Gender Roles In Marsha Norman's Night, Mother

After her transformation, Martha subsequently loses one of her most valuable assets; her husband. Martha’s husband was no longer in love with her after the service. “I’m in love with the girl I married.”(8). This quote represents Martha’s life changing in a negative matter due to her focus on material qualities that add to her as an image, rather than as a person. Reed uses this to further connect the manual to Martha’s abstract qualities.

Octavia Butler's short story “Bloodchild,” reinvents normative ideas of gender, power, and reproduction to demonstrate the discrepancies created by the aforementioned constructed ideals in society, both fictional and otherwise. Through the idea of embracing one’s differences Butler also builds the notion that the “Other,” in the short story is not simple because she assigns humanity to both the Tlics and Terrans creating a gray area for who is viewed as “Other,” which tells us that Butler’s idea of other is non-existent rather she focuses on accepting diversity of thought and appearance.

By using symbolism, Edward Albee provides us with an ending that is conclusive and satisfactory. “Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf”, “ I am George” ( Martha). Albee choses to the end the play in a rather daunting sense. A joke and song that Martha has been singing throughout the play comes back to haunt her in the end. During the course of the play, Martha annoys and mocks George with the song, however, subconsciously, Martha herself was afraid of Virginia Woolf. The central action in the play is the ruthless fighting between George and Martha and it seems as though always has the upper hand. Until, George utters four simple but deadly words. “Our son is… dead”. In saying these words, he has turned the tables in his favor. She is dropped down

Martha's mean bitterness is her way of proving to everyone and her self, that she has control. But in reality she has very little control over her life; she is trying to live through her husbands eyes, living up to her father expectations, and drinking heavily. She does not have much power, because her fate is so tied up in the men around her.

Shirley Jackson’s novel, The Haunting of Hill House, explores the cultural anxieties in the mid 20th century. Specifically, men use womanhood (societal norms) as purposely infantilizing women in order to confine the female mind. Jackson utilizes symbolism, metaphor, and anaphora in her novel in order to convey the message for men to stop infantilizing women. Moreover, Jackson spreads awareness that women are being confined by a system that men developed: womanhood. Hence, in effect, the novel serves as an informal protest against male repression through a medium that can be read by a wider audience —more importantly an indirect challenge to male readers. According to Krolokke, Second Wave Feminism became prominent due to cultural discontent with patriarchy during the mid 20th century. Moreover, Krolokke informs the readers that Second Wave Feminism influenced women to challenge traditional family roles and male ideologies about women not belonging in the workplace (11-12). Mid 20th century is also when Jackson published The Haunting of Hill House. So, with these historical and cultural contexts in mind, Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House ends the novel with Eleanor killing herself because she wants women to challenge the ideas of patriarchy into effect. Hence, Second Wave Feminism has a connection to Eleanor having a childlike personality (can not think for herself) because she wants women (especially young and single women) to explore their rights (their choices) and

She’s pale, afflicted with epilepsy, unable to hold a job, abandoned by her husband, and plagued by a delinquent son. Throughout the whole play, she is wearing slacks and a long black sweater. Her decision to kill herself, the whole discussion in the play, is a positive act—an attempt to take control of her life. She really only cares about leaving this world to get order back into her life, but makes sure to help her mother before she does leave. Thelma is Jessie’s mother. She is in her late fifties or early 60’s. She has begun to feel her age, takes it easy and lets other people do a lot for her. She also has a mental sturdiness that allows her to believe that things are what she says they are. She only wants her daughter to stay alive, and will say anything to make her

   Recent history boldly notes the protests and political unrest surrounding the Vietnam Conflict during the 1960s and 70s. However, equally important in this era are the women who pushed for gender role reevaluation and publicly rebelled against the established social norm of a woman's "place." Although Alice Munro may not have been burning her bra on the courthouse steps, threads of a feminist influence can be found in "Boys and Girls." Munro's main character, a girl probably modeled after Munro's own childhood experiences on an Ontario farm, faces her awakening body and the challenge of developing her social identity in a man's world. "The girl," an unnamed character, acts as

Titan Prometheus had a reputation as being a clever trickster. He gave the gift to the human race of fire and metal works. Action for which he did, he was punished by Zeus, who made sure everyday that an eagle, ate the liver of the Titan as he was chained to a rock. "no rest, no sleep, no moment’s respite.”

The battle fought between George and Martha is played with the weapons that each sex has perfected. In American Plays and Playwrights of the Contemporary Theater, Lewis notes "Martha has instinct for the right wound; her tongue for the cutting word and her body for the most humiliating insult"(89). George has a greater vision of cruelty. When threatened by Martha, to cheat on him with one of the guests, George pretends not to care in order to upset his wife."I'm necking with one of the guests" "Good...good. You go right on" "Good?" "Yes, good... good for you, why don't you go back to your necking and stop bothering me? I want to read" (Albee,171,2). At the end of the play, George triumphs in the battle by using what he knows will hurt Martha the most; their son. Amacher states in Edward Albee, "All of the games, in terms of Albee's purpose, relate directly or indirectly to George and Martha's attempts to hurt each other"(93).

The people in Night are forced to move out of their homes, because Hitler has opened concentration camps. The Jews are treated very wrong. The roles in the novel Elie, Wiesel “Night.” are portrayed by gender, and they do not have equal rights, because they follow the men who started the concentration camps. “All the men have their heads shaved and a number tattooed on their arms.” (Wiesel).

“Everything we read constructs us, makes us who we are, by presenting our image of ourselves as girls and women, as boys and men” – M. Fox

The daughter is bored with her mother's dreams and lets her pride take over. She often questions her self-worth, and she decides that she respects herself as nothing more than the normal girl that she is and always will be. Her mother is trying to mold her into something that she can never be, she believes, and only by her futile attempts to rebel can she hold on to the respect that she has for herself. The daughter is motivated only to fail so that she may continue on her quest to be normal. Her only motivation for success derives from her own vanity; although she cannot admit it to herself or her mother, she wants the audience to see her as that something that she is not, that same something that her mother hopes she could be.

The film begins with Thelma (Geena Davis) and Louise (Susan Sarandon), living repressed lives in Arkansas. Both women have stereotypical roles in this movie. As best friends, they decide to go on an adventure that takes a dramatic turn and ends up being an adventurous police chase to the sudden death. Thelma is an unhappy housewife who despises her husband (Daryl), who is a bumbling, controlling and narcissistic. Her character is somewhat infantile, in that she relies completely on her husband for support. She is too timid to confront him about going on a weekend getaway with her best friend Louise. Her timidity is evident in every act she displays. She is unhappy with her life as a housewife but doesn't blatantly show it. She cooks

The comparative study of texts and their appropriations reflect the context and values of their times, demonstrating how context plays a significant role. Virginia Woolf’s novel modernists Mrs Dalloway (1925) and Steven Daldry’s post modernists film The Hours (2002), an extrapolation, explore the rapid change of social and philosophical paradigms of the 20th century, focusing on women whose rich inner lives are juxtaposed with their outer lives. They place the characters in their respective context, to respond to, the horrors of the consequences of war and AIDS and the vagaries and difficulties of relationships, sexuality and mental illness. Through their differing intertextual perspectives the film and novel represent similar values, within different contextual concerns.

“Her parents had succeeded in rubbing down to a dull glow any sparkle or splutter