Masculinity In J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace

There’s a power balance between the three men and the two women in The Reeve's Tale that is influenced by patriarchal values. The author limits actions performed by female characters to carry stereotypical assumptions of gender expectations. If you examine closely, the miller's wife is unnamed purposefully because she is considered untrustworthy and invaluable to Symkyn. Also, any credibility that is given to a female, has to have a man present to accept those responsibilities. This formulates that women cannot exist without having some type of man to establish their credibility.

He states “I hope you will believe that my delay in answering your letter could proceed only from my unwillingness to destroy any hope….”. Johnsons begins this letter using emotion tactics because he knows that it will be hard for the mother to accept the fact that he is refusing her request. By beginning the letter in such a manner he is not pampering her for the rest of the letter but also letting her down softly as possible. Oppose to accusing her of being wrong for having this feeling and attempting to change her son’s fate, Johnson defines hope as being “a pleasure immoderately enjoyed” and as an “expectations improperly

The people strongly believed that Dimmesdale would confess his sins; they trusted him and thought he would never keep something from them. Dimmesdale only made the situation worse. By not telling them, they would lose their trust in him. Eventually, someone would find out, and his faithful congregation would stop attending his services since he had lost their trust. Another reason Dimmesdale should have confessed his sins was that Hester should not have to bear the burden of shame alone.

There are many reasons and clues in the story as to why this choice was the best option. The first reason is the way that Caesar acts towards his wife. In Scene II Act ii Caesar is against Calphurnia and is not treating her with the dignity and respect that she deserves. She is devoted to him and trying to warn him of the danger that she fears for him, and he’s acting rude and resentful towards her and is treating her like she is less than he is. This is a reference to ethos because it’s showing his characterization and is showing how he views her in comparison to him.

As a reader, the audience can tell if the men saw this evidence they would most likely not agree and would have a whole different perspective than the women. Either way you see it Mrs. Wright did strangle her own husband. So, the women decided to keep the evidence to themselves because even they knew the men wouldn 't be able to see it the way they do. The men would think their theory on Mrs. Wright is absurd and surely put her behind bars. It seems to be that gender roles and being loyal to your own sex is a key part to the play.

It has brainwashed men into thinking no means yes and yes means no. In social media posts and other media platforms the brainwashing continues, men still see women as sexual objects that cannot have a brain and cannot have an opinion so when there is a somewhat intelligent comment made by a woman men are brainwashed to think she cannot and try to undermine her by silencing the comment. Men are still even taught today that women are to be subservient to them and that men are to know more than

In this decision, Proctor is seen as courageous and devoted, but still tormented by his personal demons. This is shown by the quote, “My wife will never die for me! I will bring your guts into your mouth but that goodness will not die for me” (Miller 76). This quote shows that Proctor is tormented by his personal demons because he realizes that his wife is going to be killed for his sins, furthering his guilt. This great guilt is what causes Proctor to attempt to save his

A good quote to explain this is, “Man has made a women an irresponsible moral being” (Stanton 113). This is why Angelou and Stanton are so different. One states how enjoy the life and love it, while the other one says we need our rights, and we want more for

This convinces the audience to not denounce Staples as the suspect while also understanding the reasoning behind the other party’s actions. Through not convicting either person, Staples establishes his credibility in explaining the situation as a misunderstanding instead of a crime. Staples exhibits another instance as he states “these truths are no solace against the kind of alienation that comes of being ever the suspect.” This quote makes the audience feel compassionate towards the author because they perceive him to often be the victim of discrimination, against everyone else, through the inclusion of the word “alienation.” Staples later recalls his rough childhood, and the traumatic experience of losing his brother to gang violence in order to continually evoke comprehension from the audience regarding the impoverished youth that were “indistinguishable from the muggers who occasionally seeped into the area from the surrounding ghetto.” Staples includes this revelation in order to present the audience the fear those around him felt. He reminisces a situation when he encountered a woman of the street, demonstrating her fear by stating that “women are particularly vulnerable to street violence, and young black males are drastically

Whenever Sister would criticize how the women are treated in her society or how awful it felt to have the uterine regular inside of her, Andrew would brush off the comments as an unimportant, woman’s-only issue. Sister would further try to explain to her husband the oppression herself, and many women, dealt with every day, “but he could not comprehend such petty complaints in the face of greater issues” (Hall 33). This brushing off of feminist and women's issues is similar to how our own patriarchal society disregards women’s issues. This is due to male privilege, a social issue that allows men advantages in life solely based off of their sex, and is prevalent in every aspect of life. In Allan G. Johnson’s article, Patriarchy, The System he states that “manhood and masculinity [are] most closely associated with being human and womanhood and femininity [are] relegated to the marginal position of ‘other’” (74).