Women often marry older men in arranged marriages, because their family wants them to marry wealthy. What they don’t mention is the frustration and fear some women have, when married to these men. “The Leaving” written by Budge Wilson is a short story of a mother and daughter named: Elizabeth and Sylvie. Sylvie lives with her mother (Elizabeth), father and her four brothers in Nova Scotia. Sylvie and her mother are treated with no respect in their household. The mother and daughter embark on a three day journey to find the respect that they both deserve. “Another Evening at the Club” by Alifa Rifaat is another short story of a sixteen year old girl who is in an arranged marriage, and is facing a grand dilemma about a beautiful lost ring that …show more content…
Sylvie and her mother are expected to follow rules and to do chores with no questions asked. When Sylvie leaves the house in the early hours of the morning with her mother, Sylvie is thoroughly confused. Her main question when she left with her mother to Halifax was “how would Pa and my brothers cook their dinner? How would they make their bed?” (Wilson, 1990, p. 2). This is a great example of her knowing that her father and brothers rely on her and her mother to do all the chores. With the young sixteen year old girl, she was involved in an arranged marriage with an older man. The older man had given her this stunning ring one night. At the end of the night she had taken it off her finger and placed it down. In the morning she could not find it, and had informed her husband that she had no idea where it went. The husband assumed that it was the young servant that had stole the ring, and sent the servant off to get beaten until she confessed to the crime. Later on, the young wife found the ring and was unsure how to deal with this situation, knowing that her husband cared deeply for his reputation. She informs her husband that she has found the ring and she suggests that he should release the girl from custody. He simply pats her on the cheek and says he can deal with it. The pat on the cheek to her was more of a slap to the face, it showed her …show more content…
Those concepts being that both of these women in these short stories have no control in their marriages and are treated like objects. “The Leaving” is a story of a mother and daughter going on a three day adventure to ponder about how they can come back from their small journey, and receive the respect they deserve. They arrive back home with a huge amount of determination, to finally acquire that respect. “Another Evening at the Club” is a tale of a young 16 year old girl involved in an arranged marriage with an older man. She is faced with a dilemma of helping another young girl who is a servant or to not say anything so that she can protect her husband's reputation. These women may not have been in the same locations around the world or facing the same situations, but they can relate to one another with the fact that they do not have the control or respect that they deserve within their
After Mildred’s two friends, Mrs. Bowles and Mrs. Phelps, get asked by Montag about their children, they start elucidating how much of a nuisance kids are. They indicate that the way they raise their children is by “‘heav[ing] them into the ‘parlor’ and turn[ing] the switch. It’s like washing clothes: stuff laundry in and slam the lid’” (Bradbury, 96). Mrs. Bowles explains how her children go to boarding school and only come home three days a month.
During the 19th century, women were overshadowed by the men of their household, therefore they had no sense of independence nor dominance. In Mary Freeman’s short story, “The Revolt of Mother,” the author presents Sarah Penn, a woman who takes a stand against her husband. In the beginning, the reader learns that Sarah is a hardworking mother and wife. She maintains the household work and meets her children needs. She is suddenly confused of her husband’s actions concerning their future.
A Husband’s Control: Women Must Defer to Her Husband in All Matters of Marriage and Obedience As the narrator introduces her story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the reader goes back in where a women is considered fragile in her mind and naïve to the world around them. The narrative depicts a woman’s strife while personally suffering “nervous depression” (376) and how such a malady happened to be treated by her attending physician, whom is also her husband by the name of John. In 1899, polite society dictated and observed propriety at all times therefore, wives and unmarried ladies were expected to defer to their husband or the oldest living male family member within the residence.
Marriage is usually perceived as a momentous event that finally unites man and wife as equals. However, in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie, the protagonist, faces the contrary. Although her second husband, Jody, treated her as an equal during the beginning of their relationship, she eventually is treated as a lesser part of their union as he asserts his dominance over her. After the death of Jody, Janie eventually found Tea Cake, who treated her fairly throughout their relationship, as shown through his natural willingness and patience to teach her how to play checkers. With their relationship, Janie experienced a marriage where she had the right to make her own decisions and express herself.
Being ordered around and told how to live life is not an ideal lifestyle to have. However, many women around the world are forced to live this way. In Budge Wilson’s “The Leaving”, the female characters, Sylvie and Ma, abandon the family farm for 3 days in Halifax, that will alter the rest of their lives. Meanwhile the article, “Same Story, Different Ending” describes Aqsa Parvez and Anila Batool ’s battle against their honor bond families.
