Ananta Srivastava September 21, 2015 English 10 Poska OVOV First Draft
Love is a timeless sensation but can change over time for the better or the worse. In Bessie Head’s The Collector of Treasures, Dikeledi’s marriage with her husband, Garesego, is a key to her freedom from her enslavement under her uncle and to live a more stable life. As time passes, she realizes the darkness to her marriage, and must escape the misery of being with her husband. The relationship between Dikeledi and Garesego are set in three stages of Dekleidi’s freedom when marrying Garesego, then being forced into a sexual relationship, to both being victims to one another.
In the beginning of the Dikeledi’s childhood, she is a minor under the care of her uncle because both of her parents have passed away. However, under his care, he treats her as a slave because she is not his own
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born, and felt as it is not his priority to care for her as an equal . In the story, Dikeledi describes, “I never liked my uncle. Rich as he was, he was a hard man and very selfish. I was only a servant there and pushed about” (62). Dikeledi portrays her feeling as being unwanted when living with her uncle, as if she is being pushed away. Thereof, the treatment of her being under control is the emergence of her desire for freedom. Hence, as time passes, her frame for freedom lessens as she gets older, but an opportunity came for her to escape. Dikeledi declares, “ I agreed, just to get away from that terrible man” (63). Garesego seems to be the only man willing to propose to her, and she accepts the proposal because she acknowledges she may never gain this chance again. Consequently, as she is willing to marry Garesego without question, she is free, but is unaware of the miseries awaiting her. In the end, Dikeledi achieves her childhood goal of freedom through her marriage to Garesego, but is oblivious to the misfortunes in her future marriage. As she becomes familiar with her husband, she discovers that her relationship is based more off of sexual pleasure rather than love, and there is very little support from him too.
Dikeledi realizes that Garesego will always ask for a bath before wanting to have sex. When it becomes clear to her about this, she concludes that there are two types of men in her village, she portrays him as, “ No doubt, during that Herculean feat, the dog imagined he was the only penis in the world and there had to be a scramble for it” (58). First, she is able to analyze her situation because he impregnates her three times within the short four years of their marriage. Later, after the end of their marriage, Garesego implicates even more that sex is the most important part in being in a relationship. She is able to dissect his way of thinking because when Dekelidi tells him that Paul gives her a pound of grain, he thinks that Paul does it for the price of sex. In comparison, he left her and his three sons, unwilling to help any further supporting them because she is no longer
desirable. Finally, after months of avoiding Garesego in the village, she decides she must go visit him to help support her family. Dekelidi, since the split in their marriage, has been taking care with the aid of her neighbors. She has become the victim of situation because she is the only one trying to provide with as little as she has for four people. However, when her eldest son needs money to provide his upper class education, she has no other options other than to ask Garesego. At this point in time, Dekelidi’s desperation leads her to calling him to help, but his only response is that he will make the decision after taking a bath. From prior experience, she knows that this means Garesego is only desiring sex. Afterwards, she beings to compose a plan to murder him. Finally after he takes a bath is drunk, she slices off his “special parts” and is locked away in prison for manslaughter. In the end, Dekelidi is the victim of abandonment by Garesego, but in contrast, Garesego is the the victim of homicide.
Galchen creates the character of her narrator to be very similar to that of the young narrator in “Araby” in a modern setting. In their youth, each narrator becomes infatuated and obsessed with someone who does not realize. The narrator of “Araby” falls in love with his friend Mangan’s sister, as seen in that he states that “when she came out on the doorstep [his] heart leaped” (123). He forms an obsession with her, as evidenced by the fact that he “had never spoken to her . . . and yet her name was like a summons to all [his] foolish blood” and in that “her image accompanied [him] even in places the most hostile to romance” (123).
