Jean Rhys, the author of Good Morning Midnight, wrote about women with sense and sensitivity in mostly controversial ways. Rhys was born in Dominica in eighteen ninety-four. She came to England at the age of sixteen and hovered on many jobs before she moved to Paris, where she began writing and was found by Ford Maddox Ford.
About the essay question and theme, of the representation of women in the city, I believe Rhys exposes the restrictive attitudes places upon women in the town rather than perpetuating them. Her novels, often showed women as underdogs out to exploit their sexualities, which shows they were ahead of their time. Once Good Morning Midnight was written she lived reclusively and was largely forgotten.
In ‘Good Morning Midnight’ Sasha’s story moves back and forth, her outlook shifting from her time in London to Paris. She remembers when she was married, to the time she was alone. Her life in Paris moves between a range of cafes and bars, places where she was known. And some she wants to stay away from, and areas
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For example, ‘the woman at the bar gives me one of those looks: what do you want her, you? We don’t cater for tourists here, not our clientele’. This sort of attitude is linked to stereotypes and prejudice. The barkeeps know nothing of Jensen personally by they automatically calculate the person she is from the way she appears. This could suggest that Rhys acknowledges that it is not just men who treat women unequally, but it is also women who degrade one another in the novel too. It also is a sudden example of female on female hostility. Sternlicht sees that 'women in her earlier novels are always hostile, and the protagonist is hostile in return or they repress anger or flee in tears'. (Sternlicht, 98). and throughout the novel in her sour encounters with other women, the reader see's Jansen's prosperity in all three
As C. Sykes examines Victorian literature in his essay, he recognizes that many authors reveal gender issues. While some define characters by his or “her marital status,” others reveal inequality through “female capabilities” (Sykes). Victorian literature, like Bronte’s Jane Eyre, reveal gender
through the male gaze of Lydgate which maintains the objectification of women in Victorian literature and thus society.
In Tony Morrison’s “Song of Solomon” it explores the discovery of ethnic identities. It depicts the life of Macon Milkman Dead, a withdrawn loner who doesn’t feel accepted by others and is disconnected with his family and heritage. With help from others in his community Milkman takes a trip to discover himself and his roots bringing him closer to the true meaning of his purpose. Milkman in turn realizes that flight represents liberation from a life of restrictions, set in an era of racism and separation. Flight may seem as a positive solution to such a life of problems and discrimination, however, holds very negative aspects in family settings. Abandoning your own and severing those mutual bonds plays a significant role in the life of the loved ones left behind. Most are left recovering from their loss, or completely lose hope such as Hagar. Solomon leaving his wife Ryna and children behind was necessary sacrifice he had to make in order to be free. Solomon is never punished or looked down for his decision; in his song it acknowledges his accomplishment as a great achievement. In “Song of Solomon”, the ability of flight symbolizes the escape from oppression while searching for freedom.
In the play, As You Like It written by William Shakespeare, as well as the short story “Let Me Promise You” by Morley Callaghan, both playwright, and author are trying to convey the idea of a strong emotional bond between certain characters. In Shakespeare’s play, we see how Celia and Rosalind, two cousins, have been inseparable ever since a young age and will do anything for one another. In Callaghan’s short story, Alice has strong feelings towards George, waits restlessly by the window, and despite their differences, she still tries to please him. The theme that these two works show is unconditional love. The playwright and author are trying to illustrate what one will do for another even though the situation and conditions might be though.
San Francisco, as a multicultural city, undoubtedly included a large variety of groups of people from all around the world. In English 162 course, we’ve learned a lot about history and culture of the bay area. From the gold rush the outsiders came, to the diversity of the Fillmore, we can see that even people far from the other side of the earth came here for a better life. As for myself, I came from a Chinese culture country, which is surely different from the culture here in America. Besides “The Only Real Day” by Frank Chin really interests me of how the Chinese’s attitude toward this distinct culture, and how they struggled and coined their own lifestyle. Since San Francisco Chinatown is so famous and successful, it gives me an inspiration of comparing the architectures, culture and atmosphere with the Orient.
In 2000, Thomas Kinkade, the Painter of Light, created Hometown Morning, which is an oil painting on canvas. This painting is part of the Hometown Memories collection as he paints different scenes from his childhood growing up. Hometown Morning is a painting of a street in Placerville, California that is full of life. It is a small community with people walking down the sidewalk and everyone and everything just seems peaceful. Since the original has been sold, the last location of the painting was at The Thomas Kinkade Museum in Monterey, California.
Some critics have advanced the notion that one of the reasons there is such a paucity of women and of strong, beneficent women in particular within this story is due to what they represented in typical Victorian England society. Women were generally viewed as "a social force or a source of authority" which "reinforces this fiction of coherent male identity" (Doane and Hodges 63). This quotation suggests the fact that women were generally the keepers of morality and virtue within Victorian
A novel by the name of Love, Aubrey written by the author Suzanne La Fleur has written a moving text about grief and belonging. This text contains three major characters, going by the names of Aubrey, Gram and Lissie (Aubrey’s mum and grandma). These individuals experience dejection and trauma due to the deaths of Savannah and Gordon Priestly in a car related tragedy (Aubrey’s younger sister and father). Although, numerous assorted characters also deal with anguish but spread empathy through one another as they have all encountered different circumstances. Aubrey, the main character in the text, manages her grief using a variety of different techniques. These include showing denial, shutting out her difficulties and finding motivation to move
"Stanton, Elizabeth Cady: Introduction." Feminism in Literature: A Gale Critical Companion, edited by Jessica Bomarito and Jeffrey W. Hunter, vol. 3: 19th Century, Authors (C-Z), Gale, 2005, pp. 427-428. World History in Context. Accessed 10 Feb. 2 "The Women's Rights Movement. "
What does the word family mean to you? In my opinion, family means everything to me. It’s the people I knew since I was born, who I know I can turn to anytime needed. Everyone has their own definition of family, it can be positive, negative, or even both. In the world’s society everyone is born into a family, it can be a traditional, a un-blood related, or an extended family. No matter how well a family relationship can be there is no such thing as a perfect family. In many classic pieces of literature, many writers’ use themes of conflict between the children and their parents. It can be conflicts towards each other or conflicts the family experiences together. In many well know novels, many characters from tragic events of abuse, cruelty, and negligent events kept their courage to survive through terrible events. The story of “Ellen Foster” Kaye Gibbons takes a reader inside a story of young orphaned girl, who is passed down to every family until the she is able to find the perfect one she fit into. In the classic novel “Night” author Elie Wiesel writes a historical piece about a young boy’s experience in a concentration camp. Losing half of his family the young boy Eliezer has to fight with his father through suffering tactics from the Nazis. The classic play “Romeo and Juliet”, William Shakespeare writes a tragic piece about two young lovers being forced to disobey family orders to be with each other. In all three pieces of literature, the characters struggle
At first, after discovering she had frequent migraines, Didion denied her predicament. She felt embarrassed, like it was a secret that would enforce to others her negative qualities. Eventually, she began to accept the fact that migraines were simply something she would have to get used to.
The novel had been considered by some people, mainly the higher ranked and important persons of the 19th centaury, as a criticism of ‘Victorian double morality’ meaning they felt it was presenting a false image of what went on in London. They may have also have felt that it was encouraging other people to do things considered wrong-like. This shows duality between the novel and the behaviour in London during the 19th centaury.
Later, at the Bar by Rebecca Barry is a book containing multiple fictitious interwoven short stories about individuals living in a small town in upstate New York. Linda, an advice columnist, writes back to those who need her guidance but cannot quite seem to follow her own advice. There is Harlin, who cannot stay away from his ex-wife, Grace, despite their extremely dysfunctional relationship. Harlin often also breaks the law, categorizing him as an ex-convict. Elizabeth, a schoolteacher, who recently separated with her husband due to him realizing he was gay. There is also Madeline, a school bus driver who struggles with attempting to get her daughter to trust her and live a normal life. There are many more characters in Later, at the Bar with all extremely different, complex lives. Each character has their many problems and quirks in their lives that they have to live with. They each live out their days undertaking their dead-end jobs in their small, blue-collar town. By night, they end up in Lucy’s Tavern as the regulars. Lucy’s Tavern is the gathering place to forget the day they struggled to get through and drink excessively with people who will not judge them. Due to each character’s economic despair, lack of family, and lack of opportunity in their small, impasse town, they turn to Lucy’s Tavern as a place to feel comforted and secure. This “family” of lost souls can only turn to each other for solace because there is absolutely no one else to go to.
Women in the 19th century were at a disadvantage, they were considered to be the second-class citizens. The main character’s, Elinor and Marianne, were easily influential based on
Sex At Dawn by Chrstopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha, describes our current society as a sexual hypocrisy where monogamy is the norm and everything else falls under taboo. Based on prehistoric facts, they argue that we derive from a sexually free and promiscuous culture, and were never meant to be in lifelong monogamous unions. In Paleofantasy by Martha Zuk, looks at evolutionary theorists, like Ryan and Jetha, who use the Paleolithic Age for guidance on how our current society should live. Zuk’s argument is that people want to make our nature into one-form, but humans are not designed for one-way/form of life. As for our sexual system it too can not be put into one-form. Zuk shows various points on popular assertions, creating uncertainty to the reader. This therefore shows how difficult it is to determine a precise natural sexual practice from our past, and debunking Ryan and Jetha. For this reason, Zuk provides a better argument regarding how we should use prehistoric history in present day.