Female Oppression By Emily Dickinson And Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Throughout American Literature, women have been depicted in many different ways. The portrayal of women in American Literature is often influenced by an author's personal experience or a frequent societal stereotype of women and their position. Often times, male authors interpret society’s views of women in a completely different nature than a female author would. While F. Scott Fitzgerald may represent his main female character as a victim in the 1920’s, Zora Neale Hurston portrays hers as a strong, free-spirited, and independent woman only a decade later in the 1930’s.

While both the “Invisible Man” and “The House of Mirth” were written near the same time frame, they were written in differing perspectives, reflecting not only social classes but also gender roles of the time period. At the time these books were written, men and women had very different roles in society. Women were in the midst of a long arduous battle of the women suffrage movement and as they gained ground in this fight the gender roles started to change along with the country: “Westward expansion also demanded that many women step outside prescribed gender roles and perform “men’s” work on the frontier” (Jolliffe 1). Men, on the other hand, had a battle of their own trying to defend their masculinity during the movement of women into new social ranks, “masculinity in the United States is certain only in its uncertainty; its stability and sense of well-being depend on a frantic drive to control its environment.” (Stryffeler 4) The struggles of this dynamic time period are expressed through the eyes of these two authors giving readers an idea of how women were viewed differently from men surrounding the gender and social issues that dominated history.

Women have played an important role in American literature. Unfortunately, this role was often negative, without cause to be so. Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby are examples of American literature in which women are needlessly vilified.

The most interesting work that stood out to me in American Literature was by Hannah Webster Foster “The Coquette”. This was the best worked, studied because it is an excellent example of women’s literature written during a period of American History. The Coquette shows how women in the 18th century made a change on whom society define the role of a woman. The words of Lucy “to see a woman depart so far from the female character, as to assume the masculine habit and attitudes; and appear entirely indifferent, even to the externals of modesty, is truly disgusting, and ought not to be countenanced by our attendance, much less by our approbation” (Webster 907). Lucy views on women deviating from traditional gender norms are just as harsh as those of utter by men. “The Coquette” was a novel that was based on Elizabeth Whitman played through Eliza Wharton as a young, beautiful, smart, and prone to flirtatiousness. She was soon freed from an engagement to a man she did not love and then later died of an illness.

In American literature, women have been portrayed differently depending on the sex and race of the author. Henry James who wrote “Daisy Miller: A Study” (1878) characterized Daisy as a tramp who breaks expatriate social customs. When a male writes about a woman, she is sometimes portrayed as a troublemaker and often up to no good. On the other hand, in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1892), the narrator is trapped by domestic life. When a woman writes about women, they are usually victims of their society. James and Gilman each seem to display women differently because of their own sex, personal preferences, and experiences.

American Literature has always been about men and for men. In this essay, we are going to analyze the women’s role in the book, as inferior and weaker gender.

In comparing the three authors and the literary works of women authors Kate Chopin (1850 -1904), The Awakening, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's (1860-1935), The Yellow Wallpaper, and Edith Wharton's (1862-1937) Souls Belated, a good number common social issues related to women are brought to light and though subtly pointed out are an outcry against the conventions of the time. In these three stories, which were written between 1899 and 1913, the era was a time in which it seems, that women had finally awaken to realize their social oppression and were becoming rebellious in their pursuit of freedom from

This source constructs work of multiple critics who have argued the trend and verbalized that Gilman’s writings was a very prominent source of the “white civilized womanhood” of her time. Genealogy of morals and the intent of her life long obsession of feminist roles by the “civilized white woman”. Genealogy of herself and why she is called a feminist fore mother. The identification of “Race Suicide”, and the continuing breakdown of two of her books, Herland

This nearly drove her to insanity over the course of three months. Gilman also has multiple nonfiction works, including Women and Economics and, The Home: Its Work and Influence. These texts examine the role of women throughout the late 19th century and the early 20th century. A large majority of Gilman’s work revolved around women, as she considered herself to be a feminist and progressive leader for women’s rights. She often wrote about themes of freedom and standing up to authority, in particular the role of women in society, which was groundbreaking for her time. In her stories, she defied what a woman was expected to do by portraying them as strong and able to take care of themselves, and by not allowing a man to hold them back. This contrasted the way society had worked for hundreds of years, where women were considered fragile, frantic, and weak without someone to take care of

In the 20th century, women had limited rights, restricted access, and fixed gender roles. When it came to marriage everything was contingent upon the man’s discretion. As a result, women in American society could not function seamlessly through this system without support from her husband. In the novel, Herland, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, she depicts a successful society of women that thrives without men. Moreover, Gilman criticizes the gender discrimination of women, by creating this utopian society, that completely rejects the traditional ideas of American society in the 20th century.

Many literary critics have considered Washington Irving to be an anti-feminist. This essay focuses on the feminist’s point of view of Irving’s literary works that don’t support the ideologies and movements that lead to the political, cultural, economic, and social rights for women. A feminist’s analysis of the literary works of Washington Irving begins with a look at the period of time in which he lived and its influence on his writing style and subjects. Historians would describe Irving’s early years as a period of time of male dominance known as “antebellum America, pre-Civil War America.”

Though Gilman is an American author, her work provides an insight into a phenomena that resulted from the isolation and repression of women by harsh societal norms that are reflected in Britain and are therefore pertinent to the discussion of women’s role in the Victorian era. In a work deemed by many to be Gilman’s magnum opus, an unnamed female narrator is slowly driven insane as she is forced to spend her time locked in a room where the only source of stimulation is the ugly yellow patterns that coat the wall.

As a woman living in a very patriarchal society, Anne Bradstreet uses reverse psychology to present her beliefs and opinions. Bradstreet’s poems show her reality, and possibly the coping mechanisms of living in a world where men were favored above women. Bradstreet’s poems are full of female strength and presence, it is almost held back by her puritan roots and roles as a woman in the 1800s. I can see the conflict within her, between being a good puritan women but still knowing her worth and standing up for women. It’s very ironic that tone of the first authors published on American soil was a woman.

Comparatively, these two feminist works discuss many topics including female mental health inequality. Both sources have some element of personal narrative. In Friedan’s work, many women were interviewed and they discussed the struggles they faced and Gilman’s piece is semi-autobiographical and has pieces of her own experience intertwined with the narrative. Also, both styles of writing incorporate criticism of larger societal issues throughout their

Being imprisoned on the basis of an absurd cure imposed on by the narrator’s husband and his beliefs for what he think is the best for his wife, Gilman brings to the reader’s attention the brutal realities faced by the women in the fight for their freedom due to the society and male dominance. She reflects the time period of the 19th century where women were not given any kind will power over her own thoughts and action. This topic is highlighted in the story when the narrator couldn’t communicate and make her husband understand that her needs and wants are important enough to be considered into account if he wishes for her well-being. This symbolizes the extent to which the women voices was heard. Even though she knew the ‘rest therapy’ wasn’t working for her, she could bring herself up to