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Women oppression in literature
Women oppression in literature
Themes under oppression of women in literature
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“All for one, and one for all," the motto of the King's Musketeers in the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, is a slogan that the four main male characters follow in their everyday lives. However, whenever a woman is concerned, each male character attempts to place the woman’s honor above his own, due to the thought that a woman needs more protection than a man does. Privately, each character shares the opinion that women are the weaker gender of the human race. Although not the most prevalent theme in the novel, this theme subtly appears throughout the dialogue of the male characters, in many points throughout the story.
When Monsieur Bonacieux asks d’Artagnan to help him find his wife, Madame Bonacieux, d’Artagnan asks for the assistance of his friends, Porthos, Athos, and Aramis. While concocting a plan to help return Madame Bonacieux to her husband, Aramis states “Woman was created for our destruction, and it is from her we inherit all our miseries.” Through this quote, Aramis says that in order to protect the weaker gender, the males have to fight the battles for them, and thus the miseries, such as new enemies or a battle with the guards, of these conflicts fall within their responsibility. This quote also prophesied what will happen to d’Artagnan, as during this quest he fights with the guards who were holding Madame Bonacieux captive,. “The victim resisted as much as a woman could resist four men.” When d’Artagnan rescues her from them, the cardinal placed a bounty on his head as a result of this action.
During this quest, Monsieur Bonacieux is arrested after he comes to d’Artagnan for help and is taken to the Cardinal for an interrogation. His fear takes over and it causes him to state: “She must have spoken; she m...
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...mpacted the royal family as well.
King Louis knows that Queen Anne of Austria is not loyal to him in either love or in her power as Queen of France. He blames this lack of loyalty on the Queen’s weakness as a woman, as he felt that her weakness caused her to be more loyal to her Spanish roots and family, and to her lover, the Duke of Buckingham. In order to ensure that the King’s jealousy was justified, he sent the chancellor to the Queen’s chamber to retrieve a letter, using force as needed, since the King felt that the weakness of the queen will cause her to give up the letter for fear of the force that would be used if the chancellor had reached into her bosom and retrieved the letter himself . This missive which was thought to disclose the secret exchange of words between lovers, but instead was a plan to attack the cardinal, not him or their supposed love.
The author notes that the King at an early age relied mostly on his mentors for knowledge and advice, notably two of which were councils of elders. The King’s entire life and on matters of decisionmaking was under the influence of these elders and from members of the court. The effects of overreliance on the need to make a decisive decision is witnessed when the moment to plan the escape, the King ponders and waste a lot of time in thinking and going over the idea of evading. The King took much time that Marie and Fersen had already begun planning for the escape long before the king had already given the consent for such an idea. Marie’s plan was underway and was schedule on May but the King’s nature of indecisiveness led to his postponing of the due date. Timothy Tackett notes down that the King does not just postpone the escape once but six times. These acts of postponing the escape finally end as he decides on the twentieth of June as the eloping day. The author yet again argues that if the family had left earlier on agreed dates their chances of a safe gateway would be higher and less risky. The King’s decision on postponing and prolonging the escape paved way for a chance that led to the conspiracy to be
...“A war-maker” “A ruler” From this the reader learns that there has been a distinct split between men and women since the beginning of time. It is interesting that Alette is hearing this information from a headless woman. (Notley 91) The woman being headless symbolizes women being praised for their bodies, sexuality, or feminity not for their brains or education. The headless woman says, “my body” “still danced then-” “but my head” “played audience” “to the achievements” “of males” (Notley 91)
Traditional female characteristics and female unrest are underscored in literary works of the Middle Ages. Although patriarchal views were firmly established back then, traces of female contempt for such beliefs could be found in several popular literary works. Female characters’ opposition to societal norms serves to create humor and wish- fulfillment for female and male audiences to enjoy. “Lanval” by Marie De France and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer both show subversion of patriarchal attitudes by displaying the women in the text as superior or equal to the men. However, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” also incorporates conventional societal ideas by including degradation of women and mistreatment of a wife by her husband.
The experiences that we face in life vary from person to person and one of the greatest differences occur between men and women. In Voltaire 's novel Candide a great deal of the experiences that each of the characters face is unique to them, but the experiences of the women differ greatly to those of the men. The way the two sexes handled those experiences also varied and reflected a satirical view of the times in which Voltaire lived. The differences in events between the men and women can be seen in a few key points that are seen throughout the Novel.
In Shakespeare’s “The Life of King Henry V,” set in England in the early fifteenth century, with the famous and heroic English King, Henry V, claiming his “rights” to the French throne. This claim caused complications and the declaration of war on both English and French soil. This political war, then turn into a route of complicated negotiations, after King Henry’s terrifying forces had successfully defeated French forces. As the result of the war, a peace treaty was made, and part of that agreement was the marriage between King Henry V and the daughter of the King of France, Katherine of Valois. An analysis of the both King Henry’s and Katherine’s relationship reveals that both had conflicting perspectives of one another, which resulted as a marriage in political unions of two powerful nations rather than a union of two lovers.
