The Motifs of Furniture and Yoke in George Eliot's Middlemarch
"'You have not made my life pleasant to me of late'-'the hardships which our marriage has brought on me'-these words were stinging his imagination as a pain makes an exaggerated dream (667)."
On the list of life's complexities, marriage, perhaps, reigns at the top. George Eliot's Middlemarch exhumes many of the complicated facets of marriage from a Victorian England milieu. Although the character spectrum in Middlemarch includes diversity in social class, the bulk of players are members of the aristocracy. Despite financial wealth, married women were bound to their husbands-Eliot employs the metaphor of the yoke to convey strict bondage to the spouse and domesticity. On the other hand, an aristocratic married couple was likely bound to material possessions; in the instance of Middlemarch, furniture serves as a complex motif. An analysis on the themes of yoke and furniture in Eliot's novel prompts several questions. What does the definition of yoke imply about the metaphor? Who bears the yoke in marriage? Who is concerned with furniture? What roles does furniture portray in Middlemarch? Finally, a comparative discussion on the ties between the yoke and furniture as burdens in marital relationships will conclude the argument.
The Oxford English Dictionary gives the primary definition of "yoke" as:
A contrivance, used from ancient times, by which two animals, esp. oxen, are coupled together for drawing a plough or vehicle; usually consisting of a somewhat curved or hollowed piece of wood fitted with 'bows' or hoops at the end which are passed round the animals' necks, and having a ring or hooks attached to the middle to which is fastened a chain or trace e...
... middle of paper ...
...ial status), some men, particularly Lydgate, were enslaved by their wife's emotions and demands. In regard to furniture, however, it was usually only wealthy men who lived beyond their means that were bound to debt, since they held sovereignty in decision-making. Comparing the motifs of the yoke and furniture in the novel is an intricate and interesting task because they are both tangible objects that represent metaphoric repression, burden, or anxiety.
Although George Eliot uses many rhetorical devices in Middlemarch, the clever employment of multi-faceted motifs was effective in conveying the underlying messages about women's rights and the burden of materialism.
Work Cited and Consulted:
Eliot, George. Middlemarch. 1871. London: Penguin, 1994.
Oxford English Dictionary. 1989. U of Oxford. 18 December 2002.
Princeton Text Archive. 18 December 2002.
Hass, Cheryl J., et al. "An Intervention for the Negative Influence of Media on Body Esteem." College Student Journal 46.2 (2012): 405-418. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
Body image is the perception, both thoughts, and feelings concerning an individual’s physical appearance. Research has suggested that exposure to an ideal standard of what it may mean to be beautiful is the norm for the media to expose a woman to. The results of an idea of feminine beauty can be disastrous for women, leading to depression, and an unrealistic body image. According to Posavac & Posavac in the article titled Reducing the Impact of Media Images on Women at Risk for Body Image Disturbance: Three Targeted Interventions...
“Communication is the heart of nursing… your ability to use your growing knowledge and yourself as an instrument of care and caring and compassion” (Koerner, 2010, as cited in Balzer-Riley, 2012, p. 2). The knowledge base which Koerner is referring to includes important concepts such as communication, assertiveness, responsibility and caring (Balzer-Riley, 2012). Furthermore, communication is complex. It includes communication with patients, patient families, doctors, co-workers, nurse managers and many others. Due to those concepts and the variety of people involved, barriers and issues are present. Knowing how to communicate efficiently can be difficult.
Nio, T. (2003). Cultivation and social comparison of the thin-ideal syndrome: The effects of media exposure on body image disturbance and the state self-esteem of college women. School of Journalism in the Graduate Scho, 105-113.
Secrets are the integral driving force behind the plot of George Elliot’s Middlemarch. From the first paragraph when a young girl and her brother try to leave to save the world, to when Rosamond tries to sabotage Dorothea and Will, secrets abound. The time period Middlemarch was written about seems to be fraught with the keeping of secrets. The idea of wives keeping secrets from their husbands, husbands from their wives, parents from children, and vice versa is not a foreign thought, but the amount of surreptitiousness is astounding. Secrets drive every decision made in the town of Middlemarch. Dorothea keeps the truth from Casaubon about the reason she married him. Rosamond keeps the secret that she only married Lydgate to get away from Middlemarch, while Lydgate hides most of his past, as well as massive amounts of debt from all he knows.
The 1997 Psychology Today Body Image Survey revealed that Americans have more discontentment with their bodies than ever before. Fifty-six percent of women surveyed said they are dissatisfied with their appearance in general. The main problem areas about which women complained were their abdomens (71 percent), body weight (66 percent), hips (60 percent) and muscle tone (58 percent). Many men were also dissatisfied with their overall appearance, almost 43 percent. However body dissatisfaction for men and women usually means two different things. More men as opposed to women wanted to gain weight in order to feel satisfied with their bodies (Ga...
