Compare and contrast the main female characters in The Withered Arm

Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein primarily focuses on Victor and his monster, but women also play a part. There are three major female figures in the novel; the housekeeper for the Frankenstein family: Justine, Victor’s “adopted cousin” and later wife: Elizabeth, and the never completed female monster. To both Victor and the monster woman are desired objects that offer comfort and companionship, but as the novel goes on, women become targets for revenge. This goes to show that the women in Frankenstein prove to be both powerless and powerful when it comes to dealing with the men that surround them.

As the perception of women changes constantly, society is the only factor in creating their ideal image. These societal views are the basis of their treatment, with the expectation that it is beneficial for them. However, societal expectations of women in the Elizabethan and Victorian eras severely limit their freedoms and rights. William Shakespeare’s Othello and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein portray most women in their typical roles. Both authors depict the level of injustice in society’s treatment of women through the passivity of women causing their deaths, the silencing of vulnerable women and the portrayal of women as more humane than men.

By exploring settings societies governed by political and social patriarchies, both Arthur Miller’s the Crucible and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaids Tale provide commentary on women’s role in society. Both texts are set against a backdrop in which women are seen as a ‘second class’ and are subject to male dominance. The similarities in the two texts lie within their separate discussions of gender roles in society, but they differ on the intricacies of this. From a theocratic standpoint, the play and the novel dissect the faults in an oppressive society, with Miller making it abundantly clear that it can in fact be challenged instead of conformed to. Atwood also somewhat entertains this concept, but both writers have different perceptions on identity and individuality in worlds that don’t seem much unlike our own.

Gender inequality will always affect the portrayal of women in society, the weaker, unnecessary, and other sex. It is not just a subject of the past, and still holds a name in society. However in the olden eras, the way women were treated and looked at was in a much harsher condition. In Shakespeare’s Othello and Shelley’s Frankenstein, women’s roles in the books are solely based on the way they are treated in their time period. The portrayal of women in these books demonstrate that they can never be in the same standing as men and therefore will never have the same respect as them. In both Othello and Frankenstein women are treated as property, used to better men’s social standards, and lack a voice, which demonstrates that in

In the novel Frankenstein, all of the women characters were depicted as the submissive sex. Marry characterizes them as passive, expendable, and serving no meaningful purpose.

These three brides represent the femme fatale, the fatal woman. The over sexualised women whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. These women serve as monstrous reminders of what happens if the boundaries of proper behaviour and traditional gender roles are crossed. These women, although beautiful, possess the wrong type of beauty, one of which brands them as evil, openly sexual and seductive women. Who, in addition lack the chaste passivity and fragility of the ideal Victorian lady, thus making them deserving of some form of punishment in order for them to be returned to their pure, innocent, albeit dead, human form.

The narrator is portraying a woman who is looked down upon because of her mental illness, but women at the time were often seen as childish or too emotional. “Then he took me in his arms called me a blessed little goose,” (Gilman 5). The narrator’s husband, John, treats her almost like a father would treat a daughter. The narrator is belittled because of her inability to act like women at the time were expected to. “Victorian values stressed that women were to behave demurely and remain with in the domestic sphere,” (Wilson 6). During the 19th century, women were expected to simply care for the children and clean the house. Most of the time, women who aspired to do more than that were not considered respectable wives. “Because the narrator is completely dependent on her husband and is allowed no other role than to be a wife and a mother, she represents the secondary status of women during the 19th century,” (Wilson 5).

A woman’s power and privileges depend on which societal class she is in. In Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale each group of women are each represented in a different way. The three classes of women from the novel are the Handmaids, the Marthas and the Wives. The ways in which the women are portrayed reflect their societal power and their privileges that they bestow.

