Cultural And Religious Beliefs, Sex, And The Crying Of Lot 49 And Thomas Pynchon 's Sixties Based Essay

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.

The women described in the Lais of Marie de France often commit traditionally sinful deeds, such as adultery, murder, and betrayal. However, with a few exceptions, the protagonists often end up living happily with their beloved for the rest of their lives. The Lais advocate for situational judgement rather than general condemnation of specific acts, which can be seen through Marie de France’s treatment of sinful heroines.

Sexual transgression and sexual exploration is one of the most highly talked about topics in today’s society. The path to sexual liberation within society begins with experimentation and exploration, followed by personal acceptance, and finally, although not always, societal acceptance. Although we have come a long way on the path of acceptance of different sexual transgressions, the stories of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Tennessee Williams’ “Vieux Carre,” and Lyle Saxon’s “The Centaur Plays Croquet” show that this type of acceptance has not always been the case. Each story plays an integral role when looking at the steps on the path to societal acceptance. Chopin 's story dives deep into the area of experimentation and exploration, whereas Saxon 's story looks more at the areas of personal acceptance, and Williams ' story lies more along the area of societal acceptance, and whether or not acceptance is always the end result.

Sedgwick describes one of the most distinctive Gothic tropes, as the ‘unspeakable’ (Sedgwick, Pg. 94), through this trope, she explains how sexuality between men has been recognized as having no name, essentially being ‘unspeakable’, ‘unmentionable’, and ‘not to be

Nevertheless, Haywood’s protagonist adopts different disguises so she may pursue her sexual desires and attract Beauplairsir while retaining her reputation in a society that separates the virtuous woman from the woman who asserts her sexual desires. The protagonist faces the same issues as women in today’s society who struggle between reconciling their virtue with their sexuality in romantic relationships. Women who freely engage in sexual activity are stigmatized as undesirable for ‘serious’ relationships. Meanwhile, the virtuous relationship women is seen as less sexual and as needing help to spice up her sex live and hold the attention of her partner. These two female identities are put at odds with each other, but just as Haywood’s protagonist attempts to stay the virtuous woman while playing as a seductress, today’s modern woman is expected to play both roles. The introduction to “Fantomina: or, Love in a Maze” in our Broadview anthology discusses Haywood’s vision of the story and its “central theme of disguise” and the allure of masquerade. The appeal of masquerade still lingers in present day society where role-playing is often cited as a means of maintaining a relationships and an exciting sex life. Clearly the love in this relationship comes from only Fantomina. She goes from pretending to be a prostitute to being depressed at losing her virture to being obsessed with gaining Beauplaisir’s love no matter what.

In Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Alice Munro’s Lives of Girls and Women, Esther and Del try to take control of their sexuality and their sexual lives. These two female protagonists attempt to gain sexual confidence by quietly rejecting the societal images of women. They are able to seduce men and pilot their own sexual lives. These women are also able to ignore the popular beliefs about marriage and motherhood, thus freeing them from the traditional, restrictive female sexual roles. By rejecting the popular notions of womanhood, sexuality, and marriage, Esther and Del become the mistresses of their sexuality and sexual

Throughout the 1960’s, America as a society has endured many tragic and traumatic events such as War and the problems of communication in society, which have shaped how the country is today. Thomas Pynchon’s ‘The crying of Lot 49’ is a text that prescribes the hope for revolution, the secrete withdrawal of “cheered land of the middle-class life ”and the proliferation of countercultures (Hill, 2011). The text vividly represents the panoramic view of urban and suburban spaces. It could be argued that the ‘The Crying of Lot 49’ is deep in meaning, where moments throughout the play can construct humor and empathy from the reader. Pychon portrays the American Society admirable but also illustrates the harsh realities of its culture. The aim for this essay is to distinguish the relationship between the American urban and suburban spaces illustrated with the text of ‘The Crying of Lot 49’.

While Ginzburg may argue that the erotic is not meant to refer to the sexual, the fact is that much of the world interprets the erotic as such. Within the work “Embracing the Erotic of Affiliation and Danger”, Mary Lowe discusses the erotic as it is seen by many theologians and theorists. In her work to summarize many theologians’ views on the erotic (views that extend to those of American society, as a whole), she

Felix Van Groeningen’s The Broken Circle Breakdown continues the long-standing tradition of showcasing graphic sexuality in European cinema. Europe has never been shy when it comes to nudity or sexual content in their films. In contrast, the United States has been much more conservative about showing sex on screen until relatively recently. A film like The Broken Circle Breakdown is a good representation of how Europe has almost always been much more advanced at handling sex on screen than the United States.

In Marge Piercy's book, Woman on the Edge of Time, sex plays a major role in both the utopia and the dystopia. The portrayal of sex in the novel comes from a feminist point of view. The main character, Connie, is caught between a utopian world and a dystopian world where the takes on sex are on different levels. By using a feminist approach, the two worlds of sex can be examined and contrasted.

Women in literature have been portrayed in a multitude of ways throughout time. From goddesses to witches, and even prostitutes, women have not been limited in their representations. One challenge, in particular, is repression of their sexuality. In novels by Kate Chopin, George Orwell, and Kazuo Ishiguro, female characters live in societies that seek to regulate their sexuality. Published in 1899, The Awakening by Chopin focuses on Edna Pontellier, a woman who seeks to create a life outside her marriage by pursuing relationships with various lovers. George Orwell’s 1984, which was published in 1949, features Julia, a woman who rebels against her society by having sex for pleasure and not for reproduction. In addition, like Chopin and Orwell,

The deviancy of Humbert’s sexual encounters with Annable Leigh, his first love, at age 13 is masked by beautiful, erotic language, making their sexual act natural and decent. Humbert asserts that his love for and memory of his first love provided the basis for his affair with Lolita. Humbert’s sexual experience with Annabel takes place one summer night in a garden on the French Riviera. His description of their act contains no sign of trepidation or self-censorship; it is highly poetic from beginning to end. The narrator is not so much trying to describe the erotic games of two

E.M Forster dedicated his novel “Maurice” to a “happier year”, affirming his intention of the novel’s purpose as an insight into the future evolution of sexual desire and relationships, leading some to attach significance to the text as a protagonist of controversial debate of the time . Forster delayed publication of Maurice for 57 years waiting for a time where wider concepts of desire could be explored without recrimination . Indeed, it has been argued that the novel was self-prophetic in predicting experiences Forster had not had himself, who later described his own sex life

Conceptual cross-traffic between religious, scientific, and sociocultural principles spurred a Modernist revolution characterized by its focus upon restoring individual autonomy, emancipation from structure, and self-expressionism. As a byproduct of Modernism, a sexual revolution was borne that, while still embodying the Modernist ideology, was more tightly centered upon a revalorization and acceptance of individualism and deviancy in sexuality. James Joyce, a modernist of this revolutionary era, uses the plot of his short story ‘Encounter’ as an analogous, satirical critique of the Christian perspective on the progression of the Modernist sexual revolution.

This film highlights the ideas of a male dominating exchange, and women submitting themselves in the bedroom. When does it become too much for Ana until she reaches her breaking point? What does Christian do to “punish” Ana for breaking rules in the contract? This dramatic, erotic film is such an “exciting” film that redefines the true meaning of romance. 50 Shades of Grey creates many fantasies/ideas for women to explore with their significant other in the bedroom – categorizing attachment with intimacy.