The Tragic Fate of an Unrequited Childhood in Quicksand by Nella Larsen

Though Helga finds “peace and contentment” (1553) in Harlem, she establishes here her flight from anxiety that is to become characteristic. When she meets Dr. Anderson again, Helga notes the return of her “vague yearning” (1558) for the man. She does not precisely explain why she runs away from him despite her “long[ing] to stay,” (1559) but she probably chooses to leave instead of testing the reality of her feelings. Though Helga seems to regret this decision in retrospect, citing her “disappointment” (1559) over the missed opportunity, she does not take responsibility for her actions and consequent feelings, as she

Most curriculums being taught to students withhold a mass amount of history. Some may do this because they feel some events do not have the same importance as other topics being taught. Such topics for example would be the rape and sexual exploitation of thousands of African American females during the time periods where racism and segregation was the norm. It is important for people to be educated about the horrific events that these women went through without justice. It is also essential because it shows the amazing activism Rosa Parks took part in. Most people are often just taught about Parks’ actions on the bus. At the Dark End of the Street by Danielle L. McGuire shows how Rosa Parks and many other dedicated their lives to receive equality not only for themselves, but for all African Americans in the south. Danielle L. McGuire’s work is an amazing way for people to not only learn more of Rosa Parks story, but to get a better understanding of what all African American woman had to deal with during this time period. The realism of sexual violence and its dominant impact on the African American women was one of the many events that helped ignite the Civil Rights Movement. McGuire wrote At the Dark End of the Street in order to resolve the negligence of this reality.

Haunted by the scarlet letter, Hester circles her life around its existence; it lights its way into her every passage, becoming a great fragment of her persona, shaping her every move, touch and…. sight. “A” warps a route into Hester’s life, to an extent where it’s

Hester’s initial sacrifice for love is highlighted during her decision to commit the affair with Arthur Dimmesdale. Although she was fully aware of the consequences that accompanied the affair, she considered love to be more valuable than her reputation among other individuals in the community. Yet again, Hester was met with another option to further sacrifice the reputation that had already been abandoned, when she exclaimed “that I might endure his agony, as well as mine” (Hawthorne 58). She held the identity of her affair a mystery to the outside world, which not only provided the man with protection, but it also defined Hester’s idolization of love and endearment. Due to Hester’s reputational sacrifice, Nathaniel Hawthorne used her forbidden relationship to characterize the rigid and punitive Puritan community of the colonial

Hester was tall, with dark and abundant hair. She had deep black eyes. She had a beautiful face. She was lady-like, and characterized by a certain state of

As American-British novelist Mark Lawrence once said, “We’re built of contradictions, all of us. It’s those opposing forces that give us strength, like an arch, each block pressing the next”. The aforementioned contradictions are what lead to conflicts, and in turn growth and acceptance. Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his revolutionary classic The Scarlet Letter, delves into the conflicts that the brave, yet infamous Hester Prynne has to overcome. As Hawthorne unfolds the unfortunate tragedy of Hester and her mysterious lover, the battles Hester has to face are multiple external and internal stimuli that bring about the growth of Hester as a character. The onerous obstacles that Hester must face through her life wear her out mentally, but only then can she truly grow and accept who she is.

Conflict is first observed through Hester’s ongoing difficulties with her fellow townspeople. Hester receives ridicule from on looking townspeople, as a gossiping woman states, ‘ “At the very least, they

With no focus on Hedda’s mother we can imagine that the general did little to prepare his daughter for wifehood or motherhood. Hedda inherited his pride, coldness, and an authoritative attitude toward others of a lower rank. She lacks compassion for weak and submissive characters like Thea and Aunt Julia but has admiration for power and freedom, qualities she finds in Brack and Lövborg. Even after marrying Tesman, she keeps her father’s portrait and guns, which signifies her desire for masculine control as well as her personal form of mourning of the power she has lost by marrying Tesman. This perverse behavior can be attributed greatly to the era in which Hedda lives, because her choices are highly influenced by the male dominated society.

