Year Of Wonders Feminist Analysis

First, the persecution of witches began with the Cathars, this later cause paranoia which the people did not take lightly and many people were killed because of it. Secondly, witches were identified through tests such as the sinking, weighing, and devil’s mark tests, which almost always ended in the suspect’s death. Lastly, after the true witch trials took place, the church began to persecute those who were a threat to the church such as women, heretics, and homosexuals. Because the church was among the official powers in this time, many people followed and feared them which made the amplified the reaction to

This relates to the theme of jealousy because Mr. Putnam is so jealous of other people’s land that he accuses them of witchcraft so they lose their belongings, and he can take it. In addition, Ann Putnam is Very jealous of Rebecca Nurse. Ann Putnam thinks she is cured because she has lost so many children and Rebecca Nurse has so many.

The so-called “American Dream” to be more individualistic rather than a collectivistic community like the British Empire didn’t follow through with women’s rights. Martha Ballard’s profession is then reduced by William Smellie as “he explained the importance of reassuring both the patient and her “friends”,” (65). This shows that males couldn’t conceive the idea of respecting women’s work and treating them as professionals. However, this also shows the apparent disconnect between male physicians and their patients.

Gwenhwyfar, upon meeting Lancelot, becomes a lustful, adulterous wife, which eventually disturbs Camelot, the brotherhood of Arthur’s knights, and causes Arthur’s death. Unfaithful wives appear frequently in Malory’s text and always take full blame for their mistakes. One of Morgan le Fay’s tricks involved a horn that revealed if a woman had committed adultery. When a queen and a hundred other ladies drank from the horn, only four women had been faithful. The king tried to burn all the guilty women, but his barons forbade their execution because the horn had come from the witch, Morgan le Fay, and might be trickery.

The Salem witch trials are remembered as one of the most disgraceful acts a village has ever committed. One of the main causes of these events are the bibliocentric views of the community at that time. People often called witch on their neighbors to get more land, or cried witch at someone they simply didn’t like. There were 19 hangings during the Salem Witch Trials and one of the main reasons for this was Reverend Parris. At the start of The Crucible, By Arthur Miller, you see that one of the central causes of the witch trials was because he was more concerned with his own reputation than the lives of others.

Laurie Halse Anderson’s historical fiction novel, Fever 1793, appears in the city of Philadelphia. Matilda Cook, a young girl, lived in a coffeehouse with her widowed mother and grandfather. Soon disease breaks out and clears the streets of Philadelphia. Using descriptive language and inner thoughts Laurie Halse creates a message that when there are hardships in life you change.

Within “Her Kind” there are a few allusions to witch trails or just witches in general. “Her Kind” begins with, “I have gone out, a possessed witch” (Sexton 1) and it is a very obvious allusion to witches. By mentioning a witch Sexton conjures up a very clear image of a witch. Throughout history witches have always played the villains, and coincidentally enough they have always been women (Shmoop). When the Salem Witch Trials were going on, women were accused of being witches for any reason except witchcraft (Ardagh).

Anti-Feminism is when the women are objectified , disrespected , or belittled . In many patriarchal communities women are not given the rights and opportunities which has led to a movement known as feminism , nowadays , the term feminism is used when men and women are equal in their rights , opportunities and men are women are equally free , on the other hand , the term anti-feminism now talks about the woman being below the man , the woman being objectified and being used , women not being as free as men which often happens in patriarchal societies . The story “ A Californian’s Tale “ ignores the female issues during the horror of economic failure through objectifying Henry’s wife , the image of the wife and being nameless , and the frame . The first reason why the story “A Californian’s Tale” seems to be anti-feminist is through objectifying Henry’s wife. Through out the story the wife seems to be compared to many different objects , or sometimes the objects in the story symbolize the wife .

The treatment as a purchasable item already put women on unequal footing within any marriage born of an arrangement by the father that included money. In the marriage, the woman was not an equal or partner to the husband. Simply something that the man owned, and was had complete control over. This inequality was extremely dangerous, and left the woman completely vulnerable to their husband. Mills states that “After marriage, the man had anciently (but this was anterior to Christianity) the power of life and death overhis wife.

In ancient times, which in this analogy will be referred to as the shadows on the wall in Plato’s cave, women were seen as inherently inferior to men, and their only role was to get married and have children. Men owned women, they were passed down from their father’s possession to their husband’s possession, as symbolized in the traditional isle-walking during marriage, and dowries almost always being needed for marriage. The old sentiment was, that nobody wanted previously “used” property. In addition, because there was no contraception and heritage decided your level of respect in the community, virginity was a guaranteed paternity test. But of course, all these reasons for the invention of virginity pale in comparison to religion.