In Good Wives, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich contends that unlike some historians would come to believe, Puritan women lived neither in a state of submissiveness or autonomy. Rather these women served as a complementary secondary function to the husband responsible for performing a variety of duties. In her “role analysis”, Ulrich structures her argument based three different characters from the Bible, a fitting organization due to the supremacy of the Church in early New English society. Her three prototypes are Bethesda for economic affairs, Eve for sexual reproduction, and Jael for female aggression that fell within the confines of religion. Her first distinct role, Bethesda, signifies the competent wife able to economically benefit the household…
I read one beautifully written book Jewel by Brett Lott. As described by Lott (1991), Jewel is about a family who lives in Mississippi (Lott, 1991, p. 19). The main character Jewel Hilburn lives with her husband Leston and kids. At the age of 39, she discovers that she is pregnant and is quite worried because this will be her sixth time. After 24 hours of long labor, she gives birth to the sixth child who they name Brenda Kay. Since birth Brenda Kay was presented as a calm and quiet infant who slept most of the times. She could not do things which every kid at her age could do. That develops suspicion in Jewel who goes to visit the doctor at the time Brenda Kay was five months old. She remains shocked to find out that her daughter has Down’s syndrome, a condition which was then called as “Mongolian Idiot” (physically and mentally retarded). Jewel, however decides to support and nurse Brenda Kay at home instead of the doctors advising her to be institutionalized. Every milestone of Brenda Kay is nicely portrayed by Lott with every little emotion described…
This passage is located in the middle of the book on page 121. It happened after she was refused help by her father . This caused Nujood to run away to find a judge that would help her get a divorce. A few days later,…
According to Egyptian tradition, Ramses II most likely practiced Polygamy. This would allow him to marry numerous women at the same time. However, Nefertari was known as the “King’s Principal Wife”. This meant she had the highest status among the wives. Additionally, as the Principal Wife she was given special symbols, dress and she was allowed to wear the Royal Vulture Crown. Nefertari also played an active role in court affairs, foreign affairs and politics. She would participate in both civil and religious ceremonies and accompanied Ramses II on important journeys.…
This plot line alludes to God’s love for his children in the Garden of Eden, referenced in the best known Biblical story. When being repeatedly tormented by the spirit of Beloved, Denver remarks that “for a baby she throws a powerful spell” in annoyance, but Sethe replies that Beloved’s haunting is “no more powerful” than the way Sethe “loved her," exemplifying the strong sense of maternal love Sethe feels for Beloved (5). This strong sense of love is later criticized by Paul D when he hears of how Beloved died. He remarks that her “love is too thick” and that it hinders her from living. But Sethe responds that “thin love ain’t love at all," reminding us of the allusion to God’s love in the Garden of Eden (5). Another drastic example of Sethe’s love is when Beloved begins to consume Sethe, who was unable to wear an article of clothing “that didn't sag on her," whilst Beloved “was getting bigger, plumper by the day” (281). This sacrifice is an allusion to God expressing his love for all of his children, by letting his son, Jesus Christ, die for our sins; Therefore, in many ways, Sethe is atoning for her sins, acting as a Christian, but also loving beyond natural limits, acting as God. Morrison infused her knowledge of the Bible and irony into her work to strike her readers with the stark similarities of slavery and the dangers of early…
In all its complexities, its self-contradictions, its ambiguities, and its varied translations the Bible is one of the most difficult texts to fully understand. One prime example of the Bible’s vagueness is found in Second Samuel, chapters eleven and twelve in which the controversial “Bathsheba Incident” occurs. In this story, Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, is impregnated by King David after he is astounded by her beauty and could not resist his temptation. In fast paced string of events, Bathsheba’s pregnancy leads to David murdering Uriah in the guise of a military death. While many maintain that the impregnation of Bathsheba and the death of Uriah were entirely due to the lustful and demagogic actions of David, some argue that Bathsheba was the true mastermind of the whole situation and seduced David, had a hand in Uriah’s murder, and actively sought the benefits of being part of David’s harem. The latter…
In the passage, Jude wishes to help Sue with her unhappy marriage because he love her, however he can not due to his own religious beliefs that prevents him from acting upon his feelings. The author chooses to reveal their predicament by using literary devices such as diction and symbolism through the mentioning of a trapped rabbit that is fated to die.…
• Adam was also punished along with Eve for disobeying God. • Bluebeard lost his life due to the curiosity of his wife, who inherited all his treasures…
