In Audre Lorde’s novel Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, the relationship between herself and her parents was very tense, from childhood to adulthood. The lack of communication between herself and her parents caused their relationship to crumble, and being the most likely reason for Audre moving out the she was older. Topics such as […]
Coming in to this class I had a good idea of gender and sexuality, my oldest sister is fascinated by anything and everything when it comes to gender roles and gender studies. And of course she pawned off any bit of knowledge on me that I was willing to hear, and sometimes even if I wasn’t […]
Bruce and Allison Bechedel’s relationship is complicated to say the least. Bruce is a man with many secretes and his own inner daemons. He was not a good father by any means but Alison did love him though it is hard to find through her book, part of her also disliked him too. Her book […]
Parents and other parental figures have an enormous impact on a child’s future development. The autobiography Fun Home, written by Alison Bechdel, is an excellent example of how parents actions and behaviors can highly influence their children. It’s no secret that if a child grows up to become rebellious, a person’s first instinct is to look to the […]
In Audre Lorde’s house as a child, there were things she and her parents did not discuss. And even as an adult, there were still things that she never talked about with her mother. And because of this, it could be argued that this is why her relationship with her parents deteriorated as she grew […]
Parents play a significant role in the lives of their children. Whether the parents are around for their child or not, they still have a major impact on that child. Relationships are not always easy and good. In the book Zami a New Spelling of My Name, the parent-child relationship is one that has strict […]
Bechdel has her own twist on the story of her maturation in the book “Fun House’. For example In Audre Lorde’s “Zami” we are following the author Lorde down a road of her past and we go through all of her hardships and troubles as well read about her happiness and read about her successes. […]
Inquire as to my gender, and I will readily reply “female”. But demand proof of me, and I will find myself at a loss. I might argue that it is an identity betrayed by my appearance and daily conduct: the shape of my body, the pitch of my voice, the cut of my clothes, my […]
When you think about the concept of a “woman”, what things stereotypically pop into your mind? Long hair? Soft features? A kind of grace, innocence, and passion for the more creative and expressive things in life? You aren’t alone. Throughout history, femininity has been associated with things such as innocence, virtue, and compliance. In societies […]
In Oscar Wilde’s play “A Woman of No Importance”, Mrs. Rachel Arbuthnot is a representation of a “New Woman” during the era where this play was made in. She was able to stand up the the male dominance that was enforced upon her and remain independent of a man. She accepted that her son was illegitimate and was proud […]
Before reading Herculine Barbin, by Michel Foucault I had no knowledge on what an intersex person is or that there even was such a thing. Herculine Barbin’s condition definitely makes her a new sort of woman or man. I felt like the real question of gender was never really answered. Who is she Camille, Herculine? […]
Throughout history, women have evolved and changed, from being extremely dependent to men, as if they were their possession, to becoming independent new women. One play that we read that covered this idea was A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde. Mrs. Rachel Arbuthnot, who was the main focus in the passages we read, […]
The idea of a new woman is often one that was not well understood or well perceived. A “new woman” could be defined as a woman who defies and goes against the typical conventions that accompany being a woman. Many of these conventions or stereotypes include things such as: being inferior to men, being dependent […]
In a 2015 interview with The Paris Review, Jeffrey Eugenides, author of Middlesex, explained his motive behind writing his fictional autobiographical novel about a girl living with 5-alpha-reductase deficiency syndrome, Calliope Stephanides. His inspiration came from Michel Foucault’s Herculine Barbin: Being the Recently Discovered Memoirs of a Nineteenth-Century French Hermaphrodite. “Herculine was a convent-school girl,” Eugenides told his interviewer, […]
Mrs. Arbuthnot in A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde and Esther in Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage find themselves in somewhat similar situations in their lives but deal with them differently at first, although they ultimately resolve their situations with both of them finishing by demonstrating their break with male domination of their […]
From the moment people are born, they are put into the category of either being a male or a female. Some people feel as though they do not belong or fit into the specific category given to them. Because not everyone wants to be subjected to a single label, some people live their life their […]
The memoirs of Herculine Barbin exemplify a constantly evolving social perspective on what womanhood and femininity is that has been increasingly redesigned throughout the modern era. Though the characteristics of those viewed as a “New Woman” vary, the common and distinguishing factor lies in the conscious or unconscious mobility against the traditional gender identities and […]
Herculine Barbin: The Secret After reading Herculine Barbin the expected outcome is what left me wondering. Who was Herculine Barbin? Was she a woman? Was he a man? Was she Herculine, Camille, or Abel? Both through Herculine’s development as a storyteller, or author in the work and in her confusion in identifying as male or […]
Bertha Mason, the enigma of a character that perplexes many different critics across the globe. She is presented as an insane woman locked up in the attic of Edward Rochester’s house, but there is more to her character than what we see. I believe that Bertha Mason is not insane, I believe that she simply […]
Out with the old, in with the new The New Woman The New Woman was considered to be a feminist ideal that began in the late nineteenth century and had an immense influence on the feminism into the 20th century. The term New Woman described the growth in the number of feminist, educated, independent career […]
In chapter 11 of Jane Eyre, there is a part in which Jane describes a hallway she finds in the attic in Mr. Rochesters house after she leaves the dining room to head up to the attic with Mrs. Fairfax. Jane says, “ I lingered in the long passage to which this led, separating the […]
Bluebeard and Jane Eyre are two very different stories, but in many ways there are many parallels that you can draw between them. This was my first time reading a book or story like Jane Eyre and Bluebeard. I am not much of an analytical reader, so reading the stories/novels and then processing them has […]
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, you won’t find blue beards or closets overflowing with the dead corpses of ex-wives, but there are still many parallels to be drawn between her novel and “Bluebeard” by Charles Perrault. It is very easy to draw parallels between the main character in Shelley’s novel, Victor Frankenstein, the creator of the […]
The similarities seen between The Lady and the Tiger and the Bluebeard legend. The Lady and the Tiger reinvents the idea that were placed in the Bluebeard legend of a door, a girl, and a choice. Each of the choices that the women have to make in both story are difficult and heavy on their […]
