Matriarchy Essays

In William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the female characters' desire to question the law of Athens and select their own husbands drives most of the conflict in the play. In a way, Hermia, Helena, and Titania are the protagonists of the play because each of their desires are being thwarted by the patriarchal structure of the society in which they live. The way the women try to overcome such hurdles does not sit well with the men. Accordingly, the men get on edge when their patriarchy

In a world where male-dominance is the standard for societies, there will always be a group of the subdominant gender that is looking to change the way that society functions, to achieve equality. However, opposers to the form sometimes head towards the extremes and surpass equality, only to achieve dominance. In Sarah Hall’s novel, Daughters of the North, she follows the protagonist, Sister, on her journey away from the dystopian, patriarchal society of England to an off-the-charts, female-only

Dario Fo’s play The Accidental Death of an Anarchist is a farce based on a 1969 incident in which an anarchist railway worker, Giuseppe Pinelli, who was arrested as a suspect of terrorist bombing, fell out of a fourth floor window, raising questions as to whether he jumped or was pushed out of the fourth floor window, at a police station during the course of an interrogation in Milan. Fo set out to use the events as an inspiration to write one of his most successful play. However, the madman is the

Your shoes Your shoes Is a short story by Michele Roberts about a mother writing a letter to her daughter who has left home and how she reflects on her own life, past and family Michele Roberts as a writer interested in women´s rights and how they were treated before. In an interview for the BBC, she says: "The way that women were treated in the religion I grew up in, which was Catholicism, made me a writer - because women were seen as the source of evil in the world, the source of sin. We led

‘Heidi’ and ‘Long Distance’ are two disparate poems in terms of tone and elucidation, ‘Heidi’ is a blithe narrative about the coming of age of a young women who battles for what she believes in despite losing a parent, and ‘Long Distance’ faces the issue of never moving forwards. From the poem ‘Heidi’, we can also see Heidi’s determination in achieving what she wants, as she is inexorable ‘tell them it won’t wash out-not even if I wanted to try’, this shows Heidi’s headstrong determination, creating

Prescribed question: How and why is a social group represented in a particular way? Text: pilot of the TV Show “Shameless” (US) Part 2: language and mass communication: the potential for educational and ideological influence of a media, the power of a media to deliver a message, to express an opinion. Thesis: The creators of the TV show “Shameless” included homosexual characters in the show not only to make an appeal for tolerance, but also to present a realistic modern society in which differences

LEADERSHIP LESSONS How did Tan Sri Dato Seri Lim Goh Tong manage to attract followers and inspire them to try their best in achieving a shared goal? How did he manage to convince all his followers that they can reach beyond the ordinary expectations together? These questions can be answered through the visionary leadership style that Uncle Lim possessed, a name he was fondly known as. According to Kirkpatrick in Visionary Leadership Theory, visionary leader is someone who inspires astonishing levels

Sexual Racism in the American Societies The short story Naked by Joyce Carol Oates talks about anonymous female figure that lived a big shock because of the violent event she went through, that she was attacked by a group of children which includes boys and girls, the eldest child was 12 years old. The writer describes those children in the story that they were, “small pack of black children…” this quote from the story would give the reader a hint to think if this story is about racism in America

John Lennon once said, “It’s weird not to be weird”. Such a society is non-existent in William Shakespeare’s Othello, in which any non-conforming belief has the potential to become very dangerous or even life-threatening. Voicing these opinions which go against societal thoughts lead to the downfalls of multiple characters in the play. Desdemona’s opposition to racism, Emilia’s extreme feminism, and Iago’s apparent belief of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness are what ultimately lead these three people towards

Shakespeare excelled in the art of presenting complex themes in the most subtle ways. Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing presents the theme of deception. The plot of the play is woven around the traps of deceit, from the ends of both the antagonists as well as the protagonists. Thus, it shows deception in two forms- in its malevolence, driven by evil notions and motives; and also its benevolence, when employed for the better good. Either ways, all the characters are involved in deceit, sometimes

