Gender Roles In Lady Gregory

The main goal of this novel was to bring light to many different social issues. One being that women should be and are typically frail beings, scared to voice their opinions, is completely thrown out with Austen's powerful main character Elizabeth. In writing a controversial love story, that brings together two unlikely individuals from completely diverse backgrounds and social status, shows how Austen believes that society should remove the heavy importance that social economic status weighs to each member of society. Another main message is the more obvious fact that people should marry for love and pay no mind to social status and the pride it brings. The development of Elizabeth and Darcy essentially strengthens her view points.

Her works provide an incentive for women to take action in starting their own debates or joining a debate that can contribute to the quarrel. She also gave suitable advice to the women of the time about learning to live in that society despite all the misogyny because that’s how God intended it to be. Without Christine’s involvement, it’s very probable that women would have never had a way of joining the quarrel or t least would not have joined until after the Renaissance. The audacity that Christine had in speaking up about the Rose and challenging the work of such a revered piece of fiction, set her apart from any other female writer because she was willing to put her career and reputation on the line for the chance to participate in what would later became an important movement for women of the Middle Ages. Simply, without Christine there would be no querelle des femmes nor would the genre of misogynistic writing exasperate as it did in later

Another example, is Janie’s head-rag which represents her losing some of her independence. Jaine was told to wear a head-rag by her husband Jody to shadow her rebellious hair. By doing so, Neale is stating that Jody is placing his dominance and is concealing Janie’s independence. Neale is explaining the problems within the society that her desire for independence should be brushed

If you can unhinge a marriage, it’s ripe for unhinging, it would happen sooner or later, it might as well be you.” Ironically, Claire’s lack of judgment makes her the better sister. In addition to Claire’s acceptance of the mistress’s

One of the main challenges New Women writers experienced was escaping the ‘Victorian construction of female sexual desire’ that formed the predominant image that the ‘ideal woman’ (22) should be similar to Coventry Patmore’s ‘Angel in the House,’ or almost identical to Campbell’s ‘retiring, unobtrusive and indistinguishable ’ vision. (22). Rebellion against these then created the ‘image of innate female depravity’ and ‘woman’s strength as a sexual being [was] a constant threat’ for societal and moral dissolution. This gives the impression that the boundaries were polar and definite, however the New Woman ‘cannot be characterised by a single set of ideas’ and the texts exemplify this when comparing The Yellow Drawing Room, The Pleasure Pilgrim and The Buddhist Priest’s Wife (1892) by Olive Schriener.

Given, Lillian Hellman's personality her feminine ideals are expressed through her works. Her ideas were and are integral part of history for not only women, but society as a whole. In order to express her ideas more clearly and add to the plot Hellman uses literary devices such as

Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House develops a similar tone to Oleanna, drawing attention to the same issue that control over women can lead to corruption. The play commences with the characterization of Nora Helmer and Torvald Helmer. Nora is displayed throughout the majority of the play as a female subordinate who Torvald treats like a child. Despite this, it is also made clear from the very beginning that Nora has rebellious tendencies.

Sheets (1991:644) is of opinion that

Women such as, Mary Wollstonecraft, a women’s advocate, who demanded that women be given proper education and opportunities and be allowed to grow in terms of a whole to equal those of men. They recognized and pointed out the causes of women suppression; false moral codes and traditions which only strengthen such stereotypes. Virginia Woolf in her book, ‘A Room of One’s Own’, writes about how women should have a space to themselves in which they are free to do as they please. She fortifies the thought that, women should be financially autonomous as well as professionally. Woolf’s writing had witnessed the great shock of the First World War, causing rifts to appear in the conventions of the then present society, creating a rapid and vast change due to its economically and social effect on the people.

Marriage being a key element of being a woman and a successful housewife whilst being pure. Esther Greenwood, the main character of the novel, goes through different psychological changes where there s a shift in her view of what makes a perfect housewife; innocence, purity. This idea is challenged within the text where it openly rejects traditional marriage and motherhood. It has also been challenged for it’s characters discussion of sexuality (Sheila). Where Esther she was beginning to lose control, feels the double sexual standard and finally what everyone does in her age is the continuous search for

Ismene eventually does come around to her sister’s side, however Antigone stops her from taking the blame in her place. Happy loman is Ismene’s counterpart in Death of a Salesman, he is unwittingly the archetypical product of the system that Willy subscribes to. Happy is a serial womanizer, regarding them more as consumables than equals,

Medea: Questions About Women and Femininity Euripides’ play, Medea, is an ambiguous narrative relating to feminism. Depending on one’s viewpoint, the eponymous character can either be one of the most unconventional delegates of women’s rights or an oblivious saboteur willing to undermine the cause. I believe the former, holding the opinion that Medea was a pioneer for feminism, being the original driving force behind breaking the stereotypes assigned to women. Although I also hold the stance that her impact is short-term due to the fact that her surrounding actions have overshadowed her ambitious acts.

For example, I use the terms, “matriarch,” “beseech,” “cost,” and “lost” because they instantly transform the wife’s stock character into a dominating female. This kind of rhetoric also affects the social relationship between the wife and the pilgrims because she now has characters, like the Pardoner, who are eager to hear her story. It is crucial to keep in mind that I did not give the wife a new socio-economic title, but one that complements her experience as a matriarch. I also use the word, “cost,” because it implies that she now holds the authority, as the Pardoner implies, to face social restrictions. The word, “lost,” has multiple meanings here: it is an echo to all the women who lost their lives for speaking out against social norms because they did not have the same power as the wife; the word also refers to the time when the wife lost her place in her own tale: “But now, sire, lat me se what I shal seyn” (585).