Beautiful Little Fool
The Presentation of Intelligence and Appearance of Women in 20th Century American Literature
Edith Wharton (1905), House of Mirth
Theodore Drieser (1900), Sister Carrie
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925), The Great Gatsby
Introduction
In one of the most iconic lines of all time, Daisy Fay, in reference to her young daughter, advocates a particular mould for the 20th Century American debutante: “I hope she'll be a fool — that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”
The word “fool” has two paradoxical definitions: as a noun, “a person who acts unwisely or imprudently; a silly person”, and as a verb, to “trick or deceive (someone); dupe”. This essay examines the multifaceted nature of the beautiful fool in three case studies: Lily in The House of Mirth (HM), Carrie in Sister Carrie (SC), and Daisy in The Great Gatsby (GG). All three women are referred to as “foolish” in terms of superficiality and error of judgment, but as they also display resourcefulness in fooling men for social advancement through romance.
I cover three dimensions of the beautiful fool: her allure for men, her manipulation of them, and the impact of this on her happiness. The Allure of the Fool
The beautiful fool is highly alluring to men as she appeals to the traditional male
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Given, Drouet is innately “good-natured”, but while he would have only “handed out what was considered the proper portion to give beggars and thought no more about it”, the extent of assistance he offers Carrie demonstrates the impact of the beautiful fool on male judgment. Drouet instinctively takes charge of Carrie, evident by repetition of the strong, active pronoun (“I’ll tell you… I’ll take care...”). The “childlike” Carrie thus unwittingly endears herself through “helpless[ness]” and “unwisdom” by evoking the male protective
The women who mirrors a mare is pictured as a delicate, long-haired beauty. They are unfit for manual hard work and never touch the mill, lift the strainer, or clean the house out. Bathing twice or three times a day, she combs her hair long and curly with colorful flowers. To one’s guest, she is a rare sight to see and a curse to her husband, unless he becomes a powerful oppressor who enjoys expensive luxuries. Any man who gets the women who resembles a bee is considered lucky, for she cannot be criticized.
To analyze the impact of women in the picture, one must examine Philip Marlowe, the hero and epitome of masculinity. Throughout the novel, Marlowe displays the admirable qualities of a man: intelligence, strength and justice. Additionally, Marlowe’s role as the hero of the film creates an example to which all men should strive. He represents the goals and desires of men, and as such his behavior helps define the position of women. Women constantly throw themselves at Marlowe, allowing him to pick from a fairly wide selection. His choice of Vivian holds considerable weight in determining the traits that make a woman popular. Marlowe’s interactions with all women help reveal the complexities of 1940s feminine attraction.
Women are primarily objects of sexual pleasure for the male protagonists. Their characters are always filtered through the men's perspective, with the exception of the maid Bertha, Charlie’s maid, who at times makes fun at either of the brothers. (Perspectives on How Women Internalize the Ideal Beauty Standard, Year Unknown).
The novel’s key female character, Daisy Buchannan, represents the role of Tom’s shallow trophy wife who is idolized as the “ideal” individual within the consciousness of Jay Gatsby. Subsequently it was never Daisy’s knowledge or character type that attracted Gatsby; it was more based upon her wealth, “That was it. I 'd never understood before. It was full of money—that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, [and] the cymbals ' song of it” (Fitzgerald, 99). Although Daisy is far from being flawless, Gatsby interprets
The male gaze is a penetrating force every woman has dealt with in her life. It is normalized in our society as a whole, despite the fact that it involuntarily violates women and leaves them vulnerable. Victorian society was no exception to this unfortunate constraint upon women. As such, Thomas Hardy deconstructs the destructive male gaze through the heroine of Far From the Madding Crowd, Bathsheba Everdene, and her unique command of her love life. Moreover, in doing so, he creates a self-directed woman who does not need a man’s aid to find happiness. She may not be the perfect female character, but she knows what she wants from life and she is ready to take it.
In Of Mice & Men, the character Curley’s Wife is depicted as flirtatious, promiscuous, and insensitive. However, her husband Curley sees her as only a possession. Most of the workers at the ranch see her as a tart, whereas Slim, the peaceful and god-like figure out of all the men, see her as lonely. This answer will tell us to which extent, is Curley’s wife a victim, whether towards her flirtatious behaviour, or to everyone’s representation of her.
In the classic fairytale of Cinderella, the main character is trapped in an abusive household. However, Cinderella’s self-perception of optimism and hope, enables her to believe that ultimately, her life will naturally improve with these attributes. True to her convictions, Cinderella gets her happily ever after by going to the ball where the prince falls in love with her. Cinderella is saved from her evil. On the other hand, Cinderella can be viewed as a victim who does nothing to enable herself to escape her abusive reality, insteads helplessly waits for fate to intervene. She does not confront the situation nor independently strive to improve her circumstances. Correspondingly, how individuals act when faced with conflict is strongly influenced by their self-perception. It is possible to become confused between reality and illusion, which is determined by their level of self-awareness. In Tennessee Williams’ play, A Streetcar Named Desire, the character of Stella struggles between the control of her husband and sister. Throughout the play, this conflict is demonstrated as she struggles with becoming aware of her abusive household and the contrast to the fairytale illusion she desperately clings to. Ultimately, Stella’s choice to maintain her illusion, rather than confronting her reality, is due to the self-perception of her need to depend on others and desire for idealism, which overall controls her fate.
