The Role Of Modernism In Conrad Vs. Richardson

The feminist movement lays claim to a history of both victorious struggle and violent controversy. As women fought for equality with men in the early twentieth century, literature was inspired by this movement. Modernist writers used their artform to provide social commentary in similar ways to realistic writers of the nineteenth century. However, modernist thought allows a much more obvious agenda to be presented through literature. Mina Loy, in “Feminist Manifesto,” and Susan Glaspell, in “Trifles,” both used their respective writings to convey personal opinions on the women’s movement and the relationship between men and women. Though this similarity places them in the same category of modernism, the two differ in their writings

Analyzing the ways in which a piece of literature includes feminist ideologies can bring out the potential messages that the creators of these productions were attempting to portray, while allowing the reader to critique the literature from a feminist perspective.

Sexuality has an inherent connection to human nature. Yet, even in regards to something so natural, societies throughout times have imposed expectations and gender roles upon it. Ultimately, these come to oppress women, and confine them within the limits that the world has set for them. However, society is constantly evolving, and within the past 200 years, the role of women has changed. These changes in society can be seen within the intricacies of literature in each era. Specifically, through analyzing The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, one can observe the dynamics of society in regards to the role of women through the lens of the theme of sexuality. In both novels, the confinement and oppression of women can be visibly seen as a result of these gender roles. Yet, from the time The Scarlet Letter was published to the time The Bell Jar was written, the place of women in society ultimately changed as well. Hence when evaluating the gender roles that are derived from sexuality, the difference between the portrayals of women’s oppression in each novel becomes apparent, and shows how the subjugation of women has evolved. The guiding question of this investigation is to what extent does the theme of sexuality reflect the expectations for women in society at the time each novel was written. The essay will explore how the literary elements that form each novel demonstrate each author’s independent vision which questions the

During the 20th century, the women’s rights movement changed the role of women in society for the better, causing a change in the traditional gender roles that culture dictated before the turn of the century. Women won the right to vote in 1919, which was a major turning point in the respect of women as equal members of society as compared to men. In addition to this newfound right, women also took steps to become part of the work force rather than stay home and raise the children like traditional housewives of the time. This sudden interest was sparked by the two major wars that were fought during the 20th century, each causing women to feel that it was their duty to fill in for men while they were fighting for our country. Another significant feature of this time period was the exploration of sexuality for women, especially in the case of determining whether or not a woman was a lesbian. Given these issues, John Dos Passos and Patricia Highsmith both wrote novels that touched on the issues of being a woman during the 20th century and the certain rights that one had as a woman in society. In their respective works, Dos Passos and Highsmith explore the view of women through the characters of Janey and Therese Belivet, which portrays the distinct nature of women that are defying the traditional gender norms of the time.

Modernism, as an artistic movement, was notoriously explicit about depicting sex. Indeed much of the history of Modernist literature involves censorship and legal embargoes against work which was deemed too obscene to be permitted general availability and Modernist novels ranging from Joyce's Ulysses to Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer would have to overcome legal hurdles before they could be read. The importance of Paris as a center for publication activity cannot be understated here: both James Joyce and Henry Miller were able to have their work published in Paris when no-one in an English-speaking country would take the risk. But this was established before Modernism a generation earlier, Oscar Wilde's play Salomé was written in French, but was banned from being staged in London for its religious (rather than sexual) content. It is worth asking, then, what role was played by explicit sexuality in defining Modernist art and Modernist consciousness. An examination of works by Henry Miller, Anaïs Nin, and Djuna Barnes may demonstrate that, to a large extent, the description of sexuality served a two-fold purpose: it helped Modernism define itself against the proprieties of earlier literature, but it also represented an inward turn for art. By emphasizing the interiority of consciousness, Modernist novels were making an implicit turn away from dealing with the outer political turmoil of the decades which produced not only Modernism, but the two World Wars.

Hannah Webster Foster’s The Coquette (1797) and William Hill Brown’s The Power of Sympathy (1789) are epistolary novels that outline the inevitable perils and consequences (for women) of carelessly becoming a victim of male seduction. These provocative novels allow readers to enter a sexual private sphere of society, one that may have been deemed taboo, through letters depicting the art of seduction. Women were expected to subscribe to the societal expectations of appropriate female behavior. In addition, literacy was at transformative state at the staging of both novels; morals lessons (within the household) could now be found in non-biblical mediums of literature. The divergence from reading for devotion to reading for entertainment and intellect was pivotal. The perceived dangers of this, however, were that “novels which expose no particular Vice, and which recommend no particular Virtue, to the fair Reader, though she may find amusement, must finish them without being impressed with any particular idea" (Brown, 7). Brown implies that, by misinterpreting seduction novels, women would not be able to perform their political and social role as republican mothers—that these novels would penetrate their moral compass and leave them vulnerable to the powers of seduction. The seduction that befall women in Brown’s The Power of Sympathy and Foster’s The Coquette reinforce the expected role of women in the New Republic, highlight the horrifying consequences that accompany

Joseph Conrad, The Heart of Darkness Critical Lens Essay Racism, a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. (“Racism. ”Merriam-Webster) Prejudice, an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics. (“Prejudice.

