Simone De Beauvoir The Second Sex Analysis

In 'The Second Sex ', Simone de Beauvoir argues that "Man is defined as a human being and woman as a female – whenever she behaves as a human being she is said to imitate the male. With reference to Sylvia Plath 's ‘The Bell Jar’ and Angela Carter 's 'The Bloody Chamber’, explore the idea that literature by women writers is merely an imitation of a predominantly male art form. 'The Second Sex ' by Simone de Beauvoir is considered by many to be the most influential book on feminism. In the book, she challenges the primitive ideas which people and society as a whole have regarding women and their role in society. She sheds light on the idea that men and society have always operated on the subordination and oppression of women, limiting their

De Beauvoir explores the idea of women being ‘determined and differentiated in relation to man, while he is not in relation to her’ referring to the identity of women being defined in relation to men rather than themselves. She contends that a man will 'grasp(s) his body as a direct and normal link with the world that he believes he apprehends in all objectivity, whereas he considers woman’s body an obstacle, a prison, burdened by everything that particularizes it “.(The Second Sex p25) She highlights how the perception of women 's bodies are used against them, supporting the idea of women being weak and frail, incorporating hormones and even the uterus as symbols of their weakness. She argues that society is

In her title story ‘The Erl-King’, Carter begins conveying the idea of literature by women writers not being an imitation of a predominantly male art form through the uses language to illustrate the Erl-King as the symbol of the world’s phallocentric society, and thus begins shedding light on both society’s and people’s faulty ideology and conception. The Erl-King is presented as an anthropomorphic creature who is in harmony with his surroundings as he acquires dominance in the woods having ‘The rusty fox, its muzzle sharpened to a point, laid its head upon his knee’ as well as ‘little brown bunnies with their ears laid along their back like spoons, crouching at his feet’ (p98). The phrases ‘laid its head upon his knee’ and ‘crouching at his feet’ are used by Carter to demonstrate the authority and dominance which he obtains. Carter portrays the Erl-King as asserting such a power that even an animal such as a fox that is known for being a solitary animal bows down to him, reinforcing the idea that men are often seen as the figures of authority in our society and are those who obtain power. The image of The Erl-King having a house in the woods can be perceived as a symbol of civilisation, yet the narrator appears to understand her entrapment as she describes him as having ‘irrevocable hands’ symbolising the ‘grievous harm’ which the Erl-King can cause. Carter reinforces the power which the Erl-King obtains in the woods as he traps birds and ‘the sweetest singers he