained by giving examples of how my actions towards my former companion created a hostile environment. If any of her male friends that ...
Stella reveals countless times, “I’m not in anything I want to get out of” (Williams 65). Stella is aware of her cruel situation, but mentally cannot escape, nor does she feel a desire to. Consequently, physcologists around the world identify the syndrome as a subcategory of post traumatic stress disorder seen in victims who have experienced much violence hindering their mental strength that once allowed for rational decision making. According to Law.com, “Despite the realization that their partner is victimizing them, the individual will choose to remain in the abusive relationship” (Article 2). This is the greatest dividing aspect between Stella and Blanche, as Blanche’s immediate solution to the abuse is to simply leave. This comparison demonstrates the severity and the continuation of the cycle. This division creates a barrier between the victim and her loved ones best exhibited when Blanche reveals that Stanley has raped her and Stella confesses, “I couldn’t believe her story and go on living with Stanley” (Williams 133). Through this scene, Williams effectively displays enlightenment which is the most important phase of the syndrome. She is aware of her situation, but has yet to gather the strength to overcome her mental haze. Women around the world suffer to overcome this disease and escape their
Throughout centuries, countries, and cultures women have experienced a form of domestic abuse. Whether it be verbal or physical doesn't make one any less harmful, abhorrent, or excusable than the other. My inquisitiveness about domestic abuse branches from A Streetcar Named Desire, a playwright written by Tennessee Williams, which depicts the abusive relationship of that of Stella Kowalski and Stanley Kowalski's marriage. Although the playwright was published in 1947 and women didn't have equal rights to men during that time period, it doesn't change the fact that women in today's society are still treated less than equal to their dangerous and abusive partners. Women all around the world experience domestic abuse similar to that of Stella
In Alice Wallace’s novel characters, such as Celie, Nettie, or Sofia, along with others deal with phycological, physical, and emotional abuse in their marriage lives or lives in general contributing to their negative or aloof outlook of life. For example, Celie’s accustomed reaction to abuse leads her to suggest to Harpo that he should beat Nettie, however, this from of behaviour is condemned in society and can lead to legality issues. The societal general consensus view of domestic abuse in marriage is condemned yet Alice Wallace challenges our notions of this form of behaviour by reflecting its occurrence in peoples’ lives in her novel. The constant occurrence of abuse in characters lives in “The Colour Purple” goes against our concept of marriage life, however, is important to understand that it occurs more so then taboo or criminal activity and is an existing issue that people may deal with commonly today.
In “Briar Rose,” Anne Sexton utilizes a classic fairy tale to inform the reader of her own childhood experiences with sexual abuse. Instead of simply retelling the story, she puts a new twist on it and transforms it into an elaborate metaphor: Sexton is the Briar Rose from her own story. Not so much a cry for help as a plea for awareness, Sexton uses carefully crafted words to depict Briar Rose’s and her own struggle to expose the perpetrator of sexual abuse. She also uses her adaptation of the story to address how cultures view claims of sexual violence (particularly incest), marriage, and the relationship between genders.
There are many different forms of abuse and many people do not realize. Verbal abuse is the use of words to attack, hurt or injure someone, or to gain power and control over them, or to persuade someone to believe something that is untrue and harmful. Abuse does not just occur with men to women, though this paper is going to focus on it. Abuse is about control and the fear of losing it. The abuser may fear not being “good enough” and or meeting others expectations. He/she may attempt to make their victim feel and believe similar things about him/her self. Abusers exploit, lie, insult, demean, ignore (the "silent treatment"), manipulate, and control. There are a million ways to abuse, directly and indirectly.