“I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”
Additionally, gender roles affect Mrs. Wright’s (also known as Minnie) reaction to oppressive marriage. Before marriage, Minnie was a carefree independent woman who was active in her community. She always dressed in pretty clothes and was one of the town girls singing in the choir (Glaspell 1111). After marriage, Minnie’s life became sad and lonely due to the lack of children and the lack of empathy and warmth from her husband. Glaspell provides the reader glimpse of Mr. Wright’s character through Mrs. Hale’s description of him being honest and upright, but he was a “hard man” and not very amiable (1114). The Wright’s marriage is a perfect example of the effects of traditional gender roles. Mr. Wright represents the traditional role of male dominance in marriage by controlling Minnie’s life through isolation and removing anything that would bring her happiness. Although Minnie became submissive in order to conform to the demands of her husband, she took back control when she murdered her husband in the same fashion as he did to her pet canary (1116).
James' manipulation of appearances in Daisy Miller as well as other character's notions of these appearances provides us with a novella of enigmatic and fascinating characters. Daisy, the most complicated of these ambiguities, is as mysterious as she is flirtatious. James gives her a carefully constructed enigmatic quality that leaves the reader wondering what her motivations were and who she truly was. He structures the novella in such a way as to stress the insights that the supporting characters provide into Daisy's character, weather accurate or erroneous. Despite their questionable reliability, they allow James to make commentary on both European and American cultures and social class.
The 18th century was a time where there were very strong gender norms that were strictly followed. But in Eliza Haywood's Fantomina, those gender norms are challenged with the creation of a cunning, and manipulative female protagonist. We are given a text that empowers the main character, Fantomina, throughout the story and shows us a woman's power to exercise their control over men. As a women of a higher class, Fantomina would have been expected to follow a certain code of conduct and uphold a good reputation. However, her ability to deceive Beauplaisir shows her power over him, as well as her skill and intelligence.
Jay Gatsby, the mysterious millionaire from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Blanche DuBois, the heroine in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, seem to represent two different kinds of protagonists. While they both deal in illusions, Gatsby and Blanche are significantly different people, and their illusions stem from different motives. Gatsby creates illusions that present an idealized personal lifestyle, hiding the impracticality of his dreams. He already has wealth, enough to survive, but he wants more. Therefore, he portrays that he is a man who can provide anything to his ideal love, Daisy through ways such as showing her his house; he wants to lure her with the glamour of his wealth in order to complete his life. Blanche, however, is poor and cannot provide for herself, so she creates illusions to escape the bleak reality she is trapped in and hide the fact that she is helpless. Blanche’s motives for hiding behind her illusions are more practical; it is unlikely that any man would provide for her, and let her “breathe” as Blanche describes to Stella, if he knew about her sexual promiscuity (85). But she also is able to create a magical world for herself to hide that she is broken and helpless and what she is doing is merely practical. She wants to believe that what she is doing is noble and fulfilling and transcends an animalistic relationship like Stanley’s and Stella’s.
Ironically, Rossetti’s portrayal of seduction is in stark contrast to accepted notions of the Victorian period in that the male characters signify dangerous temptation, not the troubled females. The goblin men confirm this contradiction by representing the venomous effects that experienced seductive men have on innocent naive women. Rossetti’s ironic gender split exemplifies her progressive attitude of feminist thought while also serving as a depiction on the principles of Victorian society.
In cases of social injustice, there are the oppressors and there are the oppressed. Such is the case in the world of The Great Gatsby, where gender norms shape the dynamic of all romantic relationships.Fitzgerald’s novel reflects pervasive gender norms that are still in place today. One of these constructs is the role of women versus men in marriage. Husbands are supposed to be violent and commanding, and their wives are supposed to be quiet and happy. Male characters see opportunity in this construct -- they use it to their advantage or as a way to establish power and reputation. Characters like Gatsby and Tom want relationships with women that reflect their relationship with money and success. When Myrtle tries to manipulate her affair
A trifle is something that has little value or importance, and there are many seeming "trifles" in Susan Glaspell's one-act play "Trifles." The irony is that these "trifles" carry more weight and significance than first seems to be the case. Just as Glaspell's play ultimately reveals a sympathetic nature in Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, the evidence that the men investigators fail to observe, because they are blind to the things that have importance to a woman, reveals the identity of the murderer and are, therefore, not really "trifles," after all. Thus, the title of the play has a double-meaning: it refers, satirically, to the way "trifling" way some men perceive women, and it also acts as an ironic gesture to the fact that women are not as "trifling" as these men make them out to be. This paper will analyze setting, characters, plot, stage directions, symbolism, themes and genre to show how Glaspell's "Trifles" is an ironic indictment not of a murderess but rather of the men who push women to such acts.