Calvinism: A Look Into Domestic Life in Catherine Sedgwick's Novel, A New England Tale

Women, especially were inclined to be criticized or ostracized if they did not follow society’s gender roles. They were thought to be mothers and the main caretakers of the family. At the time, women were seen as delicate and feminine. Their work was found in the house with domestic duties. Charlotte Temple, by Susanna Rowson describes the ideal women and was specifically targeted to “factory girls” who left their homes in the farms to work in the city (Rowson, xii). Mrs. Temple, Charlotte Temple’s mother, decided not to let her grief consume her and instead focused on making her husband happy and taking care of her father after Charlotte left (Rowson, 56). If a woman was not committed to one man, then she was not the ideal woman. Mademoiselle La Rue, Charlotte’s teacher, was far from a role model. She was scandalous because she “eloped from a convent with a young officer” and she even had to hide it to get a job at the school (Rowson, 26). Moreover, women with no financial fortune were unfit to marry. Marriage was a financial transaction and a man’s success required that he married someone wealthy. Montraville’s father explains to his son that he would be happy if his son were to marry a woman with a fortune, but if he was to marry a woman with no fortune he’d be sticking her into the evils of a small income with a potential

Readers learn early in the story that Jane Eyre does not fit contemporary society's idea of a proper woman.  As a child, Jane stands up to her aunt, Mrs. Reed, on more than one recorded occasion when Jane feels she has been treated unjustly (Brontë 28, 37).  At one point, Jane bluntly tells her aunt, "I declare, I do not love you: I dislike you the worst of anybody in the world except John Reed [Jane's cousin]" (37).  This was at best improper behavior for a child in Victorian society, and it was most definitely seen as improper by Mrs. Reed who grows to hate Jane, calling her "tiresome, ill-conditioned" and "scheming" (26).  But her aunt's reprimands and hatred do not deter Jane from speaking up in the face of injustice.

As a feminist, Jane is able to protect herself when she is in a situation where she needs to be defended. For instance, when her brutish older cousin John hurls a hardcover book at her head, she pounces back by attacking him in defense. She also faces no difficulty in successfully defeating her cold-hearted aunt in a verbal fight, just at the tender age of ten. Jane is surely unafraid of the consequences that she has to face on actions that she believes as rightfully done. This amazing trait remains even as she proceeds into adulthood and meets the love of her life. She is able to deal with, and even stand up to Mr. Rochester’s unreasonable verbal attacks directed at her. She clearly shows her dauntless side of her personality, by speaking her own mind when Mr. Rochester demands for the money that he had given her. Jane refuses clear cut, and Mr. Rochester asks to then at least let him see the cash. Jane refuses again by retorting that he is “not to be trusted.” Jane has an honest and truthful soul who knows how to speak for herself, unlike many women during this period of time. Jane is never concerned about what other people would think of her if she tells them the exact truth about everything. She is able to inform her departure by cancelling off the wedding between herself and Mr. Rochester after what she had witnessed and experienced. Jane cries out “you are a married man-or as good as a married man, and wed to one inferior to you- to one with whom you have no sympathy- whom I do not believe you truly love; for I have seen and heard you sneer at her. I would scorn such a union: therefore I am better than you- let me go!” Jane is able to truthfully utter her thoughts, her true opinion without being afraid; even if it was to someone she dearly loved. When Mr. Rochester angrily cries out, “Jane, be still; don’t struggle so, like a wild frantic bird that is rending its own plumage in its

Jane is quiet and controlled, and her foil, Bertha, the wife of Jane’s love interest, is seen as a “lunatic,” but is also a metaphorical representation of Jane’s innermost thoughts and rage towards those who have ever dismissed her and/or controlled her. In the end, Jane is overcome by a burning desire to be free, and in claiming so, she describes herself as insane by saying “’I care for myself…the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself…Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be… I am insane — quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs. Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations, are all I have at this hour to stand by: there I plant my foot,’” (Bronte, 408). In this selection, Jane explains how her self-suppression has led her to insanity. However, she mislabels her intuitive trust and desire to put

In her novel, Hope Leslie, Catharine Maria Sedgwick supplants the importance of strict adherence to religious tenets with the significance the human conscience and following one's own heart. This central theme of the novel is intimated to the reader in the scene where Sir Philip Gardiner, a character that completely defies this ideal, is described. Although he "had a certain erect and gallant bearing that marks a man of the world . . . his dress was strictly puritanical" (124). In other words, even though his demeanor is completely unlike that of a puritan, he adheres to the outward seeming of one. The scene describes in detail these markings and intimations of his person that

The title character of Catharine Maria Sedgewick’s novel, Hope Leslie, defies the standards to which women of the era were to adhere. Sedgewick’s novel is set in New England during the 17th century after the Puritans had broken away from the Church of England. Hope Leslie lives in a repressive Puritan society in which women behave passively, submit to the males around them, and live by the Bible. They allow the men of their family to make decisions for them and rarely, if ever, convey an opinion that differs from the status quo. However, Hope Leslie does not conform to the expected behavior of women during that time, behavior that only further expressed the supposed superiority of males. Hope

