A recurring theme in Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations," is the reversal of stereotypical gender roles. Victorian women were seen as kind and nurturing, men were seen as strong, imposing and tolerant; Mrs Joe is mean, coldhearted and chastising (pp 11) while Joe is caring, submissive and gentle (pp 466) towards Pip. The tender nurturing qualities of Joe support the reversed gender roles, depicting Joe as a feminine man. Hemming (2011) explores the notion of Mrs Joe not conforming to the expected role of the Victorian mother, symbolizing a plausible reason for Pip's suffering and guilt in Great Expectations. .
Farrell (1997) points out that Pip's dead mother is the first female character introduced in Great Expectations, and is described by Pip as "freckled and sickly" (Farrell, 1997). In contrast, the next female character introduced is Mrs Joe, Pip's sister, presented as an unloving and masculine woman who has had no choice but to take on the role of Pip's mother. Pip's anguish builds from the noticeable lack of an adequate mother figure; instead of experiencing a loving and nurturing relationship with his mother, he is raised by Mrs Joe, and her failure to act as a mother contributes towards Pip's desire to become a gentleman. Pip's relationship with Mrs. Joe is strained, a fact evident from the opening chapters that take place on Christmas day. " 'And where the deuce ha' you been?' was Mrs. Joe's Christmas salutation" (pp.22) her festive greeting to Pip reflects the nature of their relationship; it is a joyful family day which is interrupted by the harsh interrogation of his sister; with no hint of kindness or affection, which is the greeting he often received from his sister. Being the only living relative Pip has, Mrs. Joe has the primary responsibility to care for him: because she is much older than him, her role is closer to that of a mother than a sister, though she fails to fulfil either role with devotion or compassion.
The persona in the poem experiences the negative change induced by the labors of motherhood. ... Her children and present life through her role as a mother and by the expectations placed on her by society trap the persona. Motherhood undoubtedly brings about a form of inevitable change. ... "Time gold great surprises", he is superior to her. ... The poem looks at the change in perception s of self. ...
But what happens when a woman is faced with the socially accepted perception of women versus her own potential? ... It also shows how cynical and twisted her perception of life is. ... I felt part of a great tradition"" (Plath 229). ... It's here that Esther's, not only physical but psychological conflict, is addressed as she strives to meet the expectations of a typical 1950's woman. ... With this in mind, the pursuit of motherhood dances in the mind of our young heroine. ...
Thus, motherhood gravely circumscribed their lives. ... However, motherhood did not mean that slave women were deprived of other strategies to resist their masters. ... Accustomed to wearing tattered, poor quality fabric that further relegated their status, bondswomen "went to great trouble to create and wear clothes of quality and, importantly, style.... This is reflected in work which has examined the external perceptions they induced, the expectations they challenged, and the subsequent slave culture they contributed to. ...
Postmodernist insist that the change is so great that a more complex and far less hopeful world has supplanted the modern one we thought we lied in. ... However, the number of instances of single motherhood has been going up even as childbearing has been declining overall in the US. ...
Abstract The object of this study is to explore specific identity-formations that have occurred under specific cultural and socio-political contexts that have enabled women politicians in India to acquire political power. The paper will examine Indira Gandhi, Mayawati, Mamta Banerjee, and Jayalalithaa, and try to understand what led to the personalization of power in all four cases. The idea is to analyze the relationship between particular identities that these figures have acquired in popular discourse and particular modalities of power. What do the invocation of mother or sister figures sig...
