Analysis Of Erinna's The Distaff

The characteristics of different monsters from various places and eras, can easily be compared to cultural boundaries among humans being broken, established, accepted, and rejected. The article goes on to discuss the relationship between monsters and cultural lines that in the eyes of many cannot be traversed. Monsters can be considered beings with two purposes, their story, and their function or impact in historical culture (21). Difference, in the world, is often viewed as unacceptable, even at times a form of contamination. Monsters seems to fall right into that topic category when discussing cultural differences and similarities that are often found established. Boundaries such a sexual purity, gender norms, and other lifestyle implications often are crossed by monsters and their roles they take on in media, literature and other forms of entertainment. They are hiding in personal identities, cultural norms, and hidden desires from within. With that being said, perhaps it is necessary to take into account whether monsters not only symbolize differences and boundary crossing in old and existing cultures across the world, but if they also represent the desire behind those differences that influence

In Seven Monster Theses, Jeffery Cohen develops an idea that “monsters” are essential to society. In fact, they construct what is “normal”, “rational”, and “civilized”. Specifically, “monsters” are foundational to how we view ourselves. “Monsters” contain all the traits deemed unacceptable and odd. It can be concluded that every outlier is a “monster”. In St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Karen Russell tells the story of a pack of wolf girls who are transitioning into young ladies. Russell delves into society’s need for conformity, gender roles, and change. The story is told from the point of view of the middle wolf girl, Claudette, and follows her on her journey from wolf to woman. In relation to Jeffery Cohen’s idea of monster culture, Claudette’s journey applies to Thesis IV “The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference” and part of Thesis I “The Monster’s Body is a Cultural Body”. Claudette is torn between two worlds and she has to learn how to successfully “move between the two cultures”. Through Cohen’s theses, Karen Russell uses character development and dialogue to depict the inner and outer battle of societal femininity and individualized femininity and the consequence of accepting either side. The presence of “monsters” are essential for this acceptance.

For example, the monster in Frankenstein is described as a creature who "formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.” The words in the quote -- "horrid" and "shrivelled complexion" depict a frightening view of him. Emily, on the other hand, in Udolpho, becomes a timid and frightened character when listening to the terrors in the castle: “ ‘Hush!’ said Emily, trembling. They listened, and, continuing to sit quite still, Emily heard a low knocking against the wall. It came repeatedly.” Certainly the characters in both stories are different, as shown in these descriptions, but are they really? The monster might be as timid as Emily but he was a more powerful character physically. Emily did not possess quite the same personality. She becomes extremely cautious and is “trembling” upon hearing an unknown sound. The monster, by comparison, shows a more awesome disposition in character and appearance through a “horrid contrast with his watery eyes” as he sees each situation in the

For example, Frankenstein is afraid of the female creature’s “reproductive powers” and her aesthetic as a whole that seeing as her monstrous stature defies the stereotype that “women should be small, delicate, passive, and sexually pleasing” (7). On top of this, Mellor claims that Frankenstein’s unwillingness to complete the female monster stems from being “afraid of an independent female will” that “cannot be controlled” , thus implying that “female sexuality is strikingly repressed”

Several monsters such as the Minotaur, Medusa, and centaurs appear to be partially human. The Minotaur, for example, has the head of a bull but the body of a man. He was born as the offspring of Minos’s wife and a beautiful bull sent by Poseidon. However, Minos’s wife was forced to love the bull by Poseidon. On the other hand, Medusa was born a beautiful woman until she upset Athena who turned her into a terrifying monster

Asma states, "Monsters can stand as symbols of human vulnerability and crisis, and as such they play imaginative foils for thinking about our own responses to menace.” This means that human weaknesses and fears are represented through monstrous figures, and these fictional situations provide perspective into how we react in fearful environments. In our current society we fear many things, including but not limited to failed or corrupt governmental systems, the afterlife, the unknown, and captivity, which makes this claim valid. Although we may not realize it, these fears are embodied by the horror monsters we see in popular culture. Society shares common fears, and often times the most prevailing fear is reflected in the most popular characters at any given time. Monsters are the fictional representations of society’s dark subconscious, exploring not only why the author’s statement is accurate but what we actually fear.

Freedom should be enjoyed ,because it can be gone in a flash . Both Kate Chopin’s short story “Story Of An Hour “ and “ An Obstacle”, both story and poem discuss women's freedom and both put a message in their writings “ An Obstacle “ shows a women trying to pass but a prejudice and when she ignored it and she was free to pass. In Kate Chopin’s “The Story Of An Hour” tells the story of a woman called Mrs,Mallard learns the painful truth that her husband has died. Slowly she starts to realize that she will have gained more freedom but her husband comes back; she tragically realize that she won’t be granted her freedom. Although “ The Story Of An Hour” and “ An Obstacle “ use different metaphors, actually, both use chronological order to show the readers how fast or long their problems might last.So the story and poem of kate chopin and charlotte perkins both show a form of freedom in their writing.

In poems it is essential to be a creative writer. The author uses many techniques from from exposing deep thoughts to giving humorous jokes throughout the sentence. As a human being, we may have difficult times in understanding what is trying to be said. We may agree or disagree depending our viewpoints on life. One of my Favorite poems is “The Ballad of Sue Ellen Westerfield” by Robert Hayden. My favorite poem is the type of poem that has some history and confusion. When getting the audience confused, it makes them want to know more and reread the whole passage again. Hayden’s poem is a fresh new opening that brought an old dimension, his creativity to open the minds of others and look back to the past.

