Astronomer's Wife Summary

mind was no longer just between men and women; it was now the working and the

In the 21st century, many women, myself included, take for granted that we can wear whatever we desire and say what we want, in public, without the fear of being thrown in jail. However, that was not always the case. While the fight for the continued advance of women’s rights rages on, women of the 19th century lived a very different life than the one, us women, lead today. The feminist agenda was just emerging on the horizon. One particular woman was preparing to do her part to further the cause of women’s rights: Sarah Willis Parker. Parker was better known by her pen name, Fanny Fern. After facing and overcoming extreme adversity, she made the decision to start writing. To understand how truly ground breaking Fanny Fern was, we need to understand that in a 1997 edition of an anthology of American satire from colonial times to present, Fern was the only woman writer from the 19th century in that text. Her satiric style and controversial subject matter was just what the oppressed needed to gain some support and give them a voice.

The short narrative of The Astronmers Wife, shows how Mr. and Mrs. Ames have an unordinary relationship with each other. In the story the Ame’s family has an image of living a luxuries life style with a villa and a house maid, to try to compensate for the image of a good marriage. In reality their marriage is full of dysfunction. In any good marriage, communication is necessary to clearly avoid misunderstandings that may cause distress, anger or confusion. In the story the Ame’s family lacks the necessary skills to have a good marriage. In the Astronmers wife the author states, “But whenever the astronomer gave voice to the thoughts that soared within him, she returned in gratitude to the long expanses of his silence.” Even though she might

The poem “To my Dear and Loving Husband” by Anne Bradstreet, is not just an exceedingly felt expression of a wife’s marital love and commitment to her husband, as it is about a puritan women who is supposed to be reserved but she makes it her obligation to enlighten her husband of her devotion. A thorough analysis of the poem’s paradox, hyperbole, imagery and repetition reveals how she conveys her message.

Combining all these facts, statements, and observations the reader deduces Sarah Boyle as a scientifically educated, intelligent woman: Which leads to the question, why is Sarah a housewife?

Anne Bradstreet was not the typical Puritan author. She wrote sweet and loving poems that greatly contrasted from other writers of her time. She did not write the ever so popular sermons that told people that they were going to hell and there was nothing they could do about it. Bradstreet was a rarity in Puritan times, she was a very educated woman that worked on something other than being a woman in the household. She was one of a kind and the beginning of an era. Using literary criticism when reading Anne Bradstreet’s poems adds a deeper understanding of her character and difficulties in life.

Edna Pontellier's suicide is the unfortunate pit falling of this otherwise feminist piece of literature. Her action, in fact, completely discredits the classification of feminism. Regardless of her ability to withdraw from her husband, venture out on her own, and buy her own home, Edna lacks a very

In 1854 Fanny Fern published what was to become not only her most successful works, but one of the most popular and enduring works of English literature during the Antebellum period: Ruth Hall; A Domestic Tale of the Present Time. Though the title – especially to a modern reader – does little to convey the level of thoughtful and heady critique that Fern expounds through this book, it is actually is a strong indictment of the feminine position as the subordinate housewife, mother, and societal agent. However, despite this criticism, it does not seem that Fanny Fern is critical of the institutions of marriage or motherhood as a whole. Her critique is based on the limiting effects of the conventional roles into which wives and mothers fall, and the deleterious consequences these roles have on the personal development and self-actualization of the women who enter into them. Therefore, it is not the institution of marriage or motherhood that Fern is critical of, but rather the expectations and limitations that society assigns to the women who assume these roles.

Nella Larsen’s Quicksand stands as an example of how literature is reflective of a woman’s pursuit of happiness. The character of Helga Crane strives to achieve happiness but is never successful because she is a woman and societal expectations of modest style, marriage, and motherhood prevent women from being truly happy.

Being thought of as insignificant and inferior had been a problem that many women poets of the twentieth century had faced for quite some time. Their roles in shaping families were predetermined by the fact that they were perceived as not having enough mettle to deal with circumstances outside of the home. How could they possibly have the time it requires to produce quality literary works and at the same time, nurture and care for their families? This was a familiar question that plagued women poets such as Gwen Harwood. Being a “woman who has her own artistic aspirations” (Hecate, p. 70), placed Harwood in a unique position. Her priorities were

It is a very difficult task for women to live a content life while in a despondent marriage. Though it has been done, it is simply no easy task. In the short stories "Story of an hour", and "Astronomers Wife" Kate Chopin and Kay Boyle both suggests to their readers that a woman needs a man to connect with her physically to be happy. The two stories both share the thesis that women are being held back by their husbands and there is plenty of evidence to prove this. With Chopin's story taking place in the 50's, and Boyle's story taking place at the turn of the century, they encounter parallel situations with a time difference of almost 50 years.

Linda Pastan is known for writing exemplary poetry. According to the Poetry Foundation, “in her senior year at Radcliffe College, Pastan won the Mademoiselle poetry prize. Immediately following graduation, however, she decided to give up writing poetry in order to concentrate on raising her family” (“Linda Pastan”). Pastan graduated college in the 1950’s, and societies expectations for women to be a wife and mother perhaps influenced her decision. According to the Poetry Foundation, “after ten years at home, her husband urged her to return to poetry. Since the early 1970s, Pastan has produced quiet lyrics…and is interested in the anxieties that exist under the surface of everyday life” (“Linda Pastan”). Pastan’s poems “The Obligation to Be Happy” and “Why Are Your Poems so Dark?” both deliver similar thoughts, that life is a balance between happiness and unhappiness. However, despite similar feelings on life, both poems have significant differences. Although “The Obligation to Be Happy” focuses on personal emotions and “Why Are Your Poems so Dark?” is a response to critics, both poems suggest that life is not always pleasing.

The subjects of the two novels, Edna Pontellier and the Narrator, undergo a similar change; at the onset of the novel they meet all societies expectations and standards for women of their time- Mrs. Pontellier is described as shy and reserved and neither protagonist ever disobey their husbands- but with each coming page, the women convert into someone unrecognizable to their antierior selves. Though their metamorphose are both ignited by a new environment, they had internally harbored yet suppressed their need for independence and freedom. Like these two, every woman holds creativity and free will; however during this time they were unable to practice them, as doing so was almost unheard of and rarely tolerated. The Narrator and Edna themselves serve to represent the healthy creative urges within women that have been suppressed.

Hilda Doolittle known as H.D., was one of the imagist poets of her time. Her imagist poetry is “impersonal,” it’s relationship to human emotion is often deeply set. She utilized imagery, musical rhythms, and symbolism to evoke the themes in her poetry. Her work recaps the main theme from the Victorian Era, which is based on gender roles and how behavior is acceptable in society. She was apprehensive with the matter of war and severity. Her work reconstitutes feminist, language, and myth (Doolittle 1816). She wanted her readers to understand how feminist plays apart in the psychological dimensions of myths.

A highly talented, writer who was praised as a poet and a novelist, turns her gaze as she shares her thoughts on life. As she explores her maturity as a feminist and a writer. She pays tribute to her loving recollections gave her life meaning and constant comfort even if things don’t go the way she wanted.