Through the use of symbolism, and characterization that involves an instance of imagery, the author advocates this notion through the newlywed’s decision of neglecting her personal feminine taste to make her husband’s preferences her own, and embracing her title of submissive partner by kissing the hand. Also, the choice of words to describe each partner differs tremendously, as the author seems to give more importance to the man by making him appear handsome, and particularly strong. On the contrary, the young woman appears to be weak and minor, which supports this idea of submissive women in a couple through the perception of the woman being way behind her husband. This story demonstrates a great symbolic significance when it comes to the hand, which can lead to other important ideas surrounding the message the author is trying to
Edna’s first action that starts off her route to freedom from her relationship is when she fell in love with Robert. Edna had already married a man that she had not loved but he has not been treating her a...
The distance between the members of the family, especially, Jewel and Darl, is brought to the surface throughout the sections of the book. Darl and Jewe...
Unlike a typical husband-wife relationship from that era: separated responsibilities and cold demeanors unless procreation is the goal; Magdalena and Balthasar appear to have a genuine affection for one another. Or at least, Magdalena is in awe of her husband. It is clear in the language of her letters. In the first, she expresses a desire—overwhelming and almost uncontrollable in its pull— to jump on a horse and ride to his whereabouts. However, in regards to her obedience to him, she has not. Also, in every ending of her letter, she does not tie it up in the goodbye with neutral or distant words. Rather, she shows her husband her good will, her love for him through wishing him swell luck and repeatedly referring to him as her “heart’s treasure.” An existing amour is alive between Magdalena and Balthasar, a completely foreign notion to many others who have joined in union during that
Many stories talk about relationships, especially the ones between man and woman as couple. In some of them, generally the most popular ones, these relationships are presented in a rosy, sentimental and cliché way. In others, they are presented using a much deeper, realistic and complicated tone; much more of how they are in real life. But not matter in what style the author presents its work, the base of every love story is the role each member of that relationship assumes in it. A role, that sometimes, internal forces will determinate them, such as: ideas, beliefs, interests, etc. or in order cases external, such as society. In the story “The Storm” by American writer Kate Chopin and the play A Doll’s house by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen I am going to examine those roles, giving a special focus to the woman´s, because in both works, it is non-traditional, different and somewhat shocking, besides having a feminist point of view.
In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, love proves to be a dangerous and destructive force. Upon learning that Sethe killed her daughter, Beloved, Paul D warns Sethe “Your love is too thick” (193). Morrison proved this statement to be true, as Sethe’s intense passion for her children lead to the loss of her grasp on reality. Each word Morrison chose is deliberate, and each sentence is structured with meaning, which is especially evident in Paul D’s warning to Sethe. Morrison’s use of the phrase “too thick”, along with her short yet powerful sentence structure make this sentence the most prevalent and important in her novel. This sentence supports Paul D’s side on the bitter debate between Sethe and he regarding the theme of love. While Sethe asserts that the only way to love is to do so passionately, Paul D cites the danger in slaves loving too much. Morrison uses a metaphor comparing Paul D’s capacity to love to a tobacco tin rusted shut. This metaphor demonstrates how Paul D views love in a descriptive manner, its imagery allowing the reader to visualize and thus understand Paul D’s point of view. In this debate, Paul D proves to be right in that Sethe’s strong love eventually hurts her, yet Paul D ends up unable to survive alone. Thus, Morrison argues that love is necessary to the human condition, yet it is destructive and consuming in nature. She does so through the powerful diction and short syntax in Paul D’s warning, her use of the theme love, and a metaphor for Paul D’s heart.
Fatima Mernissi is a superb writer who introduces the reader into a harem through the mind of a nine-year-old girl. In this autobiographical novel young Mernissi talks uncensored about the contradictions of life in a harem, surrounded by the extraordinary women in her family who are restrained from leaving the family courtyard. These women’s is a struggle of complete lack of freedom. They are not allowed to leave the courtyard except on very few occasions, and escorted by men (Mernissi 39). Their lack of mobility is also accentuated by lack of other freedoms such as education and financial freedom, although they have a voice in the decision making of the crucial changes in the harem life.
