Feminism as defined by Tyson is “the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women" NEED TO DO INTRODUCITON PROPERLY
As stated in the critical anthology, many feminist critics “re think the canon, aiming at the rediscovery of texts written by women”. An understanding of feminism encourages the reader to discover alternative interpretations of the poems in The World’s Wife. It not only allows the reader to gain a wider understanding of the representations of women, but it highlights revisionism of the original story. Feminists such as CA and Angela Carter have exposed the patriarchal structure that is in fairy tales by rewriting the original stories. This is particularly evident in “The Little Red Cap”.
Little Red Cap is the Brothers Grimm’s version of Charles Perrault’s original fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. The original is written as a moralistic story, in which ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ is eaten by the wolf, the moral being that children, particularly female, should not approach strangers. Feminist critics could argue that the original story is warning against curiosity and freedom. This is because in the original version Little Red Cap is told “not to run off the path” which implies she shouldn’t go beyond the social expectation of women. However, Duffy subverts the classic and as stated in her 2005 interview she “finds a truth which hadn’t been amplified previously”.
Carol Ann Duffy’s version intensifies the role of the girl. She subverts the typical stereotype of a woman who is often seen as a weak victim or the “dangerous seductress” and is frequently used to form the plot of a story. CAD states that “Little Red...
... middle of paper ...
...y male figures. They may also question what the driving force behind Salome’s actions is. From a feminine perspective, it can be interpreted that Salome is a figure which has been hurt by the patriarchal society.
However, even though a feminist view helps to encourage certain views in the text, it can be restrictive. This is because it does not allow the reader to discover other potential meanings such as a Marxist or a Psychoanalytical perceptive. For instance, in Salome a Marxist critic may be interested in the sexual power that the woman misuses. In addition, a psychoanalytic perspective allows us to see that it is the unconscious mind that is driving Salome to do such acts. This idea is reinforced through the Lois Tysons idea that “we unconsciously behave in ways that allow us to “play out”…our conflicted feelings about the painful experiences we repress”.
Picture a child sitting in front of a television watching the Wizard of Oz. To them, it is an assortment of magical beings, a land filled with wonderful places, with varieties of different colors. They do not picture it as something with far more meaning than just a plain fairytale. On the other hand, gender/feminist critics have been able to analyze the Wizard of Oz as well as Wicked, in order to find a more elaborate meaning behind the story itself. They have discussed what lies behind the story when it comes to the issue of sexism and masculinity towards the book itself as well as the characters. There are many concepts as well that help to further explain feminism and gender criticism. The four concepts that will be discussed later on are gender, feminist writings, patriarchal society, and gynocriticism. These concepts will then be reviewed as to how they play a part in the book Wicked.
Little Red Riding Hood, by Paul Galdone is a children's book generally for early elementary reading level. It focuses on a young girl,Little Red Riding Hood, who was instructed by her mother to deliver cake and wine to her ill grandmother. Her mother strictly told her not to speak to anyone but the Little Red Riding Hood did anyway. She spoke to a wolf , who questioned her about where she was going. Not knowing any better Little Red Ridding Hood
The transformation that takes place in the way in which the girl thinks about gender roles is not described directly as an issue of what is appropriate for men and women. Instead, the description is much more subtle, and almost a natural change that occurs in every person (Rasporich 130). It is this subtleness in the language causes the readers to not only feel sorry for the young girl, but to also think about their own views of gender
“I've told her and I've told her: daughter, you have to teach that child the facts of life before it's too late” (Hopkinson 1). These are the first three lines of Nalo Hopkinson's short story “Riding the Red”, a modern adaptation of Charles Perrault's “Little Red Riding Hood”. In his fairy tale Perrault prevents girls from men's nature. In Hopkinson's adaptation, the goal remains the same: through the grandmother biographic narration, the author elaborates a slightly revisited plot without altering the moral: young girls should beware of men; especially when they seem innocent.
Modern-day feminists state that there are many repressed attitudes and fears which keep women in a kind of half-light, forcing them to subconsciously retreat from the full use of their minds and creativity (Dowling, 595). The archetypal Cinderella is often criticized by feminist critics for waiting for something external to transform her life (Abel, 192). Contrary to this assumption, passivity is not prevalent in the original Brothers’ Grimm tale. However, actions performed by women in the tale are often associated with darkness. It is this overpowering association with the color black and its implications that truly keep women in a “half-light” in the tale.
