The Precarious Significance Of Honor In Guiterre's Play '

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.

This essay will be discussing how gender is portrayed in the films Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All About My Mother) and Tacones Lejanos (High Heels), both directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The use of the theatre and performance, along with the audiences that come with it, enables these films to explore the manner in which gender is unstable. Gwynne Edwards writes that Almodóvar often pays tribute to the stage . Almodóvar dedicates All About My Mother “to all the actresses who have played actresses, to all women who act, to men who act and become women” , which is also relevant to High Heels. He uses the stage setting as a platform to show the instability of gender, not only on a physical stage but also in the characters’ lives: “The dialogue of his films has the cut and thrust, and very often wit, of stage plays. There are also soliloquies, and one of them – in All About My Mother – is even delivered to the audience from the stage of a theatre” . Russell Jackson suggests that this is done as a method for the characters to “find the sometimes onerous ability to deal with and describe their past, and to create a future in the face of death and desertion.” The character ‘La Agrado’ in All About My Mother as well High Heels’ Femme Letal (Letal), will be considered - both the manner in which they carry themselves throughout the film, as well as the their performances on stage. In the following paragraphs, I will illustrate how performance and the stage are vital in Almodóvar’s exploration

In El Laberinto del Fauno, Guillermo del Toro uses the theme of obedience to illustrate and condemn two repressive components of fascism: patriarchy and the coercion of free will. This essay will look at two examples of obedience in the film which reveal the abhorrent nature of these aspects of fascism and the importance of resisting them. These are, respectively, the relationship between Captain Vidal and Mercedes and Ofelia’s refusal to compromise her own integrity.

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.

During the Spanish ruling, the Spanish mentality of conquest is that the role of women is to be a housewife and take care of the children while men’s role is to be the provider, worker, and protector of the family. Women were not given the right to work, own property, or attain jobs, without the permission of their spouse. The purpose of life for a woman is to marry and establish an alliance, ultimately creating a peaceful situation at home. Catalina vows to go against deeply ingrained gender norms; implanted in every society lives distinct gender roles for both men and women, with that there are specific ways that those roles can be violated or subverted. Catalina attempts to threaten the social order, as she asserts her power by dressing up as a man as it allows her better opportunities than appearing as a woman. Catalina's gender presentation of herself as a stereotypical male, being abrasive and quick to anger when anyone challenges her masculinity, demonstrates the minimal opportunities for women in Spanish society. Erauso assertion that the “nun’s habit becomes useless and I threw it away, I cut my hair and threw it away” demonstrates that the trappings of womanhood are not working for her. By becoming a man, Catalina succeeds more, due to the fact that men were granted better opportunities such as the right to join the armada where she sets sail for Spain, or the right to go to Madrid and meet with the King, or the right to gamble in Charcas.

To begin, the protagonist Clemencia is like a chameleon, who can blend into any social event and with any class of wealth when she says ““I’m amphibious. I’m a person who doesn’t belong to any class. The rich like to have me around because they envy my creativity; they know they can’t buy that. The poor don’t mind if I live in their neighborhood because they know I’m poor like they are, even if my education and the way I dress keeps us worlds apart”(Cisneros 71,72). Clemencia is a woman who knows how to talk and have a good time. By nature she is a very creative being who loves to impress by wearing the best clothes, and show off to anyone to make herself seem better than others. (Cisneros 71). Clemencia is poor and does not have much being that she works for the school system as a translator, and other various positions. But acts rich and very wealthy to all of her friends (Cisneros 72). This connects with the myth of La Malinche, of how the character is a bad woman who sleeps with lots of men.

Gender equality can be a very complex subject, throughout the years power has been correlated to gender. In Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, “The Rod of Justice” gender inequities are represented with a great level of complexity and difficult understanding. Throughout the text one can sense Machado’s involvement over authority and control, and how the characters portray this subject. The story is focus on Damiao, who is the main character. Damiao was seeking escape from his seminary obligations, and he requests the aid of his godfather’s mistress, Sinha Rita. He knew that if she could use her sexual powers over his godfather she could help him escape his obligations. She is portrayed in the story as having a power over the people who surrounded her, as her authority was not questioned nor overruled. She had sexual power over Joao Carneiro, and also had to power to manipulate the actions of Damiao, but this power was interesting as in society in those times women had limited power which was not compared to the power men had. Nonetheless, Rita proves to be a well independent women, doing things under her own power. She would have been a women of great power, if she had the chance to live in the 21st century, and how society has altered the gender role of a woman since.

