Today, sex is a much talked about subject, and roughly half of high school students participate in the act. Today the value of ‘saving one’s self for marriage’ is dated and carried out by few, but in ‘The Chrysanthemums’ by John Steinbeck, this ideal is presented to an extreme. Steinbeck begins the story by painting a descriptive picture of the Salinas Valley and describes it as “a time of quiet and waiting”. The story then introduces us to two of the main characters, Elisa and her husband, whose first interaction can best be described as awkward and curt . When her husband leaves, a tinker drives up to Elisas’ estate.…
In 1930 many people believed that “pure bliss” for a woman was to get married at a young age, obey her husband or father, and to complacently do house work. However, that was not the case of these main characters. Emily Grierson from “A Rose for Emily,” for example, could never see her dream of getting married come true. Because her father kept her locked up and isolated from the rest of the world, she grew up being a very lonely and bitter person. Emily had to obey her father until the day of his death, but this story took place when she was in her thirties.…
In “Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck and A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, both authors illustrate in readers minds that women back then had no freedom and always doubted themselves, because of how men treated them. The authors shows that during this time `men made women feel insecure and weak. They viewed women as housewives only allowing them to do hard chores all day. Over time the women began to feel like undervalued prisoners in their own homes. Women’s way of thinking and their behaviors were based on how the society wanted them to be.…
In the sequence of ‘The Great Gatsby’, we face off with multiple accounts of the women’s role in that era of history. The author was a man that goes by the name of F. Scott Fitzgerald, the creator of ‘The Great Gatsby’, and he constructed the characters to represent deceit, obsession, greed, power, and romance. His writing style is that he uses present tense in the beginning of the sentence, but then reverse it to future tense by demonstrating a sense of shift of the narrator’s, Nick Caraway, thoughts and actions in order to explain the ordeals in his surroundings and the outcome of it. Even though this novel was marked for the men’s deception and the women’s flirtatious ways, the three women’s behavior, Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, and…
The roles of women reflected in the late nineteenth century up until the 1960’s were known to be portrayals of the perfect housewife or of one who lacked status. Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” and Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” both represent the gender role that was expected of woman in their time period and their restrictions to having their own identity. Mrs. Mallard and Girl are similar because they both lack their own true identity and have expectations from others as to how they should act and who they should be. A common theme shown in both stories is repression.…
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” The opening sentence in Pride and Prejudice has a fine, undeclared message. The obvious message being that a well-off man must be looking for a wife, but it also hides the truth that a single woman is in want of a husband. This novel relates to the play A Doll’s house. In these two readings a women’s idea of marriage is having a husband that can help guide, protect, and provide for them within their means. A man embraces the idea that his role in marriage is to protect and guide his wife.…
Introduction The focus of this historical analysis will be on the book written in by Marie Carmichael Stopes titled “Married Love or Love in Marriage”. Married love is a short book of about 170 pages, “dedicated to young husbands, and all those who are betrothed in love”, as stated by the author in the front page. The analysis will proceed by introducing the author and highlighting some aspects of her life and activity, then moving to the description of some general features of Married Love. Subsequently, the focus will be on the context and on her connections with international and national movement, to have a better understanding of the contribution of the book to the existing trend.…
In Toni Morrison’s novel, Song of Solomon, the theme of flowers is significant for the female characters. Ruth Dead identifies herself as “small’ like flowers and her daughters, Lena and Corinthians identify with artificial rose petals. Many people assume that flowers are beautiful, delicate and need love and care in order to grow. In the novel, these characteristics of flowers are used to identify gender norms for women because flowers represent femininity. Morrison uses flowers to symbolize the oppression experienced by the female characters, Ruth, Lena, and Corinthians, three women who live in a male dominant household.…
In reading world literature, it becomes abundantly clear that the reality of women being subjected to different and sometimes harsh treatment by society is not a regional or even a national truth. It is a theme that is extended from the beginning of time until present day in literary works. While there are many examples of this truth, Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” is exceptionally poignant. Kincaid’s careful use of form and character identities work in perfect tandem to convey the truths of human femininity.…
Every single story, poem, and piece of literature has a central theme supporting the story it is telling. Great literature typically focuses on themes that allow us an inward look into human nature. Some common themes often portrayed might include: the loss of innocence, insecurity, isolation, as well as relationships issues such as: emotional abuse, infidelity, and communication struggles. When reading Gilman’s “The Yellow Paper” and Shaw’s “The Girls in Their Summer Dresses”, it becomes apparent that the theme that unites both is that of sick relationships and the effects it has on them. Frances, the main character of “The Girls in Their Summer Dresses”, suffers from an insecurity that was caused by her husband Michael's inability to keep…
Imagine a society where the only purpose of women is to be wives and bear progenies. That’s primeval Athens, where females are seen as the property of men. However, the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, projects the opposite notion, which is uncommon because the play was written in the 16th century. In the play, a young Athenian woman, Hermia, disagrees to marry Demetrius, the man of her father’s choice. Hermia is depicted as having dominance through her bold actions that go against her father’s authority.…
How Style, Tone, and Characterization in Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” Show the Universal Pressures on Woman in a Patriarchal Society "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid reveals the overwhelming pressure on young women to look and act in certain ways in order to please men and society. Through the use of the literary elements style, tone, and characterization, Jamaica Kincaid is able to place the reader into the shoes of a young Caribbean girl as her mother describes to her what she must do in order to protect her reputation and grow into a respectable woman. Gender and gender-roles are a main theme in this work as scholar Carol Bailey writes in her article, Performance and the Gendered Body in Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” and Oonya Kempadoo’s Buxton Spice,…
‘Oh, Mama!” said the girl, discouraged” (387). In this passage, the image of Little Flower fazes, worries, and disturbs a bride and her mother. The author places us in the home of a bride who, upon seeing the image, decides to pity Little Flower. However, her mother immediately redacts her commiseration, stating that Little Flower’s sadness is not that of a human. The sympathy and subsequent dehumanization of Little Flower stems…
John Steinbeck’s ‘’The Chrysanthemums’ is about a proud and resilient woman, Elisa Allen, who is frustrated with her life. Her inability to conceive a child and her husband’s failure to love her are major issues in her family. The flower garden is her only distraction from all her marriage issues. In the garden, she tends lovely chrysanthemums. “Chrysanthemums’ symbolizes Elisa’s and every other woman’s inner-self.…
The oppressive power of patriarchy has remained an unyielding force within human civilization. In William Shakespeare’s comedy A Mid Summer Night’s Dream, he makes a point to interject strong female leads who challenge the rules of patriarchy, in hopes that women at the time of the play’s production will too challenge the patriarchal society in which they are submerged in. Hippolyta, Hermia, Helena and Titania all in their own individual and unique ways either challenge the enforced social system of patriarchy or succumb to its demands and consequently, submit themselves as a subordinate role as a female. Unsurprisingly, Hermia and Helena—the two young heroines of the play—are fuelled by the mistreatment of their male superiors and fight to challenge the society they find themselves ensnared within. All the while Hippolyta and Titania at first attempt to challenge their husbands and grooms to be but…