The sexual transgression of the fallen woman is an act of defiance to the expectations of femininity, which often leads to their death. The death of the fallen woman demonstrates that women who step outside the boundaries of their confinement are ultimately punished. Lord Alfred Tennyson and Elizabeth Barrett Browning use separate spheres to critique Victorian ideals of Christianity, specifically the role that Christianity places onto women as the “angel in the house” and acts as a “curse.” Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “A Year’s Spinning” and Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott” connotes that the curse of the fallen women is that she is fated for death. Victorian ideals of femininity center around the ideal of the angel in the house. …show more content…
In both poems, the men are equated with the sun, which is often a symbol of masculinity or royalty. The speaker from “A Year’s Spinning” sees the young man as a prospect of hope and the potential of love as a form of escape. She is blinded by his promises because her world without him is bleak and devoid of light. Upon seeing Lancelot, the lady of Shalott is entranced by her desire for him and to experience the world as he does. When Lancelot appears, he is seen as this happy go lucky golden boy with little care in the world. Lancelot is surrounded by light imagery that captures the lady of Shalott’s attention, and his agency is the catalyst to her death because it forces her to recognize how limited her own agency is.
Christina Rossetti’s “Beauty is Vain” describes the only viable choices that a woman has, in the Victorian era, is either to remain confined as the angel in the house or figuratively fall from social grace and become the fallen woman, however, both inevitably end up “in a shroud” (l. 16). The lady of Shalott’s rejection of the Victorian values of femininity leads to her ruin as she refuses to accept the boundaries her gender enforces upon her. Death is her only path to
Craft examines the usual roles of the Victorian men and women, passive women especially, requiring them to “suffer and be still”. The men of this time were higher up on the important ladder of that era. Craft believes the men are the “doers” or active ones in
In the article “Traditions Subordinating Women”, Bonnie S. Anderson and Judith P. Zinsser explore the very strong opinions, theories and beliefs of female subordination within the eyes of various origin cultures through stories, passages and history itself. This article gives a vast understanding of a woman’s role, the purpose of her body, what is expected of her, society’s double standards and how literature and poems portray women. Before Christianity, there existed many old cultures such as the Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, Germanics and Celtics, who all came in agreement to preserving the subordination of women. A woman’s main duties were to remain faithful to her husband, to be fruitful and to preserve and nurture her home. A woman was incapable
It’s strange work for a Christian girl to hang old women.”(62) This imbalance of power is well displayed in the respect given towards
In Sedgwick’s A New-England Tale, Mrs. Wilson is the classic representation of a novel’s antagonist, especially in regards to how she treats protagonist, Jane Elton. However, it is the parenting, or lack thereof that has the greatest impact on the lives of Elvira and David Wilson, who despite being prohibited from engaging in sinful behavior, do just that. Sedgwick demonstrates that Mrs. Wilson’s salvation may have given her an authority over others, but when she failed to teach her children the ways of the Lord, her responsibility abandonment led to her children’s act of sin.
During the late-Victorian era, 19th-century England was largely characterized by a powerful government, a class-conscious society, and sexual-double standards. Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw is a haunting and suspenseful story that continues to captivate readers and critics alike. At first glance, the novel tells the story of a governess who is tormented by ghosts while caring for two young children, and she becomes increasingly paranoid and disturbed as a result. However, a closer analysis reveals a more complex narrative, one that delves into the themes of sexual repression, societal pressures placed on women, and the misogyny that was rife in that era. The governess takes on the job hoping to prove her worth as a governess and to escape
Another example is the Gilchrist sisters, as they are forced into selling their bodies for money and put on the streets by their abusive, drunken father. The relentless abuse and oppression of women within Butler’s work can be seen as well-imagined, as women within our own society are deemed weaker and less valued in society, even as they become more vocal and apparent within society
Sexist Young Goodman Brown In reading this classic tale from 1853 which was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, I became intrigued first by the theme of the 1800’s with shadowy undertones of biblical evilness. Although, in reviewing the story further I noticed a certain distinctive trends of old world flare that was unmistakable. These tones are of sexism which sadly marked the time period historically to such extent in which the structured confinements of gender responsibilities. Hawthorne orchestrates the underpinning of chauvinism within the very first paragraph “put his head back, after crossing the threshold, to exchange a parting kiss with his young wife.
