The 's Cane, Misunderstanding, Violence, And Even Death

This whole idea of female dominance directly challenges the Chain of Beings and as a result, exemplified Lady Macbeth’s importance as Shakespeare’s device to cause fascination amongst audiences. It also shows explicitly her influence on the main character Macbeth and hence the state of the entire play.

Women are primarily objects of sexual pleasure for the male protagonists. Their characters are always filtered through the men's perspective, with the exception of the maid Bertha, Charlie’s maid, who at times makes fun at either of the brothers. (Perspectives on How Women Internalize the Ideal Beauty Standard, Year Unknown).

In the book “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe Okonkwo shows a lot of violence. Throughout the whole book there is violence popping up very often due to Okonkwo. The violence Okonkwo shows advances the plot because there is almost always another action after the action that he does.

The culture of Mango Street lends itself to espousing two main gender roles for women, most importantly the role of mother and caretaker, and less significantly, as sexual figure. Women on Mango Street commonly embrace or are forced to embrace at least one of these roles. Marin, a woman who takes care of her cousins by day and sits outside smoking by night, easily embodies both roles. Sally particularly exemplifies that women cannot get away from the gender roles that bind them. In her family, being a female means becoming a vulnerable person for the man to control. However, Sally prefers to ignore this gender role and advertise herself as a seductress. As she agrees to give “a kiss for each” boy (Cisneros 97) in exchange for her keys back, “beauty is linked to sexual coercion …; there are no promises of marriage here, only promises of giving back to Sally what is already hers” (Wissman). Her family rejects his role, though to some extent accepted by Mango Street. By accepting the alternate gender role, Sally tries to break away from the gender role her family expects of her. However, she is unsuccessful. To escape from her father, Sally is “married before eighth grade” (Cisneros 101) to an equally controlling man who “won’t let her talk on the telephone” or “look out the window” (Cisneros 102). The marriage is a way

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.

Through the precise use of diction between the woman (“jig”) and the man, Hemingway reveals how a lack of knowing someone can lead to emotional dismay. Concise diction in a relationship means, conversation only scratches the surface and the two “lovers” don’t truly know about the other person’s emotions. The story is full of short, one-line phrases of conversation between the couple about trivial things. They converse about the “lovely hills” and the “simple operation,” yet they never ask each other about their feelings. The lack of in depth communication of opinions creates a tension filled atmosphere that just keeps building up and up as the story continues. The “simple operation,” an abortion, is seen by the couple as the issue they need to resolve, however, the man, who can’t handle the responsibility, instead of talking it through with his “lover” chooses to manipulate her. He tries to convince jig, who is easily pushed-over as she is stuck by lust and will do anything to keep the relationship together. She doesn’t care to sacrifice her happiness for his, rather she fears that if she doesn’t go through with the operation, he will leave her, she is indecisive and relies on the man to make many decisions. The man deceives

There are signs of a clearly male dominated society. With women being defined in terms of the males in their lives. For example, “The Cinnamon Peelers wife”, “the Lime Burner's daughter” and “The Grass Cutters wife”. Michael Ondaatje tries to convince the reader that women are just women. Not individual unique girls. He explains how they are labelled by their male husbands, brothers or fathers. He portrays women as non-competitive, cooperative, and peace-loving. He does not define them as fearless, powerful and independent. Another example is when Michael says “You touched your belly to my hands in the dry air and said I am the cinnamon Peeler's wife. Smell me.” This is another example of labelling a woman. By touching her, he makes her, his. She is no longer an individual, she is only considered “the Cinnamon Peeler’s wife”. This is a sign of sexual domination. He makes it sound like he owns her.

Love between two genders is one of the most common themes in writing. In literature, love is often praised, appreciated and cherished. Another common theme in writing is the looming specter of inequality between men and women, which has been strongly depicted throughout history and is still worryingly present in the world today. It is extremely interesting to realize that though love is treasured and valued, in most cases, it takes both genders to create love, and those genders are often separated by inequality. Both these themes coincide well together; the clash of love and gender inequality is interestingly captivating. In John Updikes A&P and Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants, both stories send a conclusive message to the reader that equality between both sexes in love and attraction is almost impossible; one gender will always be more powerful than the other.

In the essay Sex, Lies, and Conversation Deborah Tannen focuses on the differences and lack of communication between men and women though observations. She came to the conclusion that men were not lacking in their listening, but they were however listening in a different way than the women did. On the other hand, men aren’t the only people that have terrible communication skills. In many ways, these differences between the two genders can cause major conflict when not understood by the opposite side. A few examples of lack of communication may be when women don’t decide where they would like to eat, men who walk away from an argument rather than talking it out, and their decision making processes.

She was treated as a commodity to the society that she lived in. We can claim this based on the way Toomer introduces Karintha into the text. He does this by way of her sexuality; however, her sexuality is not one that she, herself has control over. Toomer opens the beginning paragraph with, “Men had always wanted her, this Karintha, even as a child” (64). Based on this, we can infer that Karintha is forced to contend with the sexual prowling of men at a very young age, causing her to be a victim. Toomer describes the negative consequences of the premature sexuality on such a young girl as “This interest of the male, who wishes to ripen a growing thing too soon, could mean no good to her”(64). Toomer wants to emphasise to the readers of how selfish the men in her society were; they only saw her as a sex object.

The notion that women belong to men, is a statement indicative of a female’s vulnerability. At many times within the novel, the idea that women are weak and feeble creatures is portrayed,

The 1996 film Matilda was very focused on the story of a gifted young girl, her teacher, and a malicious principle that stands in the way of their happiness. The film depicts these characters in a very clear interpretation of Roald Dahl’s 1988 book of the same title using the gender norms and stereotypes of the time (DeVito). This text is going to analyze the use gender in these characterizations. There are three main characters in this story. The young girl, Matilda, is very sweet and soft and exactly what is expected for an innocent five-year-old.

The Chrysanthemums form the ideal title of the story as a motive of the suppressed aesthetic and intellectual value of the feminine race in a patriarchal society. The lovely, strong, and prolific life of the chrysanthemums reflects the suppressed aesthetic, manual, and intellectual potential of Elisa’s character in a male-dominated society. Furthermore, the chrysanthemums serve as the only avenue for unlocking Elisa’s suppressed feminine potential and beauty. Elisa’s face “was eager and mature and handsome” (207) as she worked with the chrysanthemums. Ironically, the feminine potential and beauty unleashed by the chrysanthemums is interpreted from the masculine lens as evidence from the use of the male phrase "handsome" referring to Elisa's beauty.

In the end, each character has played a role based on the expectations society creates. The men and women all have their own ways of manipulating one another. “The woman is judged by society under the man’s law (Rosefeldt).” Society’s expectations of woman back

her eyes ... kindling a kind of active uncaring"(p. 114) toward him. Her physical beauty, "the rhythmic rise-fall of her buttocks, the tremulous up-downing of her behind"(p.151), will make him "hurt for her, for the taming of her" (p. 152), for years to come.