Individualism In Defoe's 'The Fortunate Mistress'

In her 1945 article, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, Margaret Fuller illustrates a world in which “there exists in the minds of men a tone of feeling toward women as toward slaves”, and where men hold “the belief that Woman was made for Man”. Two books, Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and Woman in the Nineteenth Century, provide male and female perspective in the 19th century. These separate texts exemplify two sides of the same coin. On the one hand, Woman in the Nineteenth Century provides perspective of the feminine experience in a male dominated world while Moby Dick portrays a society from a male point of view and experiences woman as subservient to himself.

The life of a lady in the 19th century is painted in a romantic light. Pictured in her parlor, the lady sips tea from delicate china while writing letters with a white feathered quill. Her maid stands silently off in the background, waiting for orders to serve her mistress. What is not typically pictured, is the sadness or boredom echoed on the lady’s face. Perhaps the letter is to a dear friend, not seen in ages, pleading with the friend to visit, in hopes that the friend will fill the void in the lady’s life made from years spent in a loveless marriage; or possiblyk20 the lady isn’t writing a letter at all, but a novel or a poem, never to be read by anyone but her. Edith Warton and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, are 19th Century ladies who dare to share their writing with the world. Through their works, the darker side of a woman’s life in the late 1800’s is exposed. Gender politics in the 19th dictates that a lady is dependent on her husband for her financial security and social standing; that is if she is fortunate enough to marry at all. In Edith Warton’s The House of Mirth, Lily Bart is a beautiful woman in her late 20’s, who fails to marry a wealthy man. The narrator in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper slowly goes insane under her physician husbands misguided attempts to cure her of depression. The downfall of Lily Bart and the narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper is

As the perception of women changes constantly, society is the only factor in creating their ideal image. These societal views are the basis of their treatment, with the expectation that it is beneficial for them. However, societal expectations of women in the Elizabethan and Victorian eras severely limit their freedoms and rights. William Shakespeare’s Othello and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein portray most women in their typical roles. Both authors depict the level of injustice in society’s treatment of women through the passivity of women causing their deaths, the silencing of vulnerable women and the portrayal of women as more humane than men.

In the 1700s women were supposed to play the role of doting woman standing by her man virtuous and loving. However, one can say that gender power dynamics could easily be turned when the idea of sex and prostitution in placed in the dynamics. The two texts to support this thesis will be Eliza Haywood’s short story Fantomina: Or, Love in a Maze. Being A Secret History of an Amour between Two Persons of Condition, and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s poem “The Reasons that Induced Dr. S to write a Poem called ‘The Lady’s Dressing Room’”.

The role of women in works of literature as well as in life has changed significantly. Previously, women were seen as needy and dependent on the men in their lives. Women were only important for raising children and doing work around the house, while men were off

Presenting literature to the public that is meant to be a commentary on social or political issues, masked under the guise of entertaining and fictional, is a tool implemented by authors and activists for centuries. While not all satire is as overt as Jonathan Swift’s suggestion that we eat the babies, it does not diminish the eyebrow raising suggestions that are conveyed once the meaning has been discovered. In Aphra Behn’s The History of the Nun and Eliza Haywood’s Fantomina, the established expectations of the female role within society are brought into question then directly rejected. These expectations establish that women should be deferential to men, morally unblemished, and virtuous at all times. Men, however, are not held to these expectations in the same way. The masculine roles assumed by Isabella and Fantomina demonstrate a private rebellion against the established patriarchal society as it warns against the under-estimation of women and proves that women exist independently.

Kate Chopin, author of the book The Awakening, summarizes how Edna feels about how her gender is perceived by society and all of the issues she faces due to these preconceived notions, when Edna says, “I’m going to pull myself together for a while and think – try to determine what character of a woman I am: for, candidly, I don’t know.” Chopin, 613. There can be no doubt that, this is an example of how gender plays an extreme role when it comes to the history of womanhood and gender roles in literature. Gender roles separate womanhood into two distinct categories the true women being; the ideal mother and wife, to dress and act “as a lady should”. On the other hand, the idea of the new women is the exact opposite; women can work and go to

The eighteenth century was an era where a woman’s role in society consisted of specific expectations. Women were often held to a higher double standard and were shamed in the public if they did not confide to the standards. During this time a woman was being judged by three distinct characteristics; wealth, beauty and virtue. A woman who was in possession of these qualities were the most desirable. The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope, and the “Epistle from Mrs. Young to Her Husband” written by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu are both works of literature discussing the controversial issues revolving a women’s sexuality and desires. Where the value of a woman in society is being displayed through her reputation and double standards. Both pieces of literature allow the reader to examine society’s view on women though a female’s perspective.

