Susan Minot’s “Lust” follows a young woman narrating her growing up and coming of age through the men she has lusted over. The story is formatted in short paragraphs, usually changing between men without warning. At the near end of the story, she says: After sex, you curl up like a shrimp, something deep inside you ruined, slammed in a place that sickens at slamming, and slowly you fill up with an overwhelming sadness, an elusive gaping worry. You don’t try to explain it, filled with the knowledge that it’s nothing after all, everything filling up finally and absolutely with death. After the briskness of loving, loving stops.
In the Bildungsroman novel Winesburg Ohio by Sherwood Anderson, Anderson reveals many meanings and grotesques through all of the chapters and grotesques throughout the story such as loneliness, unable to communicate, inability to love and the inability to express passion. The chapter “An Awakening” is about a girl named Belle Carpenter. She was the daughter of the bookkeeper of the first National Bank of Winesburg. Belle was in love with a man named Ed Hanby, who was a thirty year old bartender. However, Belle secretly had an affair with a boy named George Willard, who was a reporter.
John Updike, author of the novel The Witches of Eastwick, comments upon the daily lives of three witches in a small town. It is clear that their magic powers set their lives apart, but things become truly strange for them when a new man, named Darryl Van Horne, moves into a mansion nearby. Although he is the antagonist, his sexual desires overtake the story in ridiculous ways. Through his manipulation, quest for power, and independence, The Witches of Eastwick exaggerates the heterosexual male fantasy of turning powerful women into pawns of sexual pleasure.
This is an evil to say, for it is a transgression, the great Transgression of Preference, to love any among men better than others, since we must must love all men and all men are our friends” (Rand 30). This shows that if one chooses to commit a transgression in a collectivist society they’re willing to put “me” before “we.” Both stories allow the reader to see the effects one can have on a society if they commit a transgression within their
Final Paper Throughout history, man has often used written word to openly share and communicate thoughts and ideas universally. Gore Vidal’s novel The City and the Pillar is no exception as Vidal explores the struggles of homosexuality in a pre-World War II era. Jim Willard, the main character whose lens we peer through to catch a glimpse of life as a homosexual male in the late 1930s to 1940s, is not described in the novel as a effeminate or flamboyant as was stereotypical for gay characterization at the time. Instead, he is portrayed as a very, for lack of a better term, normal athletic young adult male, which is a key factor in Jim’s confusion throughout his ventures in self-discovery. Above all else though, Jim Willard’s character can
After the Revolution, the immediate crisis was a national government. Congress felt the need of a powerful central government was crucial to their survival from Great Britain. Even though the war was over, the settlers felt as if they might always have a need to be stronger than their former foes. In my opinion, they probably thought that the bad blood between them and Britain would always pose a threat to their new found freedom and independence. Because of this, their next step was a big and strategic one.
Interestingly, in all her relationships, Janie`s partners were the strongest ones who needed to show their dominance. Further, the traditional division of gender roles and male dominance is visible throughout all three marriages of the protagonist of the novel. Janie suffers from double physical violence and, as Trudier Harris argues, becomes an object of
The women of the neighborhood are quick to observe and judge the romantic relationship between Theresa and Lorraine. Karen Walker suggests in her article “Autonomous but not Alone” that the women feel threatened by Theresa and Lorraine’s relationship because they interpret it as “a judgement against them for being dependent on or controlled by men.” (Walker 66) “Brewster waited, cautiously prepared to claim them, because you never knew about young women, and obviously single like that.” (Naylor 129) They seemed like nice girls, but rumors began to circulate when no potential husbands were spotted around the women’s apartment.
The end of the eighteenth - beginning of the nineteenth century England was characterized by the downfall of the revolutionary “Jacobin” movement which advocated for freedom and equality, and symbolizes a return to, as well as an empowerment of the conservative British patriarchal system. This was the context in which Amelia Anderson Opie wrote “her most political novel”(King and Pierce, viii) Adeline Mowbray, a tale which provides a case study about, as Roxane Eberle notes, “progressive ideas that heterosexual relationships can and should exist outside of marriage”(1994: 127). As a result the clash between these innovational type of relationships and the English legal and social norms collide in their representation of models of proper conduct
Doubtlessly Paul’s only friend, Charley Edwards creates a protective atmosphere within his dressing room for Paul. Because of his homosexual tendencies Paul has forever felt alienated from the world. But within the confines of Charley’s room, all the fear fades away to bliss. Eventually, it becomes evident that Charley exhibits mirroring tendencies of Paul. Quickly, we begin to question whether this is simply a friendship or if it is something more.
In the early 1800s lives were drastically changed after the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution resulted in growth to the economy and society. This adjustment was both good and bad. Mostly for the better though. The North and South both grew used to this transition.
In particular, Corso’s structure, examples that encourage tone, and theme can help us understand Updike’s story in a clearer way. Corso organizes his thoughts in a similar way throughout the entirety of the poem. While the author clearly depicts the features of a marriage, acknowledging both the positive and negative aspects, he does not fail to include how these features contribute to the experience of a committed relationship. The author uses a set topic to establish structure in his poem, but then follows up his statement with a counter-argument that presents the opposite point of view. For example, Corso begins his stanza by reflecting, “Grocery store Blue Cross Gas & Electric Knights of Columbus / Impossible to lie back and dream
Masculine and Feminine Roles in Steinbeck’s “Chrysanthemums” In the story “The Chrysanthemums”, by John Steinbeck, Elisa Allen lives an unsatisfactory life as she desires more than what is bestowed upon her. The reader learns Elisa’s husband is culpable for not seeing the beauty of his wife, leaving an open door for the antagonist, a traveler, to prey upon Elisa’s. Steinbeck uses Masculine and Feminine roles of the early 20th century, Internal Conflict, and an antagonist, to show Elisa’s struggle for Identity. Steinbeck illustrates Masculine and feminine roles of the 20th century in the “Chrysanthemums” to show Elisa’s struggle with identity.
Thus, Mike criticizes Cohn’s masculinity, saying he cannot have a relationship the woman he wants, confirming the statement with: “’’Why don’t you know you 're not wanted?’” (146). Therefore, Cohn becomes incredibly frustrated upon hearing these remarks; not being able to be in a relationship with Brett is the ultimate failure because the men see her as an object they must get. For instance, Mike refers to Brett as a piece and not as a human being when he says “’I say, Brett you are a lovely piece’” (85). The reader can see from the attention the men give Brett that all the men 's goals are geared towards winning the ‘piece’ of affection as a way to prove their masculinity.
In the novel Pride and Prejudice, the author includes many diverse characters who have intriguing relationships to one another. The two main types of relationships are romance and friendship, and both are prevalent throughout the novel. Most readers focus on the romance of the novel but its the friendships that this essay will shed light on. By comparing the friendships in Pride and Prejudice, to C.S. Lewis’s definition of friendship in Four Loves, the reader can see the similarities between the two. C.S. Lewis conveys “friendship” in a way that is personal, loving, and essential for survival, which can be seen in the relationship between two sisters in Pride and Prejudice.
