Sophia's Portrayal Of Women In The Enlightenment Era

Reading literature, at first, might seem like simple stories. However, in works like William Faulkner's “A Rose for Emily,” Katherine Mansfield's “Miss Brill,” and Kate Chopin's “The Storm,” the female protagonists are examples of how society has oppressive expectations of women simply because of their gender.

However, Deborah’s atonement is not what provides closure to Lily’s solace. Instead August’s acceptance and love provides Lily with enough comfort to begin her process of self acceptance. Early in the book, Lily demeans herself by saying “You are unlovable, Lily Owens. Unlovable. Who could love you? Who in this world could ever love you?”(Kidd 242). Lily begins to create her own cage of dark emotions with thoughts like this. With her mother unable to Lily for the unfortunate accident that caused her death, Lily is left feeling closed off from the world and believing it is wrong for her to want to be loved again. However readers can start to see Lily opening up after August explains to her that, “Every little thing wants to be loved,” (Kidd 92). Lily begins to feel accepted and loved within the new family she has found, and she is able to begin the process of

In history as well as literature, women have been portrayed as weak creatures that share no place of importance in society. Both Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, and Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, begin with female protagonists who are objects of scorn and derision from others in their respective towns. However, by characterizing these women through the remarks of others and through their physical appearance, the authors show that despite the negativity and their unorthodox appearances, these women have tremendous inner strength and an inordinate power over those who would judge them.

Women in literature were viewed as submissive to their male counterparts. Countless works of the nineteenth century,

Throughout literature women are often displayed as idealized characters. Women in the eyes of society are plagued with the stereotype of being kind, nurturing, and tender individuals while men are established as ambitious, assertive, and tough. However, when the time comes for women to possess the qualities of men and men of women, a turnaround of events can occur. Women were the individuals that then shape the males into their ending personna. Shakespeare's Macbeth, George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby demonstrated the reversal of gender roles through portraying women as the instigator of the male character’s ultimate demise.

In Voltaire’s Candide, the women are constantly being victims of rape, abuse, and violence. They suffer no matter how rich or how poor they were. From Cunegonde to Paquette, and The Old Woman, none of these characters possess such importance as the male characters do. Voltaire ridicules gender roles and the lack of power these women had in the Enlightenment period, which was supposed to be a time of “intellectual freedom and equality for men and women” (Johnson)

During this period, the attitude towards women gradually changed. For quite a long period of time, the important roles women played were ignored. In the society, they were viewed as the weaker gender. Women were easily related to the roles such as taking care of the family, childbearing and raising the children. It was considered as their natural job. As a result, morality was largely based along gender lines and responsibilities towards others instead of being focused on the culture of symbols, individual values and ideas. Materialism was largely used to construct gender aspects. Isecke (33) notes that

Women have always played key roles in literature, from the strong heroine to the damsel in distress. Common in works published before the 21st century, and even after, women are written as the caregivers, and the homemakers for their husbands. Literary women will often play the submissive role in society and in their marriages. These women react differently to their role; some remain submissive, some are rebellious, some are breaking free, and some go down as a result of their submission.

Reflecting upon their role in society, women in literature are often portrayed in a position

The Enlightenment is known as the revolution that brought to question the traditional political and social structures. This included the question of the woman’s traditional roles in society. As the public sphere relied more and more ?? and the advances in scientific and educated thinking, women sought to join in with the ranks of their male counterparts. Women held gatherings known as salons where they organized intellectual conversations with their distinguished male guests. Seeking to further their status, enlightened women published pamphlets and other works advocating for educational rights and political recognition. Even with this evolution of woman in society, many still clung to the belief that the role of the woman was solely

Way, she encourages the reader to appreciate the strength of their love and how their friendship was a lot deeper than a sexual attraction.

Instead of acting in ways to better themselves, these women look for ways to harm or help men, making them reactors rather than actors. For example, the Lady in Red uses a seductive appearance to sleep with random men and rejects them the following morning in order to

As one explores the novel, Paradise of the Blind, the author Duong Thu Huong shows occurrence of the concept of love throughout her novel by manipulating each character to show this through both their actions and emotions. Although the characters are manipulated by the author to show love, it is the interactions between them that show us the deeper analytical meaning behind their perspectives of love. Thus, the concept of love is prevalent throughout Paradise of the Blind as shown through the progression and motives of main and side characters.

Throughout American Literature, women have been depicted in many different ways. The portrayal of women in American Literature is often influenced by an author's personal experience or a frequent societal stereotype of women and their position. Often times, male authors interpret society’s views of women in a completely different nature than a female author would. While F. Scott Fitzgerald may represent his main female character as a victim in the 1920’s, Zora Neale Hurston portrays hers as a strong, free-spirited, and independent woman only a decade later in the 1930’s.

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.