Thomas C. Foster's How To Read Literature Like A Professor

In both The Female Bell-Cricket and This Powder Box, Nakamoto Takako and Uno Chiyo explore the notion of female sexuality as power. By asserting their sexuality, the female protagonists in both texts deliberately defy socially-prescribed female virtues of chastity and obedience. This ownership of their sexuality grants them power in their romantic relationships with men and liberates them from the submissive position that women are traditionally expected to be in. It is crucial to note, however, that the depicted ‘strength’ of the two female protagonists is ultimately a constructed façade; they are still tied down by society’s prescriptive ideals of femininity, and have their behavior propelled or influenced by their relationships with men.

Another one of her physical features, which are, “her gray sun-strained eyes” (Fitzgerald 11) directly connects her to the color gray in The Great Gatsby. Another aspect of her life that connects with the color gray is her sexuality. If she is not fraternizing with Daisy, then it is likely she is with Nick. Colors in The Great Gatsby are used like similes and metaphors are used in other literary works. The color gray plays an important role in the novel because of the perceptions and associations that stem from color psychology.

Patriarchy presents the roles of men and women in a distinct form. Men are expected to be the dominant leader, strong, protector and sole provider where as women are subverted to the role of domestic duties, raring of children and fulfilling her man’s every desire without question or comment. In Lynn Nottage’s play Poof!, she brilliantly portrays the roles of men and women, and experiments with the concept of changing gender roles that are characteristic of our society. Overtime, the patriarchal system has been challenged and the defined gender roles are in the process of being eradicated. By presenting the plays protagonist Loureen, as an abuse victim that finds her voice and stands up against her battery, Lynn brilliantly illustrates that

They put people on a platform and put in a tons of effort. This is a part of the prepping procedure. Making people feel special is a part of their way of manipulation. Once they have you hooked emotionally, they have a strong grounded position from which they begin to start manipulating and controlling people. Once under the influence of love from a women, the women has full control over a man’s destiny.

The simile here creates the idea that their connection is so strong they have somewhat entered a marriage. Briony sacrifices their relationship from progressing after blaming the rape of Lola on Robbie by saying ‘[she] saw him’, in order to create the neat ending of her story that she desires. Robbie and Cecilia’s relationship is to a degree cemented through their sexual intercourse;

According to Merriam-Webster, a concubine is defined as “an unmarried woman who has sex with a man and lives with the man and his wife or wives.” Polygamy is defined as “the state or practice of being married to more than one person at the same time” (Merriam-Webster). King Mongkut is accountable for participating in concubinage and polygamy by having multiple wives and partners. Anna Leonowens also writes of gender inequities in the harem of Siam. Women are taken advantage of as physical and sexual slaves. Leonowens focuses her writing on women as slaves, and rarely discusses men as being slaves.

The author thought that marriage was to be made of a combination of love, affection and compatibility of character, just as the engagement between Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Thus, she punished women who took wrong decisions when it came to marriage, as Lydia, who escaped from her family just to get married to George Wickham in a sudden and not very clever act – she clearly was decided just for passion and not for rational thinking. Jane Austen also punished women who got married for convenience, as Charlotte, who got engaged to Mr. Collins just to ensure her future and a stable economic status. At the very beginning, Charlotte Lucas was delighted for her engagement and forthcoming matrimony, but within a short period of time, she does not feel that happiness for her marriage, just as Austen declares in the novel: “his marriage was now fast approaching, and she (Mrs Lucas) was at length so far resigned as to think it inevitable, and even repeatedly to say in an ill-natured tone she ‘wished they might be happy ’” (Austen, 1813:

The first encounter with Luna’s character in the chapter appropriately named “Surrender” portrays her on her knees with her lover, the General, standing above her and pulling her “unruly hair” (Hagedorn, 127). Luna’s lovers need her to exercise their macho potency, as she is another women “in a nexus of suppression, ownership, and violence” (Ashok, 4) only deceiving herself that she is the one who has the control. Lolita is surely worshiped for her beauty and sexual endeavors, and richly rewarded with capitalist commodities, but, whenever she tries to rebel she is constantly reminded that she is a merely kept woman at the mercy of her lovers. In that respect, she is no better than her lovers’ submissive and fully adapted wives. On the other hand, unlike the First Lady and Isabel who enjoy their parts, disgusted Luna always feels the need to escape.

ABSTRACT This paper is an analysis of the feministic aspectof Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Feminism is a crusade, which has some aim and dogmas, where a feminist seeks equal political, economic, cultural, personal and social rights for women. The storyhere provides feminists a rich ground in which one can explore the codes of sexual morality that the townspeople of Columbia reluctantly uphold. The portrayal of female characters in the novel shows their submissive nature and how often they have been exploited and forced to go against their free will just for the sake of false family honour and society. It also represents how patriarchy was constituted, constructed and re-invented in Latin American society in the 20th

Throughout the novel, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen demonstrates to the readers of her novel the many significant portrayals of irony. From the very beginning of the novel, Jane Austen enfolds several occurrences of her characters demonstrating verbal irony. As the novel unfolds, the reader is also shown several instances of situational irony. Additionally, the use of dramatic irony is portrayed numerous times throughout the novel. In the romantic novel Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen uses irony as a tool to demonstrate her artistic wit and her characters moral appraisal.