Monologue Script Analysis

‘Women’s roles are often tokenistic in dramatic comedy.’ To what extent do you believe this to be the case in relation to the play you are studying?

In contemporary 21st century thought, sexual liberty is at the forefront of the feminist movement. Women are taking their bodily autonomy back, and ascribing a sense of ownership back to themselves. This movement to gain bodily and sexual liberty, however, are not new concepts. Philosophers and literary greats tackled these issues prior to the 21st century. Both Edith Wharton’s novel The Age of Innocence and Kate Chopin’s short story, At the ‘Cadian Ball and which were written prior to the 21st century and its third wave of feminism. portray women’s sexuality throughout their texts. However, in both novels, the sexuality that is portrayed is confined within boundaries that are prescribed by the men in the story. By writing the female sexuality this way, they are exposing the problematic nature of being able to express a woman’s sexuality, and the lack thereof. Through the focalisation of the narrative as well as plot development of the female characters and their lack of freedom and autonomy in other aspects of their life, the authors make their points clear about women and their freedom, sexual and otherwise.

If a female was to rewrite this play she would have to change the focus of the play. In the

Sexuality has an inherent connection to human nature. Yet, even in regards to something so natural, societies throughout times have imposed expectations and gender roles upon it. Ultimately, these come to oppress women, and confine them within the limits that the world has set for them. However, society is constantly evolving, and within the past 200 years, the role of women has changed. These changes in society can be seen within the intricacies of literature in each era. Specifically, through analyzing The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, one can observe the dynamics of society in regards to the role of women through the lens of the theme of sexuality. In both novels, the confinement and oppression of women can be visibly seen as a result of these gender roles. Yet, from the time The Scarlet Letter was published to the time The Bell Jar was written, the place of women in society ultimately changed as well. Hence when evaluating the gender roles that are derived from sexuality, the difference between the portrayals of women’s oppression in each novel becomes apparent, and shows how the subjugation of women has evolved. The guiding question of this investigation is to what extent does the theme of sexuality reflect the expectations for women in society at the time each novel was written. The essay will explore how the literary elements that form each novel demonstrate each author’s independent vision which questions the

Overall it held my attention. The comedy injected into this play allowed for the more poignant messages to be driven home. I could relate to the respective arguments of the two men. It makes you

It tells the story from the perspective of a young girl, who continuously gets scolded by her mother for going against social norms by writing. She continues to write despite the rebuke she receives from her mother because she hears the voices of the women who lived before her pleading her to continue writing. The girl explains that while most of her female family members experienced rape, they did not feel shame instead “They were singing, searching for meaning in the dust. And sometimes, they were talking to faces across the ages, faces like yours and mine.” (page 194). The reason these women did not feel shame was because they understood that while this act was horrible they needed to continue on with life in order to establish hope for the future generations that come after them. The reader gets to understand that life is cruel, but it is sometimes for the better. It also addresses this at the end of the epilogue when the girl’s mother has finished braiding her hair “..ask you to name each braid after those nine hundred and ninety-nine women who were boiling in your blood, and since you had written them down and memorized them, the name would come rolling off your tongue. And this was your testament to the way that these women lived and died and lived again.” (page 196) This shows the ultimate reward the people

To get us started, how do the roles and identities of women in this play compare to that of the male figures?

I have chosen two short scenes from Chinese takeaway by Anna Yen to share with you. (Read)

Here me out. I get it that sometimes, things happen, and people don’t want to be reminded of them. But when you start trying to censor things out of your life, you aren’t handling your problems, you’re avoiding them. You are saying that you can’t handle a WORD or IDEA, so you can’t see/say/think it, and neither can the people around you.

In another of Updike’s sexual poems, sex is represented in an extremely different manner. In Updike’s poem, Cunts, a very contradictory image of sexuality is given. Updike uses the word cunt in this poem consistently. This word is a very degrading word for the vagina, but he characterizes the female genitalia in a very positive fashion. Updike characterizes this portion of the human anatomy as a beautiful thing, especially when he refers to it as the, “...Glad tunnel of life...” (p. 118). The process of giving birth is probably the most beautiful and rewarding experience that a woman can endure. Due to this characterization, the reader is filled with a respect for the woman’s body, because of the miracles that it can perform. Updike inserts the word cunt into the middle of thoughts, to enhance his point. Updike writes, “...there is almost / cunt too much of a CUNT good thing CUNT...” (p.119). The use of these derogatory, interfering statements provides the reader with a clear view of Updike’s point. Updike is showing the reader that society’s view of men and women in society is tainted. We as a society tend to treat women as the inferior gender, with less freedom and more demanding guidelines than men. Most men crave sexual contact with a

I have finally finished the excruciatingly painful amputation of my left leg following my horrendous case of trench foot. I honestly wanted to cry, I’m sure death is no where near as painful as the pain I will be forced to endure as I carry on through my life. The way they sawed through my dead leg as though they had no feeling of remorse. The look on their faces screamed “this isn’t my first time dealing with something so gruesome.” The way it plopped into the “doctor's” arm as he was cutting through the remaining pieces of living flesh. The way the people around me were staring in shock… you could see that look of horror, that look of “this can happen to me”. Haha, I guess I can’t blame them too much as I would do the

This play took place in the 1940’s, which means that at this time period men were looked at as having to stay to take care of their families, while women were seen as hopeless and incapable of living without a man to help

Bechdel mentions her extensive reading and how she discovered her sexuality first through books and the accounts and wisdom of her forerunners before she had her own experiences to judge from. In writing this novel detailing her coming of age story, wrestling with her father’s suicide, and exploring her sexuality often in graphic terms and illustrations, Bechdel transfers her knowledge and expands on this literary legacy of representing and giving a voice to the LGBTQ+ community and experience. Similar to Sexton, Bechdel recognizes in her writing that she is entering a discussion which has very few participants, both due to limited information and resources and further, from the shame perpetuated by social stigmas and ignorance. Arguably, American literature strives to educate its readers, not merely academically, but also socially and emotionally. Thus, by providing and illustrating their personal experiences, writers such as Wright, Bechdel, and Sexton teach their audiences about greater discussions, diverse opinions and traditions, and ultimately recognize the value in conscientiousness. Perhaps knowing every individual experiences and views the world in their own way may also empower every individual to live better

The “Vagina Monologues” by Eve Ensler is a book about women talking only about their vaginas. The author seems to be a very out spoken lady that doesn’t mind talking about things that most women rather keep to themselves. Like, asking women a hypothetical question about their vaginas “If it got dressed what will it wear?” I think most women don’t bother to think about how they would dress their vagina. Many women eve interviewed in the book seemed like they were nervous or shy to talk about their vagina so openly to the author. Eve Ensler talked to women from all walks of life she crossed racial boundaries, economic status, and age in order to get women’s thoughts about their most prized possession. Eve assumed that the women she would interview

Eve Ensler, the author of The Vagina Monologues, writes a novel discussing all there is to talk about when it comes to vagina's. This might sound odd to most but to me makes total sense in todays society. Sex is becoming more and more popular in younger ages, talked about in movies, magazines, commercials exedra however, the word "vagina" is still seen as a taboo word, even for women. I chose to watch the HBO monologues that included the one, two and three episodes. These episodes talked about various things. To begin, Ensler talked about her journey that lead to her findings about what women actually thought of their own bodies. Ensler interviewed over 200 women from young to old and asked them all the same question.. "Have you seen it before"