2.3 SARAH WOODRUFF: ROLE MODEL TO “EXISTENTIALISM” AND FREEDOM
I could not marry that man (the French sailor). So I married shame… What has kept me alive is my shame, my knowing that I am truly not like other women. This has something to do with her desire of freedom and to be different from other women. She functions as a model of ‘Existentialism’ philosophy, which advocates individual’s free will and lifestyle more than the societal beliefs and values.
Sarah Woodruff is not the conventional Victorian woman who toes the line. She herself creates the fictional story of her shameful engagement with a French sailor, who never returned back to her, and thus labeled her as a “fallen immoral woman”. It seems that she almost praises this shame, for it lets her have a freedom that is denied to other women of her age. And she is totally aware of it. Being
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It again destroys the illusion of reality and is one form of ‘Self-Reflexivity’. While Charles is looking for solitude in train and thinks that he has finally attained it, then at last minute ‘a bearded man’ with cold stare comes to his compartment. ‘He is some forty years old, whom Charles thinks to be extremely unpleasant’. Soon the train starts and Charles is lulled into a day dream. At first the bearded man does not notice Charles, but then he begins to stare him more and more. The narrator says that ‘his stare is like an omnipotent God’, if there is such a thing. But suddenly, he then makes it clear that the “bearded man is he himself, the author of the novel, the narrator”. So as the narrator stares at Charles, he asks himself a question that what he is going to do with him, his character. Here, he almost resolves to end the story but says that ‘what Charles wants is clear, but what Sarah wants is not so clear’, for he does not even know where she is at the
Each thought is rapidly flowing through his mind, and he cannot stop thinking about his wife being with the blind man, Robert. The language of the narrator depicts the emotion that he has frequently attempted to conceal from his wife. Furthermore, the excessive use of the word “she” demonstrates how the husband is upset over his wife’s action, not the blind man’s. The husband is not upset when Robert is with his wife, but he is enraged over the thought of his wife voluntarily hanging out with Robert. “She worked with this blind man all summer.”
The late 19th century was period of repressive Victorian era societal and gender roles that plagued and deprived women of their agency and rights. This was period of patriarchal hegemony that impacted women in both the private and public sphere of society. By, attempting to navigate through this malaise of despondency and loneliness, Moreover, Gilman not only faces an existential crisis, but the narrator had to confront her depression as well as evaluate the conflicting relationship with her
During the 19th century, women were overshadowed by the men of their household, therefore they had no sense of independence nor dominance. In Mary Freeman’s short story, “The Revolt of Mother,” the author presents Sarah Penn, a woman who takes a stand against her husband. In the beginning, the reader learns that Sarah is a hardworking mother and wife. She maintains the household work and meets her children needs. She is suddenly confused of her husband’s actions concerning their future.
Charlie changes how he sees the world from three experiences. Charlie changed because of his father passing away by becoming an adult, Charlie became more confident because he protected his mother from an abusive man and had people ‘encourage’ his confidence. Finally, Charlie has changed by showing empathy towards people who are in debt of gangster that are going through hardship just like Charlie’s family. Charlie is the protagonist of the story, the Runner because he has made his character unique by showing character change, emotion and by displaying the theme of the novel through his character which has made this reading experience exceptionally
Within the past year, the treatment and perceptions of women have been challenged due to the various marches and movements. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s romance, The Scarlet Letter, presents how women were viewed in a Puritan society, falling into a rigid dichotomy of either being the “saint” or “sinner.” This is otherwise known as the “Madonna/Whore complex,” which is explored through the life of the novel’s protagonist, Hyster Prynne. Her struggles and experiences through this dichotomy ultimately affect her both physically and emotionally as it represses her femininity.
He realizes how smart Robert is, and he keeps being shocked as the night goes on. While listening to a show about Cathedrals, Robert asks the narrator to describe him a Cathedral. The narrator tries his hardest, but can not do it. To combat this, Robert takes the narrator's hand and has him close his eyes and together they draw the church just from memory. After drawing the Cathedrals, the narrator describes the picture as, “ It’s really something” (103).He learns how seeing is not everything in life, and how wrong he was with his assumptions about Robert.
Frightened by a mentally ill man in the nearby “yellow house,” the narrator turns this neighbor into a character, the Hairy Man, a figure that is “wooly-headed and bearded.” The narrator finds peace in her Dad’s assertion that the Hairy Man only comes at dark. The narrator’s unconditional trust and belief in her father’s words also displays her innocence. As a fifth-grader, she still takes what her cherished parents say to heart. She often interjects with the repeated words “my mother said’ or “my father said.”
Sarah Grimke was a woman who fought for the eqaulity if sexes and whom did not accept the wrongdoings of slavery brought upon them. Grimke then became a leader for women’s rights and abolition to be able to express her strong viewpoint towards the way women were treated. In 1838, Grimke published letters, Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Women, in which revealed her criticisms and possible solutions. Mentioned in Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Women, Grimke indicates the deficiencies of “the butterflies of the fashionable world.” She is referring to the class of women whose main purpose in life is to attract men with their looks in order to get married.
From the beginning of the novel the narrator shows ignorance and prejudice towards Robert, he is fighting with his own of jealousy and insecurity. Being unhappy with his own life, the narrator sees Robert as a possible threat to his usual evening with pot and TV, without realizing that in order to be satisfied he should step out of his habitual
The narrator, in his own eyes, has no real meaning. His constant drunkenness shields his depression and in times of silence, the narrator and Robert continue to flush down whiskey, one glass after another. Ala Eddin Saleq makes the point that the “Characters' silence[s] is indicative of their inability to communicate with (each)other, reflect(ing) a recurring theme in Carver's fiction. Often his stories are about discourse itself, ways people communicate or fail to communicate, demonstrating consequences of various modes of discourse” (Sadeq).
In the nineteenth century, woman had no power over men in society. They were limited in their freedom, as their lives were controlled by their husbands. Some women did not mind this lifestyle, and remained obedient, while some rebelled and demanded their rights. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, are short stories that exposes the lifestyle women lived in the nineteenth century. The protagonists from both stories, Jane and Georgiana, similarly lived a male dominated lifestyle.
In the story, the narrator’s narrow mindset is challenged over and over again as Robert breaks most stereotypes that the narrator held. As these stereotypes are broken, the narrator begins to feel more comfortable with Robert, and sincerely tells him that he is “glad for the company”. This release from prejudice culminates in the cathedral drawing scene of the story, where the narrator finally lets go of his bias towards blind people. Once the narrator closes his eyes, he is seemingly equal to Robert, and he consequently begins to understand Robert’s perspective. His newfound empathy towards Robert demonstrates how he has lost his prejudice towards him.
It may skew her thinking and at times be subjective. The intended audience is someone who is studying literature and interested in how women are portrayed in novels in the 19th century. The organization of the article allows anyone to be capable of reading it.
The narrator begins to change as Robert taught him to see beyond the surface of looking. The narrator feels enlightened and opens up to a new world of vision and imagination. This brief experience has a long lasting effect on the narrator. Being able to shut out everything around us allows an individual the ability to become focused on their relationships, intrapersonal well-being, and
She mirrored these personal frustrations in other women of the same class and predicament during 19th century Britain. As a result, “Cassandra” reflects two narratives—one of Nightingale’s own struggle and one of women at large during the 19th century.