In The Distance Between Us, Reyna Grande describes of her life, how she came to this country with difficulties. Grande was young that it was really hard for her to understand the circumstances that were happening to her and her family. The relationship between the two passages is the different directions, but their purpose is similar. The purpose of the two passages explains the struggle of how a family from a different country is going to survive without any help. The first excerpt, ‘Mi Mama Mi Ama,’ describes the tension and confusion of the writer’s early stage of her life. They run from there to here to survive and for their new and hopeful lives. This is before she moved to the United States and the first night that she spent with eating bird food. The second excerpt, ‘The Man Behind the Glass,’ describes Grande’s and her siblings’ first day of school. As they have the same purpose, to survive, they conflict from getting ready to go to school, because they don’t know a word of English. Grande’s father can’t help them either because he doesn’t know how to speak English.

Secondly, whatever the difference monsters have from a human, whether it be animal characteristics, made-up attributes, or a combination of human limbs and other traits, any discrepancy points out their difference from humanity. The monsters with human attributes backhandedly comment on human behaviors, such as Manticore, Medusa and Minotaur. Blake and Cooper note that Medusa is in a group of “over-sexual women… were combined with snakes in order to emphasize the supposed sinful nature of women and temptations of their bodies” (Blake and Cooper 4). In recent monster stories, humanoid monsters have become increasingly normal. Thirdly, despite their distortions, monsters reflect who we are as humankind. Their many differences in meaning and image reflect humanity’s diversity. “Gothic” fiction is a literary tradition that started a recent wave of monsters that consisted of novels from Dracula to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. People began to write tales that tamed the supernatural

In “Monster Culture”, Jeffery Cohen develops an idea that “monsters” are essential to society. In fact, they construct what is “normal”, “rational”, and “civilized”. Specifically, “monsters” are foundational to how we view ourselves. “Monsters” contain all the traits deemed unacceptable and odd. It can be concluded that every outlier is a “monster”. In St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Karen Russell tells the story of a pack of wolf girls who are transitioning into young ladies. Russell delves into society’s need for conformity, gender roles, and change. The story is told from the point of view of the middle wolf girl, Claudette, and follows her on her journey from wolf to woman. In relation to Jeffery Cohen’s idea of monster culture, Claudette’s journey applies to Thesis IV “The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference” and part of Thesis I “The Monster’s Body is a Cultural Body”. Claudette is torn between two worlds and she has to learn how to successfully “move between the two cultures”. Through Cohen’s theses, Karen Russell uses character development and dialogue to depict the inner and outer battle of societal femininity and individualized femininity and the decision of accepting either side. The presence of “monsters” are essential for this acceptance.

She was once a spunky Irish woman who adored her family. In her own words, she writes to Aimee and Brigid that, "It's strange, slowly becoming someone I don't know" (Karam 121). Momo represents the fear of old age to the rest of the family (Karam 121). The absurdity of her words unsettles the entire family after she joins in the Thanksgiving prayer only to say "dig a hole shower" and "shower in holes" two seconds later (Karam 92-94). Erik follows this up by saying, "we'll all be there someday, right?" (Karam 93) How difficult and fear-inducing must it be to watch a strong woman lose her mind while all the time knowing that there is nothing that can be done to stop it? Although this fear could suck the life right out of a family, Momo's health appears to strengthen the family bond. Both Aimee and Brigid soften towards their parents because of their concern for Momo. The entire family is thrilled when Momo joins into the prayer and disappointed when she fails to sing along to the Irish song she made a Thanksgiving tradition. Though she serves as an ever-present reminder of old age, she also acts as the "glue" of the Blake family. While she was in her right mind, she was actually "not scared" of completely losing herself (Karam 121). Her courage in the face of aging pacifies rather than exacerbates the fear of old age for the Blake

Upon further probing, there is perhaps a deeper terror rooted in Frankenstein, which subtly appears to stem his hesitancy at creating not just another monster, but specifically a female monster. Because Victor Frankenstein fears the existence of a female free of restrictions that he cannot impose, he destroys her, thus eliminating the female’s options of becoming either completely feminine through becoming a mother and mate, or totally unfeminine by opting to leave her partner and face the world alone.

In mythology, monsters provide a challenge that humans must overcome. Heroes try to gain fame by defeating them and townspeople are afraid of them. Monsters spread fear for men to conquer. They give the opportunity for heroes to prove themselves. According to Mr. Thomas Bullfinch, “monsters are unnatural in proportions and parts and are employed for the injury and annoyance of men (Bullfinch 1).” Monsters do have strange parts and a common purpose. In Greek mythology, monsters have striking similarities. They fall into distinct categories based on form and duty. Monsters may be part snake, lion, or human. Some have multiple heads. Most monsters’ duties include guarding something for another being. Other monsters have no responsibilities

Breaking down meaning by disrupting the distinction between the subject and the object. (Childers & Hentzi 1978:308). Kristeva theorises that because the abject is situated outside of symbolic order, our confrontation with it becomes an innately traumatic experience akin with the disgust we experience when confronted with an object which has been violently cast out of the cultural world, having formerly been a subject (Kirsteva 1982:65). In Horror and the Monstrous-Feminine, Barbara Creed refers to horror as a “crossing of borders”. The abject therefore can be seen as referring to horror itself. That is to say, horror defies the lines of decency, morality and accepted social practice in ways that threaten to jeopardize the stability of order. Creed discusses the representation of the woman as the monster rather than as the victim to a male monster. She associates the monstrous feminine in patriarchal society to sexual difference and castration. The term monstrous feminine emphasizes the signifigance of gender in the formation of her monstrosity. She disputes the notion of the male monster and Freud’s theory of the castrated woman who is established as a victim by nature. The monstrous feminine addresses more regarding male fears than female subjectivity. The woman is more accurately feared as the castrator than the