Essay about A Feminist Reading of Galatea 2.2

Gender roles have been a hotly debated topic in the most recent years, especially the role of women in society. Women have had set expectations that they are believed to conform to, which is shown in many pieces of film and literature. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald describes the life of a man in the upper class in the 1920’s, as well as women in the 1920’s. The movie The Princess Bride, written by William Goldman, visually explains the treatment and expectations of women, and especially focuses on the “damsel in distress” stereotype.. Roxane Gay’s “Bad Feminist” explains the stereotypes against women and ways women can come together and fight these constraints. Based on these sources, societal expectations take away from each individual’s identity, forcing women to conform to society's standards. In order to fight against these expectations, women have banded together and formed movements against these standards.

Sheila Birling is described by Priestley as “a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life”, she is the daughter of Arthur and Sybil Birling. Towards the beginning of “An Inspector Calls”; Sheila is portrayed as a pretentious, young lady from a middle class family who is engaged to be married to a man of a higher class- Gerald Croft. During the engagement party, though Sheila is seemingly excited, she soon becomes very skeptical of Gerald, stating “all last summer” he never came near her. Immediately after the disclosure of sensitive information – that is Eva Smith's tedious, agonizing death, Sheila is almost devastated but, on the contrary, by asking the inspector: “What was she like?

Gender roles are undeniably a fundamental topic of critique in literature, particularly since expected gender roles have evolved in recent years. More importantly, the transcendence of these gender expectations indicates the possibility for transformation and increasing liberation in society. History explores many different stages for the sexes and their respective roles, from traditional anti-feminist times in which certain roles were strictly enforced, to more modern beliefs entailing free will and a lack of restrictions. In spite of this progress, there are always those who expedite the process while there are others that hinder development from occurring, even when it is necessary. Literary works in particular serve as a showcase

American Literature has always been about men and for men. In this essay, we are going to analyze the women’s role in the book, as inferior and weaker gender.

If they read as women, they will more easily notice the conflicts female characters face rather than neglecting the treatment of these individuals. Culler argues that reading like a woman is “to bring about a new experience of reading and to make readers—men and women—question the literary and political assumptions in which their reading has been based” (51). This statement introduces the idea that, in order to read like a woman, readers must challenge the conventional expectations of literature to construct a novel perception of the text.

In the simplest of fashions, gender is a division of traits between masculinity and femininity. In literature, there tends to be a trend of limiting the space for movement between the two categories; therefore, predictable and safe characters are created that

Females are portrayed in Literature I many ways. Some females are considered as strong, wanting to bed independent. On the other hand, some women are portrayed in literature as weak, obsessive and depressed for men. In William Faulkner’s, “A Rose for Emily” women are portrayed as obsessive, where as in Kate Chopin’s “Story of An Hour” women are depicted as wanting to be independent.

The primary difference between these two streams of feminism is ‘how much respect [each approach gives] … to the brute fact that everyone gets categorised as either male or female.’ Additionally, the deconstructionist notion of ‘breaking down a text into its constituent differences’ will be employed as part of the methodology to apply these theories. As the novel has presented the challenge of an unreliable narrator, it may initially be hard for me to refrain from interpreting the text through a psychoanalytical perspective. However, my experience with principles of Deconstruction should assist me in analysing the text and formulating a feminist reading to advance the current understanding of the novel.

Gender roles are indicators of how a society is structured, based on the expectations of men and women. In particular, most of the surviving sources from the period are written from male perspectives, so what remains is how male writers reinforced their idea of a woman (Blundell, 2001). Characters of each gender needed to fill a set of expectations to conform to societal definitions of each gender, with characters defying such expectations being seen as shocking and unexpected. Under this lens, male characters are treated as being in a dominant position where the female characters had a secondary role in the way their society was run. Whenever a female character played a main role, she then took on many masculine characteristics but in doing so is treated as being an unsettling other The unsettling nature of these characters to Ancient Greek audiences defines them, making the choice of characterizing these women in such a manner all the more deliberate as is the case in works such as Medea, Agamemnon and Lysistrata. All of these works involve a female protagonist whose actions are treated as abhorrent within the work simply because they chose to take control for themselves. In contrast, male characters are not met with the same response for similar actions, because the traits required to be capable of them fall within the masculine sphere of expectations. From this position of male comfort, a woman acting outside of her role was not meant to be celebrated and instead

In early literature, men dominated the writers’ circuit. As literature began, it was used as an easily digestible way to promote social norms and moral code. In these texts, the role of women changes vastly depending on the culture, although there is a common theme: women exist to belong to a man. Women were not only oppressed in life, but their struggle is weaved into all of these texts, where in hindsight we can read them and see how belittled women were. These stories, written by men, all seem to have the same theme that a woman’s only value lays in her loyalty to her husband. Women in these times did not have a chance to speak out or think for themselves because they were not allowed. I looked specifically at three women from three stories, across culturally different times and societies. I chose Sita, from the Ramayana, Penelope, from Homer’s Odyssey, and the Wife of Bath from the Canterbury Tales. Looking at the qualities of these different women, they are essential pieces to the success of the “hero”, a sidekick, almost. It was interesting to me, that across these different cultures, I found a lot of similarities between them.

Throughout this course, Feminism has made its appearance in several works. The profound effects of patriarchy in the late 1800 's to the mid 1900 's allow society to view the oppression of women as being a social norm. Many of these early works, whether it may be a novella, a play, or a poem, depict women as being inferior to men. These works exemplify the power of words, but more so the power of action, where it takes only one woman to break through traditional gender roles and to counteract the patriarchal stigma of its time period. The importance of feminism in these works show that the female protagonists are often underestimated and devalued. This is a major component of history that is explored throughout this course, and the

Being a Feminist and having a Feminist point of view in observing every cultural, social and historical issue had been translated as having a feminine centered and anti-masculine perception. Unlike the general and common knowledge about feminism, it is not only an anti-masculine perception towards social and individual issues. Feminism according to Oxford dictionary is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes that more commonly known as the pursuit of equality for women’s rights. On the other hand, in studying literary books as it will be in this paper, the mentioned definition is not applicable. Therefore, in this paper Feminist criticism will be used in order to

Literature is the perfect indication of civilization during the time it was written. By examining literature, we gain knowledge of the social structures that once prevailed within that society. For centuries throughout literature we notice that women are reoccurring images, described in a number of different ways and roles: sometimes, embodying minor but crucial roles. Women usually serve as subordinates to male counterparts or the hero, conveying necessary knowledge and wisdom for the completion of the mythic quest. Moreover, they are given the sacred ability to change and influence the hero's quest through creation or destruction. However, women are considered to be treacherous beings because of their great potential to create or destroy, which depends upon how she decides to utilize her power and how she is approached. Literature works like the ancient epic of Gilgamesh display women as an epitome of great wisdom and knowledge but also the power of temptation and corruption.

In various forms of literary works, the inequality of women can be observed over an extended period of time. From the late 19th century till the present, women have progressed in being considered equal to men; however, in the beginning, this was not always the case. The position of women in society has advanced immensely from being viewed as beneath men, regarding their actions and their intelligence, to being able to do almost anything that a man can. This progression of the equal treatment of women can be seen in Henry James’ “Daisy Miller: A Study,” Susan Glaspell’s Trifles, Sandra Cisneros’ “Woman Hollering Creek,” and Louise Erdrich’s “Fleur,” when women have to endure double standards, are treated as less intelligent, and have less freedom; however, some change occurs to bring about the equality of the genders.

First of all, to analyse a work of fiction from a feminist perspective, a definition of feminism and the effect