In the progressive modern world, the ancient mindset of men’s superiority exists in many societies. Women who are opposed to such ideology are, in some cases, perceived as rebellious when words such as feminism has come to acknowledgement for over a century. Through the struggles that the characters of A Thousand Splendid Suns faced in the patriarchal Afghani culture, Khaled Hosseini delivers his feminist ideas. For her whole life, Nana endured the troubles given by men, and she is one of the “fallen female warrior” of the novel because she fought against the oppression and lost, due to the unfortunate circumstances of her life. Mariam also suffered the torments imposed on her by the men in her life, sharing a similar fate as her mother, Nana, in a way.
Many female critics have looked towards The Wife of Bath as a feminist role model (Reisman) She wanted authority over her five husbands, “She’d been respectable throughout her life, with five churched husbands bringing joy and strife, Not counting other company in her youth;” (Chaucer, l. 459-461) In Othello, the society centered around the men having all the control over women except in their beds, which was when the women could take control. Othello uses his power to over Desdemona to mock her,“Ay, you did wish that I would make her turn. Sir, she can turn, and turn, and get go on, And turn again.
Nurse Ratched exposes the men’s weaknesses by getting each of them to point out each other’s flaws. Kesey shows that when women hold leadership roles, it takes away a man 's ability to be a man and leaves the man with physical damage. In the story, McMurphy explains to Harding about Nurse Ratched and how she is manipulating the men, using her influence to emasculate them. He says, “The hell with that; she’s a bitch and a buzzard and a ball-cutter, and don’t kid me, you know what I’m talking about” (Kesey, 61). By using the phrase “ball-cutter,” Kesey implies that because she is a woman and has more power than the men, she is depriving them of what makes them a man.
Time shows that men affect women and make them to be what they want them to be using their physical dominance and power. It all started when a girl was born. She should see that the world gives a big opportunity for her to make serious decisions and to build her happy life. In real life, it was not like that for many years.
As the story opens, we see a maiden being deprived her power of self when she is raped by the knight. The knight comes across a lovely maiden and, “and it happened that he saw walking ahead of him a maiden, whom he ravished, in spite of all her resistance,”(898) and after this heinous act, the King is forced to pass judgment over the knight, his beheading. However, at this time we see the Queen and her ladies intervening and reverting this punishment by giving the young knight a new assignment to tell her “what thing it is that women desire most” (912) and if he fails his punishment will be reinstated but if he succeeds, his life will be spared. It is clear from this illustration that King Arthur’s power has been taken away by the Queen who further directs the knight to seek that which women desire most. And upon the knight’s return with the old woman, the queen is told that “women wish to have sovereignty as well over her husband as her love and to have mastery over him,” (1042) and again here we see the subject of power coming up.
For the longevity of world history, women have been forced to take on many roles and occupations. In recent years, women have broken standard gender roles and crafted a life that is one hundred percent their own. However, in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, published in 1866, women are making lives of their own and becoming the providers in their households. Dostoyevsky crafted female characters that make sacrifices to provide for their loved ones. Dostoyevsky’s characters, especially Sonia, have broken many gender roles, and the men of the story have become dependent on Sonia due to her actions.
Because of this, she accompanies her husband throughout the murder. They then commit many crimes, dealing with Banquo, and Lady Macduff and her son. After these deaths, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth experience struggles concerning the loss of sleep and sleep disorders, which was caused by
The Ottoman Empire was one of the most enormous, most victorious and longest lasting empires. There were struggles and many obstacles for the Ottoman Empire, but it was difficult to defeat them. There were tremendous Sultans with many wives who inspired and helped in the success of the Ottoman Empire but also in the collapse. In no other Empire were Women as free and uncontrolled than the Ottoman Empire. Many Women abused their position and was a cause in the downfall of the Ottoman Empire.
Kate Chopin is best known for her ability to express her feelings of the time and is well known feminist of her time. She has wrote many inspiring novels about women having little to no voice in the Antebellum era. Kate hated being a mother and a wife because she felt like she had no power . Thus, she wrote one of her greatest novels Desiree’s Baby. In Kate Chopin’s Desiree's Baby she introduces a theme of male supremacy by her execution of literary devices such as symbolism and irony to prove that it is more important to be male than white in the Antebellum era.
She is not blameless, in what she did, but she deserves some sympathy because of how she was immobilized by all the duties thrown on her by her society. Medea voices how she has been suppressed in her society. She notes, “We women are the most unfortunate creatures” (L 231). Medea’s tone throughout her speech is proper, confident, and angry.
In Iron Jawed Angels I was able to more deeply explore the complications and conflicts that women have faced to be seen as equals. Alice Paul and Lucy Burns overcome great obstacles to complete their most passionate goal. Their goal was to help women gain independence and acquire the right to vote in a male dominated society. Gender was and still is today a very controversial term. Woman’s suffrage was and still is today a huge issue in the world.
What do women yearn for most? At times, most women cannot answer this ancient question. A substantial amount of women prefer money, never ending youth, to be wed, to be widowed, to be respected, or to be pampered; the list is infinite. In The Wife of Bath’s Tale, King Arthur’s knight rapes a young maiden; the punishment at this time was beheading. Yet, the King allowed the Queen to choose the consequences that the knight will suffer.
Women in the middle ages were seen as the inferior gender. In the Canterbury Tales, the portrayal of women during that time is shown. The great chain of being was the idea that the position of one in society was based on the closeness to God. In the Wife of Bath, the wife wants women to be superior to men, moving their positon closer to God. Palomon and Arcite from The Knights Tale, demonstrate the idea of courtly love toward Emelye.