The Analysis of the Colonel's Lady

In this essay, female oppression in La Casa de Bernarda Alba will be discussed and analyzed. However, in order to be able to understand the importance of this theme and the impact it has had on the play, one must first understand the role of female oppression in the Spanish society in the 1930s.

The narrator’s background of education conflicts with the current situation of war that he is in. The narrator has “graduated in law from St. Petersburg University”, giving him higher ground among soldiers with not only the education he possess but also the moral capacity he has. His fellow soldiers are on the other side of the spectrum in relation to the narrator. They have endured the tragedy of war, giving them vulgar personalities that allows them to express ideas and thoughts with no filter: “go and mess up a lady . . . and you 'll have the boys patting you on the back”. These contrasting personalities and cultures has set up the narrator to get test his singular moral standings to fit in with the other soldiers. Otherwise, the narrator would have to endure embaressing behavior such as: “went over to my little trunk and tossed it out at the gate . . . [and] emitted a series of shameful noises”.

It is human nature to have issues of balance within any relationship. For example, the knight, desperate in need, found an old woman who knew the answer to save his life. In order for him to receive vindication, he had to pledge his life to her. The old woman at last revealed the answer, that all women want sovereignty over their husbands and lovers (“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” 170-71). In contrast, Walter forces Griselda to be submissive at all times as he tests her loyalty and obedience by pretending to kill both of her children and asking for a phony divorce. One tale appears to suggest that the male should be inferior to his wife as the other tale promotes that the woman should be at least steadfast in adversity and obedient to her significant other. The issue of an unbalance relationship is still a part of modern society because the majority of people are familiar with the saying, “Who wears the pants in the relationship?” That joke derives from the struggle of dominance in a relationship. Yet the characters’ opinions of where they believe a woman belongs in a relationship are slightly polar; both stories are constructed around the theme of struggle in a relationship (“The Clerk’s Tale” 217-24).

The story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, anticipates the audience to recognize a male as the focus of the story but instead there are two main characters. Flannery O’Connor focuses her story on the grandmother and The Misfit as the two main characters. It is throughout her story and juxtaposition of the characters that the author conveys conflicting moral codes and faith between The Misfit’s principles triumphing over the grandmother’s principles. The literary device that expresses the theme of the individual’s opposing values is the use of indirect characterization in contrasting differences of appearance, speech and actions.

The Portrayal of the Plight of Women by the Author, In Their Particular Period of Time

The author agrees with the idea of women as victims through the characterisation of women in the short story. The women are portrayed as helpless to the torment inflicted upon them by the boy in the story. This positions readers to feel sympathy for the women but also think of the world outside the text in which women are also seen as inferior to men. “Each season provided him new ways of frightening the little girls who sat in front of him or behind him”. This statement shows that the boy’s primary target were the girls who sat next to him. This supports the tradition idea of women as the victims and compels readers to see that the women in the text are treated more or less the same as the women in the outside world. Characterisation has been used by the author to reinforce the traditional idea of women as the helpless victims.

The heroine, Mrs. P, has some carries some characteristics parallel to Louise Mallard in “Hour.” The women of her time are limited by cultural convention. Yet, Mrs. P, (like Louise) begins to experience a new freedom of imagination, a zest for life , in the immediate absence of her husband. She realizes, through interior monologues, that she has been held back, that her station in life cannot and will not afford her the kind of freedom to explore freely and openly the emotions that are as much a part of her as they are not a part of Leonce. Here is a primary irony.

For instance, she wishes to dress smart only in case an accident should occur so that her body would be identified as a woman. She shows her being a “good woman”, contrary to a “good man” who “is hard to find”. But by doing so she reveals how artificial a Christian she is, that appearance for her is more significant than a “good Christian” spirit. It is her who divides the world into “good” and “evil” but she little realizes the actual parameters of these values. Her subjective point of view makes the borderline somewhat blurred, even the name of Jesus in her speech “sounded as if she might be cursing”. In fact, she is far from an epitome of virtue and it is only the fatal encounter with the Misfit that makes her realize the error of her ways. Hence, to some extent, the Grandmother may be treated as a common Everyman.

8. What does the simile at the end of the first paragraph suggest about the lieutenant?

The narrator is totally crushed by the gender discrimination. She longed to be seen by her mother and her grandma. The narrator is heartbroken that her mother loved her brother more than her and failed to notice her. “When she went into Nonso’s room to say good night, she always came out laughing that laugh. Most times, you pressed your palms to your ears to keep the sound out, and kept your palms pressed to your ears, even when she came into your room to say Good night, darling, sleep well. She never left your room with that laugh” (190). Her agony can be easily seen by the way of her narrating. She does not get the affection that she deserves. She really needs the affection from her own mother, but she is not getting it. She compares the love which her mother shows to his brother and herself. This is gender discrimination can be seen with her grandmother too. She hated her grandma as she would always support her brother and find fault with her. Even though what the brother did, no matter what crime. Her mother and grandmother always supported her brother and never supported or showed interest towards

Next, Foster brilliantly introduces the character of Cecil Vyse, a “medieval'; and high standing Englishman who, while is an acceptable suitor, really only sees Lucy as another pretty possession by his side. Cecil’s most important function ironically enough, is to serve as a “mirror'; for Lucy. For by seeing his snobbish and downright crude mannerisms, Lucy receives a likely image of what she herself could become if she were to marry Cecil for convention and not for passion. Becoming disgusted with Cecil’s behavior, she breaks off her engagement with him, yet still cannot distinguish whether she is doing it because of his crude and snobbish nature or because of her love for George, which she has still yet to admit.

The speaker also talks of Nell, his ex-wife. Though there were things that annoyed him about her, he still speaks fondly of her. For instance, he remarks, "That's why Nell was good to have ‘round. She could be a pain in the ass, you know, like making me hang those stupid bells, but mostly she knew what to do." This allows the reader to see that the loss of his family has had a deep impact on him. He misses his wife and son and speaks of how families should be together, though his never will be again. This is what provokes him to do what he did next.

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.

During the war, women are used to reflect society’s abandonment of the soldiers through their insensitivity that ultimately leaves the soldiers to fight alone. For Lieutenant Cross, Martha writes long letters back and forth with him, but rarely do they ever speak of Cross’s life in battle. Merely, the only time war is mentioned is to say, “Jimmy, take care of yourself” (2). Considering the pages and pages of writing that Martha writes regarding her life, she does not put in the effort to ask about Cross, who risks his life every day. Simply, she tells Cross to

In “Lady Susan”, the gender roles or the gender expectations are revealed by the relationships between varied characters, like the affair between Lady Susan and Mr. De Courcy, or the maternity showed by Mrs. Vernon to Frederica. Aims to discuss the female gender expectations in this work, I want to compare Lady Susan and Mrs. Vernon. Specifically, I want to evaluate the conducts and thoughts showed by Lady Susan and Mrs. Vernon to discuss the gender expectations as a female. And through those comparisons I want to argue how to build a positive and good female role.