DORIS LESSING'S "TO ROOM 19" SYMBOLS

Feminism, a term often used to show a movement towards equal political, economic, and cultural opportunities for women is becoming widely used. This movement was supported by many females such as Betty Friedan, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Stanton, and many other ordinary women. It is universally known that the feminist movement came in three waves. The first wave’s purpose was to get equal political power by allowing women to vote. The second wave was more concerned about the differences between the genders, such their roles and working conditions. Last but not least, the third wave, is often regarded as a continuation of the civil rights movements. As this movement spread, a new way of analyzing literature came to live. This is known as seeing

Women are humans, humans with emotions and the need for self expression. The men, throughout history, have degraded the female sex, they have always seen women as objects and a machine that helps reproduce and carry on their blood. Society formed the ‘perfect’ role for women and it was expected that they follow it. They were expected to be the loving, responsible, obedient, stay at home wives. Due to such an inequitable lifestyle given to women, they decided to fight for equality and defend their gender. They will later be known as feminists. According to Literary and Cultural Theory by Donald Hall, feminists focal point is to investigate the various ways women have been limited to social power and the liberty to self

Throughout the nineteenth century, gender assumptions were made stating that women were the substantially and intellectually the weaker sex. Due to this mindset, it was believed that women must always serve under male control. This belief caused most women in the nineteenth century to bask in an aura of oppression and repression. Feministic views’ commence from the awareness of the inequality of treatment that women faced. Many stories such as, The Yellow Wallpaper written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman , and the The Story of an Hour written by Kate Chopin , demonstrated the oppression that women endured and expressed women’s regression. However, only The Yellow Wallpaper and the The Story of an Hour are attributable to the play A Doll’s House through it’s use of symbolic symbols. In A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen symbolic use of the letter box, tarantela, macaroons,and the Nora’s slamming of the door, exhibits a change in the

Previously, women have existed in a society ruled by man and have been put under the expectation to be at home raising the children and taking care of the home, while men were expected to go to work and provide for the family. Since the beginning of civilization, women have been victims to prejudice that eventually “compelled women at last to throw off the political, economic, intellectual and social shackles that bound them” (Joshi 13). The complexity of women’s hardship during the nineteenth century, in the fight for equality, resulted in many women getting arrested and looked down upon from their communities. Although the consequences seem treachery, many women risked their livelihood and pushed forth determination and will power to

Feminism is a women’s rights movement which originated during the 19th century to advocate for equality for both sexes. Women, as a whole, were oppressed by a patriarchal society where they had few opportunities to express themselves due to cultural roles and stereotypes surrounding their gender. Donald Hall claims, “... women have been denied social power and the right to various forms of self-expression...” in his Literary and Cultural Theory: Feminist Analysis to further prove the oppressed status of women. Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, two cultural feminist literary critics, allow their readers to view an oppressive, androcentric patriarchal society through the eyes of their characters in their stories. Chopin’s The Awakening and

The purpose of this argumentative paper is the feminism that occurred in the early 1900s. “Now We Can Begin” written and compiled as a speech by Crystal Eastman in the United States during the 19th amendment about the inequality experienced in the society with women having limited rights and unequal treatment (Eastman). Women during that time would stay at home and watch over their children while they husbands would be the bread winners of the family. When Crystal Eastman wrote the speech in the 20’s, the roles played by each gender had begun to disappear as women were pursuing careers and leaving their homes to indulge in other outside activities. She wrote ab0out the plight of women and the challenging norms of gender experienced

More and more women are becoming single parents and raising their children on their own without the help of the father or of any man. Lately, and for several years, it is more common for women to be doing jobs for “men”. ( Kaiser, Spalding) Women who have been left by a male figure in their lives are very more likely to become independent and do as they need to survive. This was unheard of in the late 1800s and early 1900s, as said several times before, women do as men say and they are expected to do what they are told and live by a code. The morals of the realism and modernism era are unheard of in today's world. Women, and even men, either get married and have children, have children and don’t get married, or do neither and live their lives that way. Women have been acting this way for years, but is it really their fault? The leadership it takes for a woman to be on her own, and all the negativity that comes with being a woman who does what she feels is the right thing to do or what she wants to do, is absurd. (Bongiorno, Bain,

In the late 19th century, women struggled to break from the societal norms in which were expected of them. These societal guidelines dictated how a woman should behave, how a woman should think, and what a woman should desire in her own life. Created by the patriarchal atmosphere of the 19th century, society pressured young women to wed and bear children. Written inside a California newspaper in January 1884, an article titled “The Household” elucidates the role of a women, “While she does so much for the comfort of others, she nearly ruins her own health and life. It is because she cannot be easy and comfortable when there is the least disorder or dirt to be seen.”