In “Bedecked”, Redel raises attention about the different approaches to parenting in a situation when a parent’s son is more flamboyant than society would deem acceptable. Redel can handle the criticism and “other mothers looking”, but wanted none of it to change the purity of how her son “loves a beautiful thing not for what it means- / this way or that”(16-17). She ends her poem by asking readers if their “heart was ever once that brave”, for going against social norms and not confining to them (21-20). In addition to the older woman and younger man double standard, Calbert's “In Praise of My Young Husband” lists examples of the world’s different romances to note that there is not just one single type: “young lovers like to drink too much / and make a drunken, careless love, / why couples always cook so much” (19-22).
The author also uses rhetorical questions such as “Why tempt her to friendship?” to emphasize the lack of even the possibility of a meaningful connection between Offred and the Marthas. This use of figurative language highlights the inescapable suffering and isolation that Offred encounters while interacting with others, and achieves a hollow, detached tone. In factual recollections of the events occurring, diction and syntax are also crucial in the construction of this isolated, resigned tone While describing exchanges between herself and the rest of the household, Offred uses short, precise sentences, void of intricate words or complex structure.
Even within the book itself it's apparent that many females collectively realize what is happening to them is wrong, but that they have no option other than just being a spectator in this grand scheme of horror. Many women in Afghanistan still face these horrid conditions everyday, with no chance of it ever stopping, They all sense that there should be changed but they are ultimately powerless in the face of this social
However, Creole women were expected to be chaste, and would behave in a unreserved manner. The exposure to such openness is what frees Edna from her previously repressed emotions and desires and motivates her to become more independent. Because they are women, Adele and Edna do not have much freedom, as in comparison to men. However, Edna gains more freedom that is much closer to that of men when she abandons her household and social responsibilities. Edna’s refusal to follow and obey social conventions, allows her to spend her time on painting and sketching.
In the plays Trifles and A Doll House the reader can see the portrayal of a male society and the way women are where dominated and abused by their husband in the nineteenth century. In A Doll House Nora’s Husband Treats her as if she is and absent minds doll wife that is incapable of thinking for herself. In Trifles Mrs. wright is a woman that have been oppressed and abuse by her husband for so many year that she need to escape one way or another. The woman in the play both took steps to gain there independence in society by any means
They confide in her for the strength they need to stand up to the male leaders. This shows a big change in gender roles because previously women were too fearful to stand up to
For example, Mabel‘s brothers did not want her to be on her own when they moved out. Since they are all in debt, they try to convince her to go live with their married sister (Lawrence 455). This conflict between siblings shows that because she is a woman, she is seen as lesser than her brothers. It is suitable for the men in the family to live on their own and make a living but she needs to be taken care of. Another example occurs when Mabel has an internal conflict with herself when she attempts to drown herself in a lake (Lawrence 460).
In Winesburg Ohio by Sherwood Anderson, snapshots of American life in the turn of the 20th century document America where the pressures of society towards women and men rob them of their chances to truly follow their desires and to marry whomever they please. The people of Winesburg demonstrate the loneliness of people living in an age of quick modernization but continually conservative ideals. The people of Winesburg are lonely because the things they wish and lust for are often not allowed in the stuffy society they are trapped in. Instead of pursuing their desires they let what they wish for leave or disappear and their dreams are not truly fulfilled. Alice dreams of being free to spend her days with the man who she loves, but the world
Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” seems to explain and analyze how the relationship works in the bondage of marriage. Chopin illustrates that Mrs. Mallard’s emotion towards self assertion is very important for women who live under their husbands’ hands. Not everyone marries to separate. Some get freedom after marriage by simply taking divorce. In India, women fast for the safety and longevity of their husbands.
Inequality is faced daily by people of all races, religions, and genders. Women, for example, are still faced with the crisis of equal pay in the workplace and constant sexism from employers and a growing pop culture. The inequality is seen in the book Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell. Through a highly patriarchal community, the women in the book, especially Ree, are brought against harsh conditions, both physical and mental. Through the analysis of female characters in the novel Winter’s Bone, Daniel Woodrell, through categorizing women in the three groups of caregivers, survivors, and prisoners, comments on the inequality women face in society.