... phallic." Cather's clever insertion of her initial as the snake "was lying in long loose waves, like a letter 'W'" forms a literary technique she perhaps used to inform her readers on her lesbian position. The snake is further sexualised by the way "he would spring, spring his length ... her sexuality does not make her unequal to men or heterosexual relationships in this particular line in the novel. Farwell notes how "Feminist literary theory has been eager to recognize the possibility of disruptive plots and spaces that position women as subjects of their own stories." Perhaps thi...

• Word Count: 2062
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... of interest in the field of Shakespearian studies is that which considers the various roles that women play in the Shakespeare's comedies and tragedies. Literary and historical scholars agree that women did not enjoy political, economic, or social parity with men during Shakespeare's time, and this historical reality ... order because it advances his own interests.In other words, gender roles and expectations are being stated to this strong female character in no uncertain terms. What is remarkable about Hermia's response to both her father and to Theseus is that it is impassioned but lo...

• Word Count: 2208
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Graduate

... International Relations, First World-to-First World or First World-to-Third World nations alike, has been marred by both physical and diplomatic conflict, commonly involving male-dominant (in terms of government) states. Beckman once again reinforce this in his suggestion that irrelevant of gender, the political reactions, responses and thought processes of a leader of a state should ... when associated with issues of war and national security, but in accordance with realism's doctrine little else. The recognition of power, independence, rationality, and objectivity as valuable terms an...

• Word Count: 2423
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Pham increasingly reminisces about Chi. He is able to express and let go of his regret for not being emotionally available for her. Once Andrew is able to come to terms with his past, he accepts his hybrid identity and gender. Andrew reveals feelings of respect but also humiliation towards prostitution. He cannot seem to resist engaging with prostitutes however feels ... business, and he feels prostitution is disgraceful if the women within his family engage as participants. The Vietnamese's respectful opinion of the magnanimity of prostitution is grounded in the country's literary cult...

• Word Count: 2179
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... that once she becomes the Linton's wife starts a progressive mental disorder and physical disability that ends with numerous instances of confinement until she dies. A few critics consider the imprisonment in terms of gender. For instance, Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar affirm in The Madwoman in the Attic that "the predominance of confinement is a recurring phenomenon in the works of nineteenth ... -century women writers that indicates their feelings of confinement in a literary world ruled by men"1. In that way, we understand the Emily Brontë's work as a prison in which Catherine canno...

• Word Count: 1541
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography

... that once she becomes the Linton's wife starts a progressive mental disorder and physical disability that ends with numerous instances of confinement until she dies. A few critics consider the imprisonment in terms of gender. For instance, Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar affirm in The Madwoman in the Attic that "the predominance of confinement is a recurring phenomenon in the works of nineteenth ... -century women writers that indicates their feelings of confinement in a literary world ruled by men"1. In that way, we understand the Emily Brontë's work as a prison in which Catherine canno...

• Word Count: 1541
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography

... that society is based on, and she deconstructs the binary pair based on gender, which is male and female. Jeanette wants to escape binary oppositions and she uses a lot of literary issues in order to show the deconstruction of boundaries, such as fairy tales, romances, among others. We find that Winterson plays with the ambiguity of desire, sex and gender as ... the heroine of the story. For instance, in the moment that Louise's menstrual cycle is described. In the first part of the novel, Louise is idealized by the narrator in terms of physical appearance and mind. Although when she be...

• Word Count: 1584
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... the social and material conditions required for the writing of literature. These conditions -leisure time, privacy, and financial independence- are particularly relevant to understanding the situation of women in the literary tradition because women, historically, have been uniformly deprived of those basic prerequisites. The journey through Women and Fiction is a complicated one in part, because the subject is open to various ... women were excluded from most formal education. As the scene changes to London, the narrator looks at books that have been written about women by men. The foc...

• Word Count: 1692
• Approx Pages: 7

... Peony, and Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman it will become evident that the females in these two novels are themselves heroes. Some stereotypical roles that women will often fulfill in literary works are, what I will be naming, the passive female, the unsympathetic woman, and the new woman. All of these roles, when considered more thoughtfully, are admirable in some sense or ... her four grandchildren. She was a very admirable woman and a heroic woman as well. There has always been a rebel in literature. A character who is defiant, an individual, a crusader. This role, in terms of a f...

• Word Count: 1599
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School