Tamora Pierce Analysis

As a senior revising and expanding this essay, I realized how much I have grown as a writer and a student of literature. When I began revising, I realized that the focus of the paper needed to be narrowed and focused more on the play Arcadia, in which Thomasina is the exception to the types of women characters stereotypically

Patriarchal culture has dominated society throughout history. Males have control in many aspects of life and women have continued to fight for equal rights in society. There are many ways women have contributed to the fight for equality; some more physical and other less abrasive. Education and Literature gave the voice to a few women in a male-centered world. Poet Lady Mary Wroth captures the injustices experienced by women in the feminine narrative of Sonnet 9 from her collection of sonnets, songs, and lyrics entitled 'Pamphilia to Amphilantus. In this poem, Wroth explores the thoughts of elite women in the 1700s and uses aspects of her own cultural and historic circumstance to convey the theme of a religious patriarchal society.

The women of these novels showed feminine empowerment. Although they had obstacles that could have over come them they still stood against them and showed that females can be strong and independent too.

Firstly, Munro displays society’s weak and stereotypical view of women through the protagonist’s mother. The mother acts exactly as society expects girls to, staying inside the house, cooking and cleaning. For example, the mother “did not often come out of the house unless it was to do something – hang out the wash or dig potatoes in the garden.” (43) indicating that her sole purpose was to be inside the home. However, although women are expected to be weak and silenced, the protagonist opposes herself to society’s expectations. While most girls are expected to help their mother in the kitchen and stay inside, the protagonist prefers to “help my father when he cut the long grass, and the lamb’s quarter and flowering money-musk, that grew between the pens. He cut with the scythe and I raked into piles.” (43) Due to the protagonist preferring to work outside with her father it makes her mother feel as though, “It’s not like I (she) had a girl in the family at all.” (44) which is evidence that the protagonist defies gender conventions by participating in male-oriented tasks. Munro expresses the protagonist’s unconventionality through the use of symbolism in Flora the horse. Flora is viewed as, “given to fits of violent alarm, veering at cars and even at other horses, but we loved her speed and high-stepping, her general air of gallantry and abandon.” (44) Whereas, the other horse Mack, is described at “slow and easy to handle” (44) The inclusion of the comparison amongst Mack and Flora is to show the reader that Flora’s wild and brave personality is not common and is seen as unconventional which represents the protagonist and her separation from the norm.

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.

Emerging from a state of corrupt politicians within an oppressive environment, many will struggle through one`s feelings of fear that can dismantle their self-identities of seeking strength. The violent systematic oppression and patriarchal society that one may face, is challenged through gaining empathy, strength, and purpose. In the critically acclaimed novel, ''Brown Girl In The Ring'', Nalo Hopkinson conveys the economic collapse of Toronto's inner city that is stricken with poverty and ruled by, Rudy Sheldon, who`s commissioned to find a heart and preys on the helpless within the dystopia community. Forced in the oppressive city, a young woman, Ti-Jeanne, navigates through the ancestral pasts magical powers taught by her grandmother

Through the development of these three female figures, O’Brien places women in the archetype of the innocent to convey the message that women are forced to take the backseat experience in war and only spoken about in parallel to “their” man. Through their interactions with men, women take a more significant role than the soldiers themselves in portraying greater truths about war.

In “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell and “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, both authors introduce female protagonists that are confined by men’s authority. By displaying the protagonist's transformation, Glaspell and Faulkner highlight the repercussions of gender roles, to show that when women are trapped, they will go to great lengths to retaliate against their oppressors.

Beautiful is perhaps not how one might describe the lives of the main female characters of Absalom, Absalom! The term tragically beautiful is perhaps a more accurate description of Rosa Coldfield, Ellen Coldfield Sutpen, and Judith Sutpen. Their beauty is in the context of their struggle to live, much less thrive, in such a male-dominated environment. The excommunication from all reality is a fascinating way of building a stage on which to work notions of gender. There is, therefore, a great dichotomy of gender that emerges from two different understandings of personal relation to the surrounding world. Faulkner’s treatment of the female characters brings forth moving images and incredible social commentary. A stinging general statement about women is made by Mr. Compson: “Years ago we in the South made our women into ladies. Then the War came and made the ladies into ghosts" (7). It is in this realm that the women can be understood.

Lady Brett ,also, is the representation of a post-war woman. By the strength she brings in this novel, breaking the pre-war code of value and role of women, Brett holds a position in this novel which traditional ,at the time, only men held. While Jake is the narrator, it is clear that the main subject of interest is Brett. Her role as the catalyst of the actions defines this central role and mirrors the renew of women after the war. The participation of women in the war, having experienced the same atrocities, gave many of them the claims that led to the first-wave of feminism. Lady

Woolf demonstrates how women writers have often failed in this because of our frustration and bitterness with a world that presented to us and our writing not welcome, or even indifference, but hostility (41). She makes it clear that if there is ever going to be a “Shakespeare’s sister,” we must---at least while we are writing---swallow that sense of having been wronged, for it stands as an impediment to our creativity. This is the mental freedom that women writers must attain.

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.

Throughout the history of storytelling, there have always been storybook characters that inspire and motivate young readers to become more engaged and knowledgeable about the struggles that some people go through. Reading has always been a pastime of mine; while reading I collect new friends in wonderful places that otherwise I could only dream of. Each of these characters that I have befriended and connected with over the years, has shaped my personality in some way or another, and choosing just one seems an impossible task. Although women’s rights have skyrocketed in the past century, overall the world is still predominately male-orientated, but the world of books has no bounds for inspirational women. Countless authors have written

The main characters in Lloyd Alexander’s The Book of Three and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone would not have completed their task without the help of their female companions, Eilonwy and Hermione, respectively. However, even Eilonwy and Hermione could not have helped their male companions without first looking inwards at their selves and readjusting their attitudes towards Taran and Harry, respectively. The girls both progress and change over the course of their adventures, and these changes are the ones that help them in the end. Without progressing and experiencing their character development, the main goal of the hero could not have been accomplished. The main character would have failed in their journey without their female friend because the main characters of both books possess certain downfalls that are only made positive by the girl’s influence. Both girls’ character developments are dissimilar but ultimately crucial, despite not being the main characters in their respective stories.

All characters in the novel are living in a man’s world; nevertheless, the author has tried to change this world by the help of her characters. She shows a myriad of opportunities and different paths of life that woman can take, and more importantly she does not show a perfect world, where women get everything they want, she shows a world where woman do make mistakes, but at the same time they are the ones that pay for these mistakes and correct them.