The gendered norms of society are a set of rules on how each gender should behave, and define which sphere of society each gender belongs, and in this idea of a sectioning of both men’s and women’s roles into these separate spheres, there is a relation to the domesticity of western society. The concept of domesticity comes from the concept of the separate sphere ideology, where women and men were placed in these separate roles. For men it was the public role, life of politics, economy, whilst for women they are meant to stay at home, at the focus on the domestic realm of life. This concept is discussed and examined in many ways, including in various poems and novels. Some of these texts include the poems of Anne Sexton, “Honor and Obey” and
…show more content…
There were many different authors and writers in history who discussed, and portrayed, the concept of these separate spheres, and what these spheres meant to the society in which they lived. Anne Sexton was one such writer, and she discussed in her poems the confining nature she attributes to the domestic sphere. Anne Sexton (1928-1974) was an America poet, well known for her confessional style poetry, where she took on writing about the domestic sphere, “No poet before her had written so frankly of the female realm of family life, nor of its pathologies (Middlebrook, 483).” She wrote about the everyday trials of life for women, especially from the view of the women’s life at home, and how confining the roles were. Anne Sexton was an ambivalent feminist, …show more content…
Margaret Atwood is a renowned Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, and essayist, and her texts explore a range of themes and concepts, including that of the domestic sphere and domesticity; ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ for instance is one such text. ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is a dystopian novel, in which the government has been overthrown by religious extremists, who have changed the laws of the United States, and given each member a new role, from Handmaid’s, Martha’s, Wives, Commander’s, Eyes, and so on, and each role is given a new purpose in this regime, especially for that of women. Gilead, “establishes a strict moral code supported by public ceremonies, the omnipresent fear of the Eyes, and the mute warning proclaimed by the hooded and robed dead who hang along the wall (Stillman, 73).” It is a very strict and tyrannical society, using fear to control; the women in the Gilead society are even under constant surveillance by the secret police. As Neuman states, “Gileadean government maintains its power by means of surveillance, suppression of information, re-education centres, and totalitarian violence (857).” Gilead even crafts a new vocabulary in this society that is to serve the new society’s elite. Men are defined in this new society by their military rank, whereas women are defined by their gender roles as Wives,
There were many different authors and writers in history who discussed, and portrayed, the concept of these separate spheres, and what these spheres meant to the society in which they lived. Anne Sexton was one such writer, and she discussed in her poems the confining nature she attributes to the domestic sphere. Anne Sexton (1928-1974) was an America poet, well known for her confessional style poetry, where she took on writing about the domestic sphere, “No poet before her had written so frankly of the female realm of family life, nor of its pathologies (Middlebrook, 483).” She wrote about the everyday trials of life for women, especially from the view of the women’s life at home, and how confining the roles were. Anne Sexton was an ambivalent feminist, …show more content…
Margaret Atwood is a renowned Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, and essayist, and her texts explore a range of themes and concepts, including that of the domestic sphere and domesticity; ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ for instance is one such text. ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is a dystopian novel, in which the government has been overthrown by religious extremists, who have changed the laws of the United States, and given each member a new role, from Handmaid’s, Martha’s, Wives, Commander’s, Eyes, and so on, and each role is given a new purpose in this regime, especially for that of women. Gilead, “establishes a strict moral code supported by public ceremonies, the omnipresent fear of the Eyes, and the mute warning proclaimed by the hooded and robed dead who hang along the wall (Stillman, 73).” It is a very strict and tyrannical society, using fear to control; the women in the Gilead society are even under constant surveillance by the secret police. As Neuman states, “Gileadean government maintains its power by means of surveillance, suppression of information, re-education centres, and totalitarian violence (857).” Gilead even crafts a new vocabulary in this society that is to serve the new society’s elite. Men are defined in this new society by their military rank, whereas women are defined by their gender roles as Wives,