Margaret Fuller Vs. Herman Melville

In the passage Moby Dick by Herman Melville, uses multiple strategies to create an effect on the reader. Melville uses diction, imagery, details, language, sentence structure, and tone and to make his effect on the reader much more engaging and interesting.

Although Washington could not describe himself as a revolutionist, his present state of external conflict forged him into the figure engraved in our minds today. Herman Melville (1819-1891), author of the literary classic Moby Dick, possessed much experience that contributed to the setting and message of his writing. Although Melville never became a midshipman, or naval sailor, he can attribute a great deal of influence for writing to his life while at sea. Melville's Billy Budd, Sailor tells the story of a young mariner and his induction on the H.M.S. Bellipotent. From unstable relationships to cabin revolt, Billy, the main character, faces a series of conflicts that ultimately creates varying images of him in the differing minds of those around him. In view of all of this, Melville, in Billy Budd, Sailor, communicates to readers the theme that “conflict, internal or external, exists as the framework of destiny,” through Billy's initial reaction to the crew as a result of enlistment on the Bellipotent, the rumor of mutiny, and his

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.

She was a mother, a moral and political philosopher, a writer, and a feminist. Mary Wollstonecraft was the ideal image of what represented the push towards modern feminism. Some may even consider her as the founding mother of modern feminism itself. Much of Wollstonecraft’s literature is influenced by her own life experiences. In 1785, Wollstonecraft took on an employment opportunity as a governess. While spending most of her time there, she had a moment of epiphany where she realized that she was not suited for domestic work. Soon after, she returned to London and became a translator and wrote for a well-known publisher and discovered her love of writing. Eventually, years later she was then able to publish her most notable work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is still a very popular book which can be seen as a guide to becoming a better citizen and understanding feminism in a critical context. This essay will argue that Mary Wollstonecraft is still relevant to the feminist cause today as her views portrayed in her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman are still relatable to many of the feminist issues that currently exist around the world. This essay will do so by comparing how her views in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman can still be used as guiding principles to tackle feminist matters.

The pale Usher—threadbare in coat, heart, body, and brain; I see him now. He was ever

Herman Melville’s short story “Benito Cereno” or “The Other Moby Dick” as Greg Grandin, a contributing writer for Mother Jones magazine, refers to it, is a fictionalized account of an encounter that an American ship captain and seal killer/trader by the name of Amasa Delano had in February 1805 in the South Pacific (Grandin). Delano, who was “quick to flog his men,” was “the sort of American sea captain Melville knew well and hated” (Stuckey 271). Delano chronicled his encounter in “A Narrative of Voyages and Travels, in the northern and southern hemispheres: comprising three voyages around the world, together with a voyage of survey and discovery in the Pacific Ocean and Oriental Islands” (Boston, 1817). Arguably one of Melville’s best works, “Benito Cereno” in all of its ambiguity is more than a fictionalized account of a seafaring vessel and its less than admirable captain, it is a historical reflection of what was happening in the world during the time it was written.

We have always learned about men. Throughout our years in the K-12 school systems we, as students, have learned about the contributions that men have made to the development of our country. We learn from a young age that we live in a patriarchal society, in which boys are stronger than girls and fathers should be the head of the household. The idea is pressed upon us that it is unusual for our mothers to make more money than our fathers and that women will always and should always be the secretary to a man’s CEO. In Mark Twain’s Pudd’nhead Wilson, Twain reflects on the way of life in 1894. The way he speaks of women satirically and stereotypically gives us a clear outlook on what was thought of women of that time period as well as Twain’s own perspective. He makes the argument that they were only good for two things: raising babies and housekeeping.

In The Paradise of Bachelors and The Tartarus of Maids, Melville subtly criticizes women in the working or public space, while positively depicting men in a domestic space. Melville’s contrast of the paradise of bachelors and the Tartarus of maids, clearly demonstrates how men were perfectly allowed and able to exist in both spaces without degrading their reputation, questioning their manhood and without consequence made both spaces their own. This is not true for women who step outside the domestic space.

In literature, the truly memorable characters are those special individuals that arouse powerful emotions in the reader. Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick presents a man who is undoubtedly among the unforgettable characters of literature: Ahab, sea-captain of the whaling ship the Pequod. At first, Ahab is a mysterious figure to Ishmael, the narrator of the tale. Despite the captain’s initial reclusiveness, Ishmael gradually comes to understand the kind of man that Ahab is and, most importantly, the singular obsession he possesses: finding the white whale, Moby Dick. The hunt for Moby Dick (and, correspondingly, the idea that Moby Dick represents) is the critical component of Ahab’s personality, and Melville makes that all-important idea known 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

Being a young woman of this generation, I have come to realize the validity of a common bumper sticker quote: Well-behaved women seldom make history. Despite the fact that there is no verified initial speaker to this statement, the older I have gotten, the wider my eyes have become and the more of the world around me, I have seen in its full, vivid colors rather than the simple, crisp black-and-white of childhood. In my elementary days, being anything other than well behaved was downright frightening. The ever-bearing fear of disapproval weighed heavy upon my little shoulders, because frankly, speaking against adults was unforgivable and meant no rewards in the form of sweets or shiny foil stickers with terrible plays on words. But, I digress, the trueness of the statement solidified itself the older I got when the reality became clear; women are to be an object, a fixture, a malleable ball of clay left for shaping at the hands of the man she shadows. However true this may be, this paper, my last soapbox to preach observations upon, aims to reference: The Wife’s Lament, Beowulf, Paradise Lost, The Flea, and The Poetess’s Hasty Resolution to reiterate and further emphasize the use of, shift in, and development of gender roles. My primary focus resting upon the roles of women in literature throughout the time-periods discussed within the span of the semester.

Analysis: This time Melville presents fate as the weaver. This Implies that Ishmael may have less control of his destiny as the chase for Moby Dick draws closer. This idea of fate viruses free will that Melville continues to return to makes the audience think. Readers must question weather they believe Ishmael’s future is fixed, or weather he is the master of his fate. Melville uses this allusion repeatedly to pull the reader into the story. He makes his audience want to read more by being indefinite about the power of fate.

American Literature has always been about men and for men. In this essay, we are going to analyze the women’s role in the book, as inferior and weaker gender.

The novel, Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley reveals how women have lived in a society dominated by males for centuries. In the novel, she demonstrates how opportunities entitled to women were tremendously inadequate in the 1800s. Moreover, Mary Shelley portrays how women are considered to be chattels in society, unlike men who thrive in the same community independently. Also, the novel shows how the male characters are significantly relied upon by females for survival, hence attesting their incapability to support themselves. Furthermore, victimization of the female characters by males is highly evident in the novel, as they accomplish their standard roles established by society. Therefore, this essay paper will discuss the commentary made by Mary Shelley on attitudes towards women during the 1800s as presented through the characters in the novel, Frankenstein.

A style that critics have noticed in Melville’s publications is his chaotic wording and sentence structure: with phrases such as “Ourselves is Fate,” (Melville qtd. in Kearns 50) the reader begins to clearly see Melville’s chaotic style of writing. This is his use of strings of words as complete sentences that often have errors in semantics and syntax. These mistakes are deliberate, usually for rhetorical value (Kearns 50). An example of which can be seen in the following quote: “Though in many of its aspects this visible world seems formed in love, the invisible spheres were formed in fright.” (Melville qtd. in Kearns 51). A contrast is