19th-century theatre

The study guide describes Emily Mann, the playwright behind Mrs. Packard, as someone who provides a voice for the voiceless, and I’m excited about that. Theatre has the potential to shed light on important subjects, and it’s nice to see an artist using that potential to educate people. I have high hopes for the social context of this production; my horizon of expectations is definitely geared toward a feminist play. It’s so rare (in my experience, at least) to have a play written by a woman and written about a woman (with what appears to be a lack of a male love interest!). I’m also intrigued by the subject matter of the play: a strong-willed woman is committed to an insane asylum by her conservative and controlling husband. I’m a history buff,…

Imagine one not being able to express their emotions because of their race. Imagine them having to limit their full potential because they are not the “right” skin tone. How does one cope with this prohibiting lifestyle? Playwright August Wilson had experienced this very oppression during the Civil Rights Movement and started using theatre as his way of coping with his painful past. His plays were a way for him to address political topics, express his emotions, and do things he would never be…

The Coquette and The Awakening show female desire to break the constraints placed on women in the 19th century. In The Coquette, Eliza Wharton is presented with two choices, one man or the other. The option never exists for her to simply not be with a man, to not conform to the societal expectation of women. The Awakening presents Edna Pontellier, a wife and a mother, transforming from the ideal picture of woman to pursuing her own desires. Women’s desire is not only shown from the plot, the…

These associations inspired women to be creative, and from this time period, many famous female authors arose, although many wrote with a male pen name. To this day, there are missing chunks of history regarding the live’s of women before the 20th century and we know what we do from the women who wrote periodicals. Rights of Women in Canada After the Industrial Revolution Today, women still face many issues due to patriarchal standards and societal pressure, but because of the strong women in…

nineteenth century. For example, what may have begun as a travel diary or private letters written by a traveling woman to her family, could end up published later either by the author or a family member. Strikingly, Mabel Daniels?s published book actually incorporates five genres of women?s writing. While generic mixtures in the travelogue is typical, the way she used genres in her book?as compared to other works from the time?makes her book unique.[footnoteRef:1] The generic mix includes the…

Arguments for and against overseas expansion raised a foreign policy debate in the late years of the 19th century to the early years of the 20th century. People favored overseas expansion because they wanted the American economy to grow. Missioners, who wanted to convert the inhabitants of the new lands, also propelled this new policy, and theories such as the Social Darwinism and the Manifest Destiny made people believed it was right for America to expand its frontiers and help the less…

yellow wallpaper. The story concludes with the woman circling the room, now completely immersed in her mental illness, removing the wallpaper and stepping over her unconscious husband who had fainted at the realization of his wife 's mental state. The feminism literary views show how the piece suggests patriarchal ideology and how it proves itself in 19th century marriage and medical practice. The wallpaper itself is a metaphor whereas the nameless wife is herself trapped just like the woman she…

In the 19th century women with nervous illnesses would be treated with the rest cure which “… involves isolation, enforced bed rest, and… constant feeding… reducing the dependency of an infant” (Science Museum). Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote the “The Yellow Wallpaper” in which the narrator undergoes severe depression after giving birth then is prescribed the rest cure by her husband/physician John. An analysis of the yellow wallpaper shows one perspective of gender relations during the 19th…

The Gilded Age: a point in history when industries took advantage of their workers and lied to the government about it. Men, women, and children alike were extremely undervalued. Whether it was low pay, long hours, or unsafe work environments people at this time were not being treated as they should have. In theory as years went by things would’ve changed. Eric Schlosser disproves that theory with his book titled Fast Food Nation (2001). About a hundred years after the mistreatment in the Gilded…

Women have often been thought of as very delicate, weak creatures, but these views have changed drastically over time. At one point in time, the word “power” was never associated with a woman. Margaret Atwood uses sirens to exemplify the power of women in her poem “Siren Song”. Originally from Greek mythology, a siren is a “women or winged creature whose singing lured unwary sailors on to rocks” through their seductive nature (“siren. n.”). These creatures manipulate sailors, making them believe…