Comparing and Contrasting “In Camera” by Nawal EL Saadawi and “Punishment” by Rabbindranath Tagore

The first aspect both stories have in common is the fact that both of the women are oppressed by a man in their life.“The

The short story written by Fahimeh Q. Basenji, he shares in his writings about “The Yellow Wall-Paper and Story of an Hour”. In the journal, he discusses how the two stories are similar but have different narrator experiences. He tells how “female characters oppressed by the patriarchal authority in the marriage and their oppression” (1). The author writes about how a female author can

“Women and Gender in Islam” by Leila Ahmed was published in 1992, at a time when research on Arab women was a young, newly emerging field of study. Leila Ahmed is an Egyptian American writer and feminist. Her text “Women and Gender in Islam” targets proclaimed feminists, both western and non-western, as the intended audience. The text is involved with the discourse of gender, the discourses of women, the discourses of feminist, and colonial and post-colonial discourses.

Women's rights in the Middle East have always been a controversial issue. Although the rights of women have changed over the years, they have never really been equal to the rights of a man. This poses a threat on Iran because women have very limited options when it comes to labor, marriage and other aspects of their culture. I believe that equal treatment for women and men is a fundamental principal of international human rights standards. Yet, in some places like Iran, discriminatory practices against women are not only prevalent, but in some cases, required by law. In this essay I will explain to you the every day life of an every day Islamic woman living in Iran. You will be astonished by what these women have endured through the

Sadly, to this day, women are still treated like objects in various parts of the world. Whether forced into marriage or used for inhumane acts, it is a shame that changes towards the treatment of women are only starting to take place now. An insightful look into the worlds of poorly treated women is seen in the short stories “Another Evening at The Club”, and “The Leaving”. Alifa Rifaat, the author of “Another Evening.” depicts the life of an eastern teenager that was forced into marriage and is controlled by the actions of her husband. While the main character, Samia, seems to act as an evil accomplice of her husband, her actions are driven by the need to serve a purposeful life for the sake of survival, and their image together. Similarly,

Fortunately for Claridiana and Mizaldus, their insatiate hatred is tempered by the loyalty between Abigail and Thais. Despite their husbands’ attempts to cuckold each other, Abigail and Thais cleverly switch places, such that the men are sleeping with their own wives (3.3). Still, they think they have cuckolded, and likewise have been cuckolded; and so rather than live with the shame, they clamor to be executed for the murder of Mendosa, a crime which neither committed (3.9-4.1). Thais and Abigail therefore save their husbands both from being cuckolds and from the more extreme judgment of death, a fate they were stupidly willing to suffer to avoid that special shame they supposed fell upon them. In this, being both unsuccessful at adultery and endlessly foolish, the men are, in their ways, insatiate. While this would be

Women’s rights in the Middle East have always been a controversial issue. Although the rights of women have changed over the years, they have never really been equal to the rights of a man. This poses a threat on Iran because women have very limited options when it comes to labor, marriage and other aspects of their culture. I believe that equal treatment for women and men is a fundamental principal of international human rights standards. Yet, in some places like Iran, discriminatory practices against women are not only prevalent, but in some cases, required by law. In this essay I will explain to you the every day life of an every day Islamic woman living in Iran. You will be astonished by what these women

For a woman living in Afghanistan in the late twentieth century, following the rules is essential to staying alive. Mariam is used to following the rules in her life, starting as a small child listening to her mother, Nana. The forced obedience she adopts because of Nana follows her throughout her whole life, all the way through her arranged and abusive marriage to Rasheed. Eventually, the abuse from Rasheed grows to be overwhelming, and Mariam breaks an ultimate law: she commits murder. Mariam lives nearly her entire life abiding by rules set for her by her mother and her husband, but when she goes against them she is able to briefly experience freedom.

Brooks uses the sources to bring the thesis together and to help get her point across about the oppression of Islamic women and the pride and power of their male figures. An Islamic law states that women are not to commit adultery, but their husband can have more than one wife. When Brooks learned the story of Rehab and Mohamed and how Mohamed left Rehab for Fatima, it really opened her eyes on how different the treatment of married women of the Islamic world.

The Taliban implemented laws restricting the movements and actions of women in Afghanistan in public places. While attempting to visit her child in a home for young girls, Laila is beaten within an inch of her life as a consequence of walking outside without a male escort (Hosseini). The extreme course of action, beating a woman for walking alone, demonstrates the illogical and unjustifiable actions the Taliban promotes the practice of in Afghanistan. The women and men have dramatically unequal rights.

The women of Saudi Arabia have been oppressed by the men of the country for generations due to the ignorance of the people, their Islamic faith, and the government. They have no rights and they must receive permission from their husbands or fathers to work, travel, and receive medical attention. The memoir Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia by Jean Sasson, is an excellent example of the oppression of women in Saudi Arabia and the literary devices of characterization and setting help to bring the oppression to life.

Each culture has expectations and traditions that each person is expected to follow, those who do not conform are branded as outcasts. These expectations are exhausting and cause inner conflict within society. The novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz, is about the pressure of adhering to the unwritten rules of cultural expectations. The novel’s themes can be compared to the lives of women in the the Middle-East and their push for equality. The documentary, He Named Me Malala by David Guggenheim, follows the story of Malala Yousafzai and her push for women’s education in Pakistan, and the suppression of the Taliban. Guggenheim’s documentary highlights Malala’s trouble with changing her culture's expectations for women and the sadness in wake of that issue. The TED Talks from Alaa Murabit, What My Religion Really Says About Women, explains her experience with loss of innocence when she moved from Canada to Libya. An article from The Guardian, Majority of men in the Middle East survey believe a woman's place is at home, exposes the truth of men’s expectations of women in the Middle East and the women’s ambition to achieve more. The constructs and rules enforced by the culture that engulfs a person causes oppression and damage to their mental health.

The fictional accounts of women’s experiences in Fadia Faqir’s, Pillars of Salt, illustrate issues articulated by women’s rights activists in the Middle East. Traditional roles of women and men and a mythology of femininity and masculinity are juxtaposed with the disparate realities of the characters. The damaging forces of colonial rule, war, and Westernization are also exposed.

In Tagore’s “Punishment” the female character Chandara is depicted as the wife of a field worker who is being framed for murder by her husband in order to save his brother, whereas in Ichiyo’s “Separate Ways” Okyo is depicted as a poor kimono maker who is given the chance to move up in the world and become a courtesan for a wealthy family. Chandara really doesn’t have much of a say in what happens to her, it is her word, a women, versus the word of her husband in a society run by the imperialistic English government. The only way she is able to get any sort of say is to accept the blame and receive the death penalty, freeing her from the bonds set in place and giving her a sort of freedom to choose her own fate. While Okyo is fully capable

Seamus Heaney is a widely celebrated poet from Northern Ireland and was well known for writing about his culture and song-like pieces that touched on historical and ethical natures. In “Punishment”, the piece focuses on the image of a dead girl, now a preserved piece of history, who was supposedly killed for committing adultery in Germany. In the dark, dramatic, and historical poem “Punishment” by Seamus Heaney, he uses overt words and phrasing, internal rhyme, as well as alliteration, metaphors, and other literary devices to uncover the brutality, injustice, and chilling exposedness of the murder of the young girl, who is the subject of the piece.