Frank Wedekind’s Spring Awakening and Ian McEwan’s Atonement examine the notion that those who abuse power do so for personal gain. Through the use of themes such as: Power in sexuality, including notions of submission and dominance. Coming of age, regarding how children either don’t want to grow up, or contrastingly grow up too quickly. The power dichotomy between parents and children, contrasting children oppressed by their parents to those who act as a parental figure, and the use of guilt to disempower or empower. While examining these themes both authors use a plethora of literary techniques, in order to emphases their own views on the topic of distorted power. Power in sexuality is a concurrent theme in Wedekind’s Spring Awakening …show more content…
Additionally, when Melchior yells, “There’s no such thing as love! It’s all self, all ego”, he is using his knowledge of Freud and his Nihilist view on society to disempower Wendla, causing her to question her innocent views of love. McEwan utilises intertextuality to Nabokov’s Lolita, to support the power imbalance in the relationship between Paul Marshall and Lola Quincy. Lola’s name is a direct reference to Lolita which subsequently foreshadows her eventual rape, and the virulent relationship created between the two dichotomous characters. Both Paul and Melchior use their superior knowledge or age to disempower more innocent characters in their respective texts. Whereas, Robbie contrastingly, empowers Cecilia with his words. Both texts are a bildungsroman, dealing with the power acquisition often attributed to coming of age in an oppressive and infantilising society. In Spring Awakening, Wendla’s body has outgrown her mind, mentioning that underneath her “sackcloth… [she’ll] be dressed like a fairy queen” a symbolic act that highlights Wendla’s innocence, juxtaposed against the harsh, scratchy imagery associated with a sackcloth, that represents her mature physical-self. However, due to the rigid structure of her family, Wendla was bereaved from the power often paired with this process of maturing. In Atonement, the most blatant example of Briony’s “coming of age” is her lack of development between Part One and Part Four. Briony obsessing over fairy tales,
Atonement by Ian McEwan 1. Some key events of Atonement are- • Briony sees her sister and her sister’s boyfriend out the window. Briony thinks something bad is happening, but her sister is only swimming into the pond to find parts of a broken vase. • Briony realizes that she doesn’t want her play to be performed so she rips up the poster of her play and stops rehearsing it. • Robbie accidently gives Briony the letter for Cecilia that tells of his sexual desire for her instead of the one that tells how sorry he is for breaking the vase.
By the end of The Awakening by Kate Chopin, readers are enlightened about how women struggle to be considered as equals in this world. Women have the power in this book, but not all women crave what Edna does. Adele, one of Edna’s closest friends, values the “rulebook” of society and gladly fulfills her role as a mother-woman. Although they find bliss in two very different things, it doesn’t stop them from being friends and giving each other advice they see best
Power and control plays a big role in the lives many. When power is used as a form of control, it leads to depression and misery in the relationship. This is proven through the themes and symbolism used in the stories Lesson before Dying, The fun they had, The strangers that came to town, and Dolls house through the median of three major unsuccessful relationship: racial tension between the African Americans and the caucasians in the novel Lesson before Dying, Doll’s House demonstrates a controlling relationship can be detrimental for both individuals and The Stranger That Came To Town along with The Fun They Had show that when an individual is suppressed by majority they become despondent.
In addition, one can also argue about Paulina’s love-hate relationship with Gerardo, as she is clearly very emotionally attached to him, yet seems as though she treats him with a sort of disrespect or harsh manner. Paulina’s strange relationship also brings the audience to question this woman’s sense of judgment, and maybe even her past. Ironically, later she refers to him as ‘my little man’, contrasting with how he called her, and making sure that Gerardo knows that he is her husband, and she’s in charge.
What defines power in today’s society? Is it money? Privilege? Status? In Chapter 2 of Justice And The Politics of Difference, entitled “The Five Faces of Oppression,” Iris Marion Young offers a unique perspective on what power really is in modern day society and how oppression plays a role in it. According to Young, power is the result of having a concrete societal position that grants you respect and opportunities from people (A page would be nice right here.). However, Young argues that this “power” is so reliant upon your perceived status and worth from individuals, that if lacking these things, you then become vulnerable to oppression. Oppression
Power gives people the ability to control and influence. It is held and used in many ways, significant and insignificant, for justice, mercy or desire. Because of its ability to give people what they want, power tempts people into doing the unthinkable in order to acquire it. Power itself is uncorrupted, only tainted and weaponised by those who hold it. In Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ and Suzanne Collins’ ‘Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part Two, manipulation and suggestion are shown to corrupt power and contribute to its use in the name of evil. Through a comparison of literary devices in ‘Macbeth’ and ‘Mockingjay Part Two’, humanity’s corruption of power will be explored and unveiled
Our world has revolved around power, ever since ancient kings fought over great lands, and even to which sibling gets the last cookie. “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely“ Lord Acton displays how power has the ability to change everything, and with more power comes greater consequences. In Salem a famous series of events happened around 1962 till 1963, and many people lost their lives because of the abuse of power. Abigail, Danforth, and Mary demonstrate immense signs of power in Arthur Miller's, The Crucible, and how the influence of power can turn a simple town upside down.
