Sexual Intercourse and Manipulative Protagonist

Like prostitutes, the women in “Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess” also violate traditional gender roles. For that reason, the men take it upon themselves to bring the power relation back to that of convention, where men are bearers of power and have control in relationships. The means by which this power reversion is accomplished, however, are subject to examination.

Since society states that she cannot be vindictive outright because she is expected to be a perfectly pleasant woman, she finds ulterior ways to go about doing so. One particular example of this is when she praises Tom for injuring her. She shows off her black and blue knuckle, saying, “‘I know you didn’t mean to, but you did do it. That’s what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen” (Fitzgerald 12). She subtly exposes Tom’s mistreatment of her in front of people, while falsifying her attraction to his physical nature.

The involvement of a family member with the previously misjudged character directly causes each heroine’s fallout of sorts with her future husband, who will henceforth be referred to as the hero. Catherine’s brother James becomes involved with Isabella before she is known to be such a determined flirt, but when she all but abandons him for Captain Tilney, it becomes known to General Tilney that Catherine’s family is not as rich as formerly supposed, and this results in

Furthermore, as Lolita can be considered an open text and this paper is concerned with bringing female perspectives to the forefront of the novel, it is reasonable to apply traditional feminist theory to the text to examine Humbert’s marginalisation of women. In particular, this reading will be formulated through applying the work of second-wave feminist Kate Millett, which focuses on exposing the reprehensibility of patriarchal oppression. To begin, Nabokov consistently constructs Humbert to display misogynistic views. To illustrate this, in the scene where Humbert recalls his sexual excitement when Dolores laid across his lap, he fantasizes about being ‘a radiant and robust Turk…enjoying the youngest and frailest of his slaves.’ Due to the reader’s knowledge of Humbert’s affinity for ‘nymphets,’ whom he defines as girls between the age of nine and fourteen, it can be deduced that these ‘slaves’ are female. The word ‘frail’ holds connotations of debility, fragility and vulnerability. Through these negative associations, Nabokov has positioned readers to understand that Humbert views women as inferior to men. This holds relevance to Millett’s theory of female inferiority, through which she explains that ‘the female’s inferior status’ is ‘ascribed to her physical weakness or intellectual inferiority.’ Millett published her work in 1969 during the second wave feminist movement, whereby women demanded equality and challenged patriarchal ideologies regarding sexuality,

In the novel Wiseblood, by Flannery O'Connor, one finds an unpleasant, almost antagonistic view of sexuality. The author seems to regard sex as an evil, and harps on this theme throughout the novel. Each sexual incident which occurs in the novel is tainted with grotesquem. Different levels of the darker side of sexuality are exposed, from perversion to flagrant displays of nudity. It serves to give the novel a bit of a moralistic overtone.

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

Haywood’s cautionary tale warns lower class women to beware of sexual misconduct as their bodies are more available to men. Carrie Shanafelt explains in her essay “Vicarious Sex and the Vulnerable Eighteenth Century Reader” how specific people risk more in reading pornographic novels: “namely, young, female, and lower-class readers” in the eighteenth-century (262). For example, Celia, one persona, is a young countrywoman who works as a maid at the inn where Beauplaisir lives during his stay in Bath. Haywood creates this low class character to warn readers of the potential for sexual assault because of their class and gender. Celia notes that: “Fortune in this Exploit was extremely on her side; there were no others of the Male-Sex in the House,

Throughout the story she shows signs of being self centered and a liar when she brings the cat after being told not to, tries to get her son to go to Tennessee instead of Florida so that she can visit some people, and her efforts not to get herself shot and killed despite her family

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.

It not only threatens, but also breaks through. Betrayed by love once in her life, she nevertheless seeks it in the effort to fill the lonely void; thus, her promiscuity. But to adhere to her tradition and her sense of herself as a lady, she cannot face this sensual part of herself. She associates it with the animalism of Stanley's lovemaking and terms it “brutal desire”. She feels guilt and a sense of sin when she does surrender to it, and yet she does, out of intense loneliness. By viewing sensuality as brutal desire she is able to disassociate it from what she feels is her true self, but only at the price of an intense inner conflict. Since she cannot integrate these conflicting elements of desire and gentility, she tries to reject the one, desire, and live solely by the other. Desperately seeking a haven she looks increasingly to fantasy. Taking refuge in tinsel, fine clothes, and rhinestones, and the illusion that a beau is available whenever she wants him, she seeks tenderness and beauty in a world of her own making.

Even in her state of anger she cannot help but once again be the restrained and subdued one in their relationship. Despite all of the happiness she has found with Rochester she still cannot bring herself to stay in a relationship in which she sacrifices part of herself, because she doesn’t know how to reconcile her need feel like she belongs and is taken care of while at the same time remaining uncorrupted.

I think the libertine is such a common and enduring character in literature and culture because its roots are founded in misogyny, an even more common and lasting practice. Being a libertine could easily be a fantasy for many men. When looking at it from their perspective, there doesn’t seem to be any real downside to being a libertine. So in thinking about a libertine it is an interesting pondering to wonder what men would ideally like to be libertines. I think it is far too easy to characterize men who would like to be libertines as men who have no moral regard for women or their wellbeing. Granted some men who desire to be libertines do fall into that category of misogynists, however, I think there is somewhat of an unnatural draw to becoming a libertine.

* It shows how deranged the protagonist's nature has become, who goes so far as to poison her rival in love

The deviancy of Humbert’s sexual encounters with Annable Leigh, his first love, at age 13 is masked by beautiful, erotic language, making their sexual act natural and decent. Humbert asserts that his love for and memory of his first love provided the basis for his affair with Lolita. Humbert’s sexual experience with Annabel takes place one summer night in a garden on the French Riviera. His description of their act contains no sign of trepidation or self-censorship; it is highly poetic from beginning to end. The narrator is not so much trying to describe the erotic games of two

The play, placed at eminent place to the libertine, whose pursuit of sexual conquests seemed to reinforce the views of women as little more than sexual diversions for men. Despite Behn’s political investment in this upper-class concept of manhood, critics and scholars have ‘argued that her plays simply just offer celebrations of libertine masculinity.’ (Staves, 2004: 81)