Mademoiselle

Edna Pontellier, the main character in The Awakening, lives during the 1890s, a time when women were expected to stay at home, care for the children, and maintain appearances for the comfort of their husband. Any women, such as Mrs. Pontellier, that sought after their own desires and needs were considered selfish. Throughout the novel, Edna Pontellier is represented as a bird. In the beginning of the book, there is a green and yellow parrot hanging in a cage outside the door saying over and over…

A young boy named Edmond Dantés turns into a man due to extreme and strenuous circumstances that forces him into manhood. He takes on a new identity, the Count of Monte Cristo and earns possession of a large inheritance. He then gets revenge on those who were responsible for his 14 years in prison. This is one of many important conflicts that occur in, and determine the plot of, The Count of Monte Cristo. Others include Valentine and Maximilian’s love story, Albert and the Count’s duel, and…

A Changing Soul The 19th century was an era of defined gender spheres. Men were expected to maintain a public life, providing for the family monetarily while socializing with other like-minded gentlemen in meeting places like clubs or bars. Conversely, women were seen as homebound creatures, expected to care for the children, cook for the family, and clean the house. Their free time was spent performing tasks meant to improve the quality of the family, such as sewing, rather than socializing…

everything that was expected of me. I lost my dream, I lost my wing, and most importantly I lost me. The women in The Awakening can be seen as a representation of Chopin. Chopin’s writing is based off women in transitional periods. Adele Ratignolle, Mademoiselle Reisz, and Edna Pontellier are different versions of Chopin. In the story, The Awakening shows the reality that is not spoken about. That even though we are biologically made to have children doesn’t mean that everyone should have one,…

for a husband with financial and social power. Madame de Chartres plans to find her daughter a wealthy nobleman at the very least but hopes her daughter can manage to attract the attention of a royal prince. All was going according to plan, and Mademoiselle de Chartres had captured the interest of a few suitors, until old jealousies between Madame de Chartres and a member of the court leads to obstacles against the young woman's suitors, and the best marriage prospects disappear. The young…

Becoming one of the most prominent social concerns, gender relationships have been developing throughout the history. Although feminist movements in recent decades have significantly improved women’s life experience in multiple significant aspects, there is still more to be done so that more women can experience equality in their daily life. To improve women’s societal recognition, it is vital to study the history and identify the sources of gender inequalities from a historical perspective.…

It was approximately 6:30 in the morning when Emelia woke up. She wasn 't hungry, in fact she wasn 't even willing to move. After what happened to her father and last night, she decided she deserved to be lazy. But then she realized how much she wanted to visit her father. She violently threw off the covers, bathed, got dressed then left for the day. The moment she walked out the door, a cold wind danced across her skin. Drawing the red cloak, which she had been told was her mother 's, closer…

of time in which the novel takes place, a large amount of French influence can be found due to its status as a French colony. The most obvious cultural element prevalent within the literary work is the use of the word “maman” and titles such as mademoiselle or monsieur. In fact, the first statement in the novel itself is “maman died today” (Camus, 1). Maman directly translates from French to English as mom, instantly showing a connection to the French culture. Keeping this term as it is displays…

Joyce Carol Oates is an admired writer famous for her amazing novels, short stories, and more. Born on June 16, 1938 in the small rural town of Lockport, New York, she began writing as a young child. She grew up in the country and started her education in a small one-room school house where books and writing sources were very limited. Early on as a child Oates quickly developed a love for writing and literature. Her first inspiration was the book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, a gift from…

Sypeck, Gray, and Ahrens (2004) studied women’s body sizes on the covers of Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Mademoiselle, and Vogue between 1950 and 1999, and found a significant decrease in size between 1980 and 1999. Alternatively, Luff and Gray (2009) analyzed the teenage magazines YM and Seventeen between 1956 and 2005 and found the body size of cover models…