From its very beginning, the genre of the novel developed in literature with the intent of describing fictional human experiences built in an imaginary world, but that can be based upon a true story, as they always enclose a slight realism. In the novels, female characters are portrayed in many different ways. In the books analyzed, these females are not the protagonists of the tales, however, they are described, more or less, as influential women, who have significant roles in the evolving of the stories; in particular, their function in the narrative is crucial and it shifts from supportive and inspirational to adversary and puzzling. The actions that these women take, the words they say and the connections they make, have the power to influence the protagonist’s thoughts and shape the novel. Both Great
This essay endeavors to analyse the situation of two different women. “The Story of an Hour” and “A Rose for Emily.” The first story by Kale Chopin’s in the 19th Century penned by Mrs. Mallard who confirm her about her husband death which made her heart broken. But at the same time she thought she could be free and enjoy her life because in the old time Women was under the mercy of her husband and must obey him which affect their life. “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulker with the breaking news of her father death feeling depressed and unable to do anything.
INTRO - "An Act of Vengeance" by Isabel Allende is a latin-american piece of literature. - According to feminists critics, literature adapted to this patriarchal society we have, and the feminist author, Isabel Allende, has exposed how men and women are in the society through her characters Dulce Rosa Orellano and Tadeo Cespedes. - The feminism theory is the outgrowth of the general movement to empower women worldwide. It recognizes and critiques male supremacy combined with the efforts to change this patriarchic view.
As she was a middle class mom, who was arrested and charged with her husband’s brother, she consciously did not mention her crime because this may divert the attention of readers and they may start focusing on other details that are rather unimportant. Another reason for not discussing her own circumstances may be that it may make the opinion of readers biased towards her. So whether she was innocent or not, but her purpose of writing was to focus on the lives of those women who are forgotten by society as well the policy makers. Erin George made a fair attempt to make higher officials think about improvements in correctional system for women and highlighted the areas which need many improvements and can be improved if higher authorities consider them
Through these women and Esperanza’s reactions to them, Cisneros’ shows not only the hardships women face, but also explores their lack of power to overcome them. Very early on in The House on Mango Street Esperanza encounters multiple women who are living in abusive relationships or are stuck raising and providing for children on their own. One example of these women is Rosa Vargas. She is a mother to one too many children, who often misbehave: “…how can they help it with only one mother who is tired all the time from buttoning and bottling and babying, and who cries every day
Ariel Dorfman’s “Death and the Maiden” is a work of drama that aims to provide a social commentary on the social after effects of a post dictatorial regime. Dealing with gender roles, the ambiguity of the truth, and the role of justice - Dorfman provides an outlet for victims of war crimes to question their own experiences, as well as forcing an entire society to ponder questions that seem unanswerable. Through the use of the motif of light, contrasting scene choice and an important final dialogue, Dorfman creates a moving work that leads the spectator to wonder: viewing Paulina as a victim of a patriarchal society, do her strifes and emotional conviction make us more or less sure of the authenticity of her accusations? A pivotal part of
Although it is not always clear, women are constantly being treated as lesser than men. Women and men are approaching equality, but many women are still being treated unfairly. White communities usually pretend that everything is perfect and cover up this problem. Hispanics, on the other hand, often make the mistreatment of women perspicuous. This is portrayed in the novella The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros.
Furthermore, he describes the multiple forms of control Chicana women face when he states, “The Chicana is first of all oppressed economically, socially, and politically by virtue of her being a woman. Secondly, the Chicana as a member of an oppressed ethnic and/ or racial group is limited to the same extent as the Chicano by the dominant Anglo society” (50). However, he fails to mention the experiences of queer women, which implies how the Chicano
Lola takes advantage of her deteriorating mother whose illness represents the declining hold of the norms over Lola. Since her mom “will have trouble lifting her arms over her head for the rest of her life,” Lola is no longer afraid of the “hitting” and grabbing “by the throat” (415,419). As a child of a “Old World Dominican Mother” Lola must be surrounded by traditional values and beliefs that she does not want to claim, so “as soon as she became sick” Lola says, “I saw my chance and I’m not going to pretend or apologize; I saw my chance and I eventually took it” (416). When taking the opportunity to distinguish herself from the typical “Dominican daughter” or ‘Dominican slave,” she takes a cultural norm like long hair and decides to impulsively change it (416). Lola enjoyed the “feeling in [her] blood, the rattle” that she got when she told Karen to “cut my hair” (418).
Without the traditional community they once would have had in Puerto Rico, there was no intervention to stop child abuse. As a teenage girl, Candy went against her father’s dominate role by running away. It was not uncommon for such instance to occur Puerto Rico. The family faced no shame by a runaway daughter as long as she allowed her lover to have complete control. Usually a girl would have the aid of her community to bring her to a new male-dominate household and away from her father’s abuse (2003: 219).
Anzaldúa was a Mexican American who was a well-known writer and had a major impact on the fields of queer, feminist, and cultural theory. Her most famous work is Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza which includes poems, essays, and short stories. Anzaldúa was no stranger to the use of literary theories in her writing, which is evident in her short story “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” Here, the author uses a combination of feminist, reader-response, and psychoanalytic theory to show the struggle of being oneself when they’re Mexican-American. Through the use of feminist theory, she explains how a female is labeled as an “habladora” when she tries to voice out her opinion about something; reader-response theory provides the reader with an understanding of the struggles of self-identity, which they are able to relate to, especially Mexican-Americans; and lastly, psychoanalytic theory illuminates on her childhood experiences, which could explain why Anzaldúa believes in what she does, such as the idea that Anglo people have tried to tame her tongue—in other words, her language.
The Story of the Vargas Family “Rosa Vargas’ kids are too many and too much. It’s not her fault, you know, except she is their mother and only one against so many” (Cisneros 29). In the novel The House on Mango Street, the author, Sandra Cisneros, touches on the many negative consequences of a single, impoverished mother raising an overwhelming amount of children. Poverty, discrimination, parental and neighborly responsibility, and respect are all issues and social forces that act upon the family; their presence or lack thereof cause several grisly occurrences to take place. Poverty was almost like a curse given to Rosa Vargas by her husband, who “left without even leaving a dollar for bologna or a note explaining how come” (29).
Within each book, it questions the message of “culture and gender” (Louelí, “An Interpretive Assessment of Chicano Literature and Criticism”). Clearly, positive figures influenced how the Chicano community acted then and now. Rudolfo Anaya and other Chicano writers
In the story, the women are oppressed by the society. This is narrated through the delivery of the main antagonist’s id, the gender inequality in enforcing laws and the marginalization of women. As a result of Rasheed’s id, Mariam and Laila are consistently physically and emotionally
What is violence? Violence is, as described by Google,”behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something. Strength of emotion or an unpleasant or destructive natural force. And the unlawful exercise of physical force or intimidation by the exhibition of such force.” Both 1984 by George Orwell, and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley have violence threaded throughout each novel. 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley are books written about how these two men saw their world changing and morphing into something they did not like, something dreadful, something alarming. Both of these books illustrate the way they saw their world’s future.