The stereotypical gender roles depicted in literature has contributed to the destruction of a child’s social development, but more specifically that of young girls. Today, literature is one of the main factors that influence women 's reputation in society. However, the many socially constructed gender roles found in literature inaccurately describes the attributes of females. The fairy tales Little Red Cap and Ash girl are excellent examples of how literature can effect a young girl’s social development. One major theme depicted in both stories is the idea that young girls need to be obedient. Both stories tend to follow this concept as the protagonist obey the orders given to them without any questions. Little Red Cap, is a tale of a little girl who, on her mother orders, is traveling through the woods to her grandmother’s house. Already, the readers are confronted with the gender stereotype that young girls must
In present day society, where political correctness and equality are at the top of the priority list, by reading essays such as the one by Karol Kelley we find that this might not have been the case in earlier days. Fairy tales such as Cinderella have been found guilty of possessing subliminal socialization traits. Classifying genders as inferior and molding young girls into the female that society expects them to be. In Charles Perrault’s version, which is considered the most common, Cinderella is seen as passive, limited, dependent and inferior. As critics argue, these traits can hinder a child’s self esteem. Karol Kelley states that the “expectations and the promises
As a child, I was told fairytales such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs every night before I went to sleep. Fairytales are an adventurous way to expand a child’s imagination and open their eyes to experience a new perspective. Modernizations of fairytales typically relate to a specific audience, such as adolescence, and put a contemporary spin on the old-aged tale. Instead of using whimsical themes heavily centered in nature, the contemporary poems connect with the reader in a more realistic everyday scenario. Also, many modernizations are written in poetic form to help reconstruct a flow in the piece and to develop or sometimes completely change the meaning from that of the original fairytale. Comparing Grimm’s Fairytale Snow White and the Seven Dwarves to the contemporary poem by Denise Duhamel, Snow White’s Acne, differences such as main character modifications, altered archetypes, and dissimilar intended morals can be interpreted and analyzed. These disparities renovate the tale, and bring forth current sociological issues such as an over-emphasis on beauty in adolescence and the results of heavy expectations in mother-daughter relationships.
Young girls and women are expected to be innocent and pure, following the male lead and unable to really think for themselves. In Carter’s story, however, not only are the curiosities and desires of the narrator mentioned, they are written with such dramatic and illustrious vocabulary, as the narrator states that she “flung down the lid in a little fury of disappointment” (Carter 22) wondering what she should do now after her husband said he’d rather wait a bit longer before sleeping with her (Carter 22). Moreover, the narrator continues to ask herself “how shall [she] pass the long, sea-lit hours until [her] husband beds [her]” (Carter 23) in order to explicitly emphasize the humanly side of women; a side that exists but is constantly suppressed in order to meet societal, and thus, readers’ expectations. This in itself is the dark side of fairy tales – an unmentioned part, as if to keep it hidden in the dark, so to speak. Carter plays against the trope of innocence and purity of girls by allowing readers to know exactly what the female lead is thinking with the use of a narrator being the female lead herself. This is an important aspect because Carter assumes that readers’ prior knowledge is that females, especially young girls, are innocent and don’t have any sexual desires whatsoever. With Carter’s vivid descriptions, readers come to know that this is not the case and that readers are constantly kept in the dark when reading other fairy
The feminist perspective of looking at a work of literature includes examining how both sexes are portrayed
In a society unbridled with double standards and set views about women, one may wonder the origins of such beliefs. It might come as a surprise that these ideals and standards are embedded and have been for centuries in the beloved fairy tales we enjoyed reading as kids. In her analytical essay, “To Spin a Yarn: The Female Voice in Folklore and Fairy Tales”, Karen Rowe argues that fairy tales present “cultural norms which exalt passivity, dependency, and self-sacrifice as a female’s cardinal virtues.” Rowe presents an excellent point, which can be supported by versions of the cult classics, “Cinderella” and “Snow White”. Charles Perrault’s “ The Little Glass Slipper” and the Brothers Grimm’s “ Snow White” exemplify the beliefs that females are supposed to be docile, dependent on the male persona and willing to sacrifice themselves. In many cases, when strong female characters are presented they are always contradicting in these characteristics, thus labeled as villainous. Such is the case of the Cinderella’s stepsisters in Perrault’s “Cinderella” and the stepmother in the Brothers Grimm’s “Snow White.” These female characters face judgment and disapproval when they commit the same acts as male characters. With such messages rooted in our beloved fairy tales it is no wonder that society is rampant with these ideals about women and disapprove of women when they try to break free of this mold.
...present powerful characters, while females represent unimportant characters. Unaware of the influence of society’s perception of the importance of sexes, literature and culture go unchanged. Although fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty produce charming entertainment for children, their remains a didactic message that lays hidden beneath the surface; teaching future generations to be submissive to the inequalities of their gender. Feminist critic the works of former literature, highlighting sexual discriminations, and broadcasting their own versions of former works, that paints a composite image of women’s oppression (Feminist Theory and Criticism). Women of the twenty-first century serge forward investigating, and highlighting the inequalities of their race in effort to organize a better social life for women of the future (Feminist Theory and Criticism).
The stories ?Little Red Riding Hood,? by Charles Perrault, and ?Little Red Cap,? by the Brothers Grimm, are similar and different. Moreover, both stories differ from the American version. The stories have a similar moral at the end, each with a slight twist. This story, in each of its translations, is representative of a girl?s loss of innocence, her move from childhood or adolescence into adulthood. The way women are treated within each story is different. Little Red in the French version was eaten; whereas in the German version, she is rescued by the woodsman, and this further emphasizes the cultural differences.
Feminist theory helps to analyze gender inequality and its themes which are discrimination, sexual objectification, oppression, stereotyping and so on.
Some fairy tales are so iconic that they withstand the passing of time. One of those fairy tales is that of Cinderella. The rags to riches story that gives even the lowliest of paupers, hope that they may one day climb the social ladder. While the core message of the story has transcended time, over the years it has been adapted to address a variety of audiences. One of those renditions is Perrault’s Cinderella where the traditional idea of gender is conveyed and therefore associated with good/evil. This idea is challenged by a fellow 1600’s French author, L’heriter de Villandon’s, who’s version of Cinderella brings about a female protagonist who is also the heroine.