Linguistic Manipulation In Hilda Doolittle's Helen

During the late 19th and early 20th century in America, the rise of Feminism challenged the traditional gender roles. The female authors of this time period represented realistic aspects of women’s struggles, which often reflected limitations from society and their own lives. The three female authors who advocated women’s struggles in their writings were Sojourner Truth, Willa Cather, and Edith Wharton. In the speech to the American Equal Rights Association, Truth reveals that women do not have rights to present their voices in the court. Cather addresses women’s devastating labor life after the marriage in “A Wagner Matinee.” Likewise, in “April Shower”, Wharton portrays men’s criticism upon economically successful women. American female authors of the late 19th and early 20th century demonstrates the ideas of Feminism by men objecting to representation in politics, prohibiting career over marriage, and criticizing economic self-sufficiency.

    I chose to compare and contrast two women authors from different literary time periods.  Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) as a representative of the Victorian age (1832-1901) and Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) as the spokeswoman for the Modernist (1914-1939) mindset.  Being women in historical time periods that did not embrace the talents and gifts of women; they share many of the same issues and themes throughout their works - however, it is the age in which they wrote that shaped their expressions of these themes.  Although they lived only decades apart their worlds were remarkably different - their voices were muted or amplified according to the beat of society's drum.

Society is often seen to have different biases or perspectives on topics such as the role and perception of women. The short story, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, consists primarily of a catalog of commands and instructions, the purpose of which is to make sure that the mother’s daughter is constantly in check and not getting into any trouble. Jamaica Kincaid utilizes a wide range of techniques such as symbolism and diction in order to showcase the theme of how the depiction of women rely mainly on how they present themselves in the public and how they are so easily described as impure or filthy.

Throughout the history of American Literature there has been a common theme of male oppression. Especially towards the end of the 19th century, before the first wave of feminism, women were faced with an unshakeable social prison. Husband, home and children were the only life they knew, many encouraged not to work. That being said, many female writers at the time, including Emily Dickinson and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, were determined to examine the mind behind the American woman, through the lens of mental illness and personal experience.

The American literary canon presents a one sided view of women, due to the dominance of male authors. Classic American books generally present images of women in a male-centered viewpoint, creating a biased representation of women in literature. In “Feminist Literary Criticism: From Anti-Patriarchy to Decadence,” Anne Barbeau Gardiner states that the American literary canon is “strikingly narrow…prepared by white men whose judgment was prejudiced and whose language was full of gendered meanings.” (Gardiner 395). Gardiner

As Helen is influenced by the social expectation, she takes the traditional role of women; she symbolizes the powerless housewife mentions in “Doing Gender”. According to “Doing Gender”, it is stated that “[the traditional role of] women would be primarily focused on housekeeping, childcare, and children’s education...Further, in the case of conflict, the man

In the passage in the excerpt from “I Am a Woman” (1862) by Mary Abigail Dodge, the use of various rhetorical devices are evident throughout the text. The intended purpose of this text is to display her writing skills for an audience that is not keen on women’s influence in the literary sphere. Through the use of rhetorical strategies such as diction, imagery, and emotional appeal (pathos), Dodge forms her argument by asserting that women are legitimate writers.

Analyzing the ways in which a piece of literature includes feminist ideologies can bring out the potential messages that the creators of these productions were attempting to portray, while allowing the reader to critique the literature from a feminist perspective.

The Romantic Period built an environment where women were painted with flowery diction (Wollstonecraft, 216) and were incapable of independence. The Rights of Woman became a crucial topic, particularly in poetry which allowed women the freedom of expression. Accordingly, during the early eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, women writers did not need the prop of their male contemporaries like suggested. Evidently, women were able, successful, and professional writers in their own right. In fact, women often influenced male writers (Dustin, 42). Both Mary Wollstonecraft and Anna Letitia Barbauld are evidence that women did not need to rely on their male peers to become successful poets. Consequently, many poets took inspiration from them (Dustin, 32). In The Rights of Woman and Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Anna Letitia Barbauld and Mary Wollstonecraft had contrasting ideas. Barbauld’s The Rights of Woman was a documented reaction towards Wollstonecraft’s extremely controversial Vindication. Henceforth, both indicate a separate message for the Rights of the Woman. Assumedly, Barbauld misinterpreted Wollstonecraft and readings of The Rights of Woman in the twenty-first century appear antifeminist as a result.

