ipl-logo

Lucie And Madame Defarge Gender Analysis

1015 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The victorian era society

Dickens uses juxtaposition to compare Lucie and Madame Defarge to show the archetype of the gender ideal. Dickens uses juxtaposition at least three times to show how similar and different these two women are. The first example where Dickens compares Lucie and Madame Defarge is on page 270-271, “La Force! Lucie, my child, if ever you were brave and serviceable in your life- and you were always both- you will compose yourself now, to do exactly as I bid you; for more depends upon it than you can think, or I can say. [...]you cannot possibly stir out. I say this, because what I must bid you to do for Charles's sake, is the hardest thing to do of all. You must instantly be obedient, still, and quiet. [..] I will be submissive to you. I see in …show more content…

Thenceforth, to secure his good will, she always spoke to him first, and often gave him drink money, which he readily received.” This quote shows us one of Lucie’s routines. I shows us how she is a normal woman in the 18th century. It shows us yet again how she really is the perfect girl. This quote shows us how she is caring and gracious. These are some of the qualities that were expected from women in the 18th century. In comparison is Madame Defarge. On page 277, “The shadow attendant on Madame Defarge and her party seemed to fall so threatening and dark on the child, that her mother instinctively kneeled on the ground beside her, and held her to her breast.” In these two quotes we see how differently these two women present themselves towards other people. Lucie is kind, considerate, and everything that Dickens wants a woman to be. When she sees someone else like she does in this quote she tries to be nice and happy and do what she can for them. In this quote she gives the wood-sawyer money. On the other hand Madame Defarge isn’t quick to be nice, kind, nor considerate. Dickens is trying to show us how she isn’t a gender ideal because she isn’t the perfect woman. This quote shows us how Madame Defarge is just naturally cold and gives off scary feels to everyone. This is shown by how the kid was scared and the mother had to go comfort the

Show More
Related

Adeline Mowbray: An Analysis

1101 Words | 5 Pages

As a matter of fact most frequently critics have looked at how prejudicial her mother’s philosophies have been for our character, and attributed to Editha Mowbray the “fallness” of her daughter. In her essay “The return of the prodigal daughter” Joanne Tong contemplates how “Mrs. Mowbray pays too little rather than too much attention to her daughter” (2004: 475) the outcome of which is a misunderstanding of her position in society with regards to the strict laws of etiquette and feminine ideology in eighteenth century England. Cecily E. Hill also blames Editha for Adeline and Glenmurray’s extramarital affair and their inevitable moral condemnation, and instead of accusing the lovers she sees Editha as the soul villain of the novel. Contrary to the typical concept of a mother who provides a safe education to Adeline, she experiments with dubious theories that ultimately foreground her daughter’s tragic

Read More

Summary Of The Leaving By Budge Wilson

1245 Words | 5 Pages

Georcia A. Eugenio “The baggage she carries” People face dilemmas everyday. However, it is up to people how they would manage to make their choices. As we read “The Leaving” by Budge Wilson, the author introduced a mother whose name is Elizabeth, who is a victim of abuse and responsibilities of motherhood. In this short story, the penury, the monotonous life, the lack of respect and appreciation as a parent and a woman have affected Elizabeth’s decision to stand up for herself. Poverty has caused Elizabeth to make a change for herself because of the pain of ‘being a woman’ based on the standards of society.

Read More

Louisa Ellis 'A New England Nun'

1657 Words | 7 Pages

Freeman starts out with describing Louisa as a quiet, graceful woman, with relation to the individual and the community this is able to show that a woman isn’t fully an individual because she cannot exercise her rights, she must not call attention to herself, she must be quiet. Then, the story progresses to show how Louisa waits fourteen years to marry Joe, while he goes off to pursue his dream while she waits faithfully at home, showing that a man’s needs are more important than a woman’s and that it really is a “man’s world”. Joe has an affair with Lily, and Lily offers to leave town, and rather than stopping her and telling Louisa the truth, he does nothing and the other two women will suffer while he gets the best of both worlds. This again echoes the previous ideas that women are less important than men.

Read More

Women's Freedom In The Coquette

527 Words | 3 Pages

In conclusion, as can be seen, going against the norm of society and branching off into the world of freedom can really bring tension in the 18th century for woman. Even though Eliza wanted to pursue her happiness in another form, she forgot to think about the tension and consequences

Read More

Idealised Love In The Great Gatsby

1263 Words | 6 Pages

Her subjective female voice challenges the gender expectations of the Victorian Era. In the 19th century, strict social rules guided the interaction of men and women. Victorian women weren’t allowed to meet men without permission or supervision. Additionally, most marriages were based on money and materialistic means.

Read More

Mary Shelly's Frankenstein: Towards A Feminist Figure Of Humanity?

1075 Words | 5 Pages

It may skew her thinking and at times be subjective. The intended audience is someone who is studying literature and interested in how women are portrayed in novels in the 19th century. The organization of the article allows anyone to be capable of reading it.

