In the opera The Pirates of Penzance, the viewer sees an opera that puts to question what people are expected to follow in life, their duty or their heart? They see the love spellbound Frederick put his love for Mabel, the Major General Stanley’s daughter, aside to finish out his apprenticeship with the Pirate King. However, in the end, the pirates are noticed as noblemen under the Queen of England, Ginny Horvath herself, and the pirates were able to then marry the general’s daughters. While watching the enjoyable comedic production, the way in which lights, and costume were used in the performance drew the viewer's attention in and exposed the views of women and men.
Harry Potter and the philosiphers stone by J.k Rowling, portrays many themes during Harry’s years at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. For example, the power of choice and its impact on our wellbeing, on our lives, and on the lives of others. The vital importance of friendship, and family. Family is a very important theme throughout Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Harry only wishes for the family he never knew – his parents – and hates the one he's stuck with – the Dursleys. Blood ties can only take you so far, and blood ties don’t nessecarily mean that love will be given. The Dursleys had fed, clothed, and barely sheltered Harry , but they didn’t love him, and they certainly didn’t treat him as if he belonged. Instead,
Constance Matthiessen, the author of Harry Potter and Divorce among The Muggles is the healthcare and environmental journalist whose articles are published in various medical and psychological journals. Matthiessen is interested in the research of various social issues and personal diseases, which explains her story in The Conscious Reader book. Despite her extensive experience in medicine and psychology, in Harry Potter and Divorce among The Muggles Matthiessen appears as an ordinary woman who has faced a difficult life situation. In this article, Matthiessen does not appear as an advisor and assistant but as the victim of the situation where she is not sure of the correctness of her actions.
Compared to the ideas of nature, solitude, and self-reliance that famous Transcendentalist authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau express in their many writings and essays, a children’s book such as the Harry Potter series seems like it doesn’t have much to offer in comparison. A 12 year old boy wizard facing magical homework and new, oddball friends and teachers frankly seems a little superficial when put next to Civil Disobedience, an essay exploring the purpose of government and the role of the citizens of that government through the time Thoreau spent in jail for not paying his taxes. However, while on a surface level, Harry Potter may seem like it offers little value outside of children’s entertainment, when examined
Author C.S Lewis once stated that “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny,” seemingly explaining that those who experience adversity prosper in difficult situations. It is what we experience for the worst that changes us for the better. Roman poet Horace asserts this claim, saying that adversity plays into an individual’s character. He claims that talent arises from adversity and becomes prosperous in normally dormant situations. I believe this claim to be true as it can be seen in numerous historical events and works of literature alike.
The common theme we see in Harry Potter, in both The Sorcerer’s Stone and The Order of the Phoenix is that in both book Harry Potter is just a variant on the same hero. Do you believe that? Well, Joseph Campbell. Joseph Campbell studied myth and stories from all over the world and wrote the book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” in that book he retold many popular stories and myth, and he explained how each story can be categized into the Hero’s Journey.
In Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’, women are portrayed as either pure angelic beings and jewels, or as whores who are impure. They are objectified and shown as something to be used. The only women in this play are Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca compared to the main 6 male characters, not to mention the minor characters, who are also all male. Their depicted purpose is to belong to a man; Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca’s lives revolve around being wives to Othello, Iago and Cassio. This fits into the idea of a perfect Elizabethan woman, who’s lives are subject to their husband’s rule across all aspects, to be disposed of as men wish. Each female character is treated by men as a possession. However, there are also moments when they are presented as confident and challenge a male authority. This would have been exiting for Shakespeare’s female Elizabethan audience as women
Harry Potter is a character of great mental fortitude, as depicted throughout the entirety of the book “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”. Right off the bat we as readers become well versed on what kind of life this orphaned young boy lives and has already lived. He never met
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is all about trying to find one’s self. Harry spent 10/11 years of his life being treated like a freak, not understanding one thing about himself. One day, a very large man appears to tell him that he’s been living a lie and that
when he addresses ideology and explains that, “we all are subjected to dominant perspectives in the most mundane and ordinary activities of our lives” (Ideological Criticism 211). For instance, an activity such as reading the Twilight saga, which contains messages about gender roles, is an example of dominant perspectives that adolescent girls are subjected to. Since young girls are already easily influenced, it doesn’t help to have something that they love and are very interested in, as this causes them to become more influenced. These stories have developed quite the audience when it comes to young girls and they have also played a role in influencing said young girls about gender roles. These gender roles portrayed in the saga explain to readers that women are a weaker sex. Meaning, that women need men to take care of them constantly and should remain passive when they are disrespected.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a wonderfully imagined novel that the author, C.S. Lewis, wrote for his goddaughter Lucy. He aspired to incorporate many elements that little girls like Lucy, in particular, would find intriguing, such as the compelling beauty of the wood inside the wardrobe, the magnificence of the characters in it, and the great significance of relationships between family and friends. He even named the young protagonist Lucy. However, by focusing on his intention to enchant her, Lewis also negligently integrates sexist attitudes and stereotypical gender roles into the tale. This invites little girls and little boys to personify the roles that society enforces upon them.
