Essay on The Worst of Both Worlds, and the Best of Neither

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

Larsen’s character Helga struggles greatly with this dichotomy between sexual desire and respectability. She has been taught to be a respectable woman in order to uplift the race and that black women should be perceived in a certain way. Larsen writes of Helga and Dr. Anderson’s conversation about Helga’s upbringing. Dr. Anderson says, “’Perhaps I can best

It is however primarily a big concern for Helga restricting her conformity to people views of black feminity. It is the ideals Naxos emits clouding her ideas of what is right for James and her, reproduction is one of these issues. However, Helga’s felt that “the people yapped loudly of race, of race consciousness, of race pride”(pp.19)and this accounts for her failure to integrate. Therefore she cannot express herself, as she is not of ‘their’ race and their opinion of her seemed different throughout her time at Naxos. This is her reasoning when she speaks to Dr Anderson stating “I don’t seem to fit here.”(pp.19) It is this factor that makes her leave and that makes her try and find her identity. It is possible to say that it is Naxos and James are responsible for her sexual restrictions it was the teachings of Naxos and their belief system that promoted eugenics in Helga’s opinion. She says that it is better not to have children due to the situations that they would be brought up in as she sees the role she plays in society and does not want her child to experience that. Helga stuck as the tragic mulatto makes her relationship with James impossible primarily due to the sexual frustration which is impermissible in Naxos and also his lack of understand of her. He views her as African American yet does not understand the differences. He just tries to part of the society that Helga cannot fit into. The sexuality with

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.

2013530423 Huang, Daisy American Literature Christina Davis Feb. 12, 2016 The Consciousness of African American Female in Quicksand Citing a few lines by Langston Hughes, Nella Larsen starts to pursue and construct racial and gender identity of African American Female in her prestigious novel Quicksand, concerns much about the mixed-raced female’s perturbation of double consciousness and identity quest. Due to the similar trajectories between the author and the heroine Helga Crane, Quicksand has long been presumed semi-autobiographical, featuring a restless female mulatto struggling to find a comfortable place where she belongs. Helga Crane, a typical character of mixed-raced girl, faces the journey of seeking ethic identity filled with confusion

     By the time Helga’s desire to leave Alabama is evident, it is clear that Helga’s natural instinct to constantly escape the reality of her life has become her downfall. This time, she has responsibility towards her children who “she wanted not to leave – if that were possible” (135). Perhaps, when “she began to have her fifth child”, Helga decides to stay in Alabama, thereby fighting the inner demons that have controlled her life (135).

Hawthorne uses the remarks of others and physical appearance in order to characterize Hester Prynne, as a strong woman who defies society and survives on

Not only do the puritans of her society see her as troubled, strange, and the child born out of wedlock, they simply cannot fathom her. An example of this situation is when Hester

Towards the end of the novel, Hester gets the break in life she’s been waiting for. She put up with seven years of shame and guilt, to finally be the person she used to be. Her rekindled love with Arthur makes her happy again, and everything just seems right for them. She’s filled with hope that her life will finally turn back to normal again. She feels redeemed, and the guilt is no longer on her shoulders. She’s now ready to take on the world, and start her life over to the way it was before the “A” entered her life. Having the courage to show her face in the colony again is just a sign of her bravery.

The judicious actions foreshadow disaster. Having no control over their relationship, she maximizes this opportunity of diverting his life. Although she is conservative, she also tries pushing the boundaries by continually being discontented, as opposed to what is expected of women during that era, and thus she is a victim of society. Her curiosity towards the outside world is a result of her being trapped indoors and explains her jealousy towards Lövborg, Thea or anybody who has freedom. Hedda withholds and controls her emotions; nonetheless this gives the audience an impression that she is mysterious and secretive.

At this point, some critics would argue that the idea of Helga being both facets of each component of what constitutes a modernist piece of literature is preposterous. Of course that would make sense if only concrete concepts were being discussed here. When abstract concepts of what constitutes a fluid or evolving person are on the table, then everything is not cut and dry. Although Helga may be more continuous than discontinuous, that is not meant to say that she could not possibly be discontinuous at all. Rather, it takes a different mindset to see how each side of the coin is feasible. Nothing is set is stone that a character must only be one way to be classified a certain way. Being able to understand the two sides helps further more understanding

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.

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

Despite there being a lack of word fragmentation in the novel, the story itself opens up to moments of fragmentation. When the reader first encounters Helga, she is engaged to a man named James Vayle. Not much is known about him or how they interact with each other. All that is really known in the beginning is that she must break off their engagement to leave the dissatisfying school they are both teaching at. Essentially, the reader is supposed to fill in the holes that are there. The gaps of information given in the story are not largely noticeable as they might be in other works of modernist literature, but they can raise some questions when thought about carefully. Another instance is within her marriage to Green. By the end of the novel,

Taboo: A Taboo is essentially anything that is considered to be immoral or wrong by the norms of society.