What Is The Role Of Women In Classic Literature

Throughout history men have been leading the battles, conquering worlds, discovering new lands, but behind every good man is a good woman! So, as I read this week, I learned an enormous amount of information about the diversity of the different roles women play according to where they might live or what era they grew up in. I will address the rights that women had, how they are viewed in society, the comparison between these women and the ones from the New Testament, the evidence to support my claim.

Throughout American Literature, women have been depicted in many different ways. The portrayal of women in American Literature is often influenced by an author's personal experience or a frequent societal stereotype of women and their position. Often times, male authors interpret society’s views of women in a completely different nature than a female author would. While F. Scott Fitzgerald may represent his main female character as a victim in the 1920’s, Zora Neale Hurston portrays hers as a strong, free-spirited, and independent woman only a decade later in the 1930’s.

Madame Reisz is the representation of the social consequences of insisting on a developed self. Though she is a talented artist, she is also depicted as disagreeable and rude. Unsurprisingly, she is often alone. By contrast, the Ratignolles are a prime example of the Victorian family. Adele is a living bourgeois picture of a woman and, along with her husband, represents the expected patriarchal family: “The Ratignolles understood each other perfectly. If ever the fusion of two human beings into one has been accomplished on this sphere it was surely in their union”. Madames Reisz and Ratignolle “not only represent important alternative roles and influences, but they suggest different plots and conclusions.” Although Edna can embrace neither of these extremes, she does not. The narrator’s point of view is not explicitly judgmental, but Edna lies between the two extremes and one seems to be portrayed in a much more positive way than the other, as we notice by the descriptions granted to both female characters. Reisz is the antithesis of Adele Ratignolle, who is the “embodiment of every womanly grace and

Marguerite needed to develop as a person to become the next Countess of Flanders, by doing this, she needed to undermine the social norms for women at that time. Marguerite was extremely opinionated, she enjoyed doing activities classified as 'just boys things' and she constantly disregarded her father's opinions and decisions for her. It quickly became evident that Marguerite was not an ordinary girl in this era.

Women had restricted and regulated roles during the time period of The Crucible yet many things have changed since then. They were seen as servants, expected to answer to men who rule the home, and take care of the children. Women from both the play and poem are put through different scenarios yet, the challenges they go through makes it clear to compare the two. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, and Half-Hanged Mary, by Margaret Atwood, are similar to the theme regarding the role of women in various ways. They are comparable in behalf of characterization concerning Abigail Williams, Elizabeth Proctor, and Rebecca Nurse from The Crucible, and Mary Webster from Half-Hanged Mary.

The Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald, is a critically acclaimed novel set in 1920’s America. The Roaring Twenties was a transitional period for women. Apart from gaining institutional rights (suffrage), the era also represented new philosophies of sexual freedom and social rebellion for women, mirrored in Fitzgerald’s portrayal of the “flapper” women in the novel. Nonetheless, the emancipation of women was rife with setbacks. In the patriarchal societal construct, female characters in the novel (Myrtle, Jordan, Daisy) are reduced to subordinate roles, as decorative sexual objects for men. In the consumerist and morally decadent society of the Jazz Age, female characters are corrupted by materialism. As the female characters are punished

Author and journalist Malcolm Gladwell once said, ““..... it would be interesting to find out what goes on in that moment when someone looks at you and draws all sorts of conclusions.” This is true for not only real life but also drawing a range of conclusions about a character in a book. Many people feel that classic titles such as The Odyssey and The Count of Monte Cristo create a “stereotype” for women by causing them to be “fit into a box” and therefore making them uninteresting and bland. The Scarlet Pimpernel offers a span of diversity in regards to the women in it. Each one gives the novel a little something more to give the reader multiple feelings about what they read.

Women have played a significant role throughout time and this is portrayed in many works of literature, including Thousand and One Nights and the Canterbury Tales. In both of these works, women are shown to be very intelligent, experienced, manipulative, lovers, and fighters. Women since the beginning have been thought to be liars and both characters in Thousand and One Nights and the Canterbury Tales have all these characteristics and similar themes. The main characters are Shahrazad and the Wife of Bath, Shahrazad is fighting to live while the Wife of Bath is simply on a journey playing a story telling game. Although in very different situations they both have the same strengths and similar characteristics, and this adds up to show the

She is hailed as “the cleverest woman in Europe” at parlors and banquets. Yet she was rash enough to speak out against the St. Cyr family and was naïve enough to ignore the Parisian’s thirst for blood. This does not fit in with the given information that Marguerite is clever and wise. This shows that Marguerite, though intelligent and sharp, will still be ruled by her impulsive emotions, not thinking of the consequences of her actions.

While the women of the short story “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, and the drama A Dollhouse by Henrik Ibsen lead very different lives, they are similar in one very obvious way. Both women feel trapped by their husbands and by the expectations society places on them. The repression of Louise and Nora is inflicted upon them by both self and society; how does one remain an individual while also conforming to the traditional female role mandated by society?

Most readers of the famed Irish and Welsh tales focus on the male characters and their great feats. Celtic literature, however, features a full complement of female characters that deserve recognition; from warriors and rulers, to helpmates and daughters. These women function as either their own entity, or extensions of their male relations. All play crucial roles in their perspective texts, essentially driving the action of the plot and setting into motion a series of events that affect the male characters.

There is no doubt that certain books children read are made especially for boys or for girls. Like any developmental form of entertainment, from toys to movies, children's books are often littered with hints that dictate whether they were originally meant for male or female enjoyment. Sometimes these hints can be as simple as the specific gender of the main characters, for example Carolyn Keene's Nancy Drew series calls for a female audience while the extremely similar yet sexually opposite Hardy Boys mysteries fall into the hands of boys, yet other times more important factors decide who the book will best be suited for. Gary Paulsen's Hatchet and Katherine Patersons's The Great Gilly Hopkins are books for a boy and a

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and Eveline by James Joyce are the two short stories that will be analyzed using feminist criticism in this essay. Both short stories share a lot in common about what the role of women’s was perceived within the time they were written.

Therefore, it is evident that literary techniques are utilised to exploit the Beauvoirian idea of women “denying [their] feminine weakness” in order to justify their strength, while the “militant male... she wish[es] to be” however, Marlene accepts femininity and only wears a skirt to work.

The role of women in the society is always questioned and for centuries, they have struggled to find their place in a world that is predominantly male oriented. The treatment of women was extremely negative; they were expected to stay home and fulfill domestic duties. Literature of that time embodies and mirrors social issues of women in society (Lecture on the Puritans). But, slowly and gradually, situation being changed: “During the first half of the 19th century, women 's roles in society evolved in the areas of occupational, moral, and social reform. Through efforts such as factory movements, social reform, and women 's rights, their aims were realized and foundations for further reform were established” (Lauter 1406). Feminist poets like Emily Dickinson and Anne Bradstreet talked substantially about feminism in different lights in the past two centuries. They were very vocal and assertive about their rights and the ‘rights for women’ in general. While they might have been successful at making a good attempt to obliterate gender biases but still there are lot of disparities between the two genders. Nevertheless, their poetry reflects a deep angst.