Kowalski, Katherine. “A Healthy Lifestyle Can Improve Your Body Image.” December 2000: 105-111. Print. 04 April 2014.
In order to engage in meaningful communication and develop effective communication skills, nurses must engage in the process of reflecting on how communication skills are utilised in practise. Reflection allows the nurse opportunity to gain a deeper insight into personal strengths and weaknesses and to address any areas of concern in order to improve future practise (Taylor 2001). A further aim will be to reflect on how communication skills have been utilised within nursing practise. Various models of reflection will be examined, and a reflective account of a personal experience which occurred during placement will be provided using a model. This reflective account will involve a description the incident, an analysis of thoughts and feelings and an evaluation of what has occurred. Fin...
Communication is a major aspect of the nursing field. The nursing student should plan to use effective communication everyday whether they are in class or in the clinical setting. Nonverbal communication is the use of body language, touch and physical appearance, while verbal is the spoken words that have a private meaning (Boykins & Carter, 2012). Communication is used daily in the healthcare setting. For example, communication is used to update fellow nursing staff or doctors about a patient’s condition. If effective communication is not present while providing care, the nurse-client bond will never form. The nursing student should use therapeutic communication to build a relationship with their client. In doing this, the nursing student is showing their concern and care for the client so that they are able to fully trust them and their
Society is greatly affected by the media’s outlook on different aspects of life, it has a large effect on body image. Body image in America has been a growing problem for years as more young women feel the need to do anything they can to stay thin, trying to live up to what society has taught them is beauty. Many of these ideals have been presented through the media, social and general alike. However, there are also positive sides to the media and they are now doing positive things to improve body image in young women today.
Marriage is a powerful union between two people who vow under oath to love each other for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. This sacred bond is a complicated union; one that can culminate in absolute joy or in utter disarray. One factor that can differentiate between a journey of harmony or calamity is one’s motives. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is a novel of manners, where Elizabeth Bennet and her aristocratic suitor Mr. Darcy’s love unfolds as her prejudice and his pride abate. Anton Chekhov’s “Anna on the Neck” explores class distinction, as an impecunious young woman marries a wealthy man. Both Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Anton Chekhov’s “Anna on the Neck” utilize
Not attempting to hide, Mrs. Mallard knows that she will weep at her husbands funeral, however she can’t help this sudden feeling of seeing, “beyond [the] bitter moment [of] procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely” (Chopin, 16). In an unloving marriage of this time, women were trapped in their roles until they were freed by the death of their husbands. Although Mrs. Mallard claims that her husband was kind and loving, she can’t help the sudden spark of joy of her new freedom. This is her view on the release of her oppression from her roles of being a dutiful wife to her husband. Altogether, Mrs. Mallard claims that, “there would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature” (Chopin, 16). This is the most important of Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts, as she never officially states a specific way when her husband oppressed her. However, the audience can clearly suggest that this is a hint towards marriage in general that it suffocates both men and women. Marriage is an equal partnership in which compromise and communication become the dominant ideals to make the marriage better. It is suggested that Mrs. Mallard also oppressed her husband just as much as he did to her when she sinks into the armchair and is, “pressed down by a physical exhaustion
The men of the Iliad are very emotional and prideful. Achilles and Agamemnon jealously feud over Briseis, a war prize that neither man particularly values. Even though Briseis is seen as a possession she plays a key part in the battle for Troy. Perhaps the war would have ended much sooner if Achilles and Agamemnon could have settled their differences instead of fighting. Not only is Briseis viewed as a prize of war, but the real issue dividing Agamemnon and Achilles is petty jealousy and pride. Achilles is willing to risk the lives of his compatriots and eventually f...
The roles of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice are contrasted between a father who cares about what’s inside of people and a mother who only worries about vanity and appearance. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s parental guidance is unique to their personalities. Because of their two opposing personas, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s ideas of marriage are contradictory for their daughters; Mr. Bennet believes in a loving respectful marriage whereas Mrs. Bennet values a marriage which concerns wealth and social status. Their aspirations for Lydia, Jane, Mary, Kitty and Elizabeth mirror their conflicting ideologies. Mr. Bennet seems to have a quiet deep love for his daughters while, on the contrary, Mrs. Bennet’s love is over-acted and conditional. Both parents help to shape their daughters’ characteristics and beliefs: Lydia reflecting Mrs. Bennet’s flighty and excessive behavior while Elizabeth inherits Mr. Bennet’s pensive and reflective temperament. Looking past their dissimilar personality traits and contradicting convictions, both parents hold the family together and play an integral role in the household structure.
This article touches on how body image has become the main aspect of physical and mental well-being. Its main focus is to address whether or not the media plays a role in the negative impact of today 's ideal body image. This article is also looking at how the media 's portrayal of the ideal body image impacts how we view ourselves.It is going to address the major links between the mass media and body image and how the shape today generation.