In Angela Carter’s short story “Puss-in-Boots,” an arrogant cat, Puss, becomes a valet for his master and they work together for survival until Master falls in love with Signora Panteleone. After this, Puss teams up with Tabby and they plot together so that Master and the Signora can be together sexually and then more permanently. In the story, Carter’s employment of Puss as narrator accentuates the violence related to sexual acts and, through this, encourages the audience to read like women, as specified by feminist critic Jonathan Culler.
In the section “Reading as a Woman” in Culler’s novel On Deconstruction, he confronts the traditional methods of analyzing literature through his pronouncement of women being conditioned to view written
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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 “Puss-in-Boots,” a male feline, Puss, narrates the events of the story through his chauvinistic perspective. Puss fails to accept that most characters dislike him and assumes that individuals throwing water, shoes, and rotting fruit at him as he caterwauls in the moonlight is in appreciation of his supposedly fine singing. He views the women that have been with his master sexually as “transports” for his master’s carnal desires as opposed to individuals with their own personalities and aspirations (Carter 72). As Master tells
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Though the presence of death occurs during both of the times that Signora Panteleone and Master have sex and this hints at sinister intentions, Puss’ candor about her enjoyment enables readers to comprehend that Signora Panteleone desperately desires to strain against the rigid standards set by her husband. In lieu of focusing merely on Master, as many are apt to do after years of reading like men, the excessive confinement that Signora Panteleone faces allows the audience to more easily notice the conflicts she encounters rather than neglecting the treatment she receives. Puss, being a blatantly stereotypical character, forces readers to examine the literary assumptions that they base reading on and analyze the content of the story in a novel
Throughout the short story A&P written by John Updike, we see how men and women are seen in that time. By taking the Marxist approach, Updike was successful in placing sexual, gender and authoritative powers throughout A&P to portray how males objectified women in society of the early 1960’s. By using the emphasis of the girl’s bare skin we see the influence of sexual power. Having the story told from a man’s point of view, we see the stereotypical way they view girls and how this may affect them. From the presence of Lengel we see the power of authority switch from the girls to the older man in the conflict of the story.
When we are growing up, we are taught that members of the opposite gender have “cooties” and that we’ll catch those cooties if we get to close to them. Sometimes, as we grow older, those cooties the other gender possesses remain prevalent; they may just take on different forms. In the poems “The Whipping” by Robert Hayden and “Men” by Maya Angelou, the two different speakers could agree that at least some members of the opposite gender are bad people. The speakers use the definite theme of the struggle between genders, strategic literary devices, and deeper meanings to convey their message.
In Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “The Lady with the Pet Dog,” Oates takes Anton Chekhov's characters and transports them to the 1970s, deciding to retell their story through the lens of the modernized female protagonist, Anna. While this story is obviously different from its original source of inspiration, in this paper I’ve chosen to focus on the similarities that have slight twists in Oates’ retelling. I will firstly look at the structure of the two tales.
As young children, girls and boys are taught to be very different from the clothing worn to the way to speak. Females have always been treated more fragile than males for the simple fact that is what children are taught from an early age. The short story, “A&P,” by John Updike shows this in the best of ways. Updike’s message in the short story is that women are meant to be admired and protected. The admiration and protection of the women is evident because when Sammy admires the beauty of the girls and protects them from Lengel after he embarrasses them.
Reading literature, at first, might seem like simple stories. However, in works like William Faulkner's “A Rose for Emily,” Katherine Mansfield's “Miss Brill,” and Kate Chopin's “The Storm,” the female protagonists are examples of how society has oppressive expectations of them simply because of their gender.
As a result of the abuse female characters have faced, it has become an objective for authors to prevent this. There have been clear strides recently, putting women as the protagonists, and not in a manner that has them dealing with persecution. The amount of strong, female characters is a large stride in the right direction to end the conflict regarding women’s roles in literature. However, this sudden influx of women in literature may lead to the reversal of the issue; the absence or abuse of men. While certainly literary equality is the end goal, to flip the issue would be just as bad and lead to sexism on the opposite spectrum. To truly mend the rift between genders, there must be no discrimination, the idea that an author is trying to use sexist undertones by not writing the lead as a female should not have to be an idea that readers think about when analyzing modern books. While even still there are issues of gender inequality in literature, there must be moderation from both ends for a resolution to be possible. The only way for equality to be achieved is with the absence of sexist ideals from all
These literary writings address how women were influenced by a “hermeneutic” belief system that placed women mutually in unity to abide by a societal “patriarchal” power (King and Morris 23). Again, women could not communicate their feelings receptively likewise, their values and conceptions were a reflection from their husbands. Essentially, the essay
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.
