During the course of the spring semester, as a class, we read and watched movies about fallen women and femme fatale in American Literature. Throughout each piece that we studied, I have chosen a book and a movie that I believe will compare and contrast effectively. We watched a movie in class written by J.F. Lawton called Pretty Woman, a movie that made a tragedy into a love story. This story exposed the life of a prostitute in Los Angeles, California. The prostitute, Vivian, happened to give directions to a rich man because he was lost, which led to her staying the night in his hotel room. The man needed Vivian to be his date on a social outing, which later led to more. On the other hand, during the semester we read a book by James M. Cain titled The Postman Always Rings Twice, a book that verbalized a forceful story. The story was about a girl named Cora, a prostitute who lives in a hash house. Then along the way she meets a man named Nick, whom she eventually marries. However Cora has a discomfort of being around her husband that provided her with a pretty virtuous lifestyle. Her solution to her discomfort creates problems that lead to more threatening problems. The movie and the book were both about women being saved from a place they felt undesirable. One fell in love after prostitution while the other never felt love. Now, with that in mind, The Postman Always Rings Twice is more realistic because Cora’s life explains the outcome of a prostitute that readers can relate to unlike Vivian from the movie Pretty Woman whose life is not a realistic outcome that readers can relate to.
First, Cora, the femme fatale, and Vivian, the fallen Woman, lived unscrupulous lives. They both were conceived as prostitutes where they were un...
... middle of paper ...
... love for her husband and once she got rid of him she never ended up moving on from her past, she wanted to keep making additional changes to her life, like she was never satisfied.
In conclusion, both Pretty women, written by J.F Lawton and The Postman Always Rings Twice written by James M. Cain, portray the struggles that prostitutes faced in America. Lawton’s movie and Cain’s book may be different from one another or they may seem superior to one another in someone else’s opinion. However, after comparing and contrasting the two pieces I have found Cora’s life from The Postman Always Rings Twice to be more relatable to readers. Cora’s experience and emotions represented as a horrifying person’s life after prostitution. Despite the differences of the two characters and their different outcomes, they both are similar when it comes to their life as prostitutes.
Diane Urban, for instance, was one of the many people who were trapped inside this horror. She “was comforting a woman propped against a wall, her legs virtually amputated” (96). Flynn and Dwyer appeal to the reader’s ethical conscience and emotions by providing a story of a victim who went through many tragedies. Causing readers to feel empathy for the victims. In addition, you began to put yourself in their shoes and wonder what you would do.
The novel which we are reading in class is “Their Eyes Were Watching God”. The main idea of the novel is to portray the story of Janie Mae Crawford’s development to finding her identity, through love. Both the book and the movie depict different pictures for the audience. Although the movie is very similar to the book, it has multiple different scenes that help the audience connect more to the charaters which the book may not, but it’s also missing deeper layers that were covered in the book. In this essay I will compare the two mediums and which I identified more with.
During this time in society the industry of prostitution was an economic gold mine. The women operate the brothel while very distinguished men in the community own and take care of the up keep. The brothel keepers are seen as nothing more than common home wrecking whores. However, the owners of the brothels are viewed as successful business men.
Literature of the Americas has many stories and they all have comparisons, but they also have many differences. “Day of the Butterfly” by Alice Monro and “Crossroads: A Sad Vaudeville” by Carlos Solórzano have characters that share some traits and ways, but like all characters they have things that are different. The old woman from “A Sad Vaudeville” is a dynamic protagonist who finds herself meeting the perfect man for her, but has a dilemma when he is in denial because she is not the ideal girl of his dreams; she’s old. Myra from “Day of the Butterfly” is a static antagonist who does not have the same care free attitude as most of the children her own age. She is rather shy and does not fit in or socialize much with people her own age. She does not derive from a very wealthy family. She is responsible for her brother Jimmy which holds her back from having more age appropriate experiences.
Within every story or poem, there is always an interpretation made by the reader, whether right or wrong. In doing so, one must thoughtfully analyze all aspects of the story in order to make the most accurate assessment based on the literary elements the author has used. Compared and contrasted within the two short stories, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, and John Updike’s “A&P,” the literary elements character and theme are made evident. These two elements are prominent in each of the differing stories yet similarities are found through each by studying the elements. The girls’ innocence and naivety as characters act as passages to show something superior, oppression in society shown towards women that is not equally shown towards men.