“I [Jane Eyre] lingered in the long passage to which this led, separating the front and back rooms of the third storey: narrow, low, and dim, with only one little window at the far end, and looking, with its two rows of small black doors all shut, like a corridor in some Bluebeard’s castle.” (Bronte […]
Discovering that one’s lover has been secretly housing their former marital partners – living or otherwise – is unlikely to benefit the relationship for most couples. The afore-described Bluebeard myth is, after all, according to its author, a lesson on the detrimental consequences that can accompany the satiation of one’s curiosity. Charles Perrault’s text also […]
In Charlotte Bronte’s novel, Jane Eyre, the “red room” in which Jane is placed after a violent encounter with her cousin, John, can be compared to the blood-splattered (therefore red) room which the wife discovers in Charles Perrault’s short story Bluebeard. Although Jane’s “red room” is a room resembling death and punishment, much like the […]
The vast majority of people today have to think about the choices they want to make with their lives. A lot of thought goes into the things they think will make them happy. In the stories “Bluebeard” by Charles Perrault and “The Lady, The Tiger” by Rebecca Meacham, the characters in the stories, especially the […]
The short-story Bluebeard, written by Charles Perrault, has evolved into a popular legend that many other writers have adopted into their one pieces of literature. One of the most popular and highly debated adaptations of the myth takes form in short-story written by Frank Stockten, titled The Lady Or The Tiger? The legend of Bluebeard tells the […]
Charles Perrault’s story, Bluebeard legend, is a story about curiosity and the mystery behind the door has provided many authors to reinvent or even critique the legend. The Bluebeard legend is a gruesome and disturbing story that leads to a near tragic ending. Other authors have used the legend of Bluebeard and the morals it […]
Throughout the novel Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, there are direct and indirect references to the Bluebeard legend written by Charles Perrault. The main characters have the same personalities and are living in ways that parallel each other. The reinvention of this story can be seen in the way that the relationships react when secrets […]
They say opposites attract but that doesn’t necessarily mean a lady is attracted to a tiger, or a woman is attracted to a mysterious fellow who happens to have a blue beard. We might become attracted to different aspects about a person, until after you find out about the demons inside them. Sometimes a woman […]
“We mounted the first staircase, passed up the gallery, proceeded to the third story: the low black door opened by Mr. Rochester’s master key, admitted to us to the tapestried room, with its great bed and pictorial cabinet” (Bronte 289). A key usually defines a symbol of love. Those who describe a key to my […]
After reading the two poems, I noticed how similar they are especially on the aspect of the female protagonist. In Bluebeard, this woman marries this ugly man. In the beginning, it seems to be going great and her future looks bright. After finding a room in his rich castle (that she was told not to […]
In Charles Perrault’s legend Bluebeard, the prevailing irony of the legend is that the wife is portrayed as immoral for not obeying her husband’s wishes even though her husband is a murderer, and the her disobedience results in her discovery of her husband’s murderous past and the eventual salvation of her life. Bluebeard finds pleasure in […]
Persepolis: Through her writing in Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi comes across as a scholarly and artistic woman. As the reader uncovers her early years, her adolescence, and her young adulthood, it becomes obvious that her upbringing greatly shaped her character. Her family is the most prominent outside force to shape her childhood. In her early youth, […]
In the Medea myth, Medea murders two of her children in an act of revenge against her husband, Jason, who abandoned her for another woman. Jean, the widowed wife and mother in “Alan’s Wife,” certainly seeks revenge. Perhaps she seeks revenge against her husband for abandoning her, but that is not the focus of the […]
Upon first reading Bluebeard, I felt a sense of nostalgia. A woman is married, endowed with gifts, trusted with something forbidden… and her curiosity leads her to explore the very thing that was forbidden to her, with ominous consequences. Bluebeard and the myth of Pandora share all of these aspects in common, and both tales […]
Both Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and Fun House by Alison Bechdel are autobiographical graphic novels written and illustrated by their respective authors. They both pass the Bechdel Test, which states that there must be at least two female characters who have a conversation with each other about something other than a man. Since the Bechdel […]
What does it mean to be an artist? One may look up the definition and find that it is a person who “creates art: a person who is skilled at drawing, painting, etc.” Another definition may tell you it is “a skilled performer,” and finally for the open minded, “a person who is very good […]
In the very first week of class we talked about the Bechdel Test, and through out the course if each thing we read would pass it or not. Today the Bechdel test is used for books, movies, and plays. Alison Bechdel created this test in 1985, and illustrated it in her work Dykes To Watch Out […]
When I came out to my mother, she said it was too early for me to tell (I was sixteen, by the way) and that I should keep it to myself until I know for certain. The second thing she said, though, was that parents typically noticed “signs” in their children very early on that […]
In both “Persepolis” and “Fun Home,” Marjane Satrapi and Alison Bechdel both struggle to find their identities. As children, Satrapi and Bechdel look for answers about their lives while looking through the eyes of their childhood selves. Satrapi is a child during the Iranian Revolution which left her feeling very misguided and confused. At a […]
To pass the Bechdel Test, according to Allison Bechdel, a film or a book must have at least two women in it, these women must talk to each other, and what they talk about must be a topic about something other than men. Two of the books we covered and read in class pass this […]
Feminism is viewed differently depending on the person being asked. Meaning if someone were to ask a variety of people about what feminism means, they would receive a variety of answers. It would include those peoples’ views on their surroundings. Some view feminists positively and would be more likely to use words such as “intelligent, […]
My roommate pointed out that when she thinks of the word portrait she imagines a big painting of a person being , created by an artist. To me authors, of all different genres, are also artists. Digging a little deeper I came to the realization that a portrait does not have to be a visual piece […]
Most kids have experiences, both good and bad, that shape their lives into a certain way. It could be as tiny as a bully calling a classmate fat, a divorce, or even the death of a close family member. Growing up I’ve had certain things inspire me in the way I am today like the fact I grew […]
The Bechdel test is used as an indicator of gender bias in any work of fiction. To pass the Bechdel test the work in question must be have at least to females, that talk to each other about something other than a man. Personally I do not think the Bechdel test is a useful critical […]