Literature changes as current events change and as the structure of society begins to shift. American feminist literature started to become prevalent during the Victorian era, or around the latter part of the 19th century. This is the time when the first wave of feminism in the United States hit. The Seneca Falls Convention - the first women’s rights convention - and the emergence of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony’s American Equal Rights Association in the middle of the 19th century are among some of the noteable events that sparked this movement in literature. Women across America were inspired by the changing of the times, and that is reflected in many American female authors’ writings.

For the most part, society’s conception of women in the 19th century influenced the portrayal of female characters in writing generated during that time. The Cult of Domesticity claimed that true womanhood was marked by a natural inclination to domesticity and submissiveness. All women were thought to be weak, and writers often wrote off their female characters succumbing to their “natural” weakness by death or suicide, a result of their inability to handle life’s trials and tribulations.

One of America's most prolific and intellectually challenging contemporary writers, Joyce Carol Oates writes mostly about feminine characters being one of the main representatives of the Second-wave feminism movement. Unlike other authors of her time and challenging the conventions of the 20th century, she deals with the concept of “woman in her inevitable struggle against conventional man” (Hélene Cixous, 1975. Page: 347) in her collection "Where is Here?" by exposing women to similar circumstances in which they are repressed and chastened by men.

Throughout history, women such as Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and countless others have been known to play a significant role in helping to shape the world. Although Jig and Elisa were not the “Mary Edwards Walker” or the “Rosa Parks” of their time, both Elisa and Jig depict characteristics of regular females living through problematic social situations that could only be justified through the actions of their husbands. John Steinbeck's “The Chrysanthemums” and Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” both depict the pressure and falling into a loved one’s standards. And both felt oppressed to meet the standards set upon them while being dominated by the men in their life. While Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums” and Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” differ plotwise, both short stories share a female character who feels oppressed to meet the standards they must face, whether it is agreeing to abortion or changing your appearance to make a loved one happy. Although Jig and Elisa were not the “Mary Edwards Walker” or the “Rosa Parks” of their time, both Elisa and Jig depict characteristics of regular females living through problematic social situations that could only be justified through the actions of their husbands.

Everything starts with the letters and ends with the letters. As a female author, I could not be happier to be born during the women’s suffrage movement. Starting from Mary Wollstonecraft, the founding mother of women’s right movement to Susan B. Anthony, us, the women, were always eager to present our ideas through the literature. I still remember when I first read The Vindication of Women’s Rights. Quite a shiver that it gave me! Reading fellow female writers’ works, I dreamed to become an author and write about me as a female in this world. Was not there a cliché saying dreams come true? My dream indeed came true. While Fanny Fern published her humorous essays on the newspaper, I came upon a chance to publish several fictions about our movement.

The role of women in the society is always questioned and for centuries, they have struggled to find their place in a world that is predominantly male oriented. The treatment of women was extremely negative; they were expected to stay home and fulfill domestic duties. Literature of that time embodies and mirrors social issues of women in society (Lecture on the Puritans). But, slowly and gradually, situation being changed: “During the first half of the 19th century, women 's roles in society evolved in the areas of occupational, moral, and social reform. Through efforts such as factory movements, social reform, and women 's rights, their aims were realized and foundations for further reform were established” (Lauter 1406). Feminist poets like Emily Dickinson and Anne Bradstreet talked substantially about feminism in different lights in the past two centuries. They were very vocal and assertive about their rights and the ‘rights for women’ in general. While they might have been successful at making a good attempt to obliterate gender biases but still there are lot of disparities between the two genders. Nevertheless, their poetry reflects a deep angst.