Read More

Success In The Great Gatsby Is A Matter Of Money

1077 Words | 5 Pages

When at her apartment she transforms, from a ‘soft’ speaking wife to an example of haughty royalty, and although she spends money on objects of wealth, such as dresses and ‘cute little ash-trays’ and sophisticated ‘wreaths’, she cannot buy respect- as such can never buy happiness. She, much like the other characters within this novel, is unsuccessful in her pursuit, and despite the escape she often makes with Tom, ends up locked up and detained by her husband later on in the

Read More

How Does Dickens Use Dramatic Irony In A Tale Of Two Cities

498 Words | 2 Pages

According to page 277, “The shadow attendant on Madame Defarge and her party seemed to fall so threatening and dark on the child, that her mother instinctively kneeled on the ground beside her, and held her to her breast. The shadow attendant on Madame Defarge and her party seemed then to fall, threatening and dark, on both the mother and the child.” This quote shows us insight on what Madame Defarge is like. Madame Defarge is a very cold and driven person. She goes against the social norms of women in the 18th century.

Read More

Felicity In A Great And Terrible Beauty

982 Words | 4 Pages

Would someone today want to follow rules requiring them to be chaste, compliant, and dainty, like women of the Victorian Era? If followed, these instructions can cause people’s uniquity to be primarily defined in class, station, or beauty, and it can become hard to unravel the true intentions of others. Most Victorian women are proper as they are expected to be throughout their upbringing, but there always are exceptions. In Libba Bray’s fantasy novel, A Great and Terrible Beauty, Felicity is more than what she might want others to view her as. Felicity Worthington is distinctive in comparison to the typical woman of the Victorian Era as shown through her appetite for power, bold individuality, and heartless demeanour.

Read More

Treatment Of Women In Frankenstein Essay

933 Words | 4 Pages

In this opposing view of separate male and female roles, the De Lacey family is “based on justice, equality, and mutual affection” in which “all work is shared equally in an atmosphere of rational companionship, mutual concern, and love” (Mellor p. 358). Agatha De Lacey, the sole female occupant of the De Lacey household alongside her brother Felix and Father, then is treated lovingly and with respect, and she equally shares in the work to be done in the home, garden, as well as helping Felix as needed in tending to the wood supplies, rather than being confined to the home and

Read More

Gender Roles In Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest

928 Words | 4 Pages

Wilde’s representation of the British upper class, its values and opinions, is presented most notably through Lady Augusta Bracknell. She is a dignified aristocratic residing fashionable London society circles. On the surface, she is very typical Victorian woman. As a mother to Gwendolen Fairfax, she has a great authority over her controlling her life. She has even a list of ”eligible young man” whom she is ready to interview in order to select a suitable partner for her daughter.

Read More

The Feminine Mystique Analysis

1159 Words | 5 Pages

In Betty Friedan’s novel, The Feminine Mystique, she addresses a problem deeply buried within women up until the beginning of the twenty-first century. A problem with no name, that makes women feel desolate and purposeless, forcing them to ask themselves “is this all?” Norma Jean toils with this very same question in Shiloh, a realistic fiction short story by Bobbie Ann Mason. The marriage of Norma Jean and her devoted, yet inactive husband Leroy falls to shambles when he is injured from work and has to remain home. They wander aimlessly around each other, much like ghosts, withholding their need to confide in one another, which inevitably leads to the end of their marriage.

Read More

Comparison Of Elizabeth Woolf's North And South And To The Lighthouse

1598 Words | 7 Pages

Together, these will demonstrate both the traditional and the changing relationship between men and women in both the Victorian era and in the early twentieth century. In both eras, there were strict social rules that women were expected to adhere to, though the same rules were not subjected unto men, showing instant inequality in their relations. Though, both Lily and Margaret go against this. Lily is aware that it is her “duty” as a woman to follow a “code of behaviour” (Woolf, 74) that will benefit Mr. Tansley, though he has done nothing to benefit her; instead, he had taken the liberty to belittle her.

Read More

Madame Aubain Character Analysis

937 Words | 4 Pages

Félicité at first becomes enthralled by the bird because she loses her nephew,Victor. However, the parrot becomes an embodiment of an ideal romantic and agape relationship; as opposed to Félicité’s failed romantic and family relationships. She nourishes the parent like a mother would a growing child; which leads Félicité to become attached to Loulou because they had both been forsaken by people, leading her to worship Loulou. Soon we find that Félicité loses both her parents due to an accident and malady. To add on, being left an orphan, her remaining family had forsaken her.

Read More

Genders In The Victorian Era

901 Words | 4 Pages

The Victorian era is extremely well known for its way of defining genders, showing satire/fake news and, the Aesthetic Movement. The way that this is all explained in online articles makes the Victorian era sound intriguing in many different ways, of course some are good and some are bad like many other eras such as our own. Today one will see that men and women are treated or what they are capable of doing today, are completely different from the Victorian era. With almost no change for the men, the change for the women 's drastically different.

Read More

More about Lucie And Madame Defarge Gender Analysis

Open Document