Throughout history, the role of a woman has transformed from that of invisible child-bearer, housewife and suffragette to that of empowered and outspoken innovators and visionaries of modern times. Although the field of male-dominated artistry such as writing was out of reach for feminine icons during historical times, male writer’s began implementing the strong and forceful woman into their stories and sparked a centuries long debate on the value of women and their roles in books. Shakespeare rose to fame in a century where women could not own land, married young with the responsibility of bearing children and were seemingly forgotten as time went on, while the father figures passed wealth and rank to their sons. Shakespeare entered the writing arena full force as a playwright, and quickly incorporated the female role into his plays. Although many of his plays did not actually cast a female to play the woman character, the idea that women finally had a platform in theater and had the ability to be expressed in his writing was a sign of the times.

This subsequently allows audiences to understand the role of gender inequality in society and how it has historically permeated into literature. However, Atwood later acknowledges the restricting role feminism also played in the depiction of female characters in more modern literature. Atwood uses hypophora in order to direct the audience, “is it not today - well somehow unfeminist - to depict a woman behaving so badly? Isn’t bad behaviour supposed to be the monopoly of men?”, “Were women to be condemned to virtue for life, slaves in the salt-mines of goodness?”. This continued use of questioning catalyses a reflection upon the ironic idea that feminism, a movement created to equal the sexes, has supported a similar one-dimensional view of women as being solely good. In doing so Atwood ultimately challenges the audience’s view upon how female characters should be represented within literature, ultimately arguing for a barrierless approach which enables writers to explore the complex nature of female

One of the most widely discussed themes of Jewett’s writing is her depiction of feminism. Her works are some of the earliest examples of literary feminism, and so hold a great significance in the study of historical feminism. It should be said that Jewett’s, and by extension, everyone in the 19th century’s idea of feminism is most likely not the same as our modern, 21st century definition of feminism. Instead of focusing on women’s suffrage or equal rights, Jewett’s feminist writing takes a vastly different approach by simply depicting women as deeply complex, fleshed-out characters. Miss Dobin and Miss Lucinda Dobin from “The Dulham Ladies” are excellent examples of this. The main story describes two women who are arrogant and stuck-up in

In most early British literature a woman is often presented as only one thing: an object. They can be objects of desire, objects of beauty, or merely objects to be owned, but it is rare that a woman is anything more than that. It is even more uncommon to find a female character in literature that is presented as an equal to the men around her. In William Congreve's The Way of the World he plays on the similarities of both his female and male characters to establish just how much of an issue gender really is because though their actions might be similar, the consequences are not.

Maria Mies once said, ‘Peace in patriarchy is war against women.’ Women have struggled with being treated equally in society, and have been victimised by the hand of the man where they are not granted with the permission to express their opinion. Literature conveys the battles women face because they themselves did not have the freedom to speak and were unable to stand up for themselves due to oppression. Writers such as Browning, Hardy, Molloy and Steinbeck bring to light the impact of patriarchy in their compositions throughout different periods, and they emphasise on how even the conventional and unconventional woman were mistreated. Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess’, written in the 19th Century Victorian era and based on the Renaissance, gives

In the poem “The Lady’s Dressing Room,” written by Jonathan Swift, one may say he portrays himself to be a chauvinist by ridiculing women and their cryptic habits. However, others may say he wants to help women from the ideals placed upon them by society and prove to be an early feminist. This poem written in the 18th century represented women to be fake and sleazy at first. Then during the 20th century, the feminist movement used it as an attack against women, depicting the poem’s meaning as not valuing their rights and freedoms. The truth far hidden from these points of views became uncovered recently. This essay will explain both sides of the views and using critical thinking will uncover the real message the author intended to portray.

In Edith Wharton’s “Roman Fever”, “The Muse’s Tragedy”, and “The Other Two”, she showed the subtle difference of formal upper-class society, by paying attention to the histories of relationship Alida Slade and Grace Ansley from ‘Roman Fever”, Mrs. Alice Waythorn with the three men in her life from “The Other Two”, and Ms. Anerton with the love of her life from “The Muse’s Tragedy”. Wharton expressed her concern with social pressures and the expectations that were placed upon women, by having these female characters defy them all. There were a lot of things that were very uncommon to society; for example, seeing a woman like Alice Waythorn file to consider a divorce; not once, but twice. Having Grace Ansley marry a man who was not the father of her daughter was frowned upon by society. Edith Wharton indicated how the life of Ms. Slade, Ms. Ansley, and Ms. Anerton changed when they decided to pursue a man who was unfaithful and didn’t love