“The Bechdel test asks if a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. The requirement that the two women must be named is sometimes added.” I found this definition very interesting because most of the definitions I have found do not involve the, […]
I don’t think that feminism is an easy term to define, especially with regards to both Fun Home and Persepolis. The definition of feminism is one that has many different key aspects, however the one thing that all definitions of feminism have in common is the idea that both men and women should have equal […]
For the past four years, TIME Magazine has conducted an online “Word Ban” poll in which users nominate words that should be “banned” or not used in the following year. Anyone who can find the link to the poll is allowed to vote. Usually, the poll is meant to be in good fun and has, […]
The Bechdel test was created by Allison Bechdel who wanted to see if there were any movies, plays or books that involved two women talking about something other than men. Many of these works seem to be based around romance in some area in the story. The main reason we have this test is to […]
The New Woman, a feminist idea that came about in the late nineteenth century, emerging into and influencing in the 20th century is a common theme in both “The Complete Persepolis” and “Fun Home.” During the time of the New Woman, these women began to change multiple things in their life. These women began changing […]
It is quite easy to say that as we grow up every individual finds themselves using their past to shape whom they become in the future. They use what they have gone through to sculpt the parts of themselves they see value in pursuing and honing into the golden characteristics that leave others with memories […]
Is the Bechdel test a useful critical instrument? I personally believe that the Bechdel test is not a useful critical instrument. It is very simple and follows meek requirements. It is an easy test to administer to a piece of fiction but I believe if there is going to be an analysis of gender bias […]
The Bechdel Test: A film or book must: Have at least two women in it who talk to each other about something besides a man. Ever since we discussed the Bechdel Test during one of our first days of class, I have been intrigued by it. I knew that topics such as feminism and women’s […]
The bechdel test was a test the author Alison Bechdel made that became quite popular when judging how a movie or book portrays women. The test states that there must be at least two female characters who have a discussion about something other than a guy. Well considering the author of Fun Home is where […]
While reading both Persepolis and Fun Home I noticed many different types of character identities that we discussed in each book. I believe there is a mad man in the attic in the book Fun House and the man to blame for being in there is Bechdel’s dad. He has been accused of many crimes […]
In Herculine Barbin we discussed the gender theory and both transgender and intersex terms to refer to individuals who do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth. However, there is a subcategory for transgenders who do not identify as either male or female. This term is agender, and in my daily life […]
During the past week in class we have been discussing the thoughts and views of intersex and the relation of that to Alexina. One of the impromptu’s we had to think about was how we feel about Alexina’s life including the examination reports and autopsy reports after their death. My reaction to what had happened in their […]
As both an English major and a Human Development minor, my focal points when reading novels tends to lean towards what lies in store for the children in the book and how the events of the book may affect them. The first time I read the play A Doll’s House invoked such a reaction that […]
In class we were prompted to write our impression of the medical report of Alexina’s body. I was very shocked at this scene and it did disturb me quite a bit. There was an obvious lack of respect for Alexina and his body. As discussed in class the doctors saw Alexina’s body just as a […]
The play A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen was very impacting to me and I was very interested in the comments made during our class discussion that day. The topic of parental obligations had been brought up because of Nora leaving Torvald and their children behind at the end of the play to go off […]
The play A Doll’s House written by Henrik Ibsen focuses on the ways that women are perceived in their various roles, especially in marriage and motherhood. Torvald in the play thinks that all women need to do is be a good wife and a mother. Torvald even tells Nora that women are responsible for the […]
(By Torry Dulle) While reading Herculine Barbin by Michel Foucault and the story by Oscar Panizza, it really showed me how times have changed when coming into these forms of situations. Also, it was interesting to me how much more we have learned about the LGBTQIA community, and the gender and sex categories that go […]
Alexina would have had a much less complicated life if she had been born in a different time. When Alexina was born, people were much more ignorant of intersex people. Alexina’s life had been a series of misdiagnoses along with her being the center of medical professionals’ interests. Assumedly, Alexina probably wanted to live a […]
One gets the impression after reading the medical reports that determined that Alexina was intersex that the medical examiners did not see Alexina as a person, but as an enigma that needed to be solved and that the examinations were not entirely founded on a scientific basis. For example, when describing Alexina’s vagina, the examiner […]
After reading the medical records in Herculine Barbin, I came to the conclusion in the minds of the doctors, it was not an option for Alexina to be intersex or to have emotional and physical tendencies of both genders. For the doctors at the time, Alexina had to be either a woman or a man, […]
Herculine Barbin was an intersex person who was treated as a female at birth, but later was designated a male after an affair with a woman and a physical examination. When Herculine was young she was recognized as a girl named Alexina, as she grew up she had many male features, and she didn’t menstruate […]
Because of what I’ve learned about sex, gender, sexuality, and gender expression over the past couple of years, I had some difficulty reading Michel Foucault’s collected works encased in Herculine Barbin–that is, Alexina’s memoir, itself; the medical documents in The Dossier, and the story at the end by Oscar Panizza. I don’t like to think of gender, […]
I would like to make the argument that all of the inmates a the covenant, including the instructors, are cruel and kind of horrible people. I say this because everyone is so judgmental toward Alexina and Henriette. Yes, their relationship is quite strange but the students there completely expose them. For instance, on page 167, […]
Herculine (Alexina) Barbin was a 19th century hermaphrodite destined to be shunned by the world because of her physical characteristics. When reading this novel I spotted out many similar characteristics from Barbin’s life to Jane Eyre’s life. They both grew up in poor families with no bright future ahead of them. Both of their parents […]
Last night, I saw the UWGB Student production of Spring Awakening. As I was watching it, and then talking about it with my friends, I realized that on many levels it can be related to the book we’re currently reading in class, Herculine Barbin. Both contain the themes of sexual knowledge and the problems that […]
