Eng202

Weldon’s “Letters to Alice” serves to enrich and deepen the responder’s understanding of the particular ways in which women were compromised in “Pride and Prejudice”. Discussion of fundamental

This is compounded by the initial description of Julia's character. As Julia is supposed to be pure, symbolized by the red sash she wears as a member of the local abstinence section, and she is described to be fairly attractive. Wilson's thoughts during one of the daily Hate sessions, however, turn even darker. If in this beginning, Julia is shown as a somewhat positive example of humanity, and human nature, Wilson is shown as a clearly distruptive one...

Born in 1945, Wilson grew up in a misogynist society. He was able to witness the vocal power that a man could express over a woman. Many women took on the role of staying home to maintain the household and be of service to their husbands.(Women in 1950s). A nuclear family structure was ideal during this time period.(Women in 1950s). Being that Wilson was raised during this era he was apart of a nuclear family, being raised by his mother and her second husband. Moreover, Wilson’s upbringing has influenced his writings. Despite the mentality of a subservient wife and a male being the head of the household, Wilson does not depict the woman of his writings to be subjected to a man’s authority he demonstrates the opposite that can be realized through a deeper analysis of the text.

Death is often displayed in literature, showing how would people react towards it . Whether its in "The Story of An Hour" by Kate Chopin, "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe, "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, or even "The Garden Party" by Katherine Mansfield, death appears to be unavoidable. Although these are different short stories, death is applied, but the author's interpretations differentiate.

From my point of view, Jane Austen should be seen as a ‘feminist’ writer. As she wrote in one of her novel Persuasion, she considers that ‘Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove anything’ (Anne Elliot, in Jane Austen’s Persuasion). Such feminist ideas are expressed in many of her literary works. In her another novel Northanger Abbey, there are various issues discussed, which include not only marriage, social criticism and Gothic, but also feminism as well. The essay is to discuss Jane Austen and her feminist thoughts by analyzing Northanger Abbey.

The novel in which Jane Eyre stars in can be seen criticizing many aspects of those times such as the role and nature of women, child negligence and social hardships for those in a lesser class. Jane Eyre’s alienation from society allows for a greater reveal of the story’s culture, values, and assumptions. It’s presented through the use of gender, class and character conflicts throughout the story. On multiple occasions, Jane is judged for the presented factors reflecting the type of society Jane lives in and what the times were like at that time.

Secondly, promiscuity has obliviously changed the outlook of relationships. Every relationship in the book has been some form of interactions that would be considered immoral in our world. When talking about Henry, Linda surprisingly said to Lenina, “’Only 4 months!’... Fanny went on, pointing an accusing finger” (Huxley 29) explaining to the reader how absurd it is to have any kind of intimate relationship. We now know that any type of long-lasting relationship is not only absurd but unheard of. Continuing the lifestyle of the new world, elementary sex was being taught to children of London as an aspect to strive for. The activity gives kids in school time to play around with other girls and boys naked in a courtyard to become more familiar with bodies of the opposite sex. Tying together all these changes their world had made, family had been changed as well. “… families, no conditioning, monstrous…” (Huxley 69). Given the last aspect that not only love, but family, as well, faded away from this society as well.

By way of this letter, I ask forgiveness and pardon for what happed in the Arizona desert, because I really am sorry from the bottom of my heart for what happened and it honestly wasn’t my intention to lead those people to their deaths. Rather, my intention was to help them cross the border. But we never imagined the tragedy would happen. (Urrea 68)

in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Anna J. Sheets. Vol. 27.

The human mind is a complex structure, perfectly designed to carry out tasks that give us life, but also weak in the face of adversity. In Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre, the character of John Reed can be described as having Bipolar Disorder, which is a mental ailment in which the affected individual experiences manic episodes followed by depressive episodes. The reader is able to do so by using the psychological lens to analyze his actions and the way in which he is described throughout the novel, and thus, is able to better understand Brontë’s message on discrimination and how it applies to modern day society. To make this analysis easier, one must establish an understanding of the psychological lens and Bipolar Disorder. The psychological lens is one of the critical reading lenses, which present different perspectives to reading a novel. The psychological lens focuses on the human aspect, since it is more geared towards social issues and the characters’ motives. To use the psychological lens, the reader may consider a few of the following questions: “do the characters act believable?”, “why do certain characters act the way they do?”, and “what did you think of any moral/ethical choices that the characters made?”. Bipolar Disorder is a mental illness that is characterized by an extremely active period, with emotions such as irritability and performing reckless acts, followed by periods of inactivity and depression.

