The Corset
Maia Kurr
The day was bright and sunny for the first time in months, and the sky was such a vibrant shade of blue that it could nearly have been mistaken for the feathers of a blue jay. The Monroe sisters sat on an off-white park bench beneath the shadow of the rustling leaves, savoring the rare shade and observing the songbirds that performed seemingly endless melodies for any passersby. The bench needed a new coat of paint, but the park was otherwise pristine and well-kept. The sisters wore large hats and long dresses, despite the warm weather. Their corsets were too tight and their petticoats too thick, but neither one complained. They were accustomed to the stifling, cage-like outfits. They sat up straight on the bench, fanning
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I wouldn’t be surprised if she was a confused old hag who wandered into a stack of money one day and thought to spend it any way she please.”
“I should hardly think that scenario possible.”
“I should hardly think anyone would have such little decency-”
The older sister’s sentence came to a grinding halt as the woman herself wandered by, adoring gazes from enchanted children and scornful glances from ladies that could afford to bathe in liquid gold following her all they while. Even the birds and wind quieted their songs to watch her whirling journey. Lady Bingham just twirled around, seemingly unaware of the attention she commanded, her skirts flying like exotic birds from one of her many vacations. It was all but a moment before she had passed the small bench, flying along the grass as if she was one of those exotic birds herself.
“I heard she used to be normal, you know.” the older sister resumed their earlier conversation, no longer constrained by manners.
“How so?”
“She wore proper clothing and didn’t visit slums to hand out money. She socialized with people worthy of her status. She did things like an upper class woman should.”
“Perhaps she grew tired of corsets and ball
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How lovely the park was to be in. Her corset didn’t feel quite so tight when she was surrounded by trees and bright green grass. Perhaps it was not as respectable as a dress shop, but how lovely to be underneath a blue sky dotted with clouds rather than paint and wallpaper and the stink of perfume. How natural and pleasant was the smell of a park. The willowy trees and bright flowers emanated tranquility. Everything was free here, unrestrained by any sort of modern civilization. A bee did not have any petticoats to wear. A flower was not strangled with corsets.
In the Victorian era, in New York City, men and women roles within the society were as different as night and day. A man regardless of his extra curricular activities could still maintain a very prevalent place in society. A woman’s worth was not only based family name which distinguished her class and worth, but also her profession if that was applicable.
Grandmother often thought if she dressed and acted the part of a lady, then she would be acting in an acceptable behavior, but the way the reader views her actions is not the
Back in Celie’s time women putting on a pair of pants was a paramount statement. The pants are also her source of economic success. Page 146: "Well,
Her family life is depicted with contradictions of order and chaos, love and animosity, conventionality and avant-garde. Although the underlying story of her father’s dark secret was troubling, it lends itself to a better understanding of the family dynamics and what was normal for her family. The author doesn’t seem to suggest that her father’s behavior was acceptable or even tolerable. However, the ending of this excerpt leaves the reader with an undeniable sense that the author felt a connection to her father even if it wasn’t one that was desirable. This is best understood with her reaction to his suicide when she states, “But his absence resonated retroactively, echoing back through all the time I knew him. Maybe it was the converse of the way amputees feel pain in a missing limb.” (pg. 399)
When Mrs Hale and Mrs. Peters first walk into Minnie Wrights house, they see how lonely and unkept her house was. The men could not understand why a woman would keep her house in that condition, but the women determine how sad and depressed Mrs. Wright was. "'I might 'a' known she needed help! I tell you, it's queer, Mrs. Peters. We live close together, and we live far apart. We all go through the same things—it's all just a different kind of the same thing! If it weren't—why do you and I underst...
She was aware of the situation of women in her times, especially being a puritan woman. They were restricted to certain modes of behavior, speech
A woman’s role in the early twentieth century still revolved around serving the male members of one’s family. Klara was tied to the traditional role of a female. She would have chores as well as having to make supper for her father, grand father and sometimes Eamon. Klara was more independence than the average woman because she was taught two arts by two masters. She could tailor suits, and carve wood. She had two skills that were named to be man’s skills. Her knowledge gave her the power to control what happened in her life. Klara was respected in her town for her skills because they usually came to her to make suits. Eamon acknowledged her skill and asked her to make a red suit. Her knowledge of these skills gave her more independence, freedom and power. She was one of the few female members in her community who had their own income. She had freedom to do what she wanted with her life but she was still restricted by her society because she was still a woman.
Mrs. Mallard’s repressed married life is a secret that she keeps to herself. She is not open and honest with her sister Josephine who has shown nothing but concern. This is clearly evident in the great care that her sister and husband’s friend Richard show to break the news of her husband’s tragic death as gently as they can. They think that she is so much in love with him that hearing the news of his death would aggravate her poor heart condition and lead to death. Little do they know that she did not love him dearly at all and in fact took the news in a very positive way, opening her arms to welcome a new life without her husband. This can be seen in the fact that when she storms into her room and her focus shifts drastically from that of her husband’s death to nature that is symbolic of new life and possibilities awaiting her. Her senses came to life; they come alive to the beauty in the nature. Her eyes could reach the vastness of the sky; she could smell the delicious breath of rain in the air; and ears became attentive to a song f...
The women on the trail, though it shows, had little time to care about mending clothes, “The majority of the overland women wore what clothing they had and prayed that what they wore would not tear. They were too preoccupied with the necessities of the day to consider fashion at all (Schlissel 105). ” I would be happy if I were these women because that just means one less chore that was their “duty” to perform. In conclusion, the woman of the Victorian Era had her role in life planned out from before she was born. Although it was a dreadful role, these women carried it out in a way that shows their purity of the heart and willingness to do so many things for others and for little return.
It is apparent as to how this notion that the women of the noble class led lives of fortune. Social parties and balls were common festivities, which these women regularly attended. For many, dancing was a favorite pastime. To an outsider, it seemed that a lady of the gentry class had nothing short of an enviable existence.
She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves. ( This description of the scenery is very happy, usually not how one sees the world after hearing devastating news of her husbands death.)
were not subjected to regular health checks at school and took little physical exercise. Girls' bodies were hardly ever seen undressed, except perhaps by their mothers, sisters, or maid servants. In the higher socio-economic classes, women generally dressed elaborately, wearing corsets and other apparel which concealed and transformed their figures. (van't Hof 28)
was all that she needed to have back in the 19th century when at the
In all of her intercourse with society, however, there was nothing that made her feel as if she belonged to it. Every gesture, every word, and even ...
sisters were vain and glad in light of the fact that the family had cash. They attempted to