Power Through Sexuality As the first woman prime minister Margaret Thatcher once said, “In politics, If you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman” (Goodreads). Women have traditionally been relegated to household roles while men have held positions of power. In Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, this role is switched as an oppressive Nurse Ratched dominates a psychiatric ward and imposes her will upon the emasculated men of the ward. The story revolves

In the play Antigone, written by Sophocles. Antigone is portrayed as an extremely strong character. Through her words and actions, she lays some very early foundations for feminism. Feminism today is described as the radical notion that women are people. Even though Antigone by Sophocles existed before the word Feminism, that doesn't mean it couldn't show some of its primary fundamentals. Sophocles presents a female character in this play, who is a strong believer and who shows feminist logic. Antigone

“The Rites for Cousin Vit” is from Gwendolyn Brooks' Annie Allen, the principal book by an African American to get the Pulitzer Prize for verse. Streams, conceived in 1917 in Kansas yet a Chicagoan for her eight decades, is a writer whose most grounded work joins contemporary (however seldom demotic) phrasing with an adoration for word-play and supple, elaborate punctuation reviewing Donne or even Crashaw (and as often as possible Eliot) which she conveys to tolerate, with friendly incongruity

This text is an excerpt from Chapter 2 of Richard Wright’s novel Black Boy. Richard is a young naive boy who lives in a religious household with many restrictions . He is a troubled kid due to his huge curiosity and determination achieve his desires. In this excerpt Richard urges Ella, a schoolteacher who works for Granny, to read him a ‘forbidden’ book. Ella refuses, knowing Granny would be angered by reason of her strict and religious beliefs. After Richard constantly nagging her, she starts reading

Khanna 1 Introduction ‘Comparative Study’ on two different characters from the same writer reveals out the differences and similarities between them and this comparison is laid on common motives or characteristics used by the writer in respect to his/her characters. The following paper provides a similar comparative study on two of the most famous Shakespearean Characters: Juliet from Romeo and Juliet and Desdemona from Othello, by William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was one of

You are in the paleolithic era, wearing nothing but animal skin to protect you from the elements. You go back to your tribe and find that a woman comes back with the majority of the food for the tribe. You and the rest of the tribesmen eat than go and pray to a goddess, thanking her for giving birth to you and the world you live in. Women and Goddesses were worshipped for their life giving abilities and beauty. In many creation stories from many indigenous peoples, a goddess was the one that either

Chauvinism and Feminism in Handmaid’s tale Introduction This paper explores the relations between women and men in a context of a dystopian society which is very well depicted by Attwood. Debates raised since society acquired language and nowadays is still a hot debate. Radical, feminists point men as the 'main enemy’ and they say that, patriarchy is considered as a form of domination imposed by men on women. Feminists are dealing with how to understand the relations between patriarchy and how to

June Jordan, a poet who is famous for her positive blaze of justice, writes poetry while advocating a command for universal equity, which appeals to people from various areas of the world. Jordan’s poetry speaks of American issues as well as international issues, such as African countries that are oppressed by their neighbouring countries. One of Jordans poems, ‘A Poem About My Rights’ serves as a resentment against the world’s oppression, however it also serves as a mandate for change. This essay

Handmaids are one of the many social groups in “The Handmaid’s Tale”. Other social groups include Commanders, Marthas, econowives, guardians and many more. But the most information and detail is give about the Handmaids, since the entire story is told from the viewpoint of a Handmaid named Offred. To understand the significance the Handmaids one has to first understand the role that Handmaids play in the society of “The Handmaid’s Tale”. They are the only women capable of reproduction and have

It’s no surprise, that Shakespeare’s Macbeth was clearly constructed as a rebellion against femininity roles of the time. During the Elizabethan era, women were raised to believe they were inferior to men since men obtained desired masculine qualities such as strength, and loyalty, whereas women were viewed as figures of hospitality (1; 6; 28-31). Obviously, not being tempted by the luxury of subservient women, William Shakespeare rebuked this twisted belief, applying that women deserve more respect