According to Priscilla L. Walton, author of He took no notice of her; he looked at me: Subjectivities and Sexualities of ‘The Turn of the Screw, a gender criticism of the Turn of the Screw, “The governess of the novel serves as a representation of the “problematic nature of single women and their sexuality” (Walton 349). Women with a job and no husband threatened the patriarchal society because she could not fulfill her motherly duties of having and raising children. But in some ways becoming a governess can fill some of those desires relating to children. Through being a governess, a woman can fulfill the raising children aspect of a woman’s identity as she was a substitute mother to the children she is caring for. A governess gets to take care of the children and raise them so that they are successful in the future.
The birth of a female was seen as a misfortune and was believed to bring bad luck into the family. Daughters were valued almost nothing compared to sons and were said to just be a burden amongst the family. Therefore when the first girl was born into the family, O-lan strangles her and says that “it is only this time-not worth mentioning” (Buck, 65). When their second daughter, and eldest daughter was born, during a time of famine, she received very little attention and was not nurtured during her first years, so she lived handicapped. But when their last and youngest daughter was born it was a celebration because of the riches Wang Lung had gained throughout the years.
Her actions and words are considered vulgar by people at that time. She is the heroine Jane Austen made to criticize the society. Elizabeth did not dressed fancifully to try and keep up her appearances in social events. She does not really care about appearances or getting married. All of these are against the decorum of that time.
Mama is a traditional and family woman. So hearing from her son that money is the answer to everything did not settle with her so well. Walter and Mama’s arguments are very similar to Linda and her husband plus her son’s conflicts. With Mama and her family being a different race, money has not come by easy. Mama grew up in a harsh time frame, when being free and having families together was all that mattered.
Something that the men only brushed off as a joke when the women brought it up. The oppression of women was not at the top of the list in everyday conversation because people did not think it was something that was an everyday occurrence, however, Susan Glaspell changed this when she wrote her short play Trifles. The female characters stand up for Mrs. Wright and defend her from the scrutinizing remarks of their husbands and hide her dead bird that could have been used against her as a motivation in her trial for the murder of her husband. Susan Glaspell uses Trifles, a realist piece, to shows women 's oppression in everyday life, her text is very influential to the women 's movement by showing women they need to unite and stand up for one another. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are two everyday house wives during the early 1900 's but they do something very special and controversial.
In the play Trifles, Susan Glaspell demonstrates the injustice towards women and their very basic fundamental rights, this brings the patience of a few women to a tipping point and initiates the birth of a buried movement after centuries of reticence, during the early twentieth century in North America. It is this common memory and experiences among women, which motivated few women to rise up against the male dominated Justice System, which eventually wakes up the rest of the women in the society through time. However, ironically, this movement is accomplished in a secret way and in silence against the male dominated justice system of America, because silence itself is a very powerful tool for women; in other words concealing of knowledge helps
Edna Pontellier is not Creole, she was born in Kentucky. She was a different kind of mother who thinks being married and having children is boring. Edna’s husband Leonce believes that Edna has failed in her duties as a wife and a mother to her own children. Edna does the opposite of what her husband expects her to do. Leonce comes home from work late and talks to Edna about their son’s illness ”Mr.
Subsequently, when the women as the oppressed party who have been treated unequally cannot demand such abuse to be punished since it is not written in man’s law, they will seek their own justice. These ideas of equality and justice are depicted well through Susan Glaspell’s Trifles that was made in 1916. Through the murder case of Mr. Wright, the play reveals how oppression can trigger women’s struggle. This paper then, tries to explain how women as the dominated group resist inequality and finally seek their own definition of justice. From the beginning of the play, Glaspell has emphasized inequality issue between men and women.
In Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid, the author uses thematic symbols such as “the black thing” and Annie and her mother seeing “eye to eye” to guide the reader to a position where it is clear to see that Annie and her mother do not have the same, sweet relationship they used to have. Overtime, Kincaid develops the story in such a way where it is easy to see that the relationship between Annie John and her mother begins to go downhill and is not the same as it was in the beginning of the novel. Annie clearly begins to despise her mother as she realizes that her mother is not treating her like the little girl she used to be. In this passage of Annie John, the use of “the two black things” provides a clear example of how the Annie John and her mother are very similar, yet they are never able to retain a good relationship because there is space between them. Throughout the novel, there are many circumstances where Annie wants to be loved and treated like a child by her mother, however, her mother treats her in a different manner than what she expects.
The majority of these novels portray the psychological sufferings of frustrated housewives. Women novelists reflect in their novels the predicaments of today’s women who have realized that she is helpless and not independent. Among them, Anita nair is one of the notable novelists who portrays the condition and status of women and how they suffer in the patriarchal society. The aim of this paper is to study the feminine existence in Nair’s