Du Tenth Sinks The Jewel Box In Anger

Furthermore, in part tree, The Widow, Spence urges the reader of woman's values and her characteristics in T'an-ch'eng county. Through the Local History Spence defines the meaning of property in the seventeen century China. Women like any other piece of

Poverty and hardship are shown to create vulnerability in female characters, particularly the female servants, allowing powerful men to manipulate and sexually abuse them. Kent illustrates how poverty perpetuates maltreatment and abuse in a society like Burial Rites using the characters of Agnes’ mother Ingveldur and Agnes. Agnes’ mother is forced to make invidious choices as her children are “lugged along” from farm to farm, where she is sexually exploited by her employers. In spite of these circumstances, Agnes’ mother is commonly referred to as a whore in their society which abhors female promiscuity yet disregards male promiscuity as a harmless character trait; as in the case of Natan, who is merely “indiscreet” despite all his philandering. Born into poverty, Agnes experiences similar sexual coercion and manipulation from her “masters” and yet is labelled “a woman who is loose with her emotions and looser with her morals”. The severe poverty of Agnes is explicitly demonstrated to the reader by Kent through the intertextual reference of her entire belongings - a very dismal, piteous list to be “sold if a decent offer is presented”. Furthermore, Kent contrasts the situation of Agnes, a “landless workmaid raised on a porridge of moss and poverty”, to the comparative security Steina has experienced using a rhetorical question from

a story that reflects the subordination of woman in marriage. By the time of the early

In the story “Marrying Absurd,” Joan Didion scrutinizes the Las Vegas wedding industry critically with the analysis of how ludicrous Las Vegas wedding industry has become. In her articulations, Didion portrays to the readers how cheap the wedding industry is making a mockery of the sanctification of the marriage. Didion applies various effective techniques and details to pass her impression of Las Vegas giving her opinions on its values within the marriage environment. The essay explains the Didion Joan account on the Marrying Absurd.

Women in history stood best known for a less ascendant sex in the mid-nineteen centuries. Since times have gone by women had fought for their equal rights and freedom. There had been many stereotypes, where the women were considered as a slave to the men’s because the women’s position was to be the homemakers and a mother to their children, while the men’s are out socializing with others. If they were not happy with the marriage, they cannot just walk out or complain because a women role is to endure all these pains without a word coming out of their mouths. Two out of the ordinary short stories, “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Story of An Hour,” mostly focused on a women’s dilemma that they faced near the 19th century. The two main characters in the short stories show some resemblances in some ways, but both characters portrayed them in different ways of how they dealt their sorrows in their marriages.

In the early days, the role of woman has been confined by a man because their jobs are to get marry, have children, and most depend on their husbands. The men in the early society had bigger roles than women. Therefore, women has to base themselves on and listen to their men. However, in the story “Once Aboard The Lugger,” author Thomeas Qiller- couch presents an intense image of a woman who makes change in woman’s role in the early society. Nance Trewartha, a daughter of a fisherman in Ruan, wants to marry a minister Samuel from Troy. She has fond on him and starts to wonder how would be like if Samuel is her husband. With her lovingness and braveness, she kidnaps Samuel and start to reverse a women role in the courtship. Surprisingly, Nance pursues Samuel by isolating him, and she changes the patterns of courtship, culture, and class.

In “The Story of an Hour”, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and “Trifles”, the authors all question the institution of marriage through the emerging theme of the oppression of women. In each of these works, women are shown trapped in confining marriages. While marriage is supposed to be seen as one of the most beautiful and perfect sanctities life has to offer, these authors portray it as more of a bittersweet agony that women are forced to endure. Chopin, Gilman, and Glaspell use a combination of symbolism and perspective in their literature to bring about this theme of female oppression. With this theme, the authors cause the readers to take a more feminist perspective and question the institution of marriage through the eye of the average housewife of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Duong also provides her opinion about the capitalist ideologies through the characterisation of Aunt Tam. In contrast to Uncle Chinh, Aunt Tam was constructed as a character with protagonist nature. “Aunt Tam was beautiful. Few women could boast such fine features.” (Hang, page 250) Aunt Tam was conveyed by the author as a metaphor of beauty and was represented by the author to be an example in the successes in achieving the capitalistic goal of wealth. The emphasis on the word “few” could be placed as the idea that success in capitalism belonged with a minority and suggests impracticality of the capitalistic ideals.