To start off this post, I want to start with the Bible verse quoted in “A Scandal at the Convent” by Oscar Panizza, which is part of the book, “Herculine Barbin” written by Michel Foucault. The verse is from Genesis 1:27-28, “…male and female created he them…and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply.” […]
After reading Herculine Barbin and then reading the medical report, I think the medical reports drastically reduced Barbin’s life to pretty much just being a weird mishap. Parts of the report felt like they were describing this “oops” situation, not a real person’s life. I thought that was horrible, but also really expected. It also […]
While reading the memoirs of Herculine Barbin, it is clear that this person called Alexina had a very difficult and confusing life. While being identified and labeled a girl at birth, Alexina began to feel quite different as she grew older. She noticed that she was actually attracted to girls and not boys. Not only […]
So far in class we have discuss a lot about Alexina’s status whether by law, medically, or internally, and I think it really doesn’t matter. I get from a medical standpoint wanted to learn more about hermaphrodites but reading the memoirs I wasn’t one bit concerned about gender. I think while reading the memoirs it’s […]
The life of Herculine Barbin, otherwise known as Alexina was nothing short of confusing. She was a French intersex person, who at birth was named and thought to be a female. At the time no one knew that Alexina or ‘she’ was intersex. She grew up in the thought of mind that she was a […]
There are so many emotions that I have experienced upon reading this memoir thus far, but the most prevalent of all of them is that of utter despondency for Alexina. Barbin’s whole life has been a mystery to him/her, and Barbin doesn’t know who exactly he/she is, or how he/she is supposed to act. Without […]
In the book Herculine Barbin with an introduction by Michel Foucault, I was rather bothered when I read the initial report by Dr. Auguste Tardieu. The first words written by Tardieu that bothered me were that this situation showed the “fatal consequences that can proceed from an error” (p. 122). It angered me that he […]
Overall question: It’s 1904. Which of the women in the play might be “New Women?” Why or why not? In this play one character that I would definitely consider a New Woman would be Esther which is the main character. I would consider her a new woman because she went from living with Mrs. Dickson […]
Maybe it’s because I’m feeling a bit abnormally heavily sympathetic to dreamers since I just saw Moulin Rouge! for the first time Wednesday night, but I fell in love with Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel about as quickly as Christian fell in love with Satine. It reminded me one of my favorite works, Hayao Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle, and it also made me […]
An example of a new women in “A Woman of No Importance” would be Hester. Coming from America, Hester grew up during the time of a woman’s right movement and saw a different view on women in society. She also is a very opinionated something that is not common during her time especially in England. […]
Although it may seem like a simple concept, something that struck me hard from the beginning was when Lady Caroline pointed out to Miss Worsley that, “English women conceal their feelings until after they are married” and that only have marriage do they show them. This part in the play can be skipped over fairly easily, […]
I think a main idea in the play is the idea of the new woman. Many people ask if anyone in the play is a new woman at all, to that I answer yes. I think that we see Rachel as being a strong mother, despite everything that she has had to go through in […]
In A Woman of No Importance, Mrs. Arbuthnot seems to have done everything right in her life including raising her son Gerald, but her son still wants her to marry Lord Illingworth. I do not understand why Gerald wants his mother to marry his father after 20 years since Lord Illingworth was never in Gerald’s […]
The number one thing that strikes me about this play is how incredibly similar it is to The Scarlet Letter. Hester in The Scarlet Letter bears a child with Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale, without being married to him, and she is forever branded as a sinner and an adulterer. However, as she changes throughout the novel, […]
In a Doll’s House a New Women would be Nora or Mrs.Linde. Nora by the end of the play would be considered a “New Women”. At the beginning I do not feel should could have made it on her own but by the end she grew, matured and finally took a stand. She realized that […]
Upon reading this play I found a few parallels between this play and “A Doll’s House.” For example, Hester reminds me of Nora’s friend Ms.Linde in regards to her independence and work ethic. Both understand that women are just as capable of working and supporting themselves as men are. Rachel also reminds me of Nora […]
I’ll be talking about question six and seven; 6. Why does Illingworth offer to marry Mrs. Arbuthnot (Rachel)? He asks to marry her because they were in love when they were younger and conceived Gerald. The main reason he asks Mrs. Arbuthnot to marry him is because Gerald writes him a letter telling him to […]
In my opinion, there are a lot of similarities between A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde, and The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne. In The Scarlet Letter, the main character was named Hester, which I thought was interesting, for there is also a character named Hester in Wilde’s work as well. The character […]
I found “A Woman of No Importance” to be a very interesting play. For that time period, it gives you a unique insight to how the social life of the upper class British lifestyle is. I actually found it quite disturbing as to how some of the female characters pictured the ideal man. They wanted […]
Who in this play is (at any time in it) a new woman? Why? How does Wilde represent the new woman? I believe that Hester was an example of a new woman because she lived an emancipated life in America, and because she was a witness to high society’s faults and shortcomings, such as how […]
I found it very interesting that at the end, it was Hester who convinced Gerald that Mrs Arbuthnot is not obligated to marry Lord Illingworth. In the beginning of the play, she often talked about how if people “sin” (have sex outside of marriage) they should be punished, both men and women, equally. If she […]
While reading “A Woman of No Importance”, I realized that this title has many meanings to it. The main character I think this title is speaking to is Hester. Coming from America, it was hard for Hester to be accepted in the group of other women from England. They automatically label Hester as a Puritan, not knowing who she […]
I want to make the argument that Rachael Arbuthnot was right in making her decision to not marry Lord Illingworth. He is not the marrying type and is quite flirtatious with other women. He even tries to kiss Hester which Illingworth admits in Act IV page 142, he says to Rachael, “That silly Puritan girl making […]
Oscar Wilde’s play A Woman of No Importance at first seemed to me like just another outrageous comedy centering on the things people say about one another. This is a large part of what the play is about, but upon a second look I noticed something else that wasn’t obvious to me at first. And […]
After finishing A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde, I found the most interesting thing to look at was the transition throughout the play of Mrs. Arbuthnot being this “woman of no importance” (pg 39) to Lord Illingworth being “a man of no importance,” (pg 154). Personally, I think that may be why he […]
