Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Wizard of oz character analysis
What is the true meaning of feminism
Literature about gender discrimination
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In L. Frank Baum’s second Oz novel, The Marvelous Land of Oz, he includes a prominent philosophical theme of feminism. During his novel, conflicts arise among powerful male figures, such as the Scarecrow King, and oppressed females, including those in General Jurjur’s Army, that demonstrate the inequality between the two genders. However, Baum’s incorporation of a strong sense of feminism is present to illustrate independent females longing for the establishment of an equal status quo in society. The overall solution to injustice treatment of women is present in Baum’s plot twist that ended with a highly liked, powerful female ruler over the Land of Oz. Baum’s first appearance of his philosophical theme is seen in the upcoming of …show more content…
However, The Marvelous Land of Oz, focuses on bringing freedom to oppressed social classes, including women.. While most unique forms of life, such as various munchkins and inanimate objects, are welcomed into the Land of Oz, women in society remain a lower status than most. In Athena D. Mutua’s article, “Valuing Difference, Excising Care in Oz: The Shaggy Man’s Welcome”, she states, “…The people of Oz sincerely value difference and diversity, even though they do not engage the rhetoric of diversity. Instead, they value difference through an ethic of care, a moral philosophy developed by feminists long after Baum’s story was imagined” (218). Mutua claims that feminism has been an influential aspect in society. Feminism has encouraged diversity among varies individuals, starting with the equal status among genders. In relation to Baum’s book, The Marvelous Land of Oz, a feminist philosophy is seen through incorporating females to make a change to the reign of male domination in Oz. Even though the Land of Oz enjoys diversity, it simply cannot be achieved with inequality present in society By allowing females to remove the burden of inequality, it will bring accepted diversity to the land of Oz, which would allow women to increase their position in …show more content…
As Fenton doubts the Land of Oz based on the unjust morals of society, Baum proves her wrong by ending his novel with equality and justice done the right way. As Ozma remains her reign over Oz, she enforces the righteous morals of justice and equality, which is essential to a promising society. As Baum incorporates feminism during his novel, he successfully executes a positive outlook onto females as they stand up for their equality. From General Jurjur’s revolt until the reign of Ozma, Baum’s theme of feminism empowers females to gain their equal status in society while overthrowing male domination. Even though Fenton questions the moral of Oz’s society, her hope of a righteous community is retrieved by the hands of feminism present in Baum’s
Alexander Doty’s interpretation of the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz is very interesting. Instead of just taking the movie as it comes, Doty analyzes The Wizard of Oz from a queer perspective. While Dorothy’s ruby red high heeled slippers are commonly considered a symbol for sexual power, the Wicked Witch of the West’s broomstick is also a fetishized object that serves a sexual purpose. Instead of being the symbol for heteronormative sexual desires, the Wicked Witch’s broomstick is a symbol for dyke power (Doty, p. 142). When compared with Glinda, the Wicked Witch is said to be the “more positive of the two images of powerful womanhood” (Doty, p. 144). The Wicked Witch is a dyke, butch character that represents the non-normative female desire and power and breaks away from heteronormative views
In 1939, Victor Fleming made a film version of L. Frank Baum’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” However, both the novel and the film focuses or touches on the same moral, it features the protagonist Dorothy who resides in Kansas the farm, along with her aunt Em and uncle Henry as well as her dog Toto. Both Baum’s novel and Fleming’s 1939 film adaptation the setting is in Kansas which is described as a small farm which Dorothy lives in which in Baum’s novel is picturized as gloomy, grey and dull. Throughout Fleming’s adaptation of Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” there are a number of differences which presents itself in a direct manner on screen as well as similarities. The variety of changes in the film’s adaptation tends to take away from the meaning of L. Frank Baum’s depiction in his novel to a certain level and extent.
Baum was very close with his mother-in-law, who was an influential suffragist who had worked with woman such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Baum had also been the secretary of his local women’s suffrage club. Knowing this some would say that some feminism aspects had found its way into the story of The Wizard of Oz, the men in this story have no real power and are lacking some sort of aspects such as a heart, brain, courage. Though, the woman such as Dorothy and the witches have great power and are not lacking in any
The growth of one woman interferes with one man’s idea of being able to conquer Woman. The two main characters of the book Ladies’ Paradise named Denise and Mouret have a unique sense of love, if it really even is “love.” She is very shy and unattainable while he is charismatic and lives a greatly successful life. Her unordinary attitude creeps into Mouret’s mind, causing him to desire her at an extreme amount. Mouret is not able to conquer Denise in the same way that he does women in his department store which defeats his conquest of Woman. The idea of feminism is prominent throughout the novel since Denise is such an independent character and does not give into Mouret’s power immediately. She briefly gives Mouret a new set of eyes, allowing
A woman’s power and privileges depend on which societal class she is in. In Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale each group of women are each represented in a different way. The three classes of women from the novel are the Handmaids, the Marthas and the Wives. The ways in which the women are portrayed reflect their societal power and their privileges that they bestow.
Baum took a different approach on gender than many did in this time period. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz reverses the accepted gender roles of its time, women taking control, even helping men in times of need. Throughout the novel are a number of examples of a woman helping a man through a problem, and a woman getting through her problems on her own. This novel was one of the first signs of feminism, putting the woman into power. As Baum said, “Never give up. No one knows what’s going to happen next” (www.goodreads.com).
In Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, social turmoil after a staged terrorist attack has led to a totalitarian Christian regime. In this dystopian future, the roles of men and women are much different than in today’s society. In The Handmaid’s Tale, women are unequal because they have no choice about their bodies, their dress, or their relationships.
Largely throughout the history of the United States of America, women have been intimately oppressed by their spouses in collusion with a patriarchal society. The Realist literary period saw no exception to this oppression of women. The Realist period, which lasted approximately from 1865-1910, involved many injustices on women, women’s rights, and equality. Males were supreme to females throughout this period, and women were denied many basic freedoms, including the right to vote. Women were regarded as frail, unequal, and inferior. However, the marginalization of women in this period did not go without protest. Women began to have an active voice on issues pertaining to their own rights as the end of the Realist period neared. Headways into women’s rights were made in this period around the turn of the century. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gillman chronicles the oppression and deteriorating sanity of Jane, who is being confined in a room by her physician and husband. This story is critical in telling of the oppression and subordination of women to their husbands throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin depicts a frail woman, who dies after a fright from her husband, who she believed was dead. The Awakening by Kate Chopin details the life of Edna Pontellier, who seeks individualism and life away from the control of men. Edna Pontellier assists in representing the audible and vociferous women’s rights movement that arose towards the end of the 19th century. American women in the Realist literary period encountered three elements that defined their societal status: oppression, inequality, and activism.
For many years, a political, culture, or economic movement aimed at establishing equal rights and legal protection for women. Feminism involves political and physiological theories concerned with issues of gender difference. Feminism seeks to achieve equality and social rights for women in all key areas, which includes education, personal economic, employment, and cultural sphere of human endeavors. Women's rights is an issue that not many people cover, but affects every woman's lives. There are both pros and cons to this issue. Men, social media, and people’s perspectives are all relating to this issue.
During the 1920’s, inequality for women was not uncommon. In fact, it was so common, that if you were treated as an equal to a man, that was considered wrong. Feminism consists of ideas and beliefs about what culture is like for women just because they are women, compared to what the world is like for men just because they are men (Womens History-Feminism). This book demonstrates many examples of feminism. It shows the dependence woman had on men, as well as the few who were independent. It also shows how women are looked at as objects and not as equals. Women were also very stereotyped and prejudged. The Great Gatsby has many examples of feminism and explains the life of a woman in the 1920’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).
Feminist theory was derived from the social movement of feminism where political women fight for the right of females in general and argue in depth about the unequality we face today. In the aspect of cinema, feminists notice the fictitious representations of females and also, machismo. In 1974, a book written by Molly Haskell "From Reverence to Rape: The treatment of Women in Movies" argues about how women almost always play only passive roles while men are always awarded with active, heroic roles. Moreover, how women are portrayed in movies are very important as it plays a big role to the audience on how to look at a woman and how to treat her in real life due to the illusionism that cinema offers. These images of women created in the cinema shapes what an ideal woman is. This can be further explained through an article 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' written by a feminist named Laura Mulvey in 1975. She uses psychoanalysis theories by Sigmund Freud to analyze 'Scopophilia' which is the desire to see. This explains how the audience is hooked to the screen when a sexy woman is present. In a bigger picture, where Scopophilia derives from, 'Voyeurism' is also known as feeling visual pleasure when looking at another. Narcissism on the other hand means identifying one's self with the role played. It is not hard to notice that in classical cinema, men often play the active role while the women are always the object of desire for the male leads, displayed as a sexual object and frequently the damsels in distress. Therefore, the obvious imbalance of power in classical cinema shows how men are accountable to moving the narratives along. Subconsciously, narcissism occurs in the audience as they ...
Feminism, what is it and how did it developed? Feminism is a women's right movement and it’s goal may differ by era it is found but one continuity is to seek equality for women after a certain perceived. Thus it certainly did not developed overnight nor did it stayed the same throughout the ages. Feminism empowers women against oppressive sexism but what is the definition of the word “women”? Some define the word “women” by sex while others define ‘women” by gender. Sex and gender may seem similar yet they are different which can exclude some people if the only one of those definition is used. Sex is the physical and biological aspect that differentiate men and women by reproductive organ shape while gender is a social construction that assign feminine roles to women and masculine role to men. If you define women by sex you exclude male to female transgendered people and infertile women while if you used gender to define women you exclude “masculine” women. In reality the definition of women is most likely inclusive of both sex or gender as it includes those that are biologically women (but may not conform to the gender role) or gender (which includes those who self identify as female). For such a simple term it requires a bit of thinking and by answering who is a women we also get the answer of who benefits from feminism.
What I have discussed are two women authors that have faced trials in their lifetimes pertaining to feminism that society had forced upon them. We are given insight into the ways and values of their time and how these experiences influenced their writings. In conclusion, we can see how societal issues concerning the roles of women have differed in principles, but remain the same in the way that there is an unbroken tradition regarding how men and women differ in their roles as well as their perceived rights. Female writers and advocates of women’s rights show these influences with Mary Wollstonecraft using her strong personality and direct writings and Virginia Woolf using her narratives, and both giving us insight to the struggles of an ongoing debate.