When one thinks of the classic villain, one imagines a dark, nefarious man who will do everything in his power to destroy the protagonist in the most odious fashion, regardless of who gets in his way. He is selfish, neurotic, and downright detestable. In regards to Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, a character that completely encapsulates this concept is Heathcliff. However, there is a character in the novel that rivals and surpasses his chaotic ability and is much more worthy of scorn. Although she does not display the typical, masculine archetype of a villain and does not exactly work against the protagonist, Catherine Earnshaw is evermore heinous and corrupt than her male counterpart. Catherine’s superiority complex, narcissism, manipulativeness,…
The history of Eliza Wharton by Hannah Webb Foster, is a book that tells the story of Eliza Wharton though the point of view of letters. The letters start off with you learning of a woman named Eliza Wharton, who is writing to her friend Lucy Freeman. During those letters, Eliza describes much of the events happening in her life. When we first meet Eliza she is in mourning for the death of her husband. Eliza describes how she wish she could learn something from his behavior, and how she now resides with friends.…
portray a feeling that society as she saw it was drastically changing for the worse.…
To what extent is Eliza Wharton’s demise a self-induced product of her own choices, or how much of it is a consequence of matters outside of her control? Is Eliza herself to be fully blame for the outcome of this story, or are other factors (other individuals, social values, behavioral norms) that are to blame? In particular, I want you to balance you to have a balance of analysis about individuals who make decisions in the book, and analysis of the way the peculiarities of the society in which they live impact…
Jane strives to please the men in her her life, this started at a young age due to the detached love she held as a child. Jane’s parents both died when she was young and was brought in by her uncle to be raised with her cousins. Jane became the pupil her uncle never had, and because of this she was resented by her aunt Reed. The resentment Jane felt throughout…
In Hope Jahren’s memoir Lab Girl the author gives the reader the ability to experience everything she had to go through in the process of building herself; giving her strength for her to be able to obtain the career she wanted; like her overcoming multiple sexist boundaries, and emotional blockades. Not only, does Hope Jahren give the readers this experience but so does Susan Cain in her novel Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking; as she walks the reader through the mindset of an introvert’s journey as they must learn to overcome the many hurdles that society has thrown in front of these great minds. In addition, to Jahren and Cain, Shakespeare’s King Lear, Shakespeare gives a different point of view of society’s…
The book, Ellen Foster, revolves around a young girl’s unstable life and her ability to fight through obstacles and to find people who truly care for her. As a young child, Ellen was damaged by her father especially because he treated her with extreme disrespect. After her mother’s death, Ellen did not really have any family left as her family members continued to pass away. However, Ellen learned to tend to adult responsibilities at a very young age. Specifically Starletta and her family, Julia and Roy, and her new mama all supported her in a way that made her feel as if she were a young girl rather than an adult with responsibilities.…
SOCIAL AND ETHICAL VALUES: She knows that what Peck has been doing to her for all these years is not right, but she needs that support system in her life that the rest of her family is not providing her with. She knows that her uncle is married to her aunt and that they should be in love and that should be enough for him, but she wants so badly to help him. To help him out of his drinking and back in love with his aunt, but she doesn’t have the means to do that.…
Edith Wharton’s, The House of Mirth published in 1905 was definitely letting us know that women of that time period were expected to act of a certain way and be of a certain social standing. They were also expected to be married. I feel that Lilly Bart resented the fact that women had to be up to society’s standards. Throughout the novel Lilly must change herself as if she were a chameleon. Always trying to please the people she was around, or adapt to the places or circumstances that she created for herself. Lilly Bart had to be a number of people and could never really be herself. she was always on a quest to get farther up the social ladder. Thus losing herself all along.…
Though Blanche, from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, thinks that opposites attract and thus that she will marry Rochester, Brontë has different ideas about foils. Near the end of the novel Jane marries Rochester effectively quieting Blanche’s ideas. However, Brontë does use foils in the novel for a different reason. She uses characters will opposite personalities to reveal more about them, and to keep the reader from overlooking many of the major characters’ traits. For instance, without Blanche, who is a foil of Jane, one may have thought Jane a simple and plain governess and nothing more. Similarly, without St. John the reader could have missed Rochester’s passionate side, or with no Mrs. Reed how supportive Miss Temple really is. Using foils, Brontë reveals more about the personalities of the major characters, and keeps the reader from overlooking many traits. One can see that Jane and Blanche are opposites from before they even meet. While Jane is rather plain and unattractive on the outside, Blanche is described as beautiful with, “the noble bust, the sloping shoulders, the graceful neck, the dark eyes and black ringlets” (183) Even Jane cannot deny that Blanche is beautiful. In addition, Blanche grows up in a rich noble family while Jane is an orphan who was sent to a lowly boarding school. The opposites do not stop at their looks and backgrounds, for even Jane and Blanche’s personalities are completely different. Jane is an independent, passionate, and respectful young woman, although she often seems very practical and rational. Blanche flaunts herself, gossips, talks about marriage, and can be very rude as shown when she says “she (Jane) looks too stupid for any game of the sort” (194). While Jane was in the room, Blanche speaks loudly and rudely of her without a second thought. In addition, Blanche only wants Rochester as her husband for his money, and for the title of a wife. She likes the fact that he is not handsome because as a…
(Schweitzer 14). Schweitzer notes that during this time period women forfeited the emotional support that friendship provided once they were married. The main protagonist criticizes marriage in a letter she writes to her friend Lucy Freeman, “Marriage is the tomb of friendship. It appears to me a very selfish state” (Foster 24). It can be noted from Eliza’ view of marriage that Foster is critical of marriage because it kills friendships. Eliza writes to Mrs. Richmond, “Though not less interested in the felicity of my friend than the rest, yet the idea of a separation; perhaps, of an alienation of affection by, means of her entire devotion to another, cast an involuntary gloom over my mind” (Foster 70). Eliza’s view of her friend becoming part of a patriarchal marriage and her husband becoming her sole purpose further demonstrates what Foster thought of marriage and how unfair it was for women to give up the love and devotion she had for her friends. Schweitzer explains, “Even the eminently unromantic Lucy admits ruefully that marriage has removed her from her "native home" and its special joys” (Schweitzer 21). Schweitzer notes that even Lucy who is a character that embodies the social norm, admits that marriage takes away the freedom that a woman…
The customs and beliefs in her society are significant to her psychological behavior are the expectations that people in her status must maintain. She lived in a time when women did not have much of a say in their own lives so she had the urge to go against all of society’s rules.…
Jane’s position in society is ambiguous she is already mistreated by the prejudice Victorian society before she is even rejected by her aunt.…
I find the way she feels about herself is also a way that a lot of girls feel today, it is interesting how a book published in 1905 can still be relatable today. Overall in the first seven chapters of House of Mirth by Edith Wharton has been surprisingly interesting and a story that is relatable still…
Hannah, I see that you have had some problems with your saving habits and I want to help you. I myself know the importance of saving and I want to help get you get on the right track, as a person with experience, I know how to save. I am going to help to the best of my ability to get you out of this rut and have enough money when you retire. Get ready Hannah for the great advice I am going to give you that will drastically change your life.…