In Goethe's Faust the two main characters are seen as male figures, one being indeterminable. Despite this books blatant masculine centric view the book could easily be used by modern Feminist as a feminist view of Goethe's society. As for the novel being used by the feminist movement, their purpose would be to show how women were/ are seen versus how they truly are.
Generations of readers and critics of Faust I have seen Gretchen as a sign of selfless, idealized femininity, who will ultimately lead to the redemption of Faust. Even as will look through the commonly seen roles that Margaret inhabits, it only shows the use of the novel to bring awareness to the plight of the female character. When we look at the gender system, Gretchen’s story appears to be cast as one of seductive and self destructive female sexuality, anchored in the symbolic witch-scenes and the sexual revelry of the Walpurgis Night. It is also a story of infanticide and of confinement in the patriarchal Faustian world. Gretchen’s supposedly female voice is, indeed, quite different form Faust’s eloquent self-presentation in soliloquies and dialogue; but it is a voice shaped and controlled by Goethe according to late eighteenth-century notions of gender.We can begin to see how her character was written to form the ideal female or the "Angel in the House".
In Faust, Margaret was the most pious, virtuous woman in the beginning. She attended church devoutly, worked for the betterment and care of her family, and kept herself pure in public eyes. Margaret's brother took pride in his sister's resistance to her nature. His family was seen as good because of the female members, but as soon as a woman succumbs to her nature, her family is shamed. As the seduced inno...
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...the hero; she alone faces the devil figure and turns towards the path of the righteous. Her coming of age story in "Faust" from and innocent girl to a world ravaged woman and ultimately to her salvation from society and evil her character holds power not usually seen in pre-modern literature. To give her the full power of the novel would be to re-write the story with a female Faustian character as the heroine like Louisa May Alcott did in 1877 entitled "A Modern Mephistopheles".This novel can easily be seen as a feminist work, showing the power of the overlooked woman. As Gretchen's life is drastically altered by a mysteriously androgynous devil figure, the strength Margaret shows in the end after he has broken all of her own moral codes and unknowingly served the devil shows her to be a great feminine character and a step forward for the literature of the period.
Introducing a character that will be seen in the story is one of the most vital parts when creating a piece of literature. Whittier begins his story by writing, “Woman’s attributes are generally considered of a milder and purer character than those of man.”(348) Right of the bat, the reader has a stereotypical idea in his or her mind about how a woman should act and what characteristics she should hold. Whittier does this to show how different and unique his main character, Hannah Dustan, will be seen throughout his piece of work. Whittier then goes on to say, “Yet, there have been astonishing manifestations of female fortitude and power in the ruder and sterner trials of humanity; manifestations of courage rising almost to sublimity; the revelation of all those dark and terrible passions, which madden and distract the heart of manhood.”(348) Here, Whittier romanticizes Dustan’s journey and the events that occurred by stating that the actions were actually manifestations that occurred because of the situation she was in. Before even beginning the story, Whittier gives the reader an idea that Dustan did what she did because the situation overpowered her.
Like the Good Other Woman, the Evil Other Woman often spends much of her life hidden away in the castle, secret room, or whatever, a fact suggesting that even a virtuous woman’s lot is the same she would have merited had she been the worst of criminals. The heroine’s discovery of such Other Women is in the one case an encounter with women’s oppression-their confinement as wives, mothers, and daughters-and in the other with a related repression: the confinement of a Hidden Woman inside those genteel writers and readers who, in the idealization of the heroine’s virtues, displace their own rebellious
women and the people who have been misjudged and looked down upon.Minerva died a heroine
To understand feminism in the novel, one must first understand the feminist lens itself. OWL Purdue describes the lens as “the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women” (Purdue). Feminism acts as both a commitment and a political movement that wants to end sexism in all forms. Most feminists generally disagree on many topics of the subject, however all have one common goal. These aspects affect The Things They Carry in a plethora of ways, mostly due to the fact that gender roles is a main theme. There are negative and positive aspects of the feminist lens. Positive contains the empowering of women and equality, whereas negative pertains to oppression and unequal rights. Both are covered in The Things They Carried from sex symbols to battle tor...
When studying gender roles in history, one will find that females are often depicted in similar ways no matter the era or region of study. Even when comparing the industrialized, early, twentieth century to today’s progressive era, there are striking similarities between female roles. We can see that over the course of the twentieth century, the qualities of loyalty and honesty have decreased in marriages due to the treatment of the two main female roles as depicted literature. The first was the role of the wife. The wife was often portrayed as a housekeeper and a nanny. Dull in appearance, there was no aesthetic beauty to this typical female. The other main role was the “other woman.” The more mysterious and promiscuous character, this woman portrayed the other part of the female population. Both of these types of characters are composites that portrayed the average, disposable female while how they were treated conveyed the general handling of females in the early, twentieth century.
