Whether it was a play or a poem that she composed, Behn paved the way for women to write back in the 1600's. ... Aphra Behn strictly wrote for money and public acclaim. ... This separated Behn from most women writers in her day because, most women wrote for sheer pleasure or "fame" among friends. ... This is because she wrote plays that appealed to many people far and wide, not just a few. ... Behn's wealth and independence played a significant part in her ability to create her work at the time she did. ...

• Word Count: 420
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Strange as it may seem, August Strindberg wrote both the characters of "The Stronger" with his wife Siri von Essen in mind. ... However, Strindberg wrote the play in anticipation of touring the show throughout Scandinavia meaning that Siri, who could only speak Swedish, would play the role of Miss Y abroad. Rather than learn the role of X in Danish, Siri played the seemingly weaker of the two, Miss Y. ... When Strindberg tells his wife that X is stronger it seems more of a push to get her to PLAY the role stronger than Y. ...

• Word Count: 531
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Even a female who wrote to herself without intension to publish, was looked down upon by the society made up of male writers. ... Throughout history male writers have played a large part in prolonging progress towards men and women being considered equal. In male literature, numerous ways to keep unequal roles were to stereotype women and make it apparent that men and women play very different roles in life. On page 632, Rich writes, "And there were all those poems about women, written by men: it seemed to be a given that men wrote poems and women frequently inhabited them. ... Rich strong...

• Word Count: 1531
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

In 1916, Glaspell moved with the company, now called the Playwright's Theatre, to Greenwich Village in New York, where for two seasons as writer, director, and actor, she played an important role in a group that came to have a major influence on the development of American drama. ... Dramatist Susan Glaspell wrote at a time when the boundaries between the private and public spheres were beginning to break down. Her style of writing was very similar to Lawrence's, in that they both wrote during the times when women were "suppressed". ... Glaspell's play, Trifles, falls among t...

• Word Count: 969
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Richard Mulcaster wrote the words, "Nature makes the boy toward, nurture sees him forward.?Even though nature plays a role in defining sex and gender, nurture plays the greater part in helping society define the two terms. ...

• Word Count: 576
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Anne Bradstreet's "The Prologue" depicts Bradstreet's opinion on the role women played in a male-ridden society during the seventeenth century and reveals her feelings about being one of the first female writers during a time where they were scarce. ... She wrote her poems while rearing eight children, functioning as a hostess, being a good wife, and performing other domestic duties. ... As a very talented writer, she was sure to put her heart and soul into each poem she wrote. ...

• Word Count: 800
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Society plays a big role on what is expected from each gender and in many cases they set very distinct standards for men and women. ... The boys are outdoors with their father getting their hands dirty in the yard or doing maintenance on the home, or playing sports. ... " I come from a Hispanic background, where culture and religion play a major role in gender. ... In her essay, Sandra wrote about how her father had wanted her to find a great husband and have children. ... As we have come a long way since evolution and we continue to mature and learn from our mistakes, gender should not p...

• Word Count: 907
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

William Shakespeare often described the women in his plays as being strong, confident individuals, much different from the stereotypical roles of the time period in which he lived. ... From the beginning of the play, we see that Desdemona is a courageous and decisive woman who pursues Othello, falling in love with his intrigued stories of adventure, seeing "Othello's visage in his mind, and to his honors and valiant parts..." refusing the attempts of other suitors such as Roderigo. ... When Shakespeare wrote Othello, women had few rights and little power in society. ... She is aware of th...

• Word Count: 645
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Characters played a big role in the story. ... Solomon was the king of Israel and in the story Welty provides information that Solomon is playing a king type role. ... The setting also plays a significant part in the story. ... Welty wrote "It might be if he had not appeared the way he did appear that day she would never have looked so closely at him, but the time people come makes a difference" (519). ...

• Word Count: 834
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Strong Women of Othello William Shakespeare often described the women in his plays as being strong, confident individuals, much different from the stereotypical roles of the time period in which he lived. ... From the beginning of the play, we see that Desdemona is a courageous and decisive woman who pursues Othello, falling in love with his intrigued stories of adventure, seeing "Othello's visage in his mind, and to his honors and valiant parts..." refusing the attempts of other suitors such as Roderigo. ... When Shakespeare wrote Othello, women had few rights and little power...

• Word Count: 655
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In what ways does the Industrial Revolution affect the opportunities and constraints in women's lives in the 19th century? In the 19th century women were expected to live in the home and be constrained to the affairs of the household and family (children, her husband). The average woman had ...

• Word Count: 582
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Through the collection of letters that Celie wrote, the reader could see the development of a frightened young woman who had little regard for herself and of another, Shug, who struggled to become a successful woman. ... Shug taught her how to laugh and play and showed Celie a whole new perspective of life. ...

