The Misogynistic Role Of Language In Literature

In the excerpt from A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf argues that women writers face unfair educational, financial and social disadvantages. Throughout the excerpt, she hopes to persuade readers that in a patriarchal society, a woman must have privacy and financial independence in order to fulfill her literary potential. To accomplish this goal, Woolf effectively appeals to logos, pathos and ethos; however, her emphasis on establishing credibility most successfully persuades her readers.

Literature is not simply a reflection of society; it is in actuality much more powerful. Literature draws upon society and creates its own meanings and images. It possesses the power to either nourish or discourage societal values and ideals. Hence, stereotypical views on gender relations in society are reinforced by literary depictions of men and women. The American literary canon is a collection of books that are widely accepted as influential in shaping Western culture. Stereotypes are evident throughout these texts, and often serve to justify the continuance of traditional roles. More specifically, women seem to be the target of cataloguing and other negative depictions. Classic books that are identified as part of the American literary canon tend to portray female characters in a way that emphasizes their inferiority. The depiction of females in classic American literature promotes a stereotypical view of women in American society.

Feminist literary theory assumes that a text is not simply a work of fictional literature that is separated entirely from the physical world. In this lens, the boundaries are non existent. The circumstances of how a work was written influence its criticism and analysis. The location, gender and class of the author and characters are vital to a feminist criticism (Feminist Literary Theory 1) .

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.

When on the topic of feminist writing, understanding the time period in which the author’s writing takes place persists as vastly important. Historically speaking, western culture follows a model thoroughly dominated by men. That commonality remains

As a result of the abuse female characters have faced, it has become an objective for authors to prevent this. There have been clear strides recently, putting women as the protagonists, and not in a manner that has them dealing with persecution. The amount of strong, female characters is a large stride in the right direction to end the conflict regarding women’s roles in literature. However, this sudden influx of women in literature may lead to the reversal of the issue; the absence or abuse of men. While certainly literary equality is the end goal, to flip the issue would be just as bad and lead to sexism on the opposite spectrum. To truly mend the rift between genders, there must be no discrimination, the idea that an author is trying to use sexist undertones by not writing the lead as a female should not have to be an idea that readers think about when analyzing modern books. While even still there are issues of gender inequality in literature, there must be moderation from both ends for a resolution to be possible. The only way for equality to be achieved is with the absence of sexist ideals from all

Fiction is often thought of as being “fake” or “false” interpretations of real life. While the people and events that occur in fiction are generally imagined, the most successful of these works appeal to audiences as being realistic to some extent. An example of this imagined interpretation of reality in fiction is the portrayal of women. One association given to women of many genres is that of the needy damsel. With that said, examples of heroism and wit have grown over time, adjusting with the trends of feminism today. While women are often considered delicate and in need of protection in fiction, across the genres of gothic, science and mystery, there are also many depictions indicating the contrary.

As women in society has evolved to become innovational women of today’s time, creating genetic cures and becoming billionaire's through one children’s book ;it didn’t immediately happen over night. Women for centuries struggled their way to make a difference in the world, through patriarchal influence, being beaten their way back down to nothing as they attempt to climb up into society. The patriarchal idea has even spread to literature like British literature such as Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Beowulf, as they gave women such a antagonistic role within these tragic historical fictions. Gifting them such low character qualities that every reader seems to hate and even not giving certain women names! The deeper reason for the way women’s roles

We all commonly assume that we act freely, that we make our own decisions without regard to the opinions of those around us. We all like to think we create our own stories, and choose the way we tell them. However, many of us are probably at least tempted to wonder if this a thing completely within our control, how much of it is, and how we can resist attempts of others to write our stories for us, regardless of what we actually desire. Particularly when it comes to women, the society around us is very sure of what it wants our stories to be, and who should tell them and when. This is, of course, a process that begins early. As Foss,

What does it m ~ an to be a woman writer in a culture whose fundamental de finiti ons f li te rary aut hority are , as we hav e seen. both overtl y and

However, the argument became more complex feminists would argue that male writers tend to input their fears in the literary works and were being portrayed through the female characters. They may also argue that someone’s gender would determine everything about them, or not at all that all the gender differences were brought upon by society and the different cultures today. A person’s gender is often not defined through the biological system but rather on a cultural system. Feminists had begun to turn literary criticism into a battle because they wanted to argue that there should be a distinct way of writing, therefore coming up with the feminine writing style. The feminist approach started to look into the works of female writers and compared the difference between both literary pieces from male and female writers. By using the theory, we can understand the roles of men and women in a literary work. We will be able to understand what defines women in a work and their overall

Characterization is perhaps the most vital aspect within a work of literature. It takes mere words on paper and brings them to life, transforming these same words into walking, talking characters who exist in their own written world. However, throughout the history of literature, as well as any forms of media, women have been marginalized. Women are subject to a lack of characterization and/or typical female tropes, suggesting that they cannot progress mentally, reach their own realizations, as well as have their own identities. In addition, women are commonly showcased as flat characters, fulfilling typical gender roles and only serving to progress the plot for more dominant male characters.

According to Fairclough (2010), in Critical Discourse Analysis, language is viewed as a social practice because it shapes and is shaped by society.

Objective male narration reduces women to “apparitions” not only in these works, but in most of today’s media. The standard defense for such blatant sexism is that it is a “product of its time” (Berlatsky 2). This defense reasons that Conrad and Orwell, who respectively published their works in 1899 and 1948, could not have been expected to write any differently. By delineating the past as “completely benighted” and the present as “completely beknighted,” contemporary readers ignore that this issue still exists (Berlatsky 5). Gender inequality persisted in 1899 and through 1948, but it is still around today and will be for centuries to come. Because men were the main authors and audience in 1899 and 1948, the male narrative had a monopoly over other perspectives.

Many female writers see themselves as advocates for other creative females to help find their voice as a woman. Although this may be true, writer Virginia Woolf made her life mission to help women find their voice as a writer, no gender attached. She believed women had the creativity and power to write, not better than men, but as equals. Yet throughout history, women have been neglected in a sense, and Woolf attempted to find them. In her essay, A Room of One’s Own, she focuses on what is meant by connecting the terms, women and fiction. Woolf divided this thought into three categories: what women are like throughout history, women and the fiction they write, and women and the fiction written about them. When one thinks of women and