Liesel's Portrayal Of Women In The Book Thief

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Harold Bloom also argues that this is apparent from the way “She can toy with, wound, manipulate Benedick to her ends; and she is principled in her defence of her cousin, Hero, and in defending the family honour.” An example of this is how Beatrice turns to a man to carry out her wish for her; this does not express a sign of weakness but indicates how her patriarchal society restricts her: “O God, that I were a man! If I were a man, I would eat his heart in the market place.” The aggressive language “eat his heart” almost dehumanises herself, atypical of women of the Elizabethan era. The repetition of the phrase “I were a man” in this scene emphasises her frustration that her gender limits her from defending her cousin’s honour. Linking to …show more content…

“Scratching could not make it worse an ‘twere such a face as yours were.” Language not typically used by young, conventional women, presents Beatrice as characteristically more masculine than feminine. From this, there is an understanding that both characters display autonomy in light of the fact they have accomplished a gender role reversal, where the male characters are determined to serve the female protagonists.
Throughout The Book Thief, Liesel attempts to control a blossoming crush on Rudy and her feelings towards him remain ambiguous throughout the entire novel. It is not until the end, where Liesel shows the extent of her strong feelings towards him. From the beginning, Zusak presents Liesel with death and she is constantly battling against her fear of being alone, but this does not limit her independence, rather it boosts it. An element of torment is portrayed by Liesel, as she is shown to outwit Rudy in a way which displays a lack of trust towards men: “She thought about it whilst examining the weedy legs of her opposition…there was no way he could beat me, she thought”. In light of this, the reader can acknowledge the playful behaviour Rudy has and the approach that Liesel takes to reject it. It could be

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