Comparing Haywood 's And The Allure Of Masquerade Essay

In a harsh world, desire is something that can bring vulnerability to any person. Cristiana Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” is a riveting tale about two sisters who handle desire differently. One knows desire exists, but has the maturity and courage to not give in to her own yearnings, whereas the other cannot control her desires and pays dearly for them. Love is a strong theme in “Goblin Market” and is shown through the love that Lizzie has for her sister, Laura. Lizzie does not let her desire get the best of her when hearing the goblin men, she “thrust a dimpled finger / In each ear, shut her eyes and ran” (Rossetti 67-68). However, it is Laura that falls into a desire for the goblin men through curiosity: “Curious Laura chose to linger / Wondering at each merchant man” (Rossetti 69-70). The difference in the sisters understanding of desire cannot be better shown than in these lines.

Like prostitutes, the women in “Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess” also violate traditional gender roles. For that reason, the men take it upon themselves to bring the power relation back to that of convention, where men are bearers of power and have control in relationships. The means by which this power reversion is accomplished, however, are subject to examination.

During the Renaissance period, sexuality impacted how people, both men and women, were treated and how they behaved. The lives of women were completely defined by the ideals of sexuality that were enforced during that time. Every area of a woman’s life from birth was influenced by outside influences rather than by they themselves. It took a particular type of woman to break past the clearly defined description of what a “Renaissance woman” should be.

Society has a powerful influence over individuals’ actions, but that power and influence is not carried over to an individuals’ mindset. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the two characters Faber and Beatty have very similar personalities. Though the way of society has drastically influenced how each responds accordingly to social standards. Faber has followed the path that society has paved for him, but he wants to be the man that can help change society’s view of books. Beatty is fulfilling his duties as fire chief, and is seen as a power head, though he may not be as happy as society depicts him to be. Both characters are well read,

Furthermore, the woman was never recognised as an equal in the world; with a “mane” for hair she is immediately relatable to an animal. When this connection is made, the woman is perceived as some strange creature; a mere mimicry of a real human. Harwood’s description of is a taste of how society views women; not quiet human. Now equipped with darker views of the flower filled day; the contemporary day reader is pondering to whether or not this vile practice is still belittling women of today.

Sexuality has an inherent connection to human nature. Yet, even in regards to something so natural, societies throughout times have imposed expectations and gender roles upon it. Ultimately, these come to oppress women, and confine them within the limits that the world has set for them. However, society is constantly evolving, and within the past 200 years, the role of women has changed. These changes in society can be seen within the intricacies of literature in each era. Specifically, through analyzing The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, one can observe the dynamics of society in regards to the role of women through the lens of the theme of sexuality. In both novels, the confinement and oppression of women can be visibly seen as a result of these gender roles. Yet, from the time The Scarlet Letter was published to the time The Bell Jar was written, the place of women in society ultimately changed as well. Hence when evaluating the gender roles that are derived from sexuality, the difference between the portrayals of women’s oppression in each novel becomes apparent, and shows how the subjugation of women has evolved. The guiding question of this investigation is to what extent does the theme of sexuality reflect the expectations for women in society at the time each novel was written. The essay will explore how the literary elements that form each novel demonstrate each author’s independent vision which questions the

Presenting literature to the public that is meant to be a commentary on social or political issues, masked under the guise of entertaining and fictional, is a tool implemented by authors and activists for centuries. While not all satire is as overt as Jonathan Swift’s suggestion that we eat the babies, it does not diminish the eyebrow raising suggestions that are conveyed once the meaning has been discovered. In Aphra Behn’s The History of the Nun and Eliza Haywood’s Fantomina, the established expectations of the female role within society are brought into question then directly rejected. These expectations establish that women should be deferential to men, morally unblemished, and virtuous at all times. Men, however, are not held to these expectations in the same way. The masculine roles assumed by Isabella and Fantomina demonstrate a private rebellion against the established patriarchal society as it warns against the under-estimation of women and proves that women exist independently.