Lope de Vega’s play touches upon several key components and ideas that were brought up in many of the other stories read throughout the semester. This included the role of gender and how men and women are viewed differently in the Spaniard town of Fuenteovejuna. Another topic included the importance of family, love, and relationships and their connection on loyalty, trust, and personal beliefs. The last major influence found in other literature and in Fuenteovejuna, were the political and religious references made throughout the play. Even though Lope de Vega didn’t make these views obvious, the reader could still pick up on their connotation and the references made towards these specific ideas. With all of this in mind, each of these

Emma compares her opportunities and position in society to those of Leon. While Society encourages him to become cultured, educated, and expand his horizons on the contrary women hinders in that desire may only be just that, but a hopeful wish to be granted by their spouse. Her sadness, not only derives from Leon’s departure, but of her realization of a woman’s bound role under the law and status.

Women in this time period were seen as people who could not make their own decisions and could only bring you bad luck if you did not control her the right way. Just as in El Cid his daughters were his world and meant absolutely everything to him but even he gave up the right to wed them to someone of much higher ranking than himself. Did we ever stop to think about what his daughters wanted or what their take on the whole ordeal was? No,we mainly focused on the carreon infants and what

Meanwhile, the character of Laertes show how the theme of honour is reflected when he wants to avenge the ire he feels because of the admiration and love towards her sister (Ophelia) and to Polonius driving him to act passionately in killing the protagonist. Hamlet regards Leartes as "a very noble youth" who he never suspected of one

Othello, written and directed by William Shakespeare, can be viewed through a different perspective of women's roles to society and their exact representations that are developed by literature. Feminist criticism prioritises the unjustifiable treatment and portrayal of women through the social, patriarchal, economical, psychological and political oppression in which the literature reinforces. To what extent are gender roles molded by culture? Why are privileges granted and limitations placed on certain genders? What are the social values of men and women? What are the power relationships between men and women? These are common questions brought to light by feminist theorists to which they must be taken into consideration for the critical analysis

Through these examples, I was able to grasp that Marquez feels that gender roles are such a prime feature and so deeply embedded in the Latin American culture that separation in gender roles cause turmoil and conflicts. That individuals are so devoted to these traditional roles, they end up not seeing how harmful they are. This discussion has helped me understand the roles the female characters played in the book. In general, most of the women in the book have accepted the inferior role in the text and fulfill their societal role rather than make something of himself. Angela’s mother, Pura Vicario, exemplifies this when, “devoted herself with such spirit of sacrifice to the care of her husband and rearing of her children that at times one forgot she still existed” (31). It is easy to see that Pura Vicario took on her traditional role, as most women in the Colombian culture did, and that’s why she had beat Angela with such fervency. In contrast, men were expected to be much more macho and uphold their family

Not only does Leonor dress as a man but she takes on typically male behaviour in challenging Don Juan to a duel in Act Two. The stage directions tell us that, ‘comienzan a reñir’ (VAM, p.74) and Leonor ends up wounding Juan quite severely, emphasising her control in this situation and how she tests the limits of her socially-prescribed gender role in gaining power over a man. This cross-dressing and masculine behaviour characterizes Leonor as a mujer varonil, a woman who takes on a masculine appearance and masculine characteristics. Straight after this scene she comes back dressed as Estela, showing how she doesn’t just test the limits of her own personal identity but of personal identities as whole. It suggests a fluidity between genders as

Throughout the play, Bernarda not only takes on a patriarchal role in controlling her daughter’s lives, but also plays God; She gives life and takes it away. Bernarda has the power to allow Adela to get married before her other daughters, even though during that time it was custom to marry off your daughters in order by birth right. However, Bernarda is so concerned with the facade of her family to the public eye, that she would rather Augustias be unhappy throughout her marriage knowing how much Adela loves Pepe.