• Word Count: 585
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The Heroics of Women Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" is a play about a young wife and her husband. ... Ibsen wrote the characters of Helmer and Nora for a very particular reason. ... While he does hide his own views in the play itself, he does not force them upon the audience. ... In fact, Ibsen often wrote about an individual fighting against! ... Nora's faults that are present throughout the play are evidence of her childlike nature. ...

• Word Count: 1947
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

Before the 1990's, men alone wrote and directed all the movies, and the movies were written for men. ... In the few movies that were based around women, a man wrote the woman's character, and the woman was portrayed as a sex symbol. ... In the movie Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts plays a hooker in Los Angeles, California. ...

• Word Count: 1182
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

I think she displayed her own traits in the stories she wrote in each story there was a main character who was either extremely religious or had some kind of medical ailment. ... This is the part of the story was where all the religion came into play. ... She had strong religious beliefs and was passionate about the stories she wrote. ...

• Word Count: 1004
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

She wrote realism, mainly about women in the Midwest, in rural settings. Her play, Trifles, is an example. ... This one-act play was very interesting. ... Peters could be played by someone like Frances Conroy, the actress who plays the mother on HBO's "Six Feet Under." ... This play is full of dramatic irony. ...

• Word Count: 2006
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

She did not realize when she wrote George a letter and spoke to him before he made his decision, how much she would impact his choice to go and how this choice would end up. ... Howells is trying to say that women played a very limited role in the public sphere at this time. Although Editha attempted to play a role in the war, she did it behind the scenes by swaying her man to do the real, hard work. ... This means that even when women tried to be involved socially, they did not play a real role in war at this time, and in the public sphere in general. ...

• Word Count: 1105
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

One congratulates him on a book that he wrote by telling him "A brilliant performance, sir" (1289). ... Walter won't take the blindfold, and Thurber ends the story with a great quote, "Then with that faint, fleeting smile playing about his lips, he faced the firing squad; erect and motionless, proud and disdainful, Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last" (1291). ...

• Word Count: 796
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Her extreme desperation and aggravation is played out in a monologue she delivers during the play: When I gave birth I remember so clearlyshe came out and clambered right onto my breast and tried to eat me, she was so hungry, so hungry it terrified me – her hunger. ... Though the play is set in the 19th century, when Ruhl wrote the play, she came in with the mindset of a "contemporary woman writing with subsequent knowledge that informed her view of the periodIn some ways, people then were innocent of sexuality compared to the biological knowledge we've acquired about the subje...

• Word Count: 1862
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

For example, for the collegiate basketball tournament, tickets to the men's games are often played in venues such as Madison Square Garden and are still sold out. ... The news media often separates female athletes into categories based on whether they play masculine or feminine sports. Although more girls and women play traditionally "male" sports it is the feminine sports that actually receive more recognition from the media. ... For example, young girls are supposed to play with dolls and play house where they take on maternal roles. ... Wendy Olson, a writer for the Yale Law ...

• Word Count: 2215
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

However, I feel times have changed in America since 1979 when Rich wrote this speech, and women are making great progress. ... I also feel that Rich neglects to include the roll society, the way young girls are taught by their mothers, and American culture played in the oppression of women. ... I feel that Rich's anger toward men prevents her from seeing the role women play in their own ignorance. ...

• Word Count: 913
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Kate Chopin's "Story of an Hour" is a sad tale of a woman trying to escape her future. The ironic story of Louise Mallard is hard to understand without understanding the relationship with her husband, Brently Mallard. The Mallards were a typical couple of that time, loving and repressive. Brently...

• Word Count: 913
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

"They did what all women who went before them and came after them did when it came to raising children and running households, but they were assigned by history to play other roles as well. " (Roberts (1), p.15) Eliza Lucas Pinckney, at the age of sixteen was left in charge of her families three plantations in South Carolina. ... Eliza herself once wrote to a friend about her daily life as the person in charge of three plantations: "I have the business of three plantations to transact, which requires much writing and more business and fatigue of other sorts than you can imagine. ... "Abigail ...

• Word Count: 3378
• Approx Pages: 14
• Grade Level: High School

"They expected her alone to keep the traditional ways, which her brothers, now among the barbarians, could fumble without detection .The work of preservation demands that the feelings playing about in one's guts not be turned into action." ... Kingston also wrote "White Tigers," which she uses her storytelling as a way to live out her possibilities within her storytelling. ... She is not allowed to speak up for herself when confronted with an unwanted predicament because of the roles that woman must play in society. ... Yet, what Kingston reveals is how this story plays into the hands ...

• Word Count: 1870
• Approx Pages: 7

These three women were honest about their music, they wrote their own thoughts in the lyrics and they would not sell out for anything. ... Through her inspiration Joplin has influenced many women who took her music and tried to play the way that Joplin made them feel. ... Greats such as Louis Armstrong played with her because she was fun to play with. ...

• Word Count: 1508
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School