Feminism In The Shadow Lines

But despite this, there were also dark sides to the beauty: the classes, lack of women’s rights and working children. All these topics are conversed by the two famous authors Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. After reading “Persuasion” by Jane Austen, and watching two versions of “Mansfield Park” as well as “David Copperfield” and “Hysteria”, I have now decided that this essay will mainly be about equal rights between the genders and the differences between the working class and the aristocrats. In the text I will also mention socioeconomical issues and social science. My main focus will be women, how they lived, and survived, in the sexist society during the Regency era.

This letter was likely intended to be private, highlighted by Lewes openness about her personal struggles. She laments her societal standing as a woman in 1800’s Europe, struggling against the restrictions of “domestic duties” and “womanly necessities”. Despite this, Lewes finds comfort in her womanhood, comparing the process of writing to “...offspring, developing and growing by some force of which one’s own life has only served as a vehicle…” By writing this letter, Lewes acts on her impulse to “...feel the want of others as my own…” Though she rejects society’s traditional view of women, in the careful, consultative nature of her response, she takes on the role of a mother. This impulse to nurture, though unwanted by Lewes, reveals that a caring nature is not necessarily a weak one. By simply existing, Lewes proves society’s view of women

The Yellow Wallpaper is a semi-autobiographical short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Before proceeding directly to the analysis of this short story, it is important to understand the writer herself. Gilman used her personal struggle with postpartum depression, to create a powerful fictional story, which has wide subtext for women. When the narrator admits that there is more than one captured crawling woman Gilman points out that the meaning of her story goes beyond the isolated, individual situation. The main goal of writing this story is to rescue the women from further suffering under “rest cure” and to condemn the oppression of women, which was usual for the twentieth century.

Hannah Webster Foster formulates a tale that, on the surface, appears as a novel warning women against seduction, a common theme of the times. Marriage was seen as a necessity for women who desired financial stability and status, and being sexually seduced by a man would not provide a woman with these needs. Thus, the warnings against seduction and romanization of marriage were rampant. Upon further examination however, The Coquette has strong feminist undertones calling women towards the American ideal of freedom. This new nation claimed to be built upon the rock of freedom, while simultaneously oppressing women.

Feminism in the nineteenth century was barely nonexistent. Although women just began to think about their rights as individuals, Pride and Prejudice should be considered a feminist novel because Austen recognizes gender discriminations and the main character fights against said inequalities. The first step towards feminism is acknowledging gender discrimination. “Feminism as a belief system recognizes that inequality exists and that not all people are treated equally or have the same opportunities.” There are multiple times that Austen, throughout the novel, presents examples of gender discrimination. "Mr. Collins begged to know to which of his fair cousins the excellency of its cooking was owing.

It is undeniable that female empowerment is imperative. More importantly, the establishment of feminist movements has created a platform for women to assemble as a community to combat the patriarchal system that continues to exist in society. Consequently, women uniting to dispute sexism, acknowledges a component that can hinder their progress and success in society. Yet, this idea of feminism is over simplified, it disregards the diverse and intricate experiences women face in actuality. Therefore, the consequence of generalizing the feminist political practice results in an assumption that women uniformly experience a single oppression, this ignores the reality of the multiple oppressions women can encounter.

This thesis consists of Hanif’s portrait of women and their marginalized positions in the society and economic, social and religious pride and prejudices towards women in Pakistani society which is an important theme of his novels. He belongs to those who are proof of that some people can tell the truth more comprehensively and authentically with fiction than facts. In his second novel Our Lady of Alice Bhatti (2012), he discusses the battle and determination of a woman fitting in with minority goes out in a patriarchal society and endures accordingly. In a male dominated society women in Pakistan are in lower position than men , they are always on the periphery, and are subordinated to men and are in debased positions both within the house and outside the house. Alam (2011) shows by her study that women’s unequal positions contrasted with men make them weaker both out in the open and private circles.

This paper seeks to offer an intrinsic analysis of the play, illustrating a society that promotes sexism, sexist exploitation and depression. The paper will use the feminist literary theory adopting key concepts: patriarchy, heteronormativity and queer theory in highlighting these instances. The writer used the text, “In the chest of a woman”, as a social commentary to highlight barriers women face in their effort to achieve their desires. As an illustration of the stated theme, Nana Yaa Kyeretwie desired to possess power, however, she being a woman placed her on a disadvantaged side as her younger brother was bestowed with the Ebusa Kingdom. The queen mother told her, “…but you are not a man” when she insisted that she wanted to rule the whole kingdom.

Women should feel the freedom to be who they truly want to be and not let others tell them how they should be. Everyday women are pressured and terrified to show their true selves because of these stereotypes and false feminine beliefs . Women have values that they are pressured to hide. Orenstein just wants that all to change. Nobody is perfect and the stereotypes people place on one another is the cause of most of the issues women face today.

Her novels depict how women fit themselves into this society either by rejecting or by accepting the changes to construct their emancipated New Selves. Her women continually fluctuate between similar and contradictory attitudes and evolve to create within themselves a kind of freedom with the aid of culture and which they may share with some kindred souls struggling in the same turmoil.