As an aristocratic woman never intended to inherit her father’s duchy and living in the socially constricted confines of the Middle Ages, Eleanor of Aquitaine led a surprisingly long and influential life. She was the queen consort to two kings of two different, yet both powerful, European countries; conspired with her sons to lead a revolt against her husband; and even after being imprisoned for over ten years, she persevered and exerted herself to protect her rights, her ancestral lands, and her children.…
“I bet there were a lot of people mad at Shakespeare, too, but aren 't we all glad that he wrote Hamlet?" Yolanda 's sisters said in trying to make their tight situation with their little sister Yolanda just a little bit lighter. Even during the days the Garcia family had resided in the Dominican Republic, and Yolanda had always had a cause to tell her stories in either fact or fiction form. The family had to be cautious in the dictatorship, which in turn, had caused many sleepless nights in the Garcia household. When the family had immigrated to the United States her mother still had to worry about the stories that Yolanda would go on to write. Would she have to wait around for a social worker to stop by the house if Yo were telling her fiction stories at school? Yolanda had to write her stories about the…
The king is seen as very selfish in this lay. He has used his daughter as, “a comfort,” since his wife died. Besides the fact that he was incestuous, he was only thinking of his own pleasure and happiness. Did he ever stop to think of the emotional toil his actions had on his daughter? Furthering his selfish motives, he wanted, “to prevent anyone seeking his daughter’s hand.” The king wanted his daughter all to himself and would go to extreme lengths to keep it that way. Even if having the love of…
Alvarez presents a series of ironic situations to make candid observations about how women are just as capable as men to do what society defines as “men’s” work. In The Time of the Butterflies is set in the era of Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship in the Dominican Republic, where the Mirabal sisters assist in organizing a rebellion against the regime and are soon known as the “Butterflies.” Despite the bravery they demonstrated, the Mirabal sisters were ordinary wives and mothers who did not take the passive role of a woman but instead rose above their titles. When the Mirabal sisters try to convince sister Dedé to join them in the revolution, Dedé expects charismatic and passionate Minerva to speak up but instead hears littlest sister Mate do so, the little sister…
“It is possible, reading standard histories, to forget half the population of the country. The explorers were men, the landholders and merchants men, the political leaders men, the military figures men, the very invisibility of women, the overlooking of women, is a sign of their submerged status,” stated in Chapter Six of Howard Zinn’ s famous book, A People’s History of the United States. As Zinn has stated in the quote, women and their achievements in history have been rarely mentioned in society which is the sign of treating women as inferior subjects. Treating women as inferior has started since from the day Christopher Columbus had brought his people to his claimed land which later became America. The idea of patriarchy was brought along…
One of Mr. _____’s children, Harpo, marries a woman named Sofia. Harpo becomes very frustrated with the fact that Sofia is an independent woman. Harpo tries to abuse her like his father abuses Celie, but Sofia stands up for herself and shows that she will not tolerate Harpo’s immature behavior. In their relationship, their gender roles are switched. Sofia acts like the stronger individual while Harpo follows along with what his wife wants to do. The same type of relationship occurs between Shug Avery and Mr. _____. According to the stories of the couple’s past, Mr. _____ was head over heels for Shug. Instead of Mr. _____ having control over the relationship, the woman had the power to influence the man’s behavior. This theme tries to exemplify the fact that men are not always the ones in control and that women also have the capability to be independent and…
In the lyrical poem, You Men by Sor Juana de la Cruz, she attempts to unveil the patriarchal society in the 1600’s that women were confined due to societal beliefs and values. During the 1600’s Latin women were valued for childbearing and traditional roles in the home. Therefore, Cruz had difficulty in her personal life with the roles assigned to women and joined the convent. At the convent, Cruz wrote as a woman of the upper class and used the protection of the court to her advantage. An analysis of the poem You Men reveals women challenges in a patriarchal society; emotional and physical oppression as a result of harsh criticism.…
Patriarchic society preserves female inferiority by instilling feelings of self-hatred into women. The beginning of the chapter addresses this self hatred, “If somebody would have asked me when I was a teenager what it means to be Chicana, I would probably have listed the grievances done me” (38). Since teenagers are often in search of their identity, it is of particular significance that as a teenager, Moraga would have listed the grievances done to her as a way of explaining her identity. The word ‘grievances’ connotes harm, wrongdoing, distress, burden, and suffering; these inflictions, coupled with the powerlessness and passivity the female feels as the “grievances are done [to her]” foster anger and resentment, which metamorphoses into self-hatred.…