Womanhood is an extremely significant topic discussed in various works of literature. The subject of womanhood and how it is discussed in a work of literature enormously differs between the authors’ personal views of it. Womanhood is an especially important topic in the novels, As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. The authors’ views of womanhood are shown through the actions of their female characters as well as how they are characterized. In Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the character that most prominently reflects Hurston’s views of womanhood is the protagonist,
“The Tale of Little Red Riding Hood” is a short fiction story, which is a modern version of the classic short story with a sexual intake. In this story we see how the town wolves are considered sexual predators who need to be satisfied with sex, yet they kill the people they have sex with, because the women usually do not want to accept their sexual desires. However, when Little Red Riding Hood is faced with the wolf, she doesn’t allow him to take control over her and do as he pleases, but instead laughs in his face when he mentions of eating her and takes control of the situation, her body by accepting her sexual desires and tames the wolf unlike the other women throughout the story. “ What big teeth you have! All the better to eat you with.
Gender can be defined as the socially preconceived roles that are thought to be fitting for either men or women in a particular culture. These preconceived roles, stereotype men and women, ensnaring them into provincial boxes that prevent gender identity and expression (Fisher and Silber). Traditional gender roles, especially in the 18th and 19th century literature depicts women as delicate maidens, who are weak and submissive or as nurturing and sensitive characters taking the roles wives and mothers. Men on the other hand are portrayed as strong, rational, and assertive taking on the roles that require authority (Fisher and Silber). To better understand the role of fixed gender expectations, we will analyze four short essays namely: Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path”; Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Admontillado”; William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.” All these essays except Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Admontillado,” describe the lives of women protagonists in different environments which influence how they act in an era when women played second fiddle to men. This we will accomplish by analyzing how major characters in this stories are utilized by the respective authors. Their interactions with other characters, their instincts, and their reactions provide a window into their world, and the society at large.
The way that women are treated in this short story shows the way misogynistic gender roles were held not only in Poe’s mind, but in society during the nineteenth century in general.
The American literary canon presents a one sided view of women, due to the dominance of male authors. Classic American books generally present images of women in a male-centered viewpoint, creating a biased representation of women in literature. In “Feminist Literary Criticism: From Anti-Patriarchy to Decadence,” Anne Barbeau Gardiner states that the American literary canon is “strikingly narrow…prepared by white men whose judgment was prejudiced and whose language was full of gendered meanings.” (Gardiner 395). Gardiner
Contrary to to traditional Mother roles in gothic literature, the Mother in ‘The Bloody Chamber’ embodies Strength and Courage. Through Carters feminist style of writing, the mother is seen as a knight in shining armour. The ‘indomitable’ (p1) woman is a figure of strength and courage; she has shot ‘a man – eating tiger with her own hand” (p2), and holding all the traits of a masculine hero. Traditionally, these traits symbolise her possession of the power traditionally possessed by men. Moreover, her overwhelming power is influential; she is in the position of true power, in no way passive or innocent. The passing down of her husband’s “antique service revolver” (p2) contradicts societies expectation of women. Traditionally, possessions are handed down to a fathers heir, however the mother receives this symbolic item instead. This item represents both the mothers strength and her physical power. Yet she is equipped with ‘maternal telepathy’(p41), which adds another dimension to her empowerment as it is a feminine strength, suggesting Carter is employing the notion that women may embrace their femininity whilst still retaining an advantage over men. However, her masculine qualities cannot be ignored. The windswept image is one of strength, portrayed towards the end of the novel, when she saves the damsel in distress, a role usually dominated by men. Her ‘white mane’ (p40) and “wild” appearance alludes to the image of a hunting lioness, a symbol of strength. She is the embodiment of “furious justice”. This
Throughout American Literature, women have been depicted in many different ways. The portrayal of women in American Literature is often influenced by an author's personal experience or a frequent societal stereotype of women and their position. Often times, male authors interpret society’s views of women in a completely different nature than a female author would. While F. Scott Fitzgerald may represent his main female character as a victim in the 1920’s, Zora Neale Hurston portrays hers as a strong, free-spirited, and independent woman only a decade later in the 1930’s.