... She first criticizes Hero’s choice of a ruff; then she indirectly denigrates Hero’s wedding gown by contrasting its simplicity with the duchess of Milan’s lavish garment (3.4.14-23); finally, she mocks the prim and proper Hero by making a coarse sexual allusion (3.4.27). When Hero rebukes her, Margaret refuses to be shamed and defends herself: “[ashamed] of what, lady? Of speaking honorably? Is not marriage honorable in a beggar? Is not your lord honorable without marriage? (3.4.28-31). By implying that honor is achieved not through any marriage but through a “good,” socially suitable marriage, Margaret implicitly criticizes the inequality in her society and expresses her desire for a marriage that will not leave her “below stairs” (5.2.10). But she is acutely aware that she has no such marriage prospects as she resentfully watches Hero’s wedding preparations.
In The Penelopiad written by Margaret Atwood, feminism and anti - feminism is present in many settings and scenes proving the sole purpose of the book is to give a voice to the women of The Odyssey showing us different facets of one story. By repeating words and phrases that give the reader negative connotations, Margaret Atwood helps to destroy the predisposed ideology of men being superior to women. Margaret Atwood narrates the book as different female characters that relate instances during which they are discriminated against. By using the maids of Odysseus as examples of dehumanized women, the reader gets to see different perspectives of the original Illiad story. By having the whole story be about Penelope’s adventures while Odysseus was away shows the reader the independence and courage she possessed whereas in the beginning of The Penelopiad when she was reliant on her kingdom. The usage of words like cold blood to describe a murderer, slave to describe a human being, and blame repeatedly to describe an act shows the reader of the torture women in this time period had to suffer through.
In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray women are often portrayed as passive and weak characters. During the 19th century when these books were written, the proper domestic ideology was that women were naturally squeamish, defenseless, innocent beings, who needed protection from the male worlds of business and politics (Stepenoff). This theme is demonstrated throughout both of these novels through major and minor characters. In the case of Frankenstein, Shelley, who is a feminist herself, covers her book with submissive women who suffer calmly and eventually die. Similarly in Wilde's story, there are a few female characters that do not show much immediate importance, but they ultimately have a major impact on the story. Both authors portray their female characters as weak and passive, yet, despite their minor roles, these women strongly influence the men and greatly alter the course of events in each novel.
Since it was so rare to have a woman as educated as Marguerite during the 15th century, and since women of that time were not able to voice their opinions in the same way that men could, she had to figure out a way to be heard. The Heptaméron was the perfect way for Marguerite to do this, as she was able to voice her opinions freely as they would be seen as fiction. Through this she was able to write about her thoughts on love, and how she believed that marriage should be the truest form of love, she was able to voice her concerns about what she thought was wrong about religion. Another thing that she was able to do in her story, was establish an environment where there were an equal amount of men and women, although this didn’t make the women equal, just easier to be heard. Showing that despite living during a time were women weren’t really listen to, she was still able to voice her opinions quite clearly through
Such as, experiencing Hell, Heaven, and purgatory. She saw the suffering souls in purgatory and Hell. Heaven wasnt very spoken of as descriptive as the others. This really confuses me because experiencing something like that is probably the most chilling and nervous thing that will happen. The weird part is how Faustina experience some of these visions when she was seven. I don't understand that but she did it. Learning from Faustina is how i learned that there is a hell, purgatory, and heaven. I learned that people like us on earth have an important meaning to these souls in heaven. By praying for the souls in purgatory we help more of them make it to heaven. The souls in Purgatory said “We long for God.” They felt the abandoning of God, which is probably the worst feeling ever. As crazy Faustina’s life was we can relate to. You heard me, we can relate to any saints life because in the end they are believing in God. In the end, we will all come together and praise God. She lived her whole life doing what God asked her to do. She set an example for all of us on what can we do for the souls in purgatory right now. We think we are useless to them because we are alive and they are dead but she proved to us that it is completely wrong. We are all one body and no different from one another. In our lives, we pray to God and learn more about the amazing stories that occurred in the past. We love God, we praise God, and we worship
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s version of the Faust Legend in the works of “Young Goodman Brown” is considered to be a significantly different version when compared to the common Faust Legend. The article that I found discussing this subject is, The Rewriting of the Faust Myth in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, “Young Goodman Brown.” By Hubert Zapf. A brief summery as to what this essay is about, Zapf’s entire thesis is filled with information and facts that all leads up to the analyzing of the common use and application of the Faust legend in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story “Young Goodman Brown”, and how it compares in contrast to other “Faust users”. The points made through out Zapf’s essay consist of what the Faust legend originally is and how Hawthorne used it differently in his story, “Young Goodman Brown”. Zapf is analyzing the similarities, differences, and symbolism of Hawthorne’s version of Faust compared to the traditional out look of the Faust as well as the differences when compared with “Young Goodman Brown”. The comparing of this information is a way for Zapf to show that, “Both the transgression and the price to be paid are symbolically expressed in the central element of the Faust Myth” and to really show that that Hawthorne was using his own version of Faust (19). My own opinion of this essay confides with the fact that I agree the use of the Faust legend in the works of Hawthorne has the foundation of Faust, however there are some differences as well.