Charlotte Brontë´s novel Jane Eyre is considered one of Britain´s most classical literary work. The story consists of a hybrid of three genres, the Gothic novel, the Romance novel and the Bildungsroman and many critics have praised the novel. Though, the novel got a great deal of good criticism in contemporary time, its immediate reception was controversial. The story plays out during the Victorian period in Britain where the social norms were strict and there was a big gap of equality between the genders. This essay will analyse how the gender roles are portrayed and if they are modern or traditional.
The main objective of this study is to find out and compare the concept of magical realism on Harry potter and The Philosopher Stone and Matilda. Parents always want to see their children live in happily. But in these both the protagonists suffer out of their parents and people from outside. They also get help from their teachers and friends. They do anything through magic, adventures to save their life from the evil people and those who against them. They learn magic as much as experience and knowledge as possible to prepare for the future and defeat the bad witches and bad people. They involve themselves in adventures in the hope that they will obtain the happiness. In addition to Harry Potter, the successful novel and film adaptation and merchandise are ranging from toys to games to clothes, a wealth of popular and academic works discussing the phenomenon that is Harry Potter has been published over recent years- to varying degrees of acclaim. Some critics praise potter author J.K.Rowling for successfully negotiating the fine line between being ‘both utterly original and part of a literary lineage’ (caselli,
Feminist literary criticism’s primary argument is that female characters have always been presented from a male’s viewpoint. According to Connell, in most literary works, female characters often play minor roles which emphasize their domestic roles, subservience and physical beauty while males are always the protagonists who are strong, heroic and dominant (qtd. in Woloshyn et al.150). This means that the women are perceived as weak and are supposed to be under the control of men. Gill and Sellers say that feminist literary criticism’s approach involves identifying with female characters in order to challenge any male centred outlook. It aims at resisting traditional assumptions of gender (3). In doing so, feminist literary criticism examines how works of literature perpetuate or challenge patriarchal attitudes. In feminism lens, The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins’ presents itself as a pro-feminist series It challenges gender stereotypes by presenting a female protagonist; Katniss Everdeen. The book has successfully challenged gender stereotypes by showing that men and women are equal. It is the societal constraints that do not provide a level playing field for both genders. Using Wollstonecraft’s book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman to analyze the Hunger Games this essay demonstrates how men and women are equal.
Gender is not referred “to sex, but to this set of prescribed behavior,” as said by Marlene Goldman’s “Penning in the Bodies” (Goldman). There are many rules set upon an individual as to what is acceptable and what is not. The short story Boys and Girls by Alice Munro focuses on the implications the narrator had to endure on her journey to womanhood by reason of gender stereotypes. Emma Watson’s speech for the HeForShe campaign targets on abolishing gender inequality. Despite inequity, there is a myriad of comparable traits that are shared by humans which portrays our personality. It is in one's power to decide whether or not to conform to society. Indeed both texts include many similarities and differences such as the stereotypical roles set on each gender, their search for individuality and their desired privileges.