It instead shows Jane’s inner struggle to do what is “right” versus what she desires. The separation between the voice of herself and her thoughts exhibits her helplessness to change her path from what her mind has already decided. This displays the heavy influence society has on Jane, which is further proven by the personification of Jane’s two strongest rivaling emotions. The heavy influence of a patriarchal dominated society is evident in her “Conscience” being a strong male figure, whereas her “Passion” is a weaker, feminine figure. Similarly, the strongest reasoning for Jane to leave Thornfield is driven by the patriarchal demand for a female to remain “pure” until holy marriage, rather than Jane’s own desire to leave, further solidifying the idea that the voice given to her mind is not just her own internal thoughts, but also the demands and expectations of

As a child in the 1830s Eunice had little idea that her life wouldn’t live up to the status quo in New England society. Her mother, Lois, had led a fairly normal

Jane deliberately disobeyed her husband and sought out her wants. Disregarding what others had to say about her strange behavior; Jane proceeded to do what she wanted; to write. Nevertheless, Jane was slightly still submissive towards her husband due to the fact that she hid her journals to prevent displeasing John. Her tiny action that went against John’s morals that was bestowed upon her was the mark of Jane’s awakening. Jane’s awakening had caused a ripple effect on other women; they all began to draw out their inner beings. The conservatives in America could do nothing, but to sit back and watch the changes unfold right in front of them. There was no way out of this change; sooner or later those that degraded the rebellious females would realize that women can and will be much more than those wimpy little wives they were always told to be.

In Mary E. W. Freeman’s Revolt of ‘Mother,’ many social norms are conveyed as unsatisfactory. Gender roles, while contrasted for both men and women, are seen in vastly different lights. Specifically, Nanny Penn and Sammy Penn are both children yet are treated remarkably differently, the way Mother and Father - Sarah and Adoniram Penn - treat one another, and how the surrounding society views the situation of Mother revolting all go to show how the tone of the work is negative towards the conjecture women were below men. First and foremost, Nanny and Sammy Penn are treated substantially differently and Freeman portrays this stark contrast with lugubrious elucidation. Nanny, the daughter of Sarah and Adoniram, isn’t sent to school like how Sammy

The modern society in a Muslin community seems to be almost untouched in their beliefs that women must obey their husband’s commands, once more showing how patriarchy is viewed as a negative, and if they disobey their instructions they will be punished. If they continue to defy the rule the punishments become more severe, starting from a warning and gradually progressing into a mild beating. Likewise to those in the Muslim community circumstances, Jane was being controlled, by not only one but, two males above her, and being controlled is not something people take light of heart, but there is nothing one can do in these situations. They can not run away, they can not seek help from another, not even their own father. An additional thing is demonstrating that she is less intelligent and should not be allowed the right to choose

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman was awarded the W.D. Howells medal for fiction by the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1926. She had been writing for many decades prior to this and made a name for herself in the mid-1880s. She grew up in a home of orthodox Congregationalists and was expected to have very strict behavior. The roles in society for women during this time are key subjects in Freeman’s stories. In, “A New England Nun,” Freeman expresses the pressure and constraints of the obligation put on women to marry.

Comparing Catherine Maria Sedgwick’s Hope Leslie or Early Times in Massachusetts and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlett Letter is interesting because at first glance both novels don’t appear to have much in common. However, despite obvious differences between both novels such as the character presentation of the female protagonists in Hope Leslie, who range from the free-spirited Hope Leslie, obedient Puritan Esther, and Magawisca as a noble but proud Native American contrasts with Hester Prynne’s presentation as a shamed but deeply contemplative woman in The Scarlett Letter. The different purposes all these characters each serve in their respective stories begins to show commonality in that Hope Leslie’s Hope, Esther, and Magawisca and The Scarlett Letter’s Hester Prynne all have to overcome the adversity and social expectations within their Puritan society so that they can do what they feel is right by relying on their feelings, intelligence, and inner strength. By examining how characters such as Hope Leslie and Hester Prynne overcome the challenges they face in their respective Puritan societies, it will be easier to discover how both novels presentations of their female protagonist illustrates the gender politics of each text.

Faith’s experience however, would not be parallel to that of her husband. This is because women during this time period were expected to be held at a certain standard and to be the stability of their home and husband religiously. Because of this, Young Goodman Brown is more appalled and devastated by the fact of Faith’s impureness than Faith would be to discover the same circumstance about Young Goodman

Most women were tied to the home in the 18th Century. Modesty had become an important part of family and society life. Women were considered to have a natural maternal instinct and a natural devotion to family. Attempting to leave this role of motherhood was seen as monstrous and unwomanly by society (Wolbrink, 4 Nov. 2011) Women expected to stay in the private sphere. This hiding from the outside world was an attempt to protect the purity of women reiterating that women are the weaker sex and must be protected. This philosophy is exemplified in an 18th century metaphor, “Women is a plant which in it’s own green house seclusion will put forth all its brilliant