Both of the tellers’ attitudes can easily be seen in the tales they share. The Merchant gives the negative view of marriage while the Wife’s encounter is triumphant for women. The Wife enjoys being married, which is evident by the number of husbands that she has had. The Merchant has been married two months and hates every part of it. The Merchant uses many stories of unhappily wed men and women to support his view. He shows that

The Story of an Hour is short, yet, contains important examples of gender roles in marriage. They are important because they represent how women felt married in the 19th century due to male dominance that manifested throughout marriages all over the world. In The Story of an Hour, Mrs. Mallard is a wife that is, at first, seen as distraught, because of her husband’s death. She starts to cry and run to her room, to soon be lifted with the joy that she is now free. It is clear that she felt trapped in the marriage and is now happy that there is no one controlling her any longer. Mrs. Mallard is a prime example of women in marriages in the 19th century, and even some today. Unfortunately, they have to experience sexism from their husbands. Women are dominated by men in marriage and are expected to acquire the stereotypical gender roles.

In “Cinderella”, a woman’s worth is identified with her chastity. As Cinderella’s glass slipper is the most famous symbol in “Cinderella”, it is also the most sexist. In Perrault’s version, the prince uses the glass slipper as the only proof that Cinderella was truly the princess he danced with at the ball (Lecture Notes, 5/11/17). Further analysis can interpret the glass slipper as a sexual symbol, like the “key in the lock” (Lecture 5/11/17). Since Perrault specifically made it a glass slipper, its brittleness and fragility can be an analogy to a woman’s virtue. During Perrault’s time, a woman’s virtue is so sacred to men, that one’s future would be shattered like glass if their reputation is tainted. This qualifies as an antifeminist symbol as it places much pressure to keep one’s virtue because men have said it would devalue her.

In the stories “The Jewelry” by Guy de Maupassant, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the female characters are unequal and less important than the men in society. The duties of women during this time period did not consist of much more than seeing to her husband’s needs and caring for the home and children. The authors show the lack of independence women were allowed in the 1800s, especially in marriage. The stories express women’s cry for equality and their feelings of entrapment in their marriage. Each story elaborates on the importance of social class in the 19th century, how women were presented in society, and how society

In XI Xi’s work, “A Woman like Me”, the narrator is a woman who works as a cosmetician for the dead, and throughout the entire story she says how her job has lost her friends over the years. Which in some parts of the text she mentions her fear that if Xia, her boyfriend, were to find out that she deals with the dead he will leave her. It is from this fear of death that mainly drives away her friends , and the very idea that she works with the dead with no problem scares her friends away. It such the fear of death that most stray away it when possible as it reminds them of their own mortality. Although despite her career choice and the cultural role it plays, she is hopeful that the reaction of Xia after he finds out, it will turn out well. The story begins with the quote, “ I’m surprised that our love has reached this far, especially for a woman such as myself”(XiXi 303). In more detail, the narrator explores that typical woman like her are expected to not find love because of her profession, which it is assumed is not normal for women in her culture. I however, am convinced that she is a proud and brave woman because of how her career has shaped her. While it appears that she is doubtful of the meeting she is rather hopeful of the future despite her circumstance, which is the restrictions of the social norms of her social life.

Lu Xun’s New Year’s Sacrifice (1924) begins with the narrator returning to their hometown for New Year after several years. The narrator can be said to symbolise the dilemma of an intellectual hoping for social reform but feeling helpless when it comes to helping women. The female protagonist is Mrs Xianglin who lives under three oppressive powers: that of the husband, of the father, and of religion. From the outset of the story, we are presented with a very traditional setting; we are introduced to Uncle Lu who is described as a “diehard Neo-Confucian of the old imperial college” and “a man ruled by superstition”. The narrator then goes on to describe the preparation for the New Year’s Sacrifice with the women as the workers “Hens are slaughtered // everything scrubbed and scoured until the women’s arms are soaked red”, however Lu Xun tactfully adds that although the women are the main labourers, they are excluded from ceremony, “Once devotions – from which women are banned – have been made, the firecrackers are lit.” This shows the reader that women appear to be the backbone of the household however are held in much less regard than their male counterpart. When Mrs Xianglin is introduced as a young widow, although however capable she may be, Uncle Lu is unconvinced in hiring her as she is a widow and may bring bad luck to the household; “Uncle frowned; my Aunt knew what was worrying him – the fact that she was a widow”.

In the story Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger, Du Tenth shows complete devotion to Master Li Jia and by the end of the story, we see that the devotion she has for him is not reciprocated. One’s feelings may be stronger than the others, but couples choose to stay together. In some instances, individuals may choose to stay in the relationship for convenience, rather than feelings. Regarding Du Tenths situation, I feel that she continued her relationship for both reasons. Tenths feelings for Master Li were very strong but in addition, it was more convenient for her to pursue a life with Li Jia, than continue the life she was living. This trend is not only seen is stories, but it has also become the reality of today’s society.