In the play, A Woman Of No Importance, the big secret is that George Harford is actually the illegitimate son of Lord Illingworth. They end up meeting and making a connection without any idea that they are actually more important to each other than they originally had thought. “I have not been to Eton or […]
This week, we’ve been looking at Shakespeare’s Hamlet in my ENG 431 class. As I was reading Act IV of “A Woman of No Importance” for Friday, I couldn’t help but think about how there was some striking similarity between King Claudius’s monologue about his inability to pray and Mrs. Arbuthnot’s monologue about her inability […]
I like this photo because by giving the woman no face it symbolizes how she doesn’t matter, and that was what I think the whole play is about. After reading this play it compares the roles of men and woman in the Victorian Era, and like mostly everything we have read so far in this class […]
For this play of “A Woman of No Importance” by Oscar Wilde, I will choose certain quotes that stuck out to me, analyze them and tell of why they stuck out to me. On page fifty Mrs. Allonby makes this statement “Men always want to be a woman’s first love. That is their clumsy vanity. […]
A Woman of No Importance to me was a play about expectations of society. I felt like it was a group of people constantly getting together either talking crap about the people around them or talking about what they think certain types of people should be like. You see that right in the beginning when […]
“No man has any real success in this world unless he has got women to back him, and women rule society. If you have not got women on your side you are quite over. You might just as well be a barrister, or a stockbroker, or a journalist at once.” While reading Oscar Wilde’s […]
It’s pretty obvious who the “New Woman” is in A Doll’s House. It is Nora. I believe she only married Torvald to please him, and to give him children. Not because she had that desire. I mean yes she has to love her children somewhat and instinctively want what’s best for her children (providing them with […]
Every story needs a good villain, right? The thing I find most interesting about Ibsen’s A Doll House is the fact that there is no villain in the traditional sense of the word. Unfortunately, though, readers ted to pick their own villains, and in the second class for which I have read this play, the […]
Henrik Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, has an important role in the Women’s Rights movement and it is quite obvious why. A Doll’s House is a revolutionary and significant play for its time and still has relevant themes for today as well. Ideas of the New Woman are strongly stated in Ibsen’s A Doll House […]
After reading Doll House I have come to conclude that the women and men in this play can be compared to the women and men in all of the stories and poems we have read so far in this class. I think Nora is similar to both Bertha and Jane from Jane Eyre,and Bluebeard’s wives […]
A Doll’s House discussion questions: (My apologies as to this blog post being over-due, today is the first in a while I’ve been able to look at a computer screen without immediately feeling a splitting headache.) 1. Which characters in the play, if any, are “New Women?” Why? At what point do they become “New […]
1. Which characters in the play, if any, are “New Women?” Why? At what point do they become “New Women,” and for what reasons? I believe that Mrs. Linde would be considered a “New Woman,” because she becomes a widow and had to make a way out of no way to get back to where […]
In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, the point of the story is to depict a submissive wife whom although acts accordingly when compared to the time era it is set in, also harbors a pressing and detrimental secret that initially leads to her own self-discovery. Nora Helmer is portrayed as the doting wife, complacent to any […]
While reading A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, I found myself leaning toward being able to understand that actress we talked about in class when she said Nora could not be a new woman by the way she acts at times. I think I could kind of agree with that if all I had read […]
When I started reading Nora and Krogstad’s conversation where the latter threatens to take the former to court, I thought of a few things: 1) philosophy and types of morality, 2) Portia from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, and 3) the idea of the “New Woman” standing up for what she believes is right. 1) […]
Since “A Doll’s House” is a bit outdated, I thought that it was appropriate to watch “Nora Now” since it pertains the same idea in a more modernized way. While “A Doll’s House” is outdated, there are still many shocking similarities. The more modernized Nora seems to be struggling just like the old Nora. Though […]
I want to make the argument that Nora should not be ridiculed for leaving. I am not saying that it was right for her to leave her children behind, but I do believe Nora did it because she thought it was best. She believed that she was not fit to bring up her children because […]
When discussing A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, we’ve talked about how Nora begins as an “old woman,” meaning she accepts the traditional maternal, matrimonial duties, and she becomes a “new woman,” by the end of the play, meaning she no longer accepts the traditional duties of being a mother and a wife. I would […]
After reading “A Doll’s House”, it is interesting to think about how different the ending would be if characters in the play made different choices. For example, Nora signs a document for a loan before the events of the play. The problem is that she forges the signature of her father who has died recently. […]
After reading “A Doll’s House” I cannot help but to draw parallels from the musical “Next to Normal,” particularly in the final scene, as well as in some of the common themes presented in both plays. Both plays explore the idea that a woman’s first duty is to herself and not to her family. Both […]
Okay, so the Dolls House. After reading it I feel like it wasn’t that long of a play and that I was right there living the situation with the family. It felt like a normal household, odd however with the maid and nurse since in modern days those occupations are not so much sought after. […]
In the first act of the play there was so much negative talk about Nora’s extravagant spending habits. At first it had confused me because I couldn’t really understand why Nora was not having more of a backbone when Torvald would subtly confront her. I mean, her and Torvald are married to each other! The […]
In the face of submission, there is a fine line between the desire to submit, and the need to submit. Years ago, many women often believed it was their duty to submit to their obligations, and that they needed to. However, many longed for their freedom while they lived lives they weren’t truly happy within. […]
After reading A Doll’s House I have to say I don’t like their version of the new woman. The character Nora is not someone I am fond of. In the beginning Nora is spending money and you can tell that money is a very important aspect of her life. Then she and her husband get all lovey dovey […]
In ‘A Doll’s House’ there are many ways the women are expected to act a certain way during this era. The women of the family are expected to please almost everyone around them by making sacrifices. For example Mrs. Linde decided it was right to abandon a man named Krogstand the man she truly loved. […]
Which characters in the play, if any, are “New Women?” Why? At what point do they become “New Women,” and for what reasons? I believe that Nora was an example of new woman because in the beginning, she thought she was completely happy, and she was very affectionate towards Torvald. However, she showed the […]
