The Role of Women in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"

The author’s white, female characters act as an example for her white, female readers to model themselves after. This argument is more than go out and vote or start protests, because those methods of change are not a reasonable expectation for a group of people whose role is to be polite, hospitable, and demure. Thus, the methods the women are expected to take are indirect by being more subtle and persuasive instead of direct and confrontational. Subtlety and persuasion are demonstrated by the female characters, Mrs. Emily Shelby and Mrs. Mary Bird. Mrs. Shelby used her subtlety to throw off the plans of the slave trader and allowing her slaves to escape. She slyly suggests to her slaves take their time in collecting the horses, before then offering her guest dinner and pushing back the time for eating, because the meal is supposedly not suitable enough for guests. Mrs. Bird discusses her opinion on slavery and fugitive slave laws with her husband in a very womanly manner, respectful and persuasive, in a successful attempt to convince him to take an abolitionist stance in his job as senator. Both Mrs. Shelby and Mrs. Bird are able to receive their desired results by working within their role as women. Even though they are not taking a direct action of fighting slavery, they are still making a difference just through different means. These fictional women are embracing their hidden power of their gender and acting as examples for the real life

The author talks about how women made the men legitimized the male ego by making the man feel powerful to his wife, and if a wife did not go along with these ideals she would just have to deal with it. Why some southern women let the role of the husband get to this point Anne Scott a well renowned author and history professor at Duke University said, “Husbands were frequently referred to in words used for God: Lord and Master.” Which helped women to have a growing sense of self awareness. Anne Scott also wrote saying that many women supported slavery and others believing it to be cruel and unjust saying it was possible to draw a subconscious feeling of their own unequal status. There were two sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimke from South Carolina, that wanted to break free from a southern women’s role and change the way they saw slavery and how women were

Gender roles and gender gaps were a big problem while Janie and Nanny were living. Woman had little opportunity to success and reach their full potential. In the quote, Nanny refers to woman as "Mules". Woman, in that time, were treated with the same amount of respect as a mule. Woman, black and white, were basically forced to be there husbands house slaves. Woman were forced to care for children and husband, cook, clean, and if they lived on a farm or planation, they would have to work hard and painful labor. if woman were to work outdoors, they would have to care for animals, chop wood, build huts or shelters, and take care of crops and gardens. Most men, not all, viewed woman as nothing more than a cheap pair of extra hands to help with chores and daily tasks. Often, woman were married off simply for the reason of sex. In "The Color Purple", Mister wanted to marry Nettie just for the simple fact that she could bring him pleasure in bed. Woman were sick of the horrible treatment against them. there was hardly a woman could do to change the lifestyle they were forced to live in. If a woman spoke up, their husbands would beat them. Eventually, woman were able to come together and speak up as a majority. In "The Color Purple", Whoppi Goldbergs character was able to leaver her abusive husband because she was able to unite with Shug, another

Some critics have advanced the notion that one of the reasons there is such a paucity of women and of strong, beneficent women in particular within this story is due to what they represented in typical Victorian England society. Women were generally viewed as "a social force or a source of authority" which "reinforces this fiction of coherent male identity" (Doane and Hodges 63). This quotation suggests the fact that women were generally the keepers of morality and virtue within Victorian

The position of women in the novel is not respected or honored because women are oppressed in a way. Women were not able to vote, own property, or get a proper education. It was made so that the women

Feminist literature has strong ties with the exclusion of women from the literary canon. Their Eyes Were Watching God zones in on the struggles of an African American woman trying to find equality and power with men in her society. The men in Janie’s life continuously objectify her and beat her down. However, not only do the men prevent Janie from having a voice, but the community around her.

