... had to make to overcome the conventional roles of a mother. Throughout her life, Kate Chopin actively searched for spiritual emancipation, which she found and expressed through her writing. Her poems, short stories and novels permitted her not only to emphasize her beliefs for herself, but also question the ideas of individuality and autonomy during the turn of the century. Chopin shows that ... live how she wanted, both mentally and physically, rather than play the role society expected of her. The events she experienced, along with her female insight, provided a cornerstone for her st...

• Word Count: 1248
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

"Hills Like White Elephants," written by Ernest Hemingway, is a captivating fictional story that is filled with hidden messages, themes, and symbolism. Hemingway's short story dates back to almost ninety years ago, initially appearing in a collection titled "Men Without Women" in 1927. In "Hills Like White Elephants," the reader finds ... theme of how man and woman relate to one another is an ongoing theme is much of Hemingway's work, including "Hills Like White Elephants." The majority of Hemingway's short stories overly demonstrate masculinity, but "Hills Like White Elephants" displays a m...

• Word Count: 1134
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... in regards to the women's liberation movement and abortion. In 1995 Laura Kaplan wrote The Story of Jane, a compellation of personal stories, including her own, about Jane, an underground abortion counseling service during the late 1960s and early 1970s. After reading a short excerpt from it, I feel that Laura makes a strong, effective argument that persuades the audience abortions should be placed in the ... presented with one side of the story. A reader with different beliefs might disagree with her opinion and find this article very lacking and unconvincing. On page 479, Kaplan does ...

• Word Count: 1384
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... into marriage' after over five hundred pages of confident unconventionality. Despite the powerful depiction of female dominance Charlotte initially presents, it is for the ending alone that I believe Villette falls short of Jane Eyre. Whilst Jane claims deserved authority over her husband, M. Paul is the one to leave Lucy behind, and, with the final page strongly hinting that he has died ... gave Charlotte a feel for her writer's pen, as opposed to the carefully crafted novels that were to follow it). Regardless of the volume achieved by the female voices within, both stories, as with t...

• Word Count: 2473
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... , the billboard represents a more perfect and easily fetishized version of herself, and as she puts almost all her value in her beauty it represents her voyeuristic identity. As the two stories collide, however, Valerie is stripped of her beauty when she is in a tragic accident, injuring her leg and putting her in a wheelchair. Immediately we see a woman's status and capabalities diminish ... is not the story of a man winning or losing a beautiful woman be the conflict of a woman with the loss of her body and her on voyeuristic identity. Benicio del Toro's short film el Yuma offers the m...

• Word Count: 4301
• Approx Pages: 17
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... " demonstrates the consequences of this treatment and ends up "choosing madness over John's cure for sanity " which in doing so, "writes herself into a position of power " over John at the stories end (Golden 154). Yet, whether the narrator actually is triumphant in the end is highly debated among literary critics. Loralee MacPike suggests that the narrator has finally gained freedom, but ... social and economic conditions drive the narrator "and all women "to madness. " (Treichler 64) Whether the narrator is triumphant or not is not the main purpose behind this short story. Gilman, rat...

• Word Count: 1676
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... of literature fulfill society's expectations of gender normality, as well as several gender abnormalities by treating genders as a set of behaviors rather than a simple matter of biology. Marie de France's short story, "Guigemar " breaks typical cultural stereotypes of the female gender by having a woman's body provide a point of sexual desire, healing and comfort. The idea of the female body being able ... what love truly means and eventually leads him to have sexual and romantic desire for the woman herself. The idea that the woman holds the power is different from most stories writte...

• Word Count: 1221
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... ? Reality and illusions are easily confused with each other; however, individuals seem to create an illusion of people by the characters in stories they read, or by the politicians in society, and by television shows they watch. In Maupassant"s short story "The Necklace," Maupassant writes about Madame Matilda Loisel, a woman who appears to live in a world of fantasy. Madame Lionel is a pretty ... ...

• Word Count: 914
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate