Literature, apart from being a channel to depict the author’s work and thoughts on a particular subject, is also interpreted as a medium to reflect norms, values, customs, and so on from different times in history. As stated by Milton C. Albrecht, literature reveals “the ethos of culture, the processes of class struggle, and certain facts of social facts.” (425) Through literary works, authors may be able to reflect their thoughts on specific issues, such as social injustices, or just point out the inequity between different social aspects, such as gender, class or social status. This essay, therefore, focuses on “Wifey Redux” and “Fjord of Killary”, two of Kevin Barry’s short stories from Dark Lies in the Island as well as on “Death of a Field” and “Number Fifty-Two” from Paula Meehan’s Painting Rain to show how inequities of class and social status in Irish society are visible through indirect reflections onto the natural and material worlds. On the one hand, Kevin Barry’s “Fjord of Killary” portrays how a man in his forties buys a twenty-three-bedroom old hotel on the fjord of Killary, in the west of Ireland, just to escape from “the city [that] had become a jag on my nerves – there …show more content…
Kevin Barry portrays the economic growth that the Irish society lived during the time he was writing Dark Lies in the Island. “Wifey Redux” depicts the easiness and flexibility that let young people to be owners of, for instance, their own house, and it was due, principally, for the Celtic Tiger, also known as the Irish economic growth fuelled by foreign investment between the 1990s and the 2000s. The young couple could even afford one of them staying at home without working, thus “Hubby went to work, and Wifey stayed at home” (9), but they were an “absolutely equal partnership.”
Seamus Heaney and Thomas Hardy both depict images of rural life as difficult and uncomfortable. In their poems ‘At a Potato Digging’ and ‘A Sheep Fair’ they describe different aspects of rural life; these were elements of life that would have been familiar to the poets and ones that they would have experienced. In their poetry Heaney and Hardy
The poems ‘Limbo’ and ‘Bye Child’ by Seamus Heaney are poems that evoke the casualties of sexual and emotional repression in Ireland, as well as and the oppression of both women and un baptized children, in a time where religion was most prominent and people were confined to the guidelines of the church and it’s community, as it was the ruling power. Both poems present this idea through the use of a child, representative of innocence and vulnerability. Through his poetry, Heaney gives a voice to those who have been silenced by society. Heaney manages to create this extended voice and
“People everywhere brag and whimper about the woes of their early childhood, but nothing can compare with the Irish version”(11).
When reading literature we often attempt to use particular threads of thought or lenses of critique to gain entry into the implied historic or legendary nature of literature. To accurately process a tale in the light in which it is presented, we have to consider the text from multiple viewpoints. We must take into consideration intentional and affective fallacies and the socioeconomic circumstances of the presenter/author/narrator. We also have to consider how our personal experience creates bias by placing the elements of the story into the web of relationships that we use to interpret the external world. There also is the need to factor in other external pressures, from societal norms, cultural ideals, and psychological themes, and how
Some skeptics such as Audre Lorde: may, argue that the focus of Larsen’s novella focused primarily on the juxtaposition of race and sexual identity of Black feminism in the early twentieth century. However, Larsen makes use of unstable identities that can been seen through the passage via Brian Redfield and John Bellew. The husbands’ envelope the extent of male privilege and contrarily shows their means of working against it. By exploring these men, it offers a more critical view to understanding Clare and Irene
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 modern world women work, vote, run for office and the list goes on. In most aspects, women are equal to men. However, this was not always the case. In centuries past, women were not viewed as being equal to men socially, intellectually, or politically and were thought incapable of accomplishing anything of value. Consequently, many cultures held the view that women were possessions whose only purpose was to be subservient to men. The view of women as mere objects is evident in various works of literature throughout the ages. Two classic works of literature that exemplify this are The Thousand and One Nights and Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of
The British have reigned over the Irish so long and so cruelly that they have left Ireland in “state of dependence” psychologically, politically, and economically. In other words, the “ideology of Protestant consumption” has “actually eroded” the self-confidence and sense of worth of the Irish so badly that it has left Ireland a nation unable to sustain itself (Mahoney). England is eating up Ireland. But this tribulation cannot be blamed solely on the British. Swift cleverly condemns the British aristocracy for their mistreatment of the Irish people while also criticizing the Irish people for allowing this exploitation.
The Other Wife is a short story written by Sidonie Gabrielle Colette. Colette is credited for challenging rigid attitudes and assumptions about gender roles. “The Other Wife” is about a French aristocrat and his second wife has a brief encounter with his ex-wife in a restaurant. The story’s point of view is 3rd person omniscient. An analysis of how France 20th century gender roles influence the multiple personalities of a husband, wife, and ex-wife.
American Literature has always been about men and for men. In this essay, we are going to analyze the women’s role in the book, as inferior and weaker gender.
The Other is configured in the two writers’ works as victims of power play, their unjust mistreatment subsequently exposing underlying social inequalities. Through adopting the Gothic medium characteristic of Romanticism, the texts induce within the reader emotions of terror and pity towards the marginalised, leaving a profound effect which impactfully conveys the intended social criticism.
Although the young boy cannot apprehend it intellectually, he feels that the street, the town, and Ireland itself have become ingrown, self-satisfied, and unimaginative. It is a
Imagine a life of travelling the countryside, going wherever you wish in a canvas topped caravan pulled by your loyal horses. This is and was the life of the Irish population known as Travellers. In their book Irish Travellers, sociologists Sharon Gmelch and George Gmelch record their observations of one of the least studied ethnic groups today. In their research, they learn a about the benefits and hardships of a life on the road, the prejudice from settled folk, and the unique struggles of adjusting to stationary life under forced government housing. This book shows the unique and deeply personal experiences of Travellers, allowing them to speak for themselves with meticulously documented interviews, in addition to seeing high quality photographs
Pato's lament in this passage concerns regional and national exile, speaking indirectly to the sense of nomadism and diaspora which characterizes contemporary Ireland in an increasingly global world order. Because there is no work in Leenane, he has had to emigrate. In London, Pato has endured horrific working conditions, low pay, and disrespect-factors which ultimately force Pato to immigrate to America. His constant wish to return to Leenane while on the job in England signals a concomitant desire for a stable national identity. But this wish is not nostalgic, given Pato's admission that :
Class struggle and women’s rights many times go hand in hand. This is evidenced in the Irish short stories, “The Sphinx without a Secret” by Oscar Wilde, “The Faithless Wife” by Sean O’Faolain, and “Sarah” by Mary Lavin. The struggle of those seen below the dominant patriarchal society have been questioned, degraded, and distrusted throughout history. These short stories give a story to those who are not equal to the patriarchal male. Their stories illuminate the struggle of being a slave to the class and gender system through an Irish lens, but not an Irish voice as each story is told from the perspective of a male.