Masculinity In The Wife Of Bath

In the XIX century, Thomas Hardy brings the gender issue to Tess of the d'Urbervilles, showing that the condition of women in Victorian England brings unique implications to their trajectory as an individual. The women in Tess of the d'Urbervilles are, in general, submissive to the patriarchal order of society. The supremacy of man over woman in life dramatises the crisis of values in Tess of the d'Urbervilles, placing the heroine, Tess, at the mercy of the masculine judgment. Tess is a victim of male prepotency. She succumbs to the abuses of Alec d'Urberville and afterwards adopts a servile posture towards her husband, even after being godforsaken and banned from social life.

Although Mama Elena is biologically a woman, she has almost identical characteristics as men do. Usually, fathers have masculine characteristics as a head of household where they are tyrannical, fearless and give strong impact on their kids. Mama Elena perfectly plays the role of masculinity as a way of being despotic and a male figure. Throughout the novel, Mama Elena’s conspicuous masculine figure is clearly portrayed as she still gives masterful influence on Tita even after her death. The author evidently shows Mama Elena’s tyrannical personality and absolute power over her daughters as Mama Elena follows the Mexican tradition where mother forces a youngest daughter to take care of her mother rest of her life.

The portrayal of women in the literature we have read this year has been blatantly obvious at making it known that women will do whatever it takes to get what they feel they deserve from them in their lives. In Macbeth, We Were Liars and The Great Gatsby the leading women’s manipulative nature towards men are the means by which they are able to attain power, money and status. All of these women put themselves and their selfish ambitions above their relationships, whether it be with their husband, lover or father. A perfect embodiment of this manipulative nature towards men is Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Daisy lives her life behind a facade and portrays herself as the perfect housewife who married for love but this could not be farther from the truth.

Her tone, while initially understanding and compassionate, quickly turns into one of arrogance and righteousness. On line eleven, Luciana informs her sister that men have more freedom than women because “their business still lies out o’door,” essentially preaching the importance of a woman’s place in the household. Over the next few lines, we see Adriana and Luciana go back and forth with simple sentences, free of any complex language, about how women should act in the presence of their husbands (2.1.10-14). Instead of allowing one character to give an extended monologue, Shakespeare wants the audience to understand the level of tension that exists between the two sisters. The constant flow of insults and

Shakespeare’s Macbeth is set in a time of political upheaval, and it is a classic portrayal of human nature. Lady Macbeth and Lady Macduff are two ladies who each had profound influence upon their husbands; but their differences aside from this likeness are far more striking. The influence they both possessed was used in vastly distinct and dissimilar ways. Lady Macbeth exhibits childlessness, neediness for power, and manipulation; in contrast with Lady Macduff, whose character reflects motherhood, powerlessness, and innocence. One of the most evident ways that these two characters differ is in their qualities as women.

As Lady Macbeth is being introduced, we can already sense her dominance and power over her husband, Macbeth. For instance, when she immediately takes of control of the situation of when Macbeth is hesitant of how to administer King Duncan’s visit to their home as shown in the play it says, “ But be the serpent under’t. He that’s coming Must be provided for; and you shall put this night’s great business into my dispatch,” (Macbeth 1.5. 58-60). This proves how the gender roles are reversed as the wives are usually portrayed as caring and timid when it comes to making difficult decisions especially in cases like

Nevertheless, her behaviour cause laugh rather than admiration for her attitude to life and marriage. The Wife of Bath stands for the portrayal of the middle class fair sex in the 14th century England. Even though, there are presumptions that Chaucer is a proto-feminist, the gender divisions presented in The Canterbury Tales are clear and it is difficult to consider Alisoun a revolutionary female character. Definitely, she stands for sexual freedom, yet despite of the fact that she is a woman, she does not see that her situation wrong, contrarily she is eager to find next husband to bring him to submission. Her attempts to dominate men are aimed at her personal profit, she has no feminist

Sogolon Kedjou is a powerful character in the epic first and foremost because she conceives and births Sundiata, the founder of the Mali Empire. Her most important role is that of a mother, which can be problematic when discussing the importance and influence of women in the epic because it emphasizes fertility and the female body over the female mind and internal powers beyond conception. With regards to the importance of conception and fertility in women, there is a consistent theme of male ownership over females throughout the epic. It should be noted however that Sogolon represents a strong female character that is arguably responsible for the creation of a great empire. For without Sogolon and her great powers, Sundiata would not exist

This act of gift giving established reciprocity, an important mutual exchange between the giver and the receiver, and play an essential part in dynastic succession. At the end of the speech, her final words reflect self-assurance and confidence, and illustrate her power over people and her right to command them: “ the noble men, having drunk, will do as I ask “ (1230-31) Finally, we find the monster-like women in the poem namely Grendel’s mother. Grendel’s mother is monstrous in that she is all the opposite to peacewaver and hostesses: Grendel’s mother can be considered violent and cruel because she rather make use of weapons and her physical strength rather than using words or marriage to influence other people , just like Wealtheow . Grendel’s mother is another example of powerful woman. She’s independent, as she lives her house alone and protects it herself.

“This act of violence made such a stir, so much petitioning to the king for her,..” (65-66). Now and then, women possess more power than men and men possess more power than women. However, in time their power gradually comes to a draw. “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chaucer comments suggest that based on your gender, it determines on how much power you will receive. Chaucer implies that men should be on equal ground with women by showing the Knight when he had more power than women, when the King had no control over the Knight’s punishment, and when the Knight acknowledges that he should honor women/old women.