Strength in Femininity Embrace
Though death is inevitable and expected in every human life, to most people, the death of a loved one is the hardest experience they will ever endure. In the poem “The Prediction” by Mark Strand, the speaker states: the future came to her: rain falling on her husband's grave, rain falling on the lawns of her children, her own mouth filling with cold air, strangers moving into her house. (5-8)
Strand uses the visual imagery of rain falling on a woman’s husband’s grieve to illustrate death’s effects on a woman as she confronts the end of human existence. Strand suggests that women are more sensitive to death; therefore, they grieve in various ways especially depending on the relationship with the man. In particular, …show more content…
Dalloway, the men’s deaths Grete and Clarissa Dalloway encounter force them to focus on life continuing, almost ignoring the end of existence. After Gregor dies in The Metamorphosis, the cleaning lady tells his family to come and look. The narrator states, “Grete, not without looking back at the corpse, followed her parents into their bedroom” (Kafka 52). Throughout Gregor’s transformation, Grete empathizes the most with Gregor, giving him food and cleaning him. However, Grete becomes more distant from Gregor the more Gregor pains and inconveniences the family. When Gregor finally dies, Grete only looks back at his corpse for a moment, looking back at her old life. She does not help to remove Gregor or perform any memorial for Gregor, which showcases how significantly Grete changes. As Grete follows her parents, it is her first step into a new life. They move to the country and act like Gregor was never a person. As a result, Grete begins to thrive in society. This family believes one has to spend their life working with no time to think about death. Likewise, Mrs. Dalloway in Mrs. Dalloway also feels there is no place for death in her daily life. Towards the end, during her party, the Bradshaws bring up Septimus’s death since it just had occurred. The narrator states, “The young man had killed himself; but [Mrs. Dalloway] did not pity him; with the clock striking the hour, one, …show more content…
Egan, Cunningham, and Woolf demonstrate how powerful a woman’s love can be. Sasha, Clarissa, and Reiza adore each of their men so much that they yearn for an everlasting life with these men even if the men are not the same person. They also demonstrate the healing aspect of women as each woman has tried to alleviate the men’s suffering in some way. When women focus more on their daily lives and their roles in society, they do not have time to deal with the death of men, which Kafka and Woolf showcase through Grete Samsa and Mrs. Dalloway. Despite that, women, like Rhea, who devote their lives to being mothers are consistently conscious of death because their lives revolve around the health of their children. However, Laura rejects her role as a mother in which she promotes death. In this rejection, she has no way to combat the human trials whereas Rhea has the fortitude that comes with being a mother. Overall, all the women who embrace their femininity exemplify some power over men. This power shift concludes that women are stronger because they are able to cope with death. However, life can be filled with sorrow when women are unable to embrace their femininity like Laura Brown. Depending on their relationship with the men, these women are able to use their different facets of femininity to deal with the end of human
Though death is inevitable and expected in every human life, to most people, the death of a loved one is the hardest experience they will ever endure. In the poem “The Prediction” by Mark Strand, the speaker states: the future came to her: rain falling on her husband's grave, rain falling on the lawns of her children, her own mouth filling with cold air, strangers moving into her house. (5-8)
Strand uses the visual imagery of rain falling on a woman’s husband’s grieve to illustrate death’s effects on a woman as she confronts the end of human existence. Strand suggests that women are more sensitive to death; therefore, they grieve in various ways especially depending on the relationship with the man. In particular, …show more content…
Dalloway, the men’s deaths Grete and Clarissa Dalloway encounter force them to focus on life continuing, almost ignoring the end of existence. After Gregor dies in The Metamorphosis, the cleaning lady tells his family to come and look. The narrator states, “Grete, not without looking back at the corpse, followed her parents into their bedroom” (Kafka 52). Throughout Gregor’s transformation, Grete empathizes the most with Gregor, giving him food and cleaning him. However, Grete becomes more distant from Gregor the more Gregor pains and inconveniences the family. When Gregor finally dies, Grete only looks back at his corpse for a moment, looking back at her old life. She does not help to remove Gregor or perform any memorial for Gregor, which showcases how significantly Grete changes. As Grete follows her parents, it is her first step into a new life. They move to the country and act like Gregor was never a person. As a result, Grete begins to thrive in society. This family believes one has to spend their life working with no time to think about death. Likewise, Mrs. Dalloway in Mrs. Dalloway also feels there is no place for death in her daily life. Towards the end, during her party, the Bradshaws bring up Septimus’s death since it just had occurred. The narrator states, “The young man had killed himself; but [Mrs. Dalloway] did not pity him; with the clock striking the hour, one, …show more content…
Egan, Cunningham, and Woolf demonstrate how powerful a woman’s love can be. Sasha, Clarissa, and Reiza adore each of their men so much that they yearn for an everlasting life with these men even if the men are not the same person. They also demonstrate the healing aspect of women as each woman has tried to alleviate the men’s suffering in some way. When women focus more on their daily lives and their roles in society, they do not have time to deal with the death of men, which Kafka and Woolf showcase through Grete Samsa and Mrs. Dalloway. Despite that, women, like Rhea, who devote their lives to being mothers are consistently conscious of death because their lives revolve around the health of their children. However, Laura rejects her role as a mother in which she promotes death. In this rejection, she has no way to combat the human trials whereas Rhea has the fortitude that comes with being a mother. Overall, all the women who embrace their femininity exemplify some power over men. This power shift concludes that women are stronger because they are able to cope with death. However, life can be filled with sorrow when women are unable to embrace their femininity like Laura Brown. Depending on their relationship with the men, these women are able to use their different facets of femininity to deal with the end of human