I noticed many instances when I was reading the play A Doll’s House, Nora Helmer portrays many characteristics the “New Woman”. The first instance was when she obtained the 250 pounds from a lawyer named Korgstad. The reason she needed this money was to send her family and herself down to Italy where her husband would be […]
In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, the “New Woman Phenomenon” is definitely present. Although this “new woman” idea is shown in Mrs. Linde as well as the main character Nora, I will be focusing in this blog post on how Nora is a proper depiction of a “new woman.” The most obvious action Nora takes […]
1. Why does Jean Rhys tell the story in fragments, switching between different narrators? Why this particular sequence of narrators? (Antoinette, the Young Englishman, etc.) In my opinion Jean Rhys tells the story in fragments to give the reader a closer aspect and view of Antoinette and the Young Englishmen. Also she does this to show […]
I feel that Wide Sargasso Sea is similar in the layout and mindset as such stories as Wicked for example. While both stories were created following the release of The Wizard of Oz and Jane Eyre, they were created as an almost prelude to provide background information or rather provide insight from another characters perspective. […]
It is said that Antoinette is based on the character of Bertha in “Jane Eyre”, but I almost see a resemblance to Jane herself. For one she does not receive the warmth and compassion from her mother figure, much like Jane and Mrs. Reed. Speaking of Mrs. Reed, Annette is much like Mrs. Reed, which […]
“The Wide Sargasso Sea” and “Jane Eyre” show many resemblances amongst characters. The main character Antoinette resembles both Jane Eyre and Bertha from Rochester’s attic. Antoinette’s mother Annette treats her somewhat poorly and favors Pierre over Antoinette because he is a boy. This is similar to when Jane Eyre lives with Mrs. Reed. Mrs. Reed […]
In the two (possibly) parallel novels, Jane Eyre and The Wide Sargasso Sea, the two leading female characters have many things in common. They are both involved romantically and legally with (we think) the same man; they both lived through less-than-ideal childhoods; and they both encounter the same or similar characters throughout the action of […]
Jean Rhys, in my opinion, tells the story in fragments to reveal the points of view of the two characters. We see who these people really are and are given definite explanations as to why the story progresses as it does. We also are given the meaning behind Antionette’s and the young Englishman’s actions throughout the […]
After reading Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea, we were asking to compare and contrast the characters and see what kinds of connections we come up with. First my partner and I discussed the obvious duplicates, Amelie vs. Celine, John vs. Pierre, Christophine vs. Bessie and Tia vs. Helen. Amelie vs. Celine These two were […]
While getting to know a character in a novel, sometimes it is difficult to picture a character with more complexity than the limited image the worlds of the novel paint of them. In Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, we are able to imagine the life Bertha Mason of the novel Jane Eyre (or Antoinette […]
Why does Jean Rhys tell the story in fragments, switching between different narrators? Why this particular sequence of narrators? (Antoinette, the Young Englishman, etc.) I feel that Jean Rhys tells the story in fragments to try and give the reader a more realistic point of view on what’s really going on between Antoinette and the Young […]
As we discussed in class there are many ways in which Wide Sargasso Sea is mirror to Jane Eyre. Characters that are portrayed in both books is one way in which the audience can see resemblances. As a mirror can often distort the image of the person in the mirror, these books don’t have exact […]
Safety; Redemption; Hell. These ideas are repeated many times throughout Antoinette’s story as well as Jane Eyre’s. The concept of nature and redemption is an important theme in both of these stories. In the beginning of Wide Sargasso Sea, we see a young Antoinette Cosway Mason, who has given up looking for safety in ever-changing […]
After reading part two of Wide Sargasso Sea, I feel like it’s possible to make the argument that this is the story of Mr. Rochester and Bertha before Jane Eyre comes into the picture; Antoinette as being Bertha and the young Englishman as Mr. Rochester. After all, in Wide Sargasso Sea, the young Englishman calls […]
While reading Wide Sargasso Sea, I really liked being able to see the background of Antoinette, or “Bertha,” and to understand her as a character. In Jane Eyre, the reader does not get much background on Bertha to explain her behavior. It makes the reader believe what Jane and Rochester think about Bertha to be […]
If Jean Rhys’ goal with Wide Sargasso Sea was to give people insight on Bertha/Antoinette’s life, she really accomplished that. When you read Jane Eyre, it’s easy to just focus on Jane and Rochester and their little dramatic life they have together. Bertha is sort of pushed to the side as the “mad woman” that […]
After reading Jane Eyre and part two of The Wide Sargasso Sea, I have come to one definitive conclusion: I really hate Edward Rochester. Rochester and his parallel character, the young Englishman are very much the same in both The Wide Sargasso Sea and Jane Eyre; basically they are manipulative philanderers and rogues who should […]
Originally there was not much that we could say about Bertha in the novel Jane Eyre because she was never given the opportunity to speak for herself. We learn about her through the perspectives of others and define her by the current state she was in while locked up. Jean Rhy’s companion novel “Wide Sargasso […]
As the story begins along with what was talked about in class, it is quite clear that this story has very similar traits to the story Jane Eyre. Antoinette who is the main character is a young girl just as Jane was in the beginning of her book about her life. The new story of […]
While reading Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, especially Part Two narrated by the Englishman I am assuming to be Mr. Rochester from Bronte’s Jane Eyre, I can tell that this he is the same ‘tricky’ Rochester from Jane Eyre, but I think because he narrates most of the book, it is harder to notice […]
WIDE SARGASSO SEA by Jean Rhys from the beginning reads solemnly, like the reader knows that this girl Antoinette is not going to have a good childhood. Antoinette who is narrating, right away in the beginning talks about “Mr. Luttrell…One calm evening he shot his dog, swam out to sea and was gone for always.” […]
Mrs.Reed is portrayed as a cold, selfish women, who only keeps a Jane around because her late husband, Mr.Reed, made her promise to take care of Jane. Georgiana Reed is the beautiful one and seems to have things easy. She treats Jane just as bad as her mother does and is quite selfish. Eliza was […]
I’m immediately drawn to the very different idea of race in this novel. From the beginning, it seems that blacks hold a very prevalent role in the society within this novel, and not just because of the roles they hold as slaves. Granted these blacks are enslaved and work under the authority of Antoinette’s white […]
While I was reading part one of Wide Sargasso Sea, I had started to feel bad for Antoinette. In the beginning we get the sense that her own mother doesn’t really like her. Each time she goes near her mother she sort of pushes her away. We also see that the mother greatly favors Antoinette’s […]