In society, there is usually some type of opinion or stereotype placed upon what the role of man or woman should be. Normally, people see the man as the provider meaning he works outside the home and brings in the income. Meanwhile, the woman is to stay home and take care inside the home, as well as raising the children, if any. As far as today’s society, that has very much changed for the most part. One can compare the role of women today to the role of women during the time of Huckleberry Finn and see the difference. Twain once gave a suffrage speech and that was confirmation to people the he was possibly a feminist. His female characters lacked basic traits and were based off of societal standards of women. Women characters in Huckleberry Finn were scarce compared to the number of men characters. It can be seen throughout the novel how Mark Twain uses women to place emphasis on gender roles yet some did not follow these rules.

In due course, the following analysis will examine deeper into how the female characters struggle to adhere to their social ideals and how the deviation of gender roles affect the characters’ social status and demises. First, Eliza Wharton’s attainment of freedom after her husband’s death exemplifies the notion of escapism from marriage and the subjugation of individual social status. Marriage during the Federalist Era was perceived as a contract to elevate one’s social status in the society. To women, it was an implicit imprisonment because their interaction with the society was limited, and they also had to bear another entitlement that society could easily use against them, which was being married or widowed women. In The Coquette, after Eliza’s husband death, her life takes a turn as she becomes a widow and a person with entitled class after her husband’s prestigious social status.

The widow was one of Huck’s first somewhat stable parental figure in his life. She feels the need to take him in and educate him. Her main jobs include clothing him, washing him, feeding him, and teaching him. The widow is an important example of what women’s roles were supposed to be.

Her role in the book was to stay home and talk to only Curley and take care of his every need and want. The treatment of females in the 1930’s was outrageous, females were treated the way that slaves were. Women were not allowed to vote, they could not hold a political position.

There are two similar stories that describe two particular women in a psychological condition one of the stories is called “The Yellow Wall-Paper”, written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s and the other written by William Faulkner named “A Rose for Emily”. Both authors mention how both Jane (Yellow Wall-Paper) and Miss Emily (A Rose for Emily)are being oppressed by their husbands because the typical tradition forces their wife’s to stay home while they go to work. In the early eighteen and nineteen hundreds, females were expected to become dependent on men for their livelihood, which at the times lead to depression and hysteria of being a submissive female. The male characters were seen as being inferior between the women. Therefore, women could not be superior to a man, because they were seen intelligent, and were the ones who controlled every aspect of the women, as if they were property.

The most well noted early American authors all have one big, sometimes unrealized bias. That bias is gender. Authors such as Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, and Henry James all follow this unintentional norm in the way that they have represented masculinity through their works.

One reason for inequality still existing in our society today is because of its various disparities enforced upon gender roles. Throughout history, women have been subjected to sexual discrimination based on being the physically weaker gender and the society in which they live in. In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, there various moments in text where discrimination against one’s gender is present. Specifically, Miss Watson and Sally Phelps are two of the various characters that were characterized according to the unjustified regulations of specific gender roles. Twain had illustrated Miss Watson to be a woman who plays into society’s rules and regulations. The line, “Miss Watson, a tolerable slim old maid, with goggles on, had just come to live with her, and took a set at me now, with a spelling book. She worked on me middling hard for about an hour, then the widow made her ease up. I couldn’t stood her much longer” emphasizes how Miss Watson is the epitome of what an old

One thing that all of the women characters have in common is they sit back and let things happen for them. Despite their They loyally follow Aaron Burr’s infamous line, “Talk less, smile more,” they are only seen as objects, so it makes no sense for them to try to fight the status quo.

Feminity is different from this novel to reality with the old ways changing of women and how they work. Women have always been considered to be seen as weak but superior. There are many main characters who are women such as Mrs. Joe, Ms. Havisham, Biddy, Estella, and others. These four play major roles with Pip and how they influence him throughout the novel. The women are shown through this novel to be housewife’s while the men go to work. They are seen as women who are supposed to be cooking and taking care of the children. The women are portrayed in this book as women who don’t move from where they live or how they are confined to their homes or the role they play in the households. The men seem to have more freedom in going place to place as they see fit, while the women stay in the home to be housewives.