Before the rise of the feminist movement in the late 19th century, women were denied social power and the ability to self-express which led women to desire a voice of their own. Since then, feminism has been widely perceived and controversial which provoked feminists to emphasize women’s needs by confronting the social oppression of women and analyze how their feeling of self-doubt results in response to the constant power struggle between the two sexes. Not only did women protest for more rights, but men also sought equal rights, thereby strengthening the feminist movement further. In Donald Hall’s book Literary and Cultural Theory, he explores the various lenses of feminism by discussing how patriarchy affects the social, economic, and psychological

Women of early to mid 1900’s were oppressed by the man’s perfect view of what a woman should and should not be. Hastily after they were given the right to vote in 1920, men pressured women to stay in the realm of expertise they had already participated in for centuries, domesticity. Sylvia Plath the writer of, The Bell Jar, uses the life of Esther Greenwood to show how cultural views of women disabled women from reaching their highest abilities. Women who sought a higher education or an occupation above the norm were pitied in society, looked down on for not conforming to the American dream of the “suburb housewife” (Friedan,60). Women of higher positions were judged by their looks instead of the qualifications. Life for women was particularly hard in the 1950’s, many women would go about their day drugged with uppers and plaster the fake smiles on their faces just to be favored in society; but the mundanity of daily life dragged on and many women found no challenge or enjoyment in their tasks (Friedan, 62). Men used the pressures of society to oppress women in conforming with the ideal housewife, instead of joining the workforce and creating their own destiny -like the women before they had fought for- they applied themselves to an image created for them by “God” and by “man”.

Since it’s earliest days, feminism has had many misconceptions about it. These include feminists wanting female superiority over men, the idea that feminists hate marriage, men, motherhood, etc. In both A Doll’s House by Fredrik Ibsen and The Awakening by Kate Chopin these stereotypes are reinforced to the reader. Both A Doll’s House and The Awakening represent poor examples of feminism because the main characters rely on men for validation and also search for superiority over equality with the men in their lives.

This paper will not be able to cover the complexity of feminism as a whole since it has become a very broad subject. In addition, feminism has also been a heavily debated issue that has been around for numerous years. The argument of feminism is that women are, and always have been throughout history, treated differently than men by society. Therefore, women are being stripped down of opportunities to their benefit economically, socially, politically, culturally, and several more ways. This essay will highlight and analyze the cultural aspects of feminism from the texts of Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening, Donald Hall’s “Feminist Analysis” from Literary and Cultural Theory, Charlotte Gilman’s short story ”The Yellow Wallpaper”, Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour”, and Tillie Olsen’s short story “Tell Me A Riddle.” Cultural feminism, the ideology of the roles and stereotypical characteristics of women. Therefore, women are unable to express themselves due to being oppressed by patriarchal society. Thus, preserving and nurturing “female culture” will benefit society. As a final point, this paper will point out and identify women being isolated from their culture and personal values.

“Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in the highest development of the race” (Susan B Anthony). Feminism has evolved into our society in a slowly but remarkably life-changing way. Since the beginning of time, men have been deemed superior over women for the anatomy of their bodies and intellectual abilities. In the 21st century, patriarchal abuse has lessened and may not be practiced by women anymore; however, feminist (women and men) are fighting against these controversial roles implemented to them by society and culture. Many have the urge to presume that a feminist is a stereotypical man-hating activist who believes all the troubles in the world are caused by men. Feminism is anything but a stereotype; in fact the definition of feminism is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” Equality is the main aspect that ties feminist together through the hardships of the developing society. Feminist perspectives therefore challenge and explore patriarchal interests implemented in women’s ability to express themselves and the quality of their lives. Fundamentally, feminist analysis intends to closely examine how male dominance and female advocacy manifest themselves in specific angles of society. In the world of feminist analysis, according to Donald Hall, critics and theorists are

Susan can only get true peace when she is in room 19, away from the family, in her own private space where she cannot be disturbed. Susan was not even able to get away in her own house without the children disrupting her time, “Many serious conversations took place between Matthew and the children about not taking Mother for granted. Susan overheard the first . . . and was surprised at her irritation over it. Surely she could have a room somewhere in that big house and retire into it without such a fuss being made” (Greenblatt, p. 2767).

Feminist theory analyzes the gender inequality that women have faced throughout the years due to a patriarchal society. Women were expected to fit the traditional female and conform to the gender norms that society has constructed. According to A Brief Introduction to Critical Theory, “Feminism embodies a way of reading that investigates the text’s investment in or reaction to the patriarchal power structures that have dominated Western culture” (227). Patriarchal power has oppressed women economically, socially, and politically. Women were associated more with domesticity than with politics and financial situations. They were not provided the same educational opportunities as men. These issues have been addressed by people, such as Mary