In reading Wide Sargasso Sea, it is easy to identify with the character of Antoinette. She endures a difficult childhood, much like Jane Eyre. Her mother, Annette, is the complete opposite of what a good mother is defined as. Annette focuses all of her time and energy on Antoinette’s younger brother, Pierre. Antoinette often spends […]
When I first started to read the Wide Sargasso Sea, I began to wonder what was so significant about this book and as I began to get farther ahead I started to realize that this was the story of Bertha. Who now is Antoinette. While reading this book I wondered why in Jane Eyre, how […]
As I was reading Part I of Wide Sargasso Sea for Monday, I became really fascinated with the relationship/lack thereof between Antoinette and her mother, and I’m happy we talked about it a little bit during Monday’s lecture. When I first read about what Antoinette’s relationship with her mother is like in Wide Sargasso Sea, […]
Wide Sargasso Sea is kind of like a version of Jane Eyre in a different perspective. The book even starts out talking about the main characters childhood just like in Jane Eyre. The main character is Antoinette. Antoinette is like Jane in the beginning of the book she is an outsider in her family and in […]
When I was reading the Wide Sargasso Sea, I noticed many different characters and how most of them are very different individuals. The main character telling the story is named Antoinette and her mothers name is very close to her daughters name which is Annette. The reader would think that if a mother would name […]
The book Jane Eyre reminds me a lot of the movie “The Sound of Music.” I will describe the movie and the readers of the book Jane Eyre will also see the parallels between the two. Maria who is a nun, in the movie, isn’t fitting in anymore at the nunnery, she is restless and […]
When Jane first gets to Thornfield, and weird things started happening and Jane thought that there was a ghost it reminded me a lot of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. The Turn of the Screw is mainly about a new governess going to a new house which is apparently haunted by an […]
The women in the Reed household are portrayed as snooty unwelcoming people. Jane’s aunt Mrs. Reed treats her very poorly and favors her own children over Jane tremendously. She treats Jane poorly because her husband who had passed away loved Jane more than his own children and she was jealous. Mrs. Reed’s two daughters are […]
Charlotte Bronte describes each character in the Reed household fairly well. Eliza Reed is very into her religion. She is rather cold and stern toward Jane. Georgiana tends to be rebellious and self-centered, only caring about herself. She is also rather mean to Jane. John Reed is clearly the spoiled rotten brat in the family. […]
Without a doubt we can read the character of Jane Eyre as an independent person craving more than the simple life she leads. But taking a step back and analyzing the life she lives and the narration she gives us, we can actually deduce that Charlotte Bronte means more for this character than simply just […]
How does Bronte describe the women of the Reed household? What does her characterization of John Reed tell you about the Reed women? Bronte doesn’t show the Reed family in the best light. John Reed, for example, is a spoiled brat who always gets what he wants. John also knows this and uses it to […]
While reading Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, I found the young character of Adele to be incredibly interesting. It is most likely because of how she acts when she and Jane first speak. She was so willing to speak with Jane because she finally found someone new who she could speak with. The novel gives a […]
While reading Jane Eyre, I noticed how Jane Eyre and Helen Burns have gone through similar situations regarding being corrected by authority, but they react to the punishments very differently. Jane Eyre believes strongly in standing up for herself and for what is right, while Helen Burns tries to learn from her punishments and forgives […]
I would like to make an argument about how to treat or react to others that are not kind in any way, shape, or form. In Jane Eyre, right after Jane first meets Mr. Brocklehurst, she takes a stand against Mrs. Reed. She finally builds up enough courage to stick up for herself and her […]
1. How does Bronte describe the women of the Reed household? What does her characterization of JOHN REED tell you about the Reed women? Bronte describes each person in the Reed household but she describes John Reed as a bully. John Reed acts just like Jane Eyre in so many ways yet she is always […]
As I read the opening chapters of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, I started noticing some interesting differences between Jane’s views of women and those of Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Both novels have some interesting things to say about how women view other women and the freedom and success of other women. Anne Mellor […]
Once I began to read this autobiography, I was sucked in right away. The compelling story of Jane Eyre’s early childhood life had brought me close to tears and also brought me great frustration. We learned that Jane’s parents have died from a sickness at young ages with her mother catching it from her father. […]
The beginning of the book it tells us that Jane is living with the Reeds because after her parents died she went there to live with her uncle. Her uncle then dies, and he made Mrs. Reed promise to take care of Jane like her own. However, all the woman are mean, selfish, hard-hearted women except for Jane and Bessie. Bessie […]
How does Bronte describe the women of the Reed household? What does her characterization of JOHN REED tell you about the Reed women? Charlotte Bronte describes the women of the Reed household very clearly in the first few chapters of Jane Eyre. She describes Mrs Reed as a harsh and cruel woman who is Jane […]
So far the book interests me. It has horror/suspenseful aspects to it which makes me curious what will be happening in later chapters. Jane’s parents died, so her Aunt and Uncle (the Reed’s) took her into their house to raise her. Mr. Reed had put into his will he wanted his wife to raise Jane […]
In what I have read so far of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, I have seen a common theme of Jane ‘losing’ the people she loves. Whether that means physically losing them to death, having them leave her, or having to leave them. The first obvious separation is of course when Jane loses her parents to […]
Jane Eyre is a 10 year old girl who lives in a place named Gateshead Hall with her Aunt, and three of her cousins. Her parents have both died, and by her uncles wishes she is made to stay with her and become a part of their everyday lives. In the beginning of Jane Eyre, […]
I read Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre for my Major British Writers class in high school, but I have started to make some different connections upon this reading than I did the first time. As I read up to Chapter X, I continually made content associations between Jane Eyre, Cinderella, and Harry Potter. I noticed that […]
I am going to write about the women and young ladies in Jane Eyre’s life up to p.88 in the book Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I want to comment on their characters and what each have to offer Jane. I want to start off by going through the women in Jane’s life before Lowood […]
In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses a powerful metaphor of birds throughout the book in order to understand characters as well as develop reoccurring themes. It highlights common patterns for humans, much like those of birds. There is a wide range of birds described in the book, correlating with the different features and personalities of […]