Anna Julia Cooper’s, Womanhood a Vital Element in the Regeneration and Progress, an excerpt from A Voice from the South, discusses the state of race and gender in America with an emphasis on African American women of the south. She contributes a number of things to the destitute state African American woman became accustom to and believe education and elevation of the black woman would change not only the state of the African American community but the nation as well. Cooper’s analysis is based around three concepts, the merging of the Barbaric with Christianity, the Feudal system, and the regeneration of the black woman.
Louis XV, the current king of France at the time, came to know of her in this way. Many knew her name, and rumors were widespread, even at th...
The story begins with the Marquise de Merteuil corresponding with Vicomte de Valmont regarding a luscious new act of ‘revenge’, as she describes it, against the Comte de Gercourt. The young Cecile de Volanges has just come home from the convent and her marriage to Gercourt has been arranged. However, before he can wed the innocent child, Merteuil proposes Valmont ‘educate’ her, thus spoiling Gercourt’s fancy for untarnished convent girls. Valmont is uninterested in such an easy seduction and is far more aroused by the thought of lulling The Presidente’ de Tourvel, the very epitome of virtue, into submission. And so the tale unfolds.
Finally Joan listened to the voices and went to the Bavdri courts in Reims to talk about the voices. She vented to the court that it was god’s will that the Dauphin become king despite his enemies. Joan w...
The female characters in Molière’s Tartuffe display feminist behaviors years before the feminist movement emerged historically. Many of their actions, words and behaviors are completely out of character for women of their time. Moliere makes a strong statement with this play by presenting female characters that go against convention. The gender inequality when the Enlightenment began was extreme. The women in this play try to fight against this inequality and in the end it is the patriarch of the family that is fooled by Tartuffe yet most of the female characters remain un-fooled throughout the play. Two of the female characters in this play, Doreen and Elmire play significantly different roles in the home. They have different personalities, different household duties and drastically different social standing. As different as these women are, they both show signs of early feminism. To various degrees they fight for want they believe is right. Dorine speaks her mind openly and does not hold anything back. Elmire is sneakier and uses her sexuality to get what she wants.
In Othello, the titular character is a visible minority who holds a high position in the army but falls victim to manipulation by his seemingly trustworthy ensign and friend. While the theme of jealousy remains the main reason for the eventual death of both Emilia and Desdemona, the preservation of honour and reputation also fuel the characters’ actions toward the women. Therefore, the men in the play act cruelly and unjustly in order to defend their honour. While the conflicts between the Othello and Iago seem to be due to jealousy, the play suggests that the men are scared of the women and their power to destroy their honour and reputation.
During the Elizabethan era women had a status of subordination towards men. They had a role to marry and oblige to their husband’s wishes. Shakespearean literature, especially illustrates how a woman is psychologically and physically lesser to their male counterpart. The play, Othello, uses that aspect in many different ways. From a Feminist lens others are able to vividly examine how women were subjected to blatant inferiority. Being displayed as tools for men to abuse, women were characterized as possessions and submissive; only during the last portion of the play did the power of women take heed.
Do you believe that women of this present generation have always received the same level of respect as they receive now? Today, women are treated exceptionally well as compared to their counterparts in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and treated even better than those in the very early years of America. Women in the past were restricted from freedoms and rights; their individuality was stripped and they were constantly forced to meet the constraining view of a “traditional” America. In contrast, women of modern America are granted a level of recognition and respect unexplored by American women of previous generations.
Du Bois’s eco-critical concerns extend to women too. Darkwater through his chapter called “The Damnation of Women,” seeks to elevate women by acknowledging their labor in homes, workplace and the black church. The chapter has been described as one of the first proto-feminist analyses by a male intellectual. Du Bois glorifies the black mother for her role as a child bearer and, therefore, considers her a healer and nurturer too. He writes, “No mother can love more tenderly and none is more tenderly loved than the Negro mother” (117).He calls for black women to seek a life of economic independence, and argues that black women have a right to control their own bodies and reproductive choices: “The future woman must have a life work and economic
Global feminine icon Ani DiFranco once stated, “Feminism is self-determination, and it's very open-ended: every woman has the right to become herself, and do whatever she needs to do.” Commonly throughout history and in society women are viewed as inferior to their male companions, and individuals frequently say that the world functions as a male- dominated society. Over the years the idea of feminism, or the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of society, has sparked interest in the female population, and women are often found standing up for what they believe in and not falling custom to adhering to the male population. DiFranco’s quote depicts the morals of feminism, as it supports how women have evolved into an ever powerful force that has become custom to influencing society. Author William Shakespeare agreed with DiFranco’s ideals, even when residing during the Elizabethan era where society was male dominated. In his novel, Othello, he uses the courage of the women in his literature to depict how women should be treated, and to contrast from how little respect they once obtained. The society in Shakespeare’s Othello is strongly dominated by men who are the political and military leaders of their homeland during the Elizabethan era. These men are expected to stay loyal to their reputations and to uphold the strong sense of character that earned them their positions in the first place. In contrast, during the Elizabethan period of time women were viewed as weak second-class citizens and inferior to males, with their only job being to serve their men. Shakespeare’s views of these expectations are contrary to the standard view of women’s roles during his play, for he demonstrates his malaise over the way gender relationsh...