Gender Relations In English Literature

Literature is not simply a reflection of society; it is in actuality much more powerful. Literature draws upon society and creates its own meanings and images. It possesses the power to either nourish or discourage societal values and ideals. Hence, stereotypical views on gender relations in society are reinforced by literary depictions of men and women. The American literary canon is a collection of books that are widely accepted as influential in shaping Western culture. Stereotypes are evident throughout these texts, and often serve to justify the continuance of traditional roles. More specifically, women seem to be the target of cataloguing and other negative depictions. Classic books that are identified as part of the American literary canon tend to portray female characters in a way that emphasizes their inferiority. The depiction of females in classic American literature promotes a stereotypical view of women in American society.

    Over the years stereotypes and gender roles for women affected the archetypes they typically had in literature. They did not reflect on real life and were more enforced in

“The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved” (Matthew Henry). Gender roles are how each human is supposed to act, speak, or dress according to their assigned sex. The world has always depended on them to make crucial decisions and they have marked every aspect of society. Several people have taken advantage of gender stereotypes to determine what to do with their lives or to come up with excuses as to why they are carrying out a task. Literature is one of the main agents that exposes human attitude towards life. It has been affected by time

The different roles women and men characters play in the stories are also largely influenced by the society’s views. Women are portrayed

The presence of stereotypes within literature is no surprise when taking a look at society and it’s reoccurring standards at any given time. Across the world, from the biblical era to present day, gender roles have evolved with the times yet maintained their foundations as a form of categorization and predetermined expectations. With these preset values, women are seen as objects to own and to be shown off while men are portrayed as insensitive proprietors. With a closer look at the beginning of literature, it’s renovations evident in the recent past, and how it has evolved into its relatively current state, it can be seen that as the world has tremendously evolved, society’s values have seemingly remained grounded to superficially inescapable

For centuries, women have been regarded inferior in comparison with men. In addition, they have been even treated as a certain threat to the normal social order. Especially, it can be noticed with the help of the analysis of literary works. For example, if to take into consideration such masterpieces of English literature as Beowulf and Jane Eyre, it becomes clear

The portrayal of men and women has varied in different stories throughout history. Many portray women as beautiful, deceptive, manipulative, and smart, while men are portrayed as being strong, masculine, and easily tricked. In many of the works covered in the course “Major British Writers to 1800,” men are advised to refrain from acting lustful, believed that it would harm their overall ability to succeed in whatever the characters aimed to do. An example of this is seen in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” when Gawain is deceived by Lady Bertilak in an effort to prove that Sir Gawain is imperfect. The depictions of men and women are very similar in Fantomina by Eliza Haywood, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Phyllis and Aristotle. .

When analyzing a piece of literature, it is easy to simply take it at face value. However, when you read between the lines you can often find subtle hints that tell you an even greater story. The Importance of Being Earnest is applicable to Gender and Queer Theories because it addresses past gender inequality, portrays women in a certain way, and is about people feeling like they need to hide their true selves from society.

Analyzing a work of literature through the eyes of a feminist critique means to analyze how the female characters in works of literature, primarily written by males in male-dominated societies, behave. When making such an analysis, one attempts to see how women are oppressed, be it economically, psychologically, or politically. The belief that underlies this criticism is that Western civilization is inherently patriarchal and women are defined not by their inherent worth, but by the women’s difference from what the males of that day deemed normal. The end goal of this analysis of the great works of literature that influence Western civilization is to change the way people see the world and to question preconceived notions people have about

Genders in literary texts such as Death of a Salesman and Songs of innocence and experience are very significant because they determine the way women are perceived and how they are socially constructed or identified.    It is very important to note that the social construction of gender has being put into practice in literature, for example, stereotypes of women being sweet, nice and naïve, and men being a symbol of strength, being smart and intelligent.   For example, it is very common that parents dress their children in colors that are either considered “feminine or masculine’’, so as literary books intentionally or unintentionally imbibed these stereotypes.   In Salesman and SOIAE, men and women are presented in stereotypical construct of what

“ You cannot talk about genre without talking about gender.” Initially, this would appear to be a simplistic statement. On closer analysis, however, one fact becomes evident. It is the representation of gender which informs the genre of the text. Ismay Barwell , in her essay ‘ Feminist perspectives and narrative points of view’ states that “ Every text is gendered since every act of narration…..involves a process of selection….and the nature of that selection implies certain values” ( p.99). She makes the point that “ The desires, attitudes and interests which guide any choices made must be either male or female”( p.98 ). It is within this frame of reference, that the two texts will be analysed.

Throughout the American Literature course it has been evident that gender issues are always a topic. No matter the movement, it appears that gender can be seen as a major focus. Women in these movements have always been seen as being inferior to men. Women with their intelligence and work ethic have been put in a place that is under men. Women were treated as if they were just complements to men and that was all they were useful for. However, apparently that is just the men’s point of view because these women are individuals who are just as great as men. In literature women were put into the category of being weak and stupid. This being the way people thought, authors continued to write with this sort of perception, that women were always inferior

Women’s voices in mainstream literature has morphed and transformed throughout the years. From early 17th century with the first female poet Anne Bradstreet all the way to 1960’s housewife heroes in novels, women’s roles in text has reflected their place in society during date of publication. Art mirrors real life as the saying goes, and that’s very much applicable to literary arts especially. Women’s place in society has definitely progressed since Puritan time and early America but has their track progressed in as linear line as suspected. With benchmarks such as the suffrage to vote to the first ever female big party candidate for the presidential election, it’s suspected that women have only gone up in their rights to speak and their strength of voice in society. Taking a second look at perceptions and everyday obstacles women have faced throughout time paints a much more scattered and branching line of progression. Progress may not be as straightforward as suspected.

Feminism, if anything, has appeared majorly in the literature spectrum through all decades and forms. Feminism is the political, cultural, or economic movement aimed at establishing equality and protection for all women. No matter the time period or place feminism has always been a popular literary topic that has made a few works quite notorious, including Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen. Both works contain the scenarios in which the main characters are taken advantage of due to the apparent feminist society.

In the past, as well as the present, the societal roles of women have shifted drastically. Over the course of history, women have gradually gained a voice in society, though this was often held to a lesser standard in relation to the male population. This paper will discuss the developing roles of women over time, in correlation to their portrayal in literary texts over the realism, modernism, and postmodernism eras. To assist in supporting and further explaining these points, context for each particular era will be provided prior to explanation. Passages from each of the texts will also be used as support to aid in illustrating the female’s role in the story, and how it relates to the real world. The women’s position will be compared to that of the male lead in each of the works, as this will display the level of lacking equality during each era. Due to the common theme of women’s position against a male counter-character in each of the literary works, readers are able to connect the emphasized relations to the roles of women during each of the time periods, while simultaneously comparing and contrasting society’s gender norm development.