While they do not examine how living a life of gratitude in their family might have contributed to Sarah's pain that does not mean that they didn't love her deeply. What shines through is Sarah's strength, her ability for generosity, and her love for many in her life. The chapters of the book are each introduced by the dates when women who vanished were last seen by friends or family. This helps to emphasize how long it was before the police took these women's disappearances seriously. deVries discusses quite lucidly the impact of societal attitudes and stereotypes upon sex workers in contrast with their actual humanised, individual situations and choices. Ultimately, this book is a wonderful testament to a strong person destroyed by circumstances within and without her that echoed off of each other to a heartbreaking end. It is also indicative of a society which sees some women as disposable because of the presumption of labels, and to not treat a person as an individual first who regardless of labels, does not deserve such a violent outcome in their
Women have traditionally been known as the less dominant sex. Through history women have fought for equal rights and freedom. They have been stereotyped as being housewives, and bearers and nurturers of the children. Only recently with the push of the Equal Rights Amendment have women had a strong hold on the workplace alongside men. Many interesting characters in literature are conceived from the tension women have faced with men. This tension is derived from men; society, in general; and within a woman herself. Two interesting short stories, “The Yellow Wall-paper and “The Story of an Hour, “ focus on a woman’s plight near the turn of the 19th century. This era is especially interesting because it is a time in modern society when women were still treated as second class citizens. The two main characters in these stories show similarities, but they are also remarkably different in the ways they deal with their problems and life in general. These two characters will be examined to note the commonalities and differences. Although the two characters are similar in some ways, it will be shown that the woman in the “The Story of an Hour” is a stronger character based on the two important criteria of rationality and freedom.
When the American man comes to save her is when it gets important. The awareness has risen, and the forced prostitutes are liberated. Ultimately, the novel acts as a learning tool. It exposes topics unknown to many in our privileged Western world. Not everyone knows about the system of sexual slavery and how pervasive it still is in other countries. The reader quickly learns everything there is to know about how scary and dangerous the trafficking can be, and how it impacts those sold into its dark ways.
The setting of both stories reinforces the notion of women's dependence on men. The late 1800's were a turbulent time for women's roles. The turn of the century brought about revolution, fueled by the energy and freedom of a new horizon…but it was still just around the bend. In this era, during which both short stories were published, members of the weaker sex were blatantly disregarded as individuals, who had minds that could think, and reason, and form valid opinions.
William Faulkner and Charlotte Gilman are two well known writers for intriguing novels of the 1800’s. Their two eccentric pieces, "A Rose for Emily" and "The Yellow Wallpaper" are equally alluring. These authors and their works have been well recognized, but also critized. The criticism focuses on the society that is portrayed in these novels. The modern readers of today’s society are resentful to this dramatic society. These two novels are full of tradition, rebellion and the oppression over women’s rights. Both of these novels share the misery of the culture, but there is some distinction between the two. "A Rose for Emily" is a social commentary while "The Yellow Wallpaper" is an informative novel about the writer herself. The authors outlook focus on the gloomy structure in society during that time frame and therefore, create down hearted, reckless characters that offer stimulation for women of all generations.
The lives of men and women are portrayed definitively in this novel. The setting of the story is in southern Georgia in the 1960’s, a time when women were expected to fit a certain role in society. When she was younger she would rather be playing ...
William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” are two short stories that incorporate multiple similarities and differences. Both stories’ main characters are females who are isolated from the world by male figures and are eventually driven to insanity. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the unidentified narrator moves to a secluded area with her husband and sister-in-law in hopes to overcome her illness. In “A Rose for Emily,” Emily’s father keeps Emily sheltered from the world and when he dies, she is left with nothing. Both stories have many similarities and differences pertaining to the setting, characterization, symbolism, and their isolation from the world by dominant male figures, which leads them to insanity.
The struggles both characters face demonstrate character development and contribute to the themes of the stories. Both short stories prove to be literally effective in that they disclose the main themes at the outset of each story. Although the themes may alter over the course of the stories, they are clearly defined in their respective introductions.
Most modern fairytales are expected to have happy endings and be appropriate for children, nonetheless, in past centuries most were gruesome. Consequently, fairytales have been modified throughout time. The stories “Beauty and the Beast” by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont and “The Summer and Winter Garden” by Jacob and Wilherm Grimm share similarities and differences. The two stories are distinct because of the peculiar year they have been written in. LePrince de Beaumont’s story is written in London of 1783 and Grimm’s in Germany of 1812. At the time, wealthy people in London, were educated and had nannies who would read to their children; whereas, in Germany, the Grimm brothers created their own interpretation into a short story. Because many high class parents in 18th century London would not be able to spend time with their children, nannies would read “Beauty and the Beast” to them since they were intended for children and considered appropriate. In “The Summer and Winter Garden,” the Grimm’s’ story was mostly based to entertain misbehaved children and teach them the valuable lesson that everyone should be treated with kindness. The Grimm brothers’ goal in rewriting this short story is to better children’s behavior which worked quite well. Since these stories have been re-written for children, it would be safe to say the reason why parents expose the two stories to their children is because they both portray the same moral: good things happen to good people. The two interpretations of “Beauty and the Beast,” although written in separate countries, share important similarities and differences even though the authors have different interpretations and came from different cultures.
Both stories show feminism of the woman trying to become free of the male dominance. Unfortunately, the woman are not successful at becoming free. In the end, the two women’s lives are drastically