He just needed to say a few simple words. Punishments were extremely different between the two sexes. If women were caught in adultery, they were killed. Men might be punished financially but ultimately not killed. The law states, “If a man’s wife should have a finger pointed against her in accusation involving another male, although she has not been seized lying with another male, although she has not been seized lying with another male, she shall submit to the divine River Ordeal for her husband.” Where as the man gets a blind eye turned.…
….could not cut off the sound of my father’s harsh painful, despairing sob.” (lines 178-179). She had never heard her dad cry like that before nor did she considered the weakness of adults, “my mother, who was small and soft, was now the strength of the family; my father who was rock on which the family had been built, was sobbing like the tiniest child” (lines 187-189). After knowing of their difficult situation, Lizabeth wasn’t able to sleep and in the middle of the night returned to Miss Lottie’s flowerbed. There Lizabeth released her anger on the marigolds, trampling and stepping on them. Joey her brother tried stopping her, but she didn’t stop until she sat there next to the damage she created crying and realized it was too late to…
“Lot’s Wife” depicts the fate of a woman following her husband Lot on his departure of their native town Sodom. Sodom was a town that God destroyed, yet he granted Lot and his wife permission to flee the town before this occurrence. Wislawa Szymborska and Anna Akhmatova offer different versions and perspectives on the same story. Each of the authors use different elements of poetry to create two very unique poems that have several similarities as well as many obvious differences. These two different poems are mainly different because of the point of view differs in each poem. Another thing that makes an important difference is how each of the poems begin, each one begins with a different situation, as the speaker is also different. The structure also is different,…
This story has a good use of metaphors to show how the widowed wife is feeling out her husbands death. She obviously is not upset once she realizes she has no one to hold her back now. This is exemplified by how the author presents this to us, in such metaphors as ""(). This clearly shows her turning feeling, from the pain and anguish, to the joy and relief from being free. In all it shows in a very clever way how the woman changes her emotions.…
God fashions a man from the dust (Heb. ad amah) and blows the breath of life into his nostrils, then plants a garden (the Garden of Eden) and causes to grow in the middle of the garden the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. God sets the man in the garden "to work it and watch over it," permitting him to eat from all the trees in the garden except the Tree of Knowledge, "for on the day you eat of it you shall surely die." God brings the animals to the man for him to name. None of them are found to be a suitable companion for the man, so God causes the man to sleep and creates a woman from a part of his body (English-language tradition describes the part as a rib, but the Hebrew word tsela, from which this interpretation is derived, has multiple meanings; see the Textual Note, below). Describing her as "bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh," the man calls his new help-mate "woman" (Heb. ishshah), "for this one was taken from a man" (Heb. ish). This sundering, a making of two from one, predicates reunification in marriage, in which two will be made one: "On account of this a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his woman." The chapter ends by establishing the state of primeval innocence, noting that the man and woman were naked and not ashamed, and so provides the departure point for the subsequent narrative in which wisdom is gained through disobedience at severe cost.…
Secondly, the Wife must move away from her home and everything she knows. “In the first place my lord had ordered me/ To take up my abode here, though I had/ Among these people few dear loyal friends;/ Therefore my heart is sad…” (lines 15-18). In this passage she explains how she moves to be with her husband and the town is very unfriendly. “In the first place my lord had ordered me/ To take up my abode here…” means that the husband has requested the Wife to live with him in the new town. “Among these people few dear loyal friends;/ Therefore my heart is sad…” states that she has no real friends in the town and that she has become bitter at her situation. The overall quote means that she has moved and the…
The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is one that is related in churches to emphasize why one should attempt to remain sinless. Sodom and Gomorrah were two Cities of the Plain. It is recorded that these two cities were completely corrupt in everything. Not only in sexual perversions, but in money and sacrilege as well. God warned Lot and his family that they would be spared of the fire and brimstone, and so they fled. However, Lot’s wife made the decision to look back at the burning city and subsequently turned into a pillar of salt. This decision is the topic of Kristine Batey’s poem, “Lot’s Wife”. Batey’s poem takes the view of an obedient woman who does all the housework, takes care of the children and follows where her husband leads. The distinctive…