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Role Of Women In Literature

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The role of women in literature crosses many broad spectrums in works of the past and present. Women are often portrayed as weak and feeble individuals that submit to the situations around them, but in many cases women are shown to be strong, independent individuals. This is a common theme that has appeared many times in literature. Across all literature, there is a common element that causes the suffering and pain of women. This catalyst, the thing that initiates the suffering of women, is essentially always in the form of a man. These themes can be clearly seen in the short stories Chopin’s “The Story Of An hour”, Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and Hurston’s “Sweat”. These pieces of literature strongly portray how women are seen in instances …show more content…

This is seen in literature across all spectrums from fiction to poems, and even songs. Throughout all of these pieces of literature a man is used as a tool to set out the events for things that happen later in every one of these stories. This same trend can be seen in many of the works of artist today such as Taylor Swift. "And you call me up again just to break me like a promise / So casually cruel in the name of being honest"( Swift). This is yet another example of how a man can tragically break the spirit and heart of a woman unknowingly. This tool is only used though so authors can begin to unravel the true purpose of literature, and the purpose of their literature focuses on why these women are in so much pain and why they won't leave or try to escape their situation and what keeps them trapped there. The author builds the catalyst so they can focus on their true goal of writing about what occurs during the reaction, this is the true purpose of authors literature, and in this case, the purpose of the literature is to tunnel deep into the female heart and mine out its troubles, its problems, and everything that makes it tick. All of these authors are focusing on the affliction of the female heart. The authors write these women in instances of weakness so they can take a reader through the process of all the things they had to overcome to emerge stronger and more empowered on the other side of their situation,or tragically takes a reader through the events that lead to the main characters not being able to hold on any longer and what lead to their ultimate

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Authors, especially female authors, have long used their writing to emphasize and analyze the feminist issues that characterize society, both in the past and the present. Kate Chopin, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Susan Glaspell wrote narratives that best examined feminist movements through the unreliable minds of their characters. In all three stories, “The Story of an Hour”, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and “A Jury of Her Peers”, the authors use characterization, symbolism, and foreshadowing to describe the characters’ apparent psychosis or unreasonable behavior to shed light on the social issues that characterized the late 19th century and early 20th century. Penning many stories that demonstrate her opinions on the social issues of the era,

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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.

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Symbols of Freedom: Sea and Birds in “The Awakening” Chopin challenges the gender roles expectations imposed on married women during the nineteenth century in her novel, “The Awakening.” The main protagonist, Edna, initially symbolizes the conventional woman; she is married to Leonce Pontellier and they have two children. Later, at Grand Isle, she experiences dissatisfaction with her life and marriage. Edna experiences a stirring in her soul that exposes contradictions between her natural self and “gendered” self. She wants to break free from social norms that bind her to motherhood, and this is her natural self in conflict with her “gendered” identity.

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Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour” is set in the late 1800s – a time when women were considered inferior to men. Women had traditional roles as wives and mothers. In this 19th century patriarchal society, Chopin shows us Louise Mallard, the main character, who does not comply with the female gender norms of the Victorian period. When Louise learns about the death of her husband, her reaction and the reaction of her sister and the doctor tell us a great deal about gender stereotyping during this time. Louise Mallard is described to us as “firm” and “fair.

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The portrayal and role depicted in the literature helped women in the long run to gain acceptance and equality in society. The literary contributions made and for women continue to be a springboard for women to gain equality to men. Finally, the accomplishment of these women writers who struggled to publish their fragile poems and stories could spread a template for other women around the word on how they can actually voice out their thoughts and help improve their own rights. Thus, women will continue to gain equality and recognition, and this success will also continuously impact the

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Women in the 1890s were expected to work at home to keep their husbands comfortable and bear him children. Kate Chopin wrote most of her short stories during this time period. Her stories “A Respectable Woman” and “A Story of an Hour” show a female protagonist who want their freedom and control over their own lives. Her characters pushed the bounds of the roles that society gave them and showed the brutal reality of how women were treated in the 1890s. In “A Respectable Woman” the female protagonist Mrs. Baroda is married and lives on a plantation with her husband, who invites a friend to spend a week or two with them.

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Her work falls into the category of early feminist literature and the story categorically illustrates this notion of hostility towards women in the nineteenth-century. Male authors considered themselves in control, they were signs of masculinity, and they wrote genuine, authentic literature. Female authors posed a threat to them, turning the men soft, and damaging their ‘authentic’ writing within the bourgeois society; “the masses knocking at the gate were also women, knocking at the gate of a male-dominated culture” (Huyssen 47). During this time, the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, mass culture and the

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