Sylvia Plath, one of the most renowned authors of the 20th century, once wrote in her novel The Bell Jar, “I couldn’t stand the idea of a woman having to have a single pure life and a man being able to have a double life, one pure and one not.” Women, especially those in literature, are often put into two specific boxes, a perfect innocent angel or a sexually promiscuous villain. But, there are exceptions to this trend. An example of an exception is the novel Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. In Rebecca, the narrator meets and marries Maxim de Winter, a widow and the owner of Manderley, an estate in England. The narrator's haunted by the memory of Maxims dead wife, Rebecca, who seems to be the perfect woman. However, Rebecca is not as perfect as she seems. In actuality, Rebecca’s took many lovers, even while married, and manipulated others to get what she wanted. By the end

The women characterised are not reduced to a set of ideals stitched onto paper. The protagonists are not mere caricatures presented as amalgamations of doctrines, created to present didactic messages. Within the patriarchal society of the 19th century women were typically marginalised as the ‘other’ excluded from the hegemony, and deemed as passive. Lady Audely’s secret emerged as a sensational novel that focalised on a heroine who was neither the damsel in distress, nor an angel.

It is impossible to discuss the role of women in literature without mentioning the influence of feminism. The later in the timeline one reads, the more prominent it becomes. Each new wave of feminism brings with it its own goals, yet it also continues to strive for some of the same goals as past generations because not everything is accomplished all at once. Although “The Well of Loneliness” by Radclyffe Hall and “Rubyfruit Jungle” by Rita Mae Brown, are two starkly different texts that strongly reflect the feminist eras in which they were written, they have some similarities as well.

The word modernism in literature means something new and untraditional that reevaluates the accepted principles of our world. Modernism is a style of writing that became popular in the early 1900’s. This style was developed in the period of WWI, a time of many important social changes. A Streetcar Named Desire and A Long Day’s Journey Into Night are two plays that exemplify the style of modernism. Journey is a modernist novel with a tragic storyline about the Tyrone family. The main conflict in Streetcar is modernist because of the traditional, fundamentalist thinking. Each of these plays contains a character who represents a very important aspect of modernist literature: the burden of the past. This device is used distinctively in each of these two plays. While some similarities between Blanche Dubois and Mary Tyrone are evident, their differences are notable.

Published in 1892, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” may be approached as an American example of the female Gothic, a literary genre pioneered by English writers such as Horace Walpole and Ann Radcliffe. According to the book “Loving with a Vengeance: Mass Produced Fantasies for Women,” author Tania Modleski points out that texts belonging to this genre typically focus on female protagonists who find themselves in romantic relationships with men that eventually come to oppress them. Thus, Gothic narratives trace the female protagonist’s victimization at the hands of a male lover or a husband, providing “an outlet for women’s fears about fathers and husbands” (Modleski 10). Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), which describes the misadventures of orphaned Emily who is pursued and persecuted by a violent suitor, is often cited as a quintessential Gothic novel. However, elements of this genre can also be discerned in such renowned literary classics as Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847), with its Gothic setting, ghostly happenings, the brooding male protagonist, and the motif of the madwoman in the attic. It must be noted, however, that the female Gothic was a popular genre, which was not initially valued for its subversive content and even frequently dismissed by critics (Watt 5). Only later, following the advent of critical theory and gender studies, was it reclaimed and celebrated by feminist critics such as Modleski. Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”

She provides a new interpretation of men, women and history. In doing so Bennett challenges patriarchal society showing that women are not inferior to men. “Can you, for a moment, imagine how depressing it is to teach five centuries of masculine ineptitude?” “[Mrs. Lintott smokes in the Teacher's Lounge] Wilkes: Dorothy... [points to the No Smoking sign]

The modernist movement’s portrayal of alternate perceptions of reality is a response to the violence that corrupts the twentieth century. The repercussions of several wars inspire citizens to rebel against traditional standards of morality, necessitating for artistic reformation. The movement includes diverse female writers who evaluate experiences with gender inequality to reinvent literature. Hilda Doolittle is the archetype of modern writers; Her rebellious, experimental identity emits independence and originality. She expresses the subjugation of the female sex by utilizing abstract literary techniques. In the poem “Helen,” Doolittle manipulates the parts of speech to exploit the

Women in literature have been portrayed in a multitude of ways throughout time. From goddesses to witches, and even prostitutes, women have not been limited in their representations. One challenge, in particular, is repression of their sexuality. In novels by Kate Chopin, George Orwell, and Kazuo Ishiguro, female characters live in societies that seek to regulate their sexuality. Published in 1899, The Awakening by Chopin focuses on Edna Pontellier, a woman who seeks to create a life outside her marriage by pursuing relationships with various lovers. George Orwell’s 1984, which was published in 1949, features Julia, a woman who rebels against her society by having sex for pleasure and not for reproduction. In addition, like Chopin and Orwell,