Essay on Female Protagonists in Womens Literature

They feasted upon it. They thirsted for it. Society looked down on them for it, but these women remained honey mad, remained desperate for salvation in flavor, and craved salvation in indulgence. Considered half-savage and more than a little deranged, they roamed, free to do what so many of the women in civilized society longed to do. In Honey Mad Women: Charlotte Brontes Bilingual Heroines, Patricia Yaeger hypothesizes that bilingual heroines... are also honey mad women: women who consume, to excess, the languages designed to consume them (Yaeger 11). She applies this theory to Charlotte Brontes heroines, but it is also applicable to other literary works such as The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing, The Lais of Marie de†¦show more content†¦When Jane sees this sorry spectacle, she tears the word off Helens head and tosses it into the fire, but instead of being punished, she is found innocent of a previous charge of lying. Yaeger says that in this way, her attack upon the w ord is obliquely condoned (Yaeger 13). After this pivotal scene, Jane feels free to feed upon honey, to luxuriate in the control and pleasure that language gives her. She is free to seek knowledge and enjoy the presence of language in her life. In a few weeks, I was promoted to a higher class; in less than two months I was allowed to commence French and drawing. I learned the first two tenses of the word Etre and sketched my first cottage....That night on going to bed... I... prepar[ed]... and... feasted... on the spectacle of ideal drawings, which I saw in the dark- all the work of my own hands; freely penciled houses and trees, picturesque rocks and ruins, Cuyp-like groups of cattle, sweet paintings of butterflies hovering over unblown roses, of birds picking at ripe cherries, of wrens nests enclosing pearl-like eggs, wreathed about with young ivy sprays. I examined, too, in thought, the possibility of my ever being able to translate currently a certain little French story-book which Madame Pierrot had that day shown me; nor was that problem solved to my satisfaction ere I fell sweetly asleep (Bronte 106). This scene shows Janes burgeoning independence, as she imagines a world of herShow MoreRelatedFeminism in Novel Makaan of Paigham Afaqui1301 Words   |  6 PagesPaigham Afaqui Feminist literature, as the name suggests, is based on the principles of feminism, and refers to any literary work that centers on the struggle of a woman for equality, and to be accepted as a human being, before being cast into a gender stereotype. Not all these works follow a direct approach towards this goal of equality. It is only through such media that women believed a change was possible in the way they were perceived in society. Not all feminist literature has been written by womenRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper913 Words   |  4 Pagespast century, the female gender had been a race characterized by limited opportunity and the widespread belief of inferiority to the male gender. It was not until the women’s rights movement took off in the 1920’s that women began to enjoy having the same opportunities as men and playing an active role in society. Before that time, women were perceived as being inferior to their male counterparts and received less respect than men. This resulted in devastating effects on the female psyche, includingRead MoreThe Female, Bildungsroman, By Carol Lazzaro Weis1083 Words   |  5 PagesMarch 2016 Literature Review #4 Article: Lazzaro-Weis, Carol. â€Å"The Female Bildungsroman: Calling It into Question†. NWSA Journal 2.1 (1990): 16–34. Web. Author: Carol Lazzaro-Weis is the President of the American Association of Italian Studies, the largest associate of university professors of Italian in North America and serves on several editorial boards. Professor Lazzaro-Weis has been appointed to serve on the International Advisory Board for The Centre of Contemporary Women’s Writing. HerRead Moreâ€Å"the Yellow Wallpaper† an Opinion on the Critical Essay â€Å"Haunted House/Haunted Heroine: Female Gothic Closets in â€Å"the Yellow Wallpaper†Ã¢â‚¬  by Carol Margaret Davison1177 Words   |  5 Pagesessay â€Å"Haunted House/Haunted Heroine: Female Gothic Closets in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†Ã¢â‚¬  by Carol Margaret Davison Rebecca Olds V00698066 English 125 Y. Levin April 2nd, 2009 â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a short story written in the late 1800’s about a woman with post-partum depression who becomes increasingly mad because of society’s, as well as her husband’s, repression. The critical essay â€Å"Haunted House/Haunted Heroine: Female Gothic Closets in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†Ã¢â‚¬ Read MoreWomen s Movement : Escape As A Post Feminism940 Words   |  4 PagesIn â€Å"Women’s Movement: Escape as Transgression in North American Feminist Fiction,† Heidi Macpherson explores the grounds behind female escape in feminist theory and argues that there is no clear escape from society. Although there are multiple means of escaping, one cannot fully escape from society and one is usually forced back into society. With this idea in mind, she critically explores the limitless and boundless abilities of female escape works in North America by providing her readers withRead MoreGender R oles And Femininity : Susan Glaspell s One Act Play1400 Words   |  6 Pagesroles by placing the emphasis on the female characters in the play. While the men are hard at work, it is the women who emerge as the protagonists. In this essay, I wish to explore the gender roles developed by Glaspell in the house of John Wright, particularly their role in the home, finding their identities, and the stereotypes portrayed in literature. The gender role motif is important to explore because it is replicated in many texts including the literature of today. First, Glaspell’s play addressesRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper, By Charlotte Perkins Gilman Essay1687 Words   |  7 PagesImmediately in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† readers are able to tell that the protagonist feels trapped in the room, in which she is being placed. The female narrator also mentions to us that her husband â€Å"John is a physician, and perhaps –– (I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind –– perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster† (Stetson 1892, 129). That is to say, this statement clearly indicates thatRead MoreEssay on Feminist Protagonists in The Awakening and A Dolls House755 Words   |  4 PagesThe Feminist Protagonists in The Awakening and A Dolls House    The idea of womens liberation is a common theme in both Kate Chopins The Awakening and Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House. In her analysis of Feminism in Europe Katharine M. Rogers writes, Thinking of Noras painful disillusionment, her parting from her children, and the uncertainties of her future independent career, Ibsen called his play the tragedy of modern times (82). The main characters in each work, Nora Helmer, in A DollRead MoreThe Portrayal of Women in the American Literary Canon1512 Words   |  6 Pages Literature is not simply a reflection of society; it is in actuality much more powerful. Literature draws upon society and creates its own meanings and images. It possesses the power to either nourish or discourage societal values and ideals. Hence, stereotypical views on gender relations in society are reinforced by literary depictions of men and women. The American literary canon is a collection of books that are widely accepted as influential in shaping Western culture. Stereotypes areRead MoreIsolation in â€Å"a Rose for Emily† and â€Å"the Yellow Wallpaper†1222 Words   |  5 Pagesthe late 1800’s early 1900’s and depict the era when women were viewed less important than men. The protagonist in each story is a woman, who is confined in solitary due to the men in their lives. The narrator in â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is the mutual voice of the townspeople of Jefferson, while Emily Grierson is the main character in the story that undergoes a sequence of bad events. The unnamed, female narrator in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is also the main character whose journal we read. This difference