Group items tagged

Argument: Cultural customs influence the characterization of the women in Bram Stoker's Dracula and The Mystery of the Sea; there are two types of women he writes about - the New Woman and 'classical' woman - and makes clear distinctions between the two. Claim: Stoker bases his characters off of two different types of women to emphasize the differences between characters, and to introduce suspense into the plot. Because Stoker writes about 'classical' women like Mina Harker and Gormala (to a certian extent), these women clash with the New Woman characters because of the different lifestyles. Evidence: The New woman wanted to "acheieve self-determination through life, growth, and experience." The New woman developed through an uprising feminist movement, a rebellion that involved woman's "refusal to heed the abstraction of womanhood." "Feminism sought to change human consciousness about male dominance". Because the qualities in the 'classical woman' and New Woman were opposites, it creates suspense and conflict between characters that helps to set the mood and move the plot forward.

Argument: The feministic bildungsroman that establishes itself throughout the novel seems to be contradictory towards the Christian commitments of the young Jane Eyre. It argues that the character St. John symbolized the patriarchal religious system, which was in the end rejected by Jane. Furthermore, this rejection defies the expectations of marriage at the time and symbolizes a more feminist emphasis. Evidence: This point is suggested primarily throughout the closing passage of the novel. The rhetoric of this may seem to be slightly confusing, because it basically challenges the feministic viewpoint that was built in the novel. The final paragraph casts a light over St. John and all of his endeavors throughout the novel, Lamonaca states, "Classic feminist readings have tended to view St. John as one-dimensional patriarchal villain; accordingly, Jane rejects not only her pious cousin, but also the Christian worldview he represents." Further explication in the novel is shown in the rejection of St. John, for "Jane effectively resists Rochester's and St. John's attempts to possess her spirit as well as her body." This further promotes the protagonist's struggle against male control, and a lockdown patriarchal marriage. The contradiction in the closing statements however "leaves open the possibility that Jane, despite her efforts, has failed to reconcile the conflicting demands of domesticity and faith." Thoughts: I think that Charlotte Bronte basically wanted to make a clear cut statement against the patriarchal and male run events in her society. However, as the writing came to a close she didn't want to make it seem as if the novel was meant to be an anti-Christian sentiment. So she was able to subdue the super strong feministic thoughts and instead decided to create a conclusion that makes the patriarchal society still seem to have some notoriety when in reality she may have believed different. The fact that Jane chose to marry out of societyâ€

Argument: The argument is that Jane Austen's purpose for writing Pride and Prejudice is to help to show social idealism and the question "the system" of the time period in regards to politics, marriage, feminism, and other social problems. Evidence:"Austen subtly and ironically points out faults in the system, raising questions about the values of English society and the power structure of the country." "the novel seems to work toward an ideological balance and an alteration in the fundamental aspects of these characters" "the most prominent trends in criticism of Pride and Prejudice have derived from the perspectives of literary feminism, including analysis of the novel's view of female oppression," Thoughts: The criticsim discusses the main themes of Austen's novels and points out her attempt to pursuade and her idealism on the consepts of marriage, and social standing. The critic also stresses the idea that Austen's books protesteed male dominance and the amount of power that men had in society compared to women. also talked about is Austen's control over language and the way that she makes her points with eloquence and captivating plots.

Feminism Source

The author of the Bergsonian Critique criticizes and explains the novel, Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte. It says how it could be an example of feminist text because of a women's quest. They critique that it is a mythic and gothic text because they believe the author was "unappealing and unremarkable". The strength of will of the main character allows the novel to develop through the quest. The purpose of this analysis and critique is to show how some of Bronte's life or personality is portrayed through the novel and characters. The author of the analysis gives Bronte credit because of the way she writes due to the autobiographical structure of the novel. The character Jane says in the novel that she will not "announce to the world that she is trying to begin any type of feminist movement". The author of this analysis believes that it is all about feminism and either an example of being "unfeminine" or feminine. The thinking of the main character could have had a movement for women in the 19th century when the novel was written. Most of the time, throughout, the author talks mostly about Jane and her "defiance of authority". They feel like Charlotte Bronte proves that Jane is a part of her and her beliefs. The purpose of this from the article was to show how the main character thinks and questions that may arise from the reader of the novel.

The critism attached by Fetterley depicts the true steps a women had to take in the late 19th century to get by. Alcott was a clever writer and Fetterley gave her all the praise she deserved. Alcott struggled in her life both with health and wealth. The sharp contrast between her two books Little Women and Behind a Mask is evident and the author of this critism, Fetterley, forms a solid argument of women's rights and how they are highlighted in these novels. The critism hits key points and uses contextual evidence to support its claims. At the very beginning of the novel Jean Muir is epitomized as the perfect women. Fetterley is quick to jump on the fact that Louisa Alcott strives to be this perfect women but is bound by reality and realizes such roles aren't possible for her. Fetterley hits the key issues that Alcott presents by saying, "radical critique of the cultural constructs of 'femininity' and 'little womanhood,' exposing them as roles women must play, masks they must put on, in order to survive." There is a common denominator in Little Women and Behind a Mask and Fetterley discovered the pattern and exploited it. Jean Muir, who was far from fair, had to take on the character of one of the "Little Women" in order to survive economically. She was sneaky. She was sly. However, she did what she needed ot survive. Fetterley used evidence from both books when forming her high opinion of Alcott.

This article discusses Ibsen's different plays and the subjects that they focused on. The author of the article says that Henrik Ibsen was banished because of his style of writing, bringing to light many social issues that all of the people of that time preferred to keep in the dark. The article stats that an Enemy of the people examines the idealism that takes place in society, to me this means that the play focuses on the way that the people of the time thought and what their priorities and goals were. The author of the article discusses the purpose of Hedda Gabler. The author says that Hedda Gabler also tackles a different problem in society. The issue in this play was feminism and how women were held to certain standards and expected to behave in certain ways. The author goes on to state that Henrik Ibsen had the greatest influence of any playwright in the twentieth century. After reading this article I am really interested on writing my paper on how Ibsen writes his plays in order to bring social issues into public light so that maybe the problems that he writes about can be corrected.

Ken Kesey has been the said to use stereotypes in his books. Two of the stereotypes would have to be Disability and Gender which he uses in one flew over the Cuckoo's nest. The author states he does a good job of not making mental disability impressive in its "avoidance" of stereotypes. But then the author goes on to state that Disability and emasculation are linked. Nurse Ratched is also a stereotype as a "direst result of her continual emasculation and her de-feminized domination of all the male patients." They also have a stereo typical anti-hero who is McMurphy. Ken Kesey has also been said to be stereo typical in Last go round with three different characters of different race. One white, one black and one Indian. Masculinity was the biggest stereotype that ken kesey had through out all his novels.