The Lais of Marie de France is a compilation of short stories that delineate situations where love is just. Love is presented as a complex emotion and is portrayed as positive, while at other times, it is portrayed as negative. The author varies on whether or not love is favorable as is expressed by the outcomes of the characters in the story, such as lovers dying or being banished from the city. To demonstrate, the author weaves stories that exhibit binaries of love. Two distinct types of love are described: selfish and selfless. Love is selfish when a person leaves their current partner for another due to covetous reasons. Contrarily, selfless love occurs when a lover leaves to be in a superior relationship. The stark contrast between the types of love can be analyzed to derive a universal truth about love.
There exists no power as inexplicable as that of love. Love cannot be described in a traditional fashion; it is something that must be experienced in order for one to truly grasp its full enormity. It is the one emotion that can lead human beings to perform acts they are not usually capable of and to make sacrifices with no thought of the outcome or repercussions. Though love is full of unanswered questions and indescribable emotions, one of the most mystifying aspects of love is its timeless nature. Love is the one emotion, unlike superficial sentiments such as lust or jealousy, which can survive for years, or even generations. In the novel The Gargoyle, the author, Andrew Davidson, explores the idea of eternal love between two people, a union that spans over centuries spent both together and apart. Davidson, through the use of flashbacks, intricate plot development and foreshadowing, and dynamic characterization, creates a story that challenges the reader’s preconceived notions regarding whether eternal love can survive even when time’s inevitable grasp separates the individuals in question.
“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is written in an entertaining and adventurous spirit, but serves a higher purpose by illustrating the century’s view of courtly love. Hundreds, if not thousands, of other pieces of literature written in the same century prevail to commemorate the coupling of breathtaking princesses with lionhearted knights after going through unimaginable adventures, but only a slight few examine the viability of such courtly love and the related dilemmas that always succeed. “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” shows that women desire most their husband’s love, Overall, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” shows that the meaning of true love does not stay consistent, whether between singular or separate communities and remains timeless as the depictions of love from this 14th century tale still hold true today.
Alterations: Comparing the Changes Caused by Marriage of the two Bessie Head Short Stories, “Life” and “Snapshots of a Wedding”
Through the duration of this course there have been many themes influenced through the works of literature that have been read and analyzed. One major theme that has been discussed is that of love. Whether the love being romantic, fantasized, or familial as a class we have seen it all. The focus of this essay will be on the familial type of love. Familial love, an overwhelming theme in some of these stories, strikes a serious type of thought in the mind of any reader. The three main stories that will be focused on are “Fences,” Oedipus the King, and “My Papa”s Waltz.” These three stories are unique and each explains a completely different type of familial love. Familial love that will make the heart warm, the head strong, and the stomach churn.
Doralice ultimately infers that a marriage cannot simply be fixed; rather, it is best to just seek someone else, who might as well be cheap and leftover from someone else. This exchange between Doralice and Palamede, presented by Dryden, presents these reoccurring themes of the moral emancipation, in which the characters make excuses for their crumbling marriages/relationships by cheating on their spouses. In an exchange between Rhodophil and Palamede, they even compare their wives and mistresses to food and gratification:
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy tells the story of the communist state of Kerala and the forbidden love between two castes, which changes the lives of everyone. In the novel an ‘Untouchable’, Velutha is a carpenter and works at Paradise Pickles and Preserves for much less than he deserves because of his status as an Untouchable in the caste system. Velutha falls into a forbidden love with a divorced woman, Ammu who is associated with an upper caste Syrian Christian Ipe family. Marriage was the only way that Ammu could have escaped this life, but she lost the chance when marrying the wrong man, as he was an alcoholic and this resulted in them getting a divorce. Ammu breaks the laws that state ‘who should be loved, and how and how much’, as their affair threatens the ‘caste system’ in India, which is a hierarchal structure and social practice in India in which your position in society is determined and can’t be changed. Arhundati Roy portrays the theme of forbidden love within the caste systems and shows how they are t...