In contrast to her sisters, whose professions are banal and insincere, Cordelia does not seem to know how to flatter her father—an immediate reflection of her honesty and true devotion to him. “Love, and be silent,” she says to herself (1.1.60). When her father asks her the crucial…
This novel is diverse, in terms of the logic behind the authors reasoning behind her writing. Critic Stanley Renner thinks that the grandmother touching the misfit made him feel uneasy since it the situation was so biblical. Also, stating that the “touch” was similar…
Jonas looked around the bookshelf and he notice a very old worn and thorned binding and feels attracted by its condition. The book was larger than the other volumes arounded. It was embossed with gold letters and covered with dust. He tried to reach it but it was outside of his grasp. So he took a ladder and move it to the shelf in order to climb up to reach the book. As he climb toward the book and reach for it he thought twice about his action and stopped. As he stopped his hand brushed against the book, it felt on the floor and when the book hit the floor, it opened to a page which contained a picture of a soldier. At the time he came down in the middle step of the ladder and pick up the book, he got a clear image of the wounds of the soldier and he noted a missing arm and Jonas was terrified because he never saw someone in the community with a missing limb and some lines starting with: “Dear my love”. Jonas startled, his bewilderedness started increasing, it’s not only because he took the book out without any permission of the Elder but also because he’s never seen anyone with that kind of clothes and body like that. However, the curiosity took over his mind, he can’t help himself from climbing down the ladder quickly as possible to have a look at the book.…
In tragic plays it appears that women, more specifically mothers like Gertrude of Hamlet and Jocasta of Oedipus the King, are plagued by decisions that are made with good intentions, but end up destroying their lives and the lives of people around them. Women are also under the burden of strict societal expectations when it comes to the decisions they make. These two tragic plays illuminate a human being’s capacity for suffering. Gertrude and Jocasta both care deeply for their sons. However, this care unintentionally causes harm to both of the mothers and their sons. For these two women, marriage is regarded as a societal expectation. Under the societal norms of their time, they are required to marry people to preserve their kingdom. Also, in both of these tragic plays, Gertrude and Jocasta plays are largely characterized by their emotions. Lastly, it is evident that often times women inadvertently bring about the destruction and chaos that is central to the play. Jocasta and Gertrude both engage in decisions that may seem trivial, but end up being very important on a large scale.…
The two texts similarly present ideas about women’s independence and show that regardless of marital status, women face gender prejudice. Albert, Celie’s husband, states that ‘wives is like children. You let ‘em know who got the upper hand.’ By likening a married woman to a child, Walker removes adult qualities from Celie such as patience, intelligence and respect. In doing this Walker demonstrates that empowerment was harder for Celie to achieve, as she is considered powerless and childlike by men. Furthermore, we identify with Celie’s marital struggles and inability to persevere, as Celie is constantly made to feel disempowered. This is evident when Celie suggests Harpo should ‘beat [Sofia]’ even though ‘… three years pass and he still whistle and sing’. By discounting relevant facts such as Sofia and Harpo maintaining their happiness for three years, we are shown that Celie is jealous of functional marriages that allow partners to act independently. Through this Walker highlights that women knowingly reinforce gender prejudice by encouraging men to exercise control using physical force. Golden also takes a similar stance to Walker on women’s independence through his depiction of a self-sufficient Geisha. Mameha informs Sayuri that ‘following [her] debut… [she’ll] need a danna if [she’s] to…
The story of Beatriz de Padilla shows how a woman of mixed race found a way to better herself and the lives of her children, through relationships with men of power. In Colonial New Spain it was very hard for women of color to life anything better than the life of a servant. Beatriz succeeded to establish her freedom in this colonial society, which allowed her “to walk, talk and dress” however she wanted. Her freedom and naturalness challenged the colonial society, because her ways of living strongly contrasted with the severe restrictions on Spanish and Creole women who were meant to keep up appearances and concern themselves with the damaging consequences of hearsay both to themselves and their husbands and…
4) Why did the speaker never remarry when she thought of men so highly above her? Was this text really thought to be of value, and did other woman believe in this? Were there any consequences or anyone that did not believe this style of thinking? Did woman ever rebel against being thought of so low?…