From what I have read thus far, this quote perfectly portrays Jane’s character. Jane Eyre is an independent, well-rounded girl and although she is treated as the opposite, never loses hope. While it is apparent in this novel, we must remember that in this time period it was a cultural norm for the men in […]
In reading the first 10 chapters of Jane Eyre, it is immediately clear that Jane has a pretty rough life. She lives at Gateshead Hall with her terrible relatives, the Reeds. There is her aunt Mrs. Reed, who is constantly cruel to Jane and doesn’t allow her to attend holiday gatherings and often shuts her […]
As I finished the first chapter of the book Jane Eyre, it was easy to see that Jane Eyre is forced to live a hard life with a strong sense of helplessness. She lives in a house with the Reed family and a few other people such as Bessie, the nurse, Abbot the maid, and […]
Reading the first bits of Jane Eyre kind of reminds me of Cinderella except it is her aunt and cousins. Her aunt is like the evil step-mother always punishing and demeaning Jane while thinking of her own children as prefect little angels. Even though she isn’t Jane’s step-mother she could be the definition of […]
Within the first few pages of Jane Eyre, I was struck with the theme of education and a want for knowledge. Jane is looking at pictures of birds in a book as the novel opens, and as she describes the picture, “Each picture told a story; mysterious often to my undeveloped understanding and imperfect feelings, […]
How does Bronte describe the women of the Reed household? What does her characterization of John Reed tell you about the Reed Women? Bronte describes Eliza Reed as woman of religion who is without passion, and she is cold, stern, and spiteful towards Jane. Bronte describes Georgiana Reed as a rebellious girl who is […]
How does Bronte describe the women of the Reed household? What does her characterization of John Reed tell you about the Reed Women? Bronte describes Eliza Reed as woman of religion who is without passion, and she is cold, stern, and spiteful towards Jane. Bronte describes Georgiana Reed as a rebellious girl who is […]
One thing that I found very interesting is how Caroline picked which children to take into her care. She seemed to be very exclusive with which children she wanted both when she found Elizabeth as well as Justine. When Caroline went to Italy she saw five children living with a peasant woman, “the four others […]
In the stories we’ve read so far, and in Begum’s Millions, I haven’t found a redeemable female character. If we start out with The Last Man and take a look at Eve, we find her, as in the Bible, as the temptress, wicked, evil, vile seductress, the cause of Adam’s fall and task […]
My dear Paolo, I write to you because none other can suffice, because you were the support I had longed for after the passing of my father, and because your own passing had left me unable to entertain even the thought of marrying another man… Yet, though I make my intentions clear, though everyone can […]
My dearest Children, I leave you my legacy. It was my fate, to start out so small. Although I lacked a “Y” at birth, There was no contesting my desire, to change the way I was looked upon. Math and Science were far from sight, Only within reach if you were so lucky To […]
I picked Marie le Jar de Gournay as my influential woman. She was known for being a “French writer, editor, literary critic, translator, novelist, poet, and philosopher” (The University of Chicago, para 1). What she was most known for was being a writer, editor, and literary critic for the famous writer Michel de Montaigne. She […]
Ay! Mi Panzón! You hijo de puta Why must you make me suffer so? You break my heart—more painful than my broken body. You have been my comrade My fellow artist My best friend But you have never been my husband. I have endured two accidents in my life. One with a trolley and the […]
To my dearest who bore me eight children, Though the ninth sent me to another world. I think of you and the young ones often Hoping your life and theirs is full of happiness And dreams come true. Looking down from Above the clouds, I am reminded of what life Used to be like. I […]
My Queen Elizabeth, my perdicious enemy and fellow conquerer of seas You reign with aggression and strike fear into your bountiful subjects But I, standing before you in this court with nothing to lose and everything on the line, am not under your rule My life is spent on days abroad, the Atlantic more home […]
Nero, my most hated adversary, After my husband’s death, You and your Empire sought to steal my kingdom, You invaded our lands and enslaved my people, You had me publically beaten and flogged for all to see, You took my daughters, Isolda and Siora, and had your men rape them and forced me to watch, […]
My Father, My Father Why did You forsake me? Why did you make them–my family–send me away? Like I was a useless dog. The abbess chose me, and I rebelled. Like King Saul. My life for you, I had no desire to live. I strived to be like the other girls. To marry whom I wanted. Whom […]
My dear, oh how your words speak knowledge Not to just me but to the whole city of Venice and Padau You know much more than others but not more than men I proposed and you turned me down along with others, but why? Do you feel that you are smarter than I? You are […]
George Antheil, I know it’s been a while, But, I have a proposition for you, Together we may just have a break through, As a notorious actress of the screen, I was the first to shed my clothes and let nothing go unseen, It will quite possibly be all I’m remembered for But I would […]
The wing glimmers from the morning light I hear her voices as it echoes off the halls The lady’s tone filled with warmth and devotion She walks with such poise and grace Her beauty and strength I admire most She stands tall and proud beside her love Bill puts a twinkle in her eye He relies on […]
Skyler Toyne Heroide and Analysis To the fathers of my children: Wherever you are, a word would be nice. If I could hear your pleasant knock at the door or see a smile cast my way from your familiar lips. Your children don’t know your faces; the world scorns because you are unknown– it is […]
‘An error that ascribes to a man what was actually the work of a woman has more lives than a cat’. Our achievements too many times have been wrongly credited from us and given to men. Your work has not gone unnoticed my dear friend. I am not fooled by this misconception and I have […]
Heroine Poem: Voices all around me telling me no Voices in my head keep telling me so. Sitting at home playing the Violin It always leaves me just a smilin’. After listening to my music and letting my mind drift ary I open my books and say good bye. Tonight is my last night here […]
They say I portray the image of excellence and nobility A counterpart to Xenophon or Aphrodite But if they knew I owe my great feat to the wisdom of the oracle, yet then would I be the hero that lead the uprising? Yet then would my victory against the Spartans taste so sweet? Argos, oh […]
Child whom I’ll never meet, You are my fourth, forever my last. Your birth proved to be much stronger than I, But my love for you will never be questioned. I’m sorry I could not give to you what my mother had failed to give to me; a mother. For the plague was too strong […]
I have always believed that music can heal ails in which modern medicine cannot, but today I am not sure, my dear Carlo. For you see, my sister is becoming weaker by the day, And though I teach piano-forte day and night and search high and low for a patron to take hear my compositions, […]