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, feminism is defined as the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism is a major part of the short story, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, which is a story that portrays women’s lack of freedom in the1800s. Women had no rights, and had to cater to all of their husband’s needs. The main character in “The Story of an Hour” is a woman who suffers from heart trouble, named Mrs. Mallard. When Mrs. Mallard was told about her husband’s death, she was initially emotional, but because of her husband’s death she reaped freedom and became swept away with joy. The story is ironic because Mrs. Mallard learns her husband was not dead, and instead of exulting her husband’s sudden return she regretted abandoning her moment of freedom. An analysis of “The Story if an Hour” through the historical and feminist lenses, suggests that the story is really about women’s self-identity in the 1800s male-dominated society, and how it caused women’s lack of freedom.
When we are first introduced to Iphigenie, she laments her life as a woman, and contrasts it with the life of a man. Goethe's Iphigenia in Tauris abounds with references to gender roles: behavioral norms considered appropriate for an individual based on their gender. However, while Iphigenie is portrayed as the epitome of a feminine being (compassionate, gentle, pure/devout, honest and effective at communicating1), her interactions with the male characters challenge the construct of traditional gender roles. Instead of being limited by her femininity, Iphigenie proves herself to embody characteristics that are considered quintessentially male traits (assertiveness, rationality, and resolve2) to a greater extent than the male characters in the play. Thus, Iphigenia in Tauris can be read as an argument against the idea of strict gender expectations.
Women were often subjects of intense focus in ancient literary works. In Sarah Pomeroy’s introduction of her text Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves, she writes, “Women pervade nearly every genre of classical literature, yet often the bias of the author distorts the information” (x). It is evident in literature that the social roles of women were more restricted than the roles of men. And since the majority of early literature was written by men, misogyny tends to taint much of it. The female characters are usually given negative traits of deception, temptation, selfishness, and seduction. Women were controlled, contained, and exploited. In early literature, women are seen as objects of possession, forces deadly to men, cunning, passive, shameful, and often less honorable than men. Literature reflects the societal beliefs and attitudes of an era and the consistency of these beliefs and attitudes toward women and the roles women play has endured through the centuries in literature. Women begin at a disadvantage according to these societal definitions. In a world run by competing men, women were viewed as property—prizes of contests, booty of battle and the more power men had over these possessions the more prestigious the man. When reading ancient literature one finds that women are often not only prizes, but they were responsible for luring or seducing men into damnation by using their feminine traits.
Miss Havisham, perpetually unhappy, is a woman who is stuck in the past. She once had a sense of who she was, but after being abandoned by her fiancé, she can’t move on. From that moment forward, she is only seen in ““a long white veil” and a “splendid” wedding dress, with “but one shoe on” (Dickens, 143). Havisham lives in a blend of fantasy and reality, in both the past and the present. Her inability to move on interferes with her identity because the world around her changes continually while she makes an effort to stay the same. She no longer knows who she is, and the resulting emotional trauma hinders her ability to empathize. Her lack of empathy negatively affects how she interacts with people, especially Estella. Miss Havisham believes she is God, and uses her influence to breed Estella into a numb, unfeeling heartbreak machine. Miss Havisham’s self-proclaimed purpose is to make Estella “break [men’s] hearts and have no mercy”, in an enraged revenge plot to get back at the universe for her misfortune (Dickens, 238). Miss Havisham lives in a world far from reality, and cannot accept who she is or the circumstances that she finds herself in. As a result, she is heinous, vengeful, and malicious in every action she perfor...