Religion was core in American values in the early 1900s following the first and second Great Awakenings which strengthened Protestantism, so when religion was used to justify silencing women, it reached a wide audience. For example, Orestes A. Brownson defined a “Woman’s Sphere” in 1873 by using a variety of divine laws to justify how women are too incompetent to be progressive workers, or anything outside of being “a wife and a mother”, for that matter. Brownson further uses religious justification to oppress women in stating that it was women who brought mankind down in the Garden of Eden by eating the poison apple which caused humans to eternally be sinful and imperfect. He uses this old parable to illustrate how women are the root of sin and deceit. He also explains that God blessed women with “patience, endurance, passive courage… [and] great administrative ability” which qualifies a woman only “to take care of children”.
As with all theories, this feminist approach to Louise Halfe’s “Body Politics” does not come without its flaws. While it can be argued that this poem criticizes the performativity of feminine gender roles in a patriarchal society, this cannot be proven definitively without knowing the author’s original intentions. Furthermore, the poem does not give its readers enough information to conclude that the society the women live in is in fact a patriarchal society. This becomes evident, as there is no reference to any masculine figure – so any assumptions about the masculine-dominant culture are purely speculative. It is possible that Halfe wrote this poem in an attempt to challenge the gender binary, however one stands to question how successfully she is in doing so.
The earlier gothic works as well as Dracula covered something that is outside the social norm. Female sexuality, something that was unacceptable and under the surface of society, it is exposed in these writings. The earlier readings such as Carmilla, as well as the poem of Christabel question the boundaries. The texts from these literature pieces contain passages of female sexuality and the passages contain phrases that hint towards the social taboos. In the era when women were thought of mere objects these pieces decide to give them a personality or at least a voice that can express desire, a voice that states women have a purpose apart from pleasing men.
In addition to virginal innocence, during her funeral, the girl wore white “fitting for a virgin” to increase the significance of this chastity. Reaching the end of the story, the same innocent girl comes back into view. She “put on [her] white burial dress, [her] white veil, as befits a virgin” and excepts her fate just as women accepted their place in society (Atwood 266). Quite unexpectedly, I have attempted to show this story in a new light. Through the reading of Margaret Atwood’s short biography and her clever “Lusus Naturae,” I found an interesting symbolic connection between the treatment of women and the monster in this story.
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.
In comparison to the rigid patriarchal society portrayed in “My Last Duchess”, Keats’ “La Belle Dame sans Merci” illustrates how the freedom of individual expression in the romantic period affects people’s perspective on love. While the narrative persona in “My Last Duchess” demands his wife to devote her love to him, the protagonist of “La Belle Dame sans Merci” devotes to the woman he loves even though the love is unrequited. This is evident through the repetition of the line “On the cold hill side.” throughout the poem. The noun phrase “cold hill” suggests that the knight is lonely and depressed when he waits for the woman solely, however unlike the narrative persona of “My Last Duchess”, he would not demand the woman to love him instead he would wait patiently until the day his affection towards her is accepted.
These texts demonstrate the societal issues involving oppression of women, women’s sexual role and their status. The Handmaid’s Tale depicts the rigid societal structure whereby women are forced to serve in various aspects and functions in the society. The boundaries of the context set are in Gilead, a totalitarian state dominated by Christian fundamentalists, indicating that Gilead enforces conformity among its citizens. In a simply put manner, one’s social position is fixed. The permanent social statuses are clearly evident from the colour-coding of the women wherein “some [are] in red, some in dull green of
In 1880s, women in America were trapped by their family because of the culture that they were living in. They loved their family and husband, but meanwhile, they had hard time suffering in same patterns that women in United States always had. With their limited rights, women hoped liberation from their family because they were entirely complaisant to their husband. Therefore, women were in conflicting directions by two compelling forces, their responsibility and pressure. In A Doll’s House, Ibsen uses metaphors of a doll’s house and irony conversation between Nora and Torvald to emphasize reality versus appearance in order to convey that the Victorian Era women were discriminated because of gender and forced to make irrational decision by inequity society.