Imagine you lived in the Victorian era. Know imagine you have almost no rights, are seen as the property of another, and you also have to do what you are told without question. Seems awful right? Interestingly enough that was the life of manny women in the Victorian era. The mistreating of women in the Victorian era can be seen in the similarities of three stories that prove just how hard life was for the Victorian women. The first story is Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birthmark". "The Birthmark" revolves around a male scientist who desires to change his wife's physical appearance. The mans efforts to change his wife eventually lead to his wife's death. The second story is Kate Chopin's "Desiree's Baby". "Desiree's Baby" revolves around Desire a woman who is thrown out by her husband, all due to their child being part African. The third story is Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper". "The Yellow Wallpaper" revolves

Many stories back then consisted of women being dominated over their husbands just because they are female and are considered the ones responsible to maintain the housework. The men who were considered dominant in this era, had the ability to control everything in terms of what the woman could and could not do. Along with that, it was expected that women were to be submissive to their husbands, or male figures in charge of their lives at the time. But in these three different stories, the outcomes of the woman all result in a significant impact to their lives in rather negative ways. In A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, The Story of an Hour, and Desiree’s Baby both by Kate Chopin, the reader experiences the reinforced and subvert gender norms present in the women with male figures who are dominant and have control over their lives.

Throughout the years, sexism has had a tremendous impact on women. Women in the 1920’s, and even before, were known as a man's possession, because they were considered the “weaker” sex. People, mostly men, had an idea of how women should be and how they should act, they were not allowed to work, be free, and in some cases not to talk or even look at other men, without being called a cruel name. In the book, Of Mice of Men, a character who is known as Curley's wife is the only woman on their farm and is secluded from everybody, with the exception of her husband, Curley. She was one of the many ladies who were mistreated all around the world during this time. Curly has taken ownership of her life and does not give her the option of doing what she wants or needs. Sexism has been an issue throughout every woman's life, including our character in the story, who has been struggling to get attention from someone who is willing to give it. It is clear that Curley’s wife is a victim of sexism, which would have shaped her into the woman she would have become.

However, what if the true theme of this isn’t women themselves, but /sin/? Initially, the two wives, as well as the slaves, all sin by their moral codes, and they’re punished for it, no less and no more than God has in the stories of their religions. Then things get a bit interesting. The two brothers go out to try and find someone who has a worse situation then they do, so that they may recover and be able to return to the kingdom. They do not find and speak to another man who has been betrayed, however, they find the betrayer instead. But there is a twist. They find a woman yes, but one who has been locked up and hidden by a demon, one trying to stop what God had already foreordained. They cry out “O God, O God! There is no power and no strength, save in God the Almighty, the Magnificent. Great is women’s cunning.” A strangely positive thing to say about the women who are being written about in such a negative light.

Women roles have drastically changed since the late 18th and early 19th century. During this time, women did not have the freedom to voice their opinions and be themselves. Today women don’t even have to worry about the rules and limitations like the women had to in this era. Edna in “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin and Nora in “A Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen were analogous protagonists. The trials they faced were also very similar. Edna and Nora were both faced with the fact that they face a repressive husband whom they both find and exit strategy for. For Nora this involved abandoning her family and running away, while Edna takes the option that Nora could not do-committing suicide. These distinct texts both show how women were forced to

In the Middle Age literature, women are often presented or meant to come off as an unimportant character; which can also reflect on how the author wants the women character represent. Women are usually shunned, have no say or control in what they do; due to what men desire; like Ophelia and Gertrude did in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. But these female characters that I will discuss are women with power, control, and a voice. Majority of the female character’s appearances are made to represent wickedness, evil, or a seducer who challenges a man belief; and does not symbolize perfect women.

In Gertrude Atherton’s Black Oxen, a man named Clavering falls in love with a woman who is not what she appears to be. When Clavering first sees Madame Zattiany, he views her as an object. He refers to her as “it” rather than “she” when he describes her at the beginning of the book. He states that, “in spite of its smooth white skin and rounded contours above an undamaged throat, it was, subtly, not a young face” (Atherton, page 45). Atherton is using Clavering as a vehicle to argue that men tend to see women as objects. It is easier to defend injustice if one can dehumanize the opposing side. It seems as if he is taking stock of her features, as if she were a cow being sold at a market, Clavering is observing her in the hopes of later devouring her. Clavering sees her and knows she is different because she draws attention to herself, she doesn’t just sit in silence. She simply isn’t behaving as Clavering believes a woman should. There is an uncertainty that comes when Clavering sees Mary disregarding the manners of the time. Then he observes her in great detail. His inspection reveals just how superficial Clavering is. He examines her so thoroughly, as if she was a prized mare at auction: “ her forehead was perhaps too high, but it was full, and thick hair was brushed back from a sharp point. Her eyebrows, thank Heaven, were many shades darker than her hair” (Atherton, pages 44-45). It is through these observations that Atherton emphasizes men’s obsession with the