A Work Of Artifice Analysis

Given that women were not nurtured with their gifts, not given the proper education, and treated like an object, it is reasonable to think that women during Shakespeare's time would not have developed his sense of genius. Throughout history, women have been degraded, segregated and dehumanized within our society. Women have been objectified and put down to the lowest humane level possible. The misogyny against women has been so strong that many writers have put their feelings into writings, which are very powerful to both men and women. Writers like Marge Piercy, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and the memorable speaker, Sojourner Truth, put into perspective how women were degraded by our own society.
During shakespeare’s time, women who were born …show more content…
Instead, women were objectified and put down to be non-humane. By being put down by a gardener, Marge Piercy compares women to a plant that is being objectified by a man in “A Work of Artifice”; “could have grown eighty feet tall/ on the side of a mountain/ till split by lightning”. The lightning in this story is compared to men, or the gardener, who split the tree in half objectifying it to the pot that he wants it to grow in. With male chauvinism, it indicate that men have superior power and ability to “control” women due to their power. Most men misuse this power by putting down women to their lowest level to use them for other things, as seen in “The Youngest Doll”. In Rosario Ferre’s “The Youngest Doll,” the older doctor used his power to undermine the woman and take more of her money than what he needed to. Dehumanizing the young niece, the younger son also used his male power by putting the her on “display” to show off what he was able to get with his …show more content…
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the author of “Declaration of Sentiments”, describes how women were put down in the educational aspect by being segregated from colleges; “He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education, all colleges being closed against her.” This explains how women were not meant to go to college, just because men believed they did not need it because they were just going to stay home anyways while the men made the money and made a life for them. Women were never given the opportunity to advance forward with their talents and make a living through working somewhere other than home. Marge Piercy compares women to a historical reference: “the bound feet/ the crippled brain/ the hair in curlers”. This refers to the ancient chinese way of binding women’s feet to make them smaller, and prettier to men. They were not very educated and they were not given that option to become educated. They were almost manipulated to do what men say and comply to their wants. Women were unable to successfully build a career and pursue their passion just because of misogyny towards them. In Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s, “Declaration of Sentiments”, she uses multiple areas where women were denied education: “He allows her in church as well as state, but a subordinate position, claiming Apostolic authority for her exclusion from the