Irene’s queer personality lives repressed in her id and the attraction can be noticed through many too detailed descriptions of Clare body parts and personality. “Her lips, painted a brilliant geranium red, were sweet and sensitive and a little obstinate. A tempting mouth” (45). It is impressive to see how this supposedly straight woman describes Clare’s mouth as tempting, yet she does not stop there, because Irene also describes her voice, “What was it about Clare's voice that was so appealing, so very seductive?” (52). The utilization of these adjectives is questionable because even when Irene talks about her husband Brian, she never uses adjectives that could express desire or even love. Irene is aware that her marriage is an arrangement where according to Brian sex is a just grand joke (60).

The breaking of social norms: is it possible? Throughout the text, Fantomina goes to this extensive length of "stratagems" to continue her pursuit of Beuaplaisir. Throughout these attempts, Fantomina herself desires to gain this sexual attention of men and break away from her socially restricted status and expectations as a woman. Her desires are successful for she is able to gain power to be in control of Beuaplaisir's attention due to her disguises and the breaking the roles of gender normative behavior.

In the short story, The Old Chevalier by Isak Dinsen, the male protagonist, Baron von Brackel reflects on his past sexual encounters with two women whose personalities are extremely different from one another. In many novels, short stories and comics authors would create two women as “polar opposites” for a man’s sexual and/or possessive gaze, which is evident in the text. In order to understand, why a man may be attracted to different character traits in women, I will examine The Baron’s attraction to Nathalie and The Mistress by looking at how literary works men portray women, what they find attractive and the fulfilment that men seek from a woman.

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.

Eliza Haywood is one of the productive and great bestsellers of the Eighteenth Century. The thesis focuses on the thought of Feminism in her amatory short story Fantomina; or Love in the Maze. In the beginning, the study states the development of Feminism, Eliza Haywood’s works and her influence and the literary review of the thesis. In the main body, Chapter one includes the analysis of oppressed women in the patriarchal society, whose pressures are from the society, the family and females themselves; the second chapter presents the protagonist Fantomina’s self- consciousness, which includes her self-identification, self-evaluation and her inner natural desire; the last chapter analyses the awakening of feminist consciousness in the short story, which is demonstrated by Fantomina’s feminine voice, feminine feigning and her pursuit of happiness. In Chinese academic data bases, Eliza Haywood is not a hit and popular studying author, and most of the academic studies are mainly focus on her other work Love in Excess, and the study of Fantomina is much less in comparison.

Christina Rossetti’s, “Goblin Market” message focuses around the sexual content and vicious descriptions of men, symbolizing them as goblins. This narrative poem focuses on two girls, Lizzie and Laura, who get tempted by the goblins selling a generous variety of fruits. Many readers made a first connection to the story understanding it to be relating to sexuality and virginity. Making it hard for the readers to see what other moral or messages might be there that could potential be the main ones. With a different shift of focus, and a fresh new perspective, the hidden compassionate message of sisterhood can be found. “Goblin Market’s” focus is not entirely on the steamy erotic poem that is designed to challenge sexuality during the Victorian era, but rather the sexual content is a method of disproving the misconceptions regarding powerless women, and showing how powerful the bond is between the two sisters as they break the expectations of society.

“Aragay and Lopez find the late-twentieth-century cultural context, in which (they assert) female spectators no longer believe in romance yet need to do so, embedded in the Bridget Jones books and films. I take this to be a reference to the post-feminist world view, in which women's apparent freedom of choice implies that feminism is now redundant, but feminists argue that the position of women in this world is still "limited and unfair" and that this very freedom is complicit in constraining women to traditional roles and creating anxiety about achieving success in those roles” (Raitt).

“He starts a rumor going round to the effect that he has become a eunuch; …wives, he trusts, will be intrigued” (2288). Horner’s conclusion is logical and clever, considering the fact that masks “were a widespread item of Restoration fashion[;]…they were worn both by ‘virtuous’ women and by prostitutes, with the tantalizing effect of rendering those two human categories not quite distinguishable from one another” (2288). From this social climate, he discerns that if he wears a metaphorical mask, or a unique social label, this mask might have a similar “tantalizing effect” on women; it might make discerning female wits want to discover whether the man behind the mask is truly asexual or erotic.