Feminism in Drama, Fiction and Poetry

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Recommended: Treatment of women in literature

Literature is a part of human culture and values because humans are social animals that communicate through speech, music and writing. Literature comes in three forms; Drama, Fiction and Poetry. By using these forms of literature, we are able to send and receive messages in a creative and imaginative way. We are able to receive a deeper meaning from its content by reading and understanding literature. People write creative works to express their opinions or feelings from a particular subject or issue. An example of this subject is feminism. The issue of feminism has surfaced on the literature community since the beginning of time. Poets and novelist have been inspired to write about females because a woman is a symbol of passion and fertility. However, one part of human history has a grim example of woman discrimination. Writers of this particular subject have made their works in different ways.

In drama, conversations between characters are used instead of describing the things and emotions of the characters. Emotions are usually expressed through the characters’ dialogs and how they progress throughout the play. An example of feminism in drama is Susan Glaspell’s Trifles. Susan Glaspell used female characters to portray or symbolize feminism. According to Suzy Clarkson Holstein, women’s responsibilities like cooking, cleaning and knitting are clearly separate from the men’s duties during the twentieth century (Holstein 2003). Today, Women’s duties are still detached from men’s (Holstein 2003). Due to this, Glaspell showed how females are treated as a low-class citizen in her play. In Trifles, feminism is showed interactions between men and women through an act of dramatic speech. The powerful drama in Trifles, exemplifies the ...

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...ers feel romantic especially towards a woman. Finally, every drama, fiction and poetry uses symbols to represent feminism. The women characters in Trifles, the rose in A Rose for Emily and the eye of a woman in Unrealities are all examples of feminist symbolism.

Works Cited

Fang, Du. “Who makes a devil out of a fair lady?—an analysis of social causes of Emily’s

tragedy in A Rose for Emily/ Qui fait d’une demoiselle driote un monstre?—Une analyse des causes sociales de la tragedie D’Emily dans Une Rose pour Emily.(Report).” Candian Social Sciences 3.4 (2007): 18+. Academic OneFile. Web. 27 Apr. 2011

Hans, James S. The Value(s) of Literature. EBSCO publishing, 1990. NetLibrary.

Web. 27 Apr 2011

Holstein, Suzy Clarkson. “Silent justice in a different key: Glasspell’s ‘Trifles’.” The Midwest

Quarterly 44.3 (2003): 282+. Academic OneFile. Web. 27 Apr. 2011.

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