Comparing The Works Of Mary Robinson And Christina Rossetti

women have made an exceedingly great impact on the world’s economical, social, and political spectrum. However, women are still deemed inferior to men in past and present cultures. The inferiority of women has been portrayed through various avenues such as literature and written works. The Virgil’s Aeneid and Ovid’s Metamorphoses’ women characters are three perfect depictions of how women in today’s society are dominated, disregarded, and discredited.

Throughout American Literature, women have been depicted in many different ways. The portrayal of women in American Literature is often influenced by an author's personal experience or a frequent societal stereotype of women and their position. Often times, male authors interpret society’s views of women in a completely different nature than a female author would. While F. Scott Fitzgerald may represent his main female character as a victim in the 1920’s, Zora Neale Hurston portrays hers as a strong, free-spirited, and independent woman only a decade later in the 1930’s.

The poem “The Poor Singing Dame” takes place in the nineteenth century and it shows how women’s rights were worse as an individual right when compared to how men were. The lord thought women couldn’t be cheerful as it says in the poem “Till envy the lord of the castle possess'd,/ For he hated that poverty should be so cheerful.” (Robinson 34-36). Next, the lord sent his men to threaten the singing dame. Then the lord became enraged when the dame kept singing. As it is stated “ And still would she carol her sweet roundelay;/ At last, an old steward relentless he sent her–/Who bore her, all trembling, to prison away!/” (Robinson 35-40).This shows that the lord despises how the singing dame can be so cheerful. He went as far as to throw her in

Due to the time period, one is raised in there are certain things that are considered to be the norm. In the late 1900’s women had no voice to speak out or give any of their opinions regarding any matters. In those types of society’s, the women are oppressed because the males were dominant. Edna Pontellier from The Awakening by Kate Chopin and Janie Crawford from Their eyes were watching God by Zora Neale Hurston are two women who are oppressed in the society they are brought up in.

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).

She, herself, was neither a visionary nor a mystic poet but was a devoted member of the Church of England. She believed that church was the dwelling place of the spirit of God upon earth and that she owed it all the honour within her bounds (Zaturenska: 233). Much of her devotional work, therefore, was the expression of her own individuality marked with sincerity, fervour and pure devotion. Her poems were an expression of her subjectivity which reflect the surrender of her inner self to her God. In fact, her poems bring into limelight the personal relationship that she shared with God, the relation of complete surrender. She says:

In the modern world women work, vote, run for office and the list goes on. In most aspects, women are equal to men. However, this was not always the case. In centuries past, women were not viewed as being equal to men socially, intellectually, or politically and were thought incapable of accomplishing anything of value. Consequently, many cultures held the view that women were possessions whose only purpose was to be subservient to men. The view of women as mere objects is evident in various works of literature throughout the ages. Two classic works of literature that exemplify this are The Thousand and One Nights and Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of

Although the structure of the poem contributes to its emotiveness the language is also essential to exhibit Rossetti's "passion". The natural imagery in the last three lines of each stanza contrast Rossetti to the natural world, they demonstrate how she feels left out of natural cycles by having no mate. There appears to be a longing to bear children in the last stanza, possibly Rossetti wishes not for the love of a partner but for the love of a child. Nature is usually associated with the idea of mating for

Nineteenth century poet, Christina Rossetti reflects this notion of female self-ownership in her poem, “Winter:My Secret.” She states, “I tell my secret? No indeed, not I/...Only, my secret's mine, and I won't tell” (1,5). Rossetti maintains the ambiguity of her secret throughout the poem, representing the mystery of the female self. Instead of allowing herself to be defined by and dependent on the male, and as Wollstonecraft states,“blindly [submitting] to authority,” (241) she is impenetrable and therefore, free from the male's grasp.

The topic I will be discussing in this essay is the varies roles of women in societies from the text we read this semester of different works from multiple cultures. Women have always substantially held traditional roles as well as often seen of different powers in aiding in benefit of the hero or aiding in his or her defeat. I chose to look at works from two genres we covered. I will be discussing women in the text of hero and that of a tragic hero. My goal is to compare and contrast women in both stories of heroes and those of tragic heroes.

Reflecting upon their role in society, women in literature are often portrayed in a position

Throughout the ages, women have been graded on their performance and instructed on what is supposed to be their purpose. In the poem, “Marks,” by Linda Pastan, the speaker expresses her distaste for being graded on how she performs her “womanly” tasks. Likewise, in the poem, “Women,” by May Swenson, the speaker seems to be comprised of a contingent of people from the time the poem was written – around 1978 – likewise, the speaker of “Marks” is a wife and mother of two children – a boy and a girl. The poem, “Women,” details how the people of the time feel about women and who they should “serve.” Since both poems seemingly depict the purpose of women, the poem “Marks” could be incorporated into the class discussion to show conflicting perspectives between women and the public about the treatment of women.

The society always queries about the role of women and for centuries, they have struggled to find their place in a world that is predominantly male oriented. The treatment of women was remarkably negative; they were expected to stay home and fulfil the domestic duties. Literature of that time embodies and mirrors social issues of women in society (Lecture on the Puritans). But, slowly and gradually, situation being changed: “During the first half of the 19th century, women 's roles in society evolved in the areas of occupational, moral, and social reform. Through efforts such as factory movements, social reform, and women 's rights, their aims were realized and foundations for further reform were established” (Lauter 1406). Feminist poets like Emily Dickinson and Anne Bradstreet talked substantially about feminism in different lights in the past two centuries. They were very vocal and assertive about their rights and the ‘rights for women’ in general. While they might have been successful at making a good attempt to obliterate gender biases but still there are lot of disparities between the two genders. Nevertheless, their poetry reflects a deep angst.

Each writer addresses the status of Women to society in their work to show how women were suppressed from intellectual equality and freedom during their time. As the intro stated there were men and women of high regard in the fight to open society’s eyes to women inequality. One of these men was J.S. Mill, an English or Victorian philosopher, thinker, and social activist. Who through one of his

The role of women in the society is always questioned and for centuries, they have struggled to find their place in a world that is predominantly male oriented. The treatment of women was extremely negative; they were expected to stay home and fulfill domestic duties. Literature of that time embodies and mirrors social issues of women in society (Lecture on the Puritans). But, slowly and gradually, situation being changed: “During the first half of the 19th century, women 's roles in society evolved in the areas of occupational, moral, and social reform. Through efforts such as factory movements, social reform, and women 's rights, their aims were realized and foundations for further reform were established” (Lauter 1406). Feminist poets like Emily Dickinson and Anne Bradstreet talked substantially about feminism in different lights in the past two centuries. They were very vocal and assertive about their rights and the ‘rights for women’ in general. While they might have been successful at making a good attempt to obliterate gender biases but still there are lot of disparities between the two genders. Nevertheless, their poetry reflects a deep angst.