Queer Theory In Harriet Fitzhugh's Harriet The Spy

Weldon’s “Letters to Alice” serves to enrich and deepen the responder’s understanding of the particular ways in which women were compromised in “Pride and Prejudice”. Discussion of fundamental

An example that gives an even deeper look into Harriet’s archetypal character is when Roy is finally at his hotel. A mysterious thing Harriet did was when she called Roy’s room and then told him to come up to her room. But since Roy didn’t see anything wrong with that at the time he went on up to her room without a second

Throughout the novel, Harriet Beecher Stowe touches the reader’s heart through lifelike characters and emotions. Due to Mrs. Stowe’s articulate ability to create a realistic image in her readers’ minds, I was left with a multitude variety of sentiment while reading the book. From joy to sadness, acceptance

This approach to queer subtext has been has always been a part of Western media as we as we explored in the film “The Celluloid Closet” (1995). Queer representation for many years was an continuous uncategorized personification that was vaguely acknowledged but to those who understood the subtext, it became an undercurrent of complex coded information that eventually paved the way for the integration of queer identification within the hetero film storylines. Doty speaks about this and also mentions that at some point in time representation of queer culture and sexuality

The articles by Roderick Ferguson (2004) in his book literally highlights the regulation that established sociological schools of thought impose upon the ‘queer people of color,’ or anyone who is different in terms of sexual orientation and non-white. In the very early part of the book, Ferguson depicts the imagery of a black drag-queen prostitute from Marlon Riggs’ ‘Tongues Untied.’ He goes on to describe the way capitalism, in general, and the American system in particular has conveniently excluded many like her – people of alternative sexual preferences with both African American culture and Leftist Liberal thought rooted in the heterogeneity. (Ferguson, 2004, p. 3). It is at this point that through the work of Chandan Reddy, Ferguson reminds the reader that the core of Leftist-Liberal Marxist thought revolves around the abolishment of race, gender and sexuality.

As shown in the novel Bound, historical fiction was beneficial in helping readers to understand the past. The characters of Sally Gunning’s novel were helpful in allowing the reader to understand daily aspects of colonial

This article by Donaldson is about the role of women in Fitzgerald's life and how those women influence the characterization of the females in his books. He then went on to say how Fitzgerald himself was reflected in all his characters, male and female. It was then discussed how the characterization influenced the overall theme of the stories. Donaldson creates a very positive attitude giving an overall positive review. He does not criticize Fitzgerald, only analyses his work.

Harriet Jacobs, or Linda Brent in the book, was born in 1813 near Edenton, North Carolina as a slave. She was blessed with, in her words, “unusually fortunate circumstances(Jacobs, Pg.3)” until age six when her mother died. She stayed with her mistress, Margaret Horniblow, until she was twelve years old where on her mistress’s death she was willed to her mistress’s niece and as a result her new mistress’s father, Dr. Flint. Unlike with her previous mistress, her life with the Flints was harsh and demanding. She eventually escaped from her life with the Flint’s and hid herself away. She was free for a time but she was eventually bought once again, though with a kinder owner who allowed her to write her book while working for her.

The developmental stage of a young child’s life is very crucial and can be impacted by the media. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel Meminger is a young girl living in a very important part of Germany’s history, the Second World War. Liesel’s childhood unfolds and develops against the backdrop of a time when words, books specifically were used for power and control. Liesel is someone who has a love for reading and, as such, books become very important to her, not only for her education but for her rebellion and discovering her true identity. Throughout the novel, books become a crucial symbol used to convey the desires and discovery of identity for the main character as her childish ignorance changes to her mature adulthood.

James' manipulation of appearances in Daisy Miller as well as other character's notions of these appearances provides us with a novella of enigmatic and fascinating characters. Daisy, the most complicated of these ambiguities, is as mysterious as she is flirtatious. James gives her a carefully constructed enigmatic quality that leaves the reader wondering what her motivations were and who she truly was. He structures the novella in such a way as to stress the insights that the supporting characters provide into Daisy's character, weather accurate or erroneous. Despite their questionable reliability, they allow James to make commentary on both European and American cultures and social class.

The women who stray away from the preset quotas on how they must act in society are ridiculed. The author establishes this issue well in the cases of Sophie Wender, Rosalind Morton, and Aunt Harriet. These individuals are undoubtedly the most developed emotionally, as well as the most assertive and genuine representations of present day women, shown throughout the novel. Rosalind and Sophie are the closest there are to heroines in consideration of the fact they repeatedly confront and fight for their beliefs in how mutants should be treated. This is a stark contrast to the general representation, which is one of fearful, timid housewives who only do as their husbands permit them. Nevertheless their way of acting is considered “sinful”

As being developed by poststructuralism, feminism, lesbian & gay studies and even American pragmatist theory (Parker,2001; Seidman,1997), queer theory has become one of the most important theories, which contributes to the research of sociology, arts and organizations. On the one hand, queer theory has been used to study the relations between the sexuality, gender and workplace. On the other hand, by utilizing denaturalized, deconstructive and performative methods to queer the presumptions of the taken-for-granted norms, queer theorists question and disprove the traditions which people cherish (Seidman,1995).

“Jane Eyre” is a book centred around female duality. In a time when females were still expected to fulfill their “womanly duties,” Charlotte Bronte wrote a novel dealing with a woman’s view on morality & sexuality, passion & sensibility, and conformity & insanity, among other themes. This motif of duality plays a strong part in the dynamism that makes up the book, and is not limited to the themes, but is also used to relate many of the characters to the titular Jane. In “The Mystery at Thornfield,” Valerie Beattie makes claims that the character Bertha Mason’s insanity is a representation of rebellion toward the limitations of Victorian women. Not only is

Jane Eyre was written in a time where the Bildungsroman was a common form of literature. The importance was that the mid-nineteenth century was, "the age in which women were, for the first time, ranked equally with men as writers within a major genre" (Sussman 1). In many of these novels, the themes were the same; the protagonist dealt with the same issues, "search for autonomy and selfhood in opposition to the social constraints placed upon the female, including the demand for marriage" (Sussman). Jane Eyre fits this mould perfectly. Throughout the novel, the reader follows Jane Eyre on a journey of development from adolescence to maturity to show that a desire for freedom and change motivates people to search for their own identity.

It seems sometimes like the market for young adult literature is written down to the readers, almost in a condescending manner. That is why a book like The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is so refreshing in this sea of cookie cutter romances and fantasies. While classified as a young adult novel, it deals with very serious themes. The book’s cover comes printed with this label: “It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.” It is a dark allusion to what is to come. But Zusak makes this story more accessible to the audience he is writing to and does this by creating identifiable characters, by bringing humor into