When Hester fixed the onerous scarlet letter back onto her bosom, “the warmth and richness of her womanhood departed, like fading sunshine,” leaving behind only a “gray shadow” in its place (145). As a result, the beauty Hester once held with such alacrity was snatched away by the venomous stigma society had placed on her. Moreover, society, by humiliating Hester with the scarlet letter, destroyed her very sense of self, thus causing her to grow into a character filled with woe; the infectious remorse placed by society consumed Hester - eating away at her beauty and humanity. Over time, Hester’s face began to incorporate the “frozen calmness of a dead woman’s features,” and Hester seemed “actually dead” (155). Hester, similar to a dead body, was unable to return to the living; she lost everything that once made her a beautiful lady. The woman whom society once viewed with esteem no longer existed, and in her place was a ghoulish, empty shell of a human who could never return to its original form. Hester is comparable to the rose bush with its “delicate gems,” and “fragile beauty,” caged behind the prison door “studded with iron spikes” (33). Hester’s allure is restrained by the pernicious barbs of society’s harsh punishments, so that she herself is an object not of admiration, but of scorn. Shackled by the chains of an immoral

Hedda arouses sympathy from the readers through her own personal conflicts. She is a woman trapped by herself in a loveless marriage to an “ingenuous creature” (52 Ibsen) named George Tesman. Tesman is a simple soul with very little to offer. Not only is he an entire social class below Hedda, but he is oblivious, insecure due to his own banalities, and overly reliant on his Aunts’, despite being thirty-three-years-old. Hedda married George due to a “bond of sympathy. . .” (31 Ibsen) formed between them and she “took pity. . .” (31 Ibsen) on George. This brings a sense of sincerity to Hedda that was not turned to such a high magnitude preceding this discussion between Judge Brack and herself. Hedda is a lonely, yet independent, soul that wants sexual freedom without

In nearly everything she does, as a young child, she finds immense pleasure. However, the forest is also a safe place. the unhappy culprit sustained herself as best a woman might, under the heavy weight of a thousand unrelenting eyes all fastened upon her, and concentrated on her bosom. Her existence came from what Puritanism deems “evil”. Hester demonstrates human naturalness by obeying her instinctual urges and having a relationship with Reverend Dimmesdale.

    Hedda Gabler is perhaps one of the most interesting characters in Ibsen.  She has been the object of psychological analysis since her creation.  She is an interesting case indeed, for to "explain" Hedda one must rely on the hints Ibsen gives us from her past and the lines of dialogue that reveal the type of person she is.  The reader never views Hedda directly.  We never get a soliloquy in which she bares her heart and motives to the audience.  Hedda is as indifferent to our analysis as she is to Tesman's excitement over his slippers when she says "I really don't care about it" (Ibsen  8).  But a good psychologist knows that even this indifference is telling.  Underneath the ennui and indifference

While Hester is a feminist, not only does she share the ideals but shows superiority to the town while being fearless. " It may seem marvelous, that this woman should still call that place her home, where, and where only, she must needs be the type of shame.” (chapter 5, paragraph 2) Hester does not let the shame and remorse of the sin keep her away from the town like most would do. Hawthorne even states that Dimmesdale is weaker than Hester by punishing himself and holding his heart while Hester embraces the sin and is strong while carrying the letter on her chest. She leads a self-righteous life, although she could keep what she earns, she gives most away. Even the townsfolk say Hester is "so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicted."(chapter 13, paragraph 5) Hester can be seen over the townspeople helping them although they shamed her. Hawthorne presents that Hester’s “tendency of her fate and fortunes had been to set her free.” (chapter 18, paragraph 2) With this Hester has a “radiant and tender smile, that seemed gushing from the very heart of womanhood. (chapter 18, paragraph 12) These quotes from Hawthorne show that Hester’s kindness helps her overcome her sin on her own. With Hester’s contribution to the town, “Her handiwork became what would now be termed the fashion.” (chapter 5, paragraph 6) In his research, Sacvan Bercovitch remarks that “Hester Prynne ‘builds upon the tradition of the biblical Esther -

In Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen portrays the hopeless struggle of woman in the Victorian era through the protagonist, Hedda. From 1837 to 1901 in England, women experienced unrestrained oppression, were expected to follow the orders of their husbands, and were believed to be unwise. In the play, the newly wed Hedda has just arrived to her new husband, Tesmun’s home town, and her whole world seems to be shrinking inch by inch, expressed mainly through elements of stagecraft. The play is mostly focused around the main character, Hedda, a tragic heroine. Her need to manipulate others grows ever stronger as her boredom and despair increase, due to the new middle class atmosphere she is forced into. At last, she frees herself from all of the social restrictions society has imposed on her, by completing the act of suicide. Through the characterization of Hedda, Ibsen explores the oppression of woman in the Victorian Era.

In the beginning of the novel, the reader is presented with a physical appearance of Hester that is pleasing to the visual eye. It is Hawthorne describes his heroine of the book by