Katie McMane
Professor Mark Williams
English 380
14 December 2015
A Canonical Critique on the Literary Canon William Shakespeare’s The Tempest presents the theme of freedom vs confinement by testing the boundaries of a power-hungry protagonist. The play revolves around the events of an isolated group of individuals being led, held captive, and manipulated by the magic-wielding Prospero. This theme is taken a step further in the final scene of the play when Prospero implies that the characters are also held captive by their audiences who judge them based on the way the author chooses to present them. It is up to these audiences to decide what is and is not considered canonical and worthy of being taught to students. By examining works by authors …show more content…
freedom in his work, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, as all of the characters are seeking freedom from something in the story. Oscar and Yunior are held captive by the stereotypes society has implemented in terms of true Dominican masculinity. There are certain standards to which men of their culture are held. Men are supposed to be good-looking and have a strong sex drive – two characteristics that both Oscar and Yunior’s lives are centered around. In the case of Oscar, Yunior tells us he “couldn't have pulled a girl if his life depended on it. Couldn't play sports for shit, or dominoes, was beyond uncoordinated, threw a ball like a girl. Had no knack for music or business or dance, no hustle, no rap, no G. And most damning of all: no looks” (Diaz, 19). These characteristics constrain Oscar to an inferior class than the rest of society – a group he goes his entire life trying to escape. Yunior, on the other hand, is affected by these gender norms in that he feels the need to constantly remind the audience that he has experience with sex. He seems to be obsessed with the idea of sex by constantly objectifying women and pointing out Oscar’s failure as a man because of his virginity. In this way, Yunior’s voice in the story reflects Diaz’s own as a means to critique the common gender-normed standards of the Dominican …show more content…
Montgomery et. al state “the literary institution could be seen as operating within a spectrum constituted by degrees of linguistic deviation, so that some authors, periods and genres are more deviant than others” (233).There seems to be a fine line between the right amount of deviation in a work of literature so that the work is considered exciting and innovative, and too much deviation where the work is considered vulgar and immoral. Just where this line lies seems to be changing with time, as is evident in the case of The Awakening. Once deemed “vulgar, unwholesome, [and] unholy” due to its outspokenness on the suppression of women, Chopin’s work was chastised and considered immoral when it first came out. Those who determine the canon of literature are too short-sighted and behind the times to be considered worthy of such an important
Professor Mark Williams
English 380
14 December 2015
A Canonical Critique on the Literary Canon William Shakespeare’s The Tempest presents the theme of freedom vs confinement by testing the boundaries of a power-hungry protagonist. The play revolves around the events of an isolated group of individuals being led, held captive, and manipulated by the magic-wielding Prospero. This theme is taken a step further in the final scene of the play when Prospero implies that the characters are also held captive by their audiences who judge them based on the way the author chooses to present them. It is up to these audiences to decide what is and is not considered canonical and worthy of being taught to students. By examining works by authors …show more content…
freedom in his work, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, as all of the characters are seeking freedom from something in the story. Oscar and Yunior are held captive by the stereotypes society has implemented in terms of true Dominican masculinity. There are certain standards to which men of their culture are held. Men are supposed to be good-looking and have a strong sex drive – two characteristics that both Oscar and Yunior’s lives are centered around. In the case of Oscar, Yunior tells us he “couldn't have pulled a girl if his life depended on it. Couldn't play sports for shit, or dominoes, was beyond uncoordinated, threw a ball like a girl. Had no knack for music or business or dance, no hustle, no rap, no G. And most damning of all: no looks” (Diaz, 19). These characteristics constrain Oscar to an inferior class than the rest of society – a group he goes his entire life trying to escape. Yunior, on the other hand, is affected by these gender norms in that he feels the need to constantly remind the audience that he has experience with sex. He seems to be obsessed with the idea of sex by constantly objectifying women and pointing out Oscar’s failure as a man because of his virginity. In this way, Yunior’s voice in the story reflects Diaz’s own as a means to critique the common gender-normed standards of the Dominican …show more content…
Montgomery et. al state “the literary institution could be seen as operating within a spectrum constituted by degrees of linguistic deviation, so that some authors, periods and genres are more deviant than others” (233).There seems to be a fine line between the right amount of deviation in a work of literature so that the work is considered exciting and innovative, and too much deviation where the work is considered vulgar and immoral. Just where this line lies seems to be changing with time, as is evident in the case of The Awakening. Once deemed “vulgar, unwholesome, [and] unholy” due to its outspokenness on the suppression of women, Chopin’s work was chastised and considered immoral when it first came out. Those who determine the canon of literature are too short-sighted and behind the times to be considered worthy of such an important