Adeline Mowbray (hereafter referred to as ‘AM’ in in-text citations) by Amelia Opie, protagonist Adeline is moulded to a certain extent on Mary Wollstonecraft, was originally published in 1804, six years after the publication of Richard Polwhele’s polemical poem “The Unsex'd Females” (1798). This poem intended to undermine radical female writers, particularly Mary Wollstonecraft, by attacking her personal life. Such works were emblematic of the “discursive battle”, according to April London in ‘History, romance, and the anti-Jacobin’s “common sense”’, that was occurring between the conservatives and the radicals in the 1790s which could be attributed to a mutual concern regarding control over the reading practices of a politically charged audience
The end of the eighteenth - beginning of the nineteenth century England was characterized by the downfall of the revolutionary “Jacobin” movement which advocated for freedom and equality, and symbolizes a return to, as well as an empowerment of the conservative British patriarchal system. This was the context in which Amelia Anderson Opie wrote “her most political novel”(King and Pierce, viii) Adeline Mowbray, a tale which provides a case study about, as Roxane Eberle notes, “progressive ideas that heterosexual relationships can and should exist outside of marriage”(1994: 127). As a result the clash between these innovational type of relationships and the English legal and social norms collide in their representation of models of proper conduct
Anthem Essay Anthem, by Ayn Rand, depicts a futuristic society, an alleged utopia where everyone was created the same, no exceptions. Men in this novel are taught that it is a virtue to agree and be agreed with, when no one praises the creator, the egoist. The protagonist, Equality 7-2521, struggled his whole life to separate and free himself from collectivism, and develop an ego, obtaining victory at last. From a young age, Equality 7-2521 has differed from his ¨brothers¨. He was more knowledgeable when he was younger, more curious in his teenage years, and more futuristic in his twenties than his peers.
Just as the social context and cultural confinements of the late nineteenth century worked against Chopin's artistry, the liberal and progressive social culture of the late 1960's worked in her favor. What was held in the field of literature as amoral and without literary value in 1899 was considered artistic and noble in 1969, and heavily praised for its rejection of patriarchal and social acceptances within our society back then, and also nowadays. Writers called the novel "flawless art" and "a remarkable novel". (The Awakening, Norton Critical Edition, 161,164) This mindset is also heavily influenced by the discourse of the era, being the feminist rights movement. Elaine Showalter writes, "The Awakening belongs to a historical movement in American women's writing, and Chopin could not have written without legacy of domestic fiction to work against..." (The Awakening, Norton Critical Edition, 311) As Chopin's popularity spread like wildfire, her novel also served as ammunition in the fight to bring insight and awareness to women's issues.
Although not many schools approves Angelou’s work because of censored content, others appreciate the ways of Angelou’s writing. She points out certain situations through racism, which many sees “her poetry becomes both political and confessional”, critic Priscilla R. Ramsey says (Bloom, 76). Ramsey also says, most readers enjoy “ her full length creative writing” rather than pointing out parts of her autobiographies are not for every type of audiences (Bloom, 76). Her most controversial writing was based on her sexulality as a young adult and she faced in her traumatic childhood. From these topics, is was what her works were almost banned in public schools and libraries (Williamson).
The Reverberation of Mary Wollstonecraft in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) has often been regarded as one of the most influential and important articulations in the history of feminist theory. Wollstonecraft, addressing such issues as education, politics and marriage and debunking the myths of female frailties, vehemently argues for the rights of women and the equality of the sexes. In particular, Wollstonecraft’s views on marriage are continuously echoed throughout Jane Austen’s beloved novel, Pride and Prejudice (1812). Wollstonecraft’s notion that marriage should be based on friendship and respect rather than economic security or physical attraction is an ideal epitomized by the nuptials between Pride and Prejudice’s two leading characters, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Matrimony in eighteenth and nineteenth century England played a significant role in the lives of women.
Kate Chopin is best known for her ability to express her feelings of the time and is well known feminist of her time. She has wrote many inspiring novels about women having little to no voice in the Antebellum era. Kate hated being a mother and a wife because she felt like she had no power . Thus, she wrote one of her greatest novels Desiree’s Baby. In Kate Chopin’s Desiree's Baby she introduces a theme of male supremacy by her execution of literary devices such as symbolism and irony to prove that it is more important to be male than white in the Antebellum era.
However, literary critic Katherine Thompson in an essay describes the Victorian era as the “essential beginnings of gender equity changes” (Thompson). Despite Victorian society’s rejection of any sort of feminist progressive mindset, the decades preceding allowed for these ideas to take root in the women’s suffrage movement. Kate Chopin in her novel The Awakening, explores the concept of feminist individualism and fulfillment through the characterization of the protagonist Edna. Edna throughout the novel defies gender roles and develops into a strong independent woman. Yet at the conclusion of the novel, she commits suicide.
Poetic Antagonism of Emily Dickinson Poetry belongs to sophisticated styles of expressions in literary world. It comes from the bottom of the writer’s heart and can reveal his hidden world conception. Poems allure audience by romantic style, or natural deblockedions that convey personal experience. Emily Dickinson is one of those poets who wanted to transfer the beauty of her outlook. Her creations are full of unforgettable images that present human being as integral part of nature.
The development of the fifties and sixties to today illustrates an ever-expanding culture of autobiography and confession. Among those poets who were inclined to challenge certain aspects of the New Criticism, Robert Lowell, Anne Sexton and John Berryman introduced a poetry which some maligned as "confessionalism but others hailed as liberation from the tyranny of poetic decorum. Joseph Conte (Beach 154) The validity of personal experience as the matter for art has been the subject of considerable debate but perhaps never so positively expressed than by Emerson in his 1844 essay ‘The Poet’, a text which would prove central to the foundation of American poetry: The poet has a