Three Generations

In this essay, female oppression in La Casa de Bernarda Alba will be discussed and analyzed. However, in order to be able to understand the importance of this theme and the impact it has had on the play, one must first understand the role of female oppression in the Spanish society in the 1930s.

All four sisters reject their stereotypical role as women in the society by standing up for their beliefs and the revolution. When Minerva said,” It’s about time we women had a voice in running our country,”(Alvarez ?Chapter 1?) shows how outspoken she is about her country. The way Minerva demands equality shows the influence that men have over women in the Dominican culture. During the 1960s, the men expected women to be housewives, and to just cook and clean. In the book when Jaimito says,” The Mirabal sisters like to run their men, that was the problem. In his house, we was the one to wear the pants.”(Alvarez, 176-177) That shows that men expect women to be below them.

The issue of gender roles is one of the central themes of this novel. All the main characters of the novel spend their whole lives trying to conform to the standards of masculinity and femininity expected of them by the society. The inability of the main character of the book to meet the expected stereotypical roles not only causes them personal turmoil but also makes their social life miserable. They try to fit in the ascribed gender roles of their Dominican culture, but are simply incapable of doing that. However, the society does not understand their incapability and makes them pay for their nonconformity.

I choose this story for several different reasons. The first reason I choose this story is I like a good psychological thriller. I like being taken on a journey into someone’s mind, and discovering all the twists and turns during someone’s break of sanity. Second is I am interested in what goes on inside the human mind. The human mind is complex and ever changing, and today we only understand a small percent on how it works. Two people can look at the same exact thing, and have two different thoughts about it. It is very intriguing how people come to conclusions, and why they think the way they do. The most important reason I chose this story is because I feel somehow connected with these women in my own life experiences. I grew up in a traditional Italian family, and I was taught at a young age that a woman’s place is at home cooking, cleaning, and being a housewife. My dad worked everyday while my mom stayed at home. Which is fine, but that shouldn’t be forced upon. I was taught to be a slave to my husband and children. I was never taught how priceless an education is; consequently, I was never pushed to expand my knowledge. Like many 18th century when women were confined in their home and forced to be the man 's “slave” and If they got any type of idea on their own the men would make them feel like they were idiots and it would spiral into depression and then they would have to suffer the “rest

As students, freshmen come into high school knowing that they are hated by every upperclassmen in the school, with the exception of some friends and possibly family. The freshmen don’t understand why they are disliked, and most of the upperclassmen can’t tell you why they despise the freshmen, except for some unproved responses such as: “They’re annoying”, or “They’re so immature”. This sequence occurs every year. As the freshmen turn into upperclassmen, they too develop a hate for the incoming freshmen. This relationship is common on a larger scale as well; older generations view the younger generations as annoying, dumb, and immature. Dealing with three generations today, we have the omniscient Baby Boomers (1946-1964), impious

Cisneros presents the loneliness that Rafaela feels because of her husband’s continuous imprisonment of her. Rafael’s beauty is used as an excuse in order to avoid the truth, male dominance in a woman’s home. Esperanza explains that, "Rafaela who is still young gets locked indoors because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at." (79). Thanks to these women, Esperanza is able to avoid problems that come with a marriage. She is young and does not want to "look out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow" (11). Unlike most of the women in the book her escape is no longer the window. "But that night he comes back and sends a big rock through the window"(85), shattering her glass hopes [???] and making her turn to poetry as an escape. "Minerva is only a little bit older than me but already she has too kids and a husband who left." (83) She is a perfect example of a woman who is subjected to the consequence of suffering because of marriage She "writes… on little pieces of paper that she holds in her hand for a long time" (84). Like unhappily married women, she always takes him back even after the incessant beatings. "She has many troubles, but the big one is her husband who left her and keeps on

Who is a woman? Is it a caregiver? Teacher? Mother - figure? These are the terms that society associates with woman, but in reality they are much more.

Cleofilas definition of marriage is two soul mates in love and living the high expectations of “happily ever after” and Cisneros quickly points out that marriage does not live up to women expectations. In the story, it states that “She had always said she would strike back if a man, any man, were to strike her” (Cisneros 222). Cleofilas had always thought if a man were to ever hit her in any type of way, she would take full action. Unfortunately, however, she endures her husband's abuse. The first time he even hits her, she was too in shock to defend herself or to even shed a small tear. Cisneros wants to bring people's attention about the problems of domestic mistreatment because many women in those cases are helpless when they are in a violent and controlling situations. Cleofilas experiences an extreme amount of unhappiness due to the violent and controlling relationship she was enduring.

The novel advocates female rights to a certain degree. This is shown when Marlena disobeys August when he gave her a command. I believe back in the 1930s women had to subject to their husbands but, Marlena seems to be to one in control – “ “What do you think you’re doing? You are not giving that to him, Now sit down!” / She walks straight to the gaunt man, picks up his hand, and plants the sandwich in it. Then she marches off to scattered applause and whistles from the working men’s side of the tent”

People of the South are known to “drawl”, however only one of the white characters in the story indicates this characteristic in their speech. This nonstandard English is seen in Ceilia’s character. She stands barefoot and is covered in flour as Minny goes to meet her about the maid position. Then at one point Ceilia says “It ain’t working out too good” (Stockett 31). Ceilia is not educated and comes from the country, quite different than the other white females of the story. Ceilia’s language and actions such as not wearing shoes alienates her from the white women and aligns her more

Despite the fact that the man takes away Celie’s children, she still continues to love her children no matter the situation. “I was in town sitting on the wagon while Mr._____ was in the dry good store. I seen my baby girl. I knowed it was her. She look just like me and my daddy. Like more us than us is ourself” (Walker, Alice). Celie’s children gave her somewhat of a relief and happiness in life. Alice Walker also had family violence with her adopted parents (Alice Walker). The other kids that she was with

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,

All of the women in the novel share one thing that all of them are independent and they don’t let the men take control over them. That life is more important than class and social status. In going against the patriarchy of the society and defying the men in their lives shows that there is a really strong bond between the women in the novel. Clara is a good example to show how independent and strong the women in the story are. She’s always mistreated by her husband Esteban.

My grandfather was an excessively organized and thrifty man who liked to repurpose what others threw away. He used to clean used paint cans to leave them gleaming. Sometimes remains of paint in the cans were still fresh and they were relatively easy to clean. On the contrary, if the cans were old and the paint on them was dry, my grandfather had to use some solvent and a lot of old rags. My grandfather spent many hours working on that activity. When the cans were perfectly clean, he used them to store screws, nails, nuts and bolts properly organized in his garage. Being thrifty and organized were characteristics in people of my grandfather’s generation; however, some of the things that they did seemed absurd to me at that time. In the same way, it is probably that my daughters find it senseless some things that I and people of my generation do. Nevertheless, it is not about judging one generation to the other. We need to understand that no generation is better or worse than another: simply, our behavior is different depending on the times and circumstances. Respecting each other and learning from our differences, we will be able to live in harmony as a big multigenerational family.

Celie also values her sister Nettie greatly and protects her when it comes to their step-father, Alphonso raping the girls. Celie says “I ast him to take me instead of Nettie while our new mammy was sick.” the casual tone of the preceding line adds to Celie's lack of self-worth; she is so used to being raped by Alphonso that it no longer makes any difference to her. As Celie transitions to the Mister’s household, she is still treated with disrespect by the Mister himself and even one of his sons. In a letter to God, she writes “I spent most of my wedding day running from the oldest boy… He picks up a rock and laid my head open.” Celie grows older in this household and submits to more abuse from her new husband.