The gender prejudice that exists in society does not only affect the individual being discriminated against, but the people close to them as well. This is demonstrated through the novels The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Awakening by Kate Chopin. The Scarlet Letter follows the story of a woman named Hester Prynne who is forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her chest as punishment for her crime of adultery. The Awakening follows the story of a woman named Edna Pontellier and the struggle that she faces when she has an affair and separates from her husband and her family. In both novels, the protagonists must endure the restrictions placed on them by society which leads to the destruction of the relationships they have with people close to them. The family members of the protagonists are also affected by the societal norms and restrictions placed against women. Each character holds onto their own symbol of freedom and identity which consequently affect people close to them. Also, each character has their own way to confront with the detriments of society in place against women. Through the analysis of the established relationships with other family members, symbols of freedom and identity, and each character’s confrontation with society, the protagonists of The Scarlet Letter and The Awakening struggle with their identity through the restrictions placed against them in society, ultimately destroying the relationships they have with their loved ones.

In Jane Austen “Love and Friendship” she illustrates the gender disparity of power and rebellion. The Romantics feature prominently the ideals of rebellion and revolution. In William Wordsworth essay “Preface to Lyrical Ballads” he describes the poet “He is a man speaking to men: a man, it is true, endued with more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm and tenderness, who has a greater knowledge of human nature, and a more comprehensive soul, than are supposed to be common among mankind” (pg 299) However, Jane Austen uses parody and satire as a way to show the sexism behind the Romanticism particularly the sensibility novels. That the portrayals of rebellion in “Love and Friendship” were just as important as our heroines pursuit for love and friendship. “Love and Friendship” is a perfect parody of sentimental genre and shows the sexism in England at the time and how the exaggeration of the middle-upper class characters to show how ridiculous the depictions of women are fiction at the time.

“One is very crazy when in love” (Freud). Freud made this statement nearly one hundred years ago. As one of the founders of modern psychology what would he have to say about the mad woman in the attic? Was she mad, in love, suffering from hysteria, or simply a product of nature versus nurture? Neither of which were very kind to her. In Jane Eyre we as the readers are presented with a singular perspective in nearly true to form autobiographical narrative. From Jane’s viewpoint and from a mid 19th century depiction of mental illness, the original Mrs. Rochester is hardly a person to sympathize with. Yet there is much more to this tale that is desperately begging

In Jane Eyre, Bertha Mason is a symbol of female oppression, and the confining roles of women in marriages. Bronte depicts Jane as a young woman in attempt to set an example for others by dodging conformity, and expose false stereotypes, marriage and submission to Rochester are counterintuitive to her goals and morals. Bertha serves as a warning to Jane by displaying the effects of marriage. As a woman who had been oppressed and dominated because of her marriage, Bertha symbolizes the damaging effects marriage in a male dominated society on a woman’s individuality and sanity. Bertha is presented as the “madwoman in the attic” by Bronte, her insanity is a dramatization of the ramifications of marriage by personifying the thoughts of women in the victorian era. In Wide Sargasso Sea, Antoinette is tricked into a loveless marriage for monital purposes because of society’s views on femininity which is females are meant to be passive (Anderson, 1982). This common perception on women is what leads Antoinette and many other women to drift into unhappy marriages, and the greater consequence being they lose themselves due to their forced

Typically, Romantic literature is read as male, which possesses a high subjectivity and portrays traditions, ideologies and an understanding of an individual’s place in society. Female writers in the Romantic period bring about new interests and ideals and deviate from the masculine Romanticism. Jane Austen writes in Sense and Sensibility (Austen and Johnson, 2002) of the temperament of women and displays within her character Marianne, the abundance of passion and lack of pragmatic mindset. Similarly, in Maria Edgeworth’s Letters for Literary Ladies (Edgeworth, 1994), the epistolary form is used to convey struggles of Caroline and Julia to attempt to prove either trait as domineering. The OED defines the words sense as ‘a reasonable or comprehensible rationale’ (Stevenson, 2010, p. 939) and sensibility as ‘the quality of being able to appreciate and respond to complex emotional or aesthetic influences’ (p. 940). Using these concepts, this essay will explore how sensibility can affect future happiness. In Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women, she states how women are made the ‘creatures of sensation’ and how ‘this overstretched sensibility naturally relaxes other powers of the mind, and prevents intellect’ (Wollstonecraft, 1972, p. 64). Using this assertion, this essay will seek to argue how Austen’s Marianne and Edgeworth’s Julia having excessive sensibility leads to their ultimate unhappiness and self-destruction and how they cannot obtain contentment