McKnight believes all atonement theories need to be united through Jesus because of Hebrews 2:14-18 and he also believes in a more inclusive category for atonement theories. McKnight also believes that identification of Christ and incorporation are key concepts to understand. He has been building up to this point throughout the whole book. He starts out by explaining what atonement is and about key atonement moments like the crucifixion and Pentecost. Then he hits the main idea of deciding what atonement theory is the best and how they all are united.
Power is something that every human would like to acquire. The desire to earn power can be so important for some individuals that they use violence to acquire it. Violence can often cause jealousy, greed and hatred for each another. It is the violence of many humans that can lead them into doing such “unforgivable” acts. In both the plays, William Shakespeare and Arthur Miller with their famous novels, The Merchant of Venice and The Crucible, have shown how Grudges and Rivalries can cause such destruction in the lives of the people and the society in this play.
Nancy Nguyen ENG 4U1 Ms. Miszczak March 12, 2015 Religious and The Effect of Power in a Small Society Oscar Wilde once said: “Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power.” Here, he shows his opinion about the rights between men and women, which means men is the one control the power. As much as same idea in the novel A Complicated Kindness written by Miriam Toews when women are punished for their actions, while men are not.
Through both the book Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell and Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the issue of human degradation due to unjust or socially inequitable practices is used to connect with the values and beliefs of their respective audiences. This is done through the use of a despotic government controlling its populace, the guilt and paranoia following an action labelled as wrong, or actually wrong, and using women as a driving force for a man’s actions.
Freedom. A goal. A liberty. A myth. So many descriptions for a single concept. Yet the main idea is the same: to be free of restrictions, free to be whatever you wish. It is a life necessity, one that was, unfortunately, and still is, restricted throughout history, resulting in many chasing after its acquisition. Humans currently live in a time, in several nations, where freedom is a right, a necessity of life freely given. However, throughout history, freedom has been kept to only a minority, resulting in individuals struggling to change society for freedom to be distributed to the majority of people, a battle that took years, centuries to accomplish. This fight for true autonomy took many forms, both violent and peaceful. Literary works, in particular, have been major agents to this cause, serving as both reminders of those struggles and remembrance to readers of the endeavors those authors sought to accomplish. Two particular works, The Awakening by Kate Chopin and The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, spearheaded movements for freedom by tackling the prejudice of gender roles, expressing through their novels’ characters and experiences the arguments for individual freedom and the challenges that must be conquered to achieve those goals for future generations.
It not only threatens, but also breaks through. Betrayed by love once in her life, she nevertheless seeks it in the effort to fill the lonely void; thus, her promiscuity. But to adhere to her tradition and her sense of herself as a lady, she cannot face this sensual part of herself. She associates it with the animalism of Stanley's lovemaking and terms it “brutal desire”. She feels guilt and a sense of sin when she does surrender to it, and yet she does, out of intense loneliness. By viewing sensuality as brutal desire she is able to disassociate it from what she feels is her true self, but only at the price of an intense inner conflict. Since she cannot integrate these conflicting elements of desire and gentility, she tries to reject the one, desire, and live solely by the other. Desperately seeking a haven she looks increasingly to fantasy. Taking refuge in tinsel, fine clothes, and rhinestones, and the illusion that a beau is available whenever she wants him, she seeks tenderness and beauty in a world of her own making.
William Shakespeare displays how oppression can stem from a formerly unjust relationship in the play King Lear. While the character of King Lear descends into madness, his three daughters, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia, all suffer from the dominance of their father as he begs for their love. During this time of power transition, the daughters turn their oppressing father into the oppressed. Through the use of juxtaposition in how Lear's three daughters oppress him, Shakespeare conveys how previously oppressed people can free themselves from the ill-treatment and inflict pain on the former oppressor, a concept that is prevalent in today's society with the increase of sexual assault victims speaking out and exposing their perpetrator.
In Margret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and William Shakespeare’s King Lear it is evident that the punishment of innocent individuals by evildoers catalyzes violence thus, culminating in the disruption of society.