The Three POV Characters

In “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, we have a mother conveying important life advice to her daughter in order for her to adapt to cultural customs and most important to learn the rules of social behavior. Her mother's advice is not only intentionally told in order for her to become the proper antiguan woman she believes in raising, but is also told to criticize her actions and everyday doings. Her mother makes it very clear, in order to live a proper antiguan life, there are many rules that one must follow. With deeper interpretation of Kincaid’s work we come to the realization that her overall message suggests the idea that women as a whole should be domestic and should behave a certain way in our society in order to avoid being viewed as a promiscuous woman.

Besides, Margaret as the maid to Hero, is under the deceptive appearance that veiled her witty nature. When she is with the woman, her true self is shown through the use of sexual innuendo when she refers woman as ‘maid and stuffed’ with the idea of pregnancy. She can have bawdy talk just like man when she responds to Hero by saying ‘heavier by the weight of a man’. In a patriarchal society, though women are suppressed, they are not totally submissive and innocent as their true self is veiled by the deceptive appearance.

Mango Street has built a definition of how women should be like. In the vignette Linoleum Roses, Sally is living the way her husband wants her to live. “Sally says she likes being married because now she gets to buy her own things when her husband gives her money.” Here we see how Sally depends on her husband’s money. “She sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission.” Sally is a prisoner who lies to herself saying she’s okay when in reality she is not. She has so many limits that she’s afraid to break the rules. We see how men insert fear in women’s

An integral part of the nineteenth century Victorian way of life was having strong morals. The women were seen as pure beings and therefore it was there job to keep the family unit moral. In The McGuffey’s it tells of how the morals were taught to kids

Does deviating from one’s gender norms inevitably doom one down a spiral of moral corruption? Tim O'Brien, author of “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” and Ernest Hemingway, author of “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, certainly seem to hold this view, as evident by the fates of the major female characters in their respective works. The deviance of the major female characters in both works appears to corrupt not only themselves, but also pollute their partners, causing them to suffer injury or harm as a result. The degree of injury ranges from negligible, like Fossie’s demotion and broken heart, to fatal, like the bullet that rips through Macomber’s skull. It begs the question, are these stories meant to serve as cautionary tales for their female readers, or possibly for their husbands, so they may recognize gender deviance and stop it in its tracks before their wives transform into Margot Macomber or Mary Anne Bell? This essay will analyze what such characters say about pervading views of women, both in society and in literature.

In her story, “Old Woman Magoun” she delivered a feminist message more directly than ever. It’s based in turn-of-the-century New England, patriarchy still defined relationships even though the men themselves had degenerated. The story reflects the realities of Freeman’s own life, as her father’s business failed and her mother became the support of the family. However, Freeman’s life was not unique; rural New England is

Over the course of many years, women have struggled to expand their roles and rights in society, hoping to one day achieve complete equality with their male counterparts. Two women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Judy (Syfers) Brady, both recognized the patriarchal society in which women had to endure. They despised the way it heaped inequality and servitude upon women, and decided to assert their opinion on the issue in order to change the perceptions and imposed limitations on women. In Stanton’s speech, “Declaration of Sentiments”, and in Brady’s article, “I Want a Wife”, both women attempt to convince their audiences that females deserve complete equality with men by stating the submissive situations and obligations women find themselves immersed in. This is done to get their female audiences to reevaluate how they have been treated and give them a second chance at attaining equality. Both women employ various rhetorical techniques in their arguments to strengthen, as well as compel other women to oppose the ‘domesticated’ image of women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Judy (Syfers) Brady expressed their views in pursuance of forging a path to a revamped lifestyle for women.

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

Response Paper: “Molly Brant-From Clan Mother to Loyalist”, “Disorderly Women and the Struggle for Authority” and “Punishing Deviant Women-The State as Patriarch”

Molly Bolt was the only character in the novel to show courage, but she did not show morals, values or strength of character. Her early sexual encounters appeared to be nothing more than childhood stupidity, but Molly never grew out of it. By the end of the book, she still had never had a loving relationship with a woman, and vowed never to settle down with one. At one point she was having an affair with a married woman and her seventeen year old daughter, simply because they were sexually attractive. This shows a great lack of concern for others as well as no disregard for consequences. Without strength of character, Molly Bolt while strong and independent is not the ideal spokesperson for being a lesbian, which might be part of the void of discussion in acedamia regarding the novel.

One of the most interesting aspects of the book is how the narrative itself is thought of as unsuitable for women. The narration takes place on a small sailing boat, waiting for the ebb of the Thames to bring it out to

In the Victorian era, the status of women in society was extremely oppressive and, by modern standards, atrocious. Women had few rights, in or outside of the home. Married women in this period relied on men almost completely as they had few rights or independence. With this mindset in focus,

“The Boarding House” is one of the most interesting stories in the book. First we meet Mrs. Mooney, Polly Mooney the main character’s mother. Because of her history, mostly her exhusband she has become a very tough self sufficient women. Then we have Polly and her love entrust Bob Doran. At first it seems like Bob a thirty five year old matured man is taking advantage of this young sweet nineteen year old girl. As the story goes on and the Mrs. Mooney knows of the affair and lets it happen and then wants something from it we are still not sure. Then Mr. Doran’s indasigen when he was thinking of what had to be done. “Perhaps they could be happy together.......” It just made him seem so innocent and like a victim(Joyce P.58). But just like the two other stories I discussed the end tells all. Just before Mr. Doran was going to go down to meet with Mrs. Mooney Polly was sitting with him on the bed crying

This develops the idea that her future with this man as a married woman provided a stable lifestyle where she would not have to live by the rigid patterns of society, reinforcing a modern day feminist reader’s view of the expectations and restrictions placed on unmarried women during the Victorian era.

James Joyce’s book of short stories entitled Dubliners examines feminism and the role of women in Irish society. The author is ahead of his time by bringing women to the forefront of his stories and using them to show major roles and flaws in Irish society, specifically in “Eveline” and “The Boarding House”. James Joyce portrays women as victims who are forced to assume a leading and somewhat patriarchal role in their families. He uses them to show the paralysis of his native land Ireland, and the disruption in social order that is caused by the constant cycle of abuse that he finds commonplace in Ireland. Joyce is trying to end the Victorian and archaic view of