"Women Authors from the 17th Century to the 21st Century" explores women writers from Aphra Behn, a pioneering figure of the 17th century known for her provocative play "Oroonoko," to modern authors like Sally Rooney, who captures contemporary relationships in "Normal People." This blog delves into the significant works of each author, highlighting thematic elements and impactful quotes, while also examining the evolution of women's voices in literature:
Born in 1991, Sally Rooney is a well-known contemporary Irish writer. Her works delve into themes such as relationships, identity, and social issues. Rooney's writing is distinguished by its reflections on contemporary life and her illustration of humorous conversations that people could have in their lives. She became well-known for her first book, Conversations with Friends (2017), and even more so for Normal People (2018), which became a hit television show.
What is Normal People (2018) about?
Normal People follows the life journeys and strange relationship between its two central characters, Marianne Sheridan and Connell Waldron, who both are from the same little Irish town. The story starts when they are in high school, where Marianne is viewed as an outsider and unpopular teen while Connell is popular and liked by everybody. In spite of their differences, they develop a relationship that they hide from the rest. However, their relationship eventually develops into a complex, long-lasting love that persists even further on in their respective lives. The book follows their lives as they attend Trinity University in Dublin for college, where they find each other once more and encounter obstacles related to love relationships, respective social class, and personal development. Rooney examines how their relationship shapes their unique personalities and how they deal with the highs and lows of friendship and love throughout the entire book.
Most important quotes of the novel:
- "Marianne has never been with anyone in school, no one has ever seen her undressed, no one even knows if she likes boys or girls, she won’t tell anyone. People resent that about her, and Connell thinks that’s why they tell the story, as a way of gawking at something they’re not allowed to see" (pg. 10): This quote emphasizes the social pressures that women face with respect to sexuality and visibility. Marianne’s choice to keep her sexual preferences private generates resentment, mirroring the discomfort others feel toward women being autonomous and impenetrable. It highlights how society strives to control women by requiring transparency regarding their bodies and desires.
- "She sits at her dressing table looking at her face in the mirror. Her face lacks definition around the cheeks and jaw. It’s a face like a piece of technology, and her two eyes are cursors blinking. Or it’s reminiscent of the moon reflected in something, wobbly and oblique. It expresses everything all at once, which is the same as expressing nothing. To wear make-up for this occasion would be, she concludes, embarrassing." (pg. 12): Marianne’s reflection on her appearance demonstrates a clash between the beauty ideals of society and her personal self-acceptance. By opting to go without make-up, she is rejecting the notion that women should embellish themselves in order to be validated.
-"He seemed to think Marianne had access to a range of different identities, between which she slipped effortlessly. This surprised her, because she usually felt confined inside one single personality, which was always the same regardless of what she did or said. She had tried to be different in the past, as a kind of experiment, but it had never worked. If she was different with Connell, the difference was not happening inside herself, in her personhood, but in between them, in the dynamic. Sometimes she made him laugh, but other days he was taciturn, inscrutable, and after he left she would feel high, nervous, at once energetic and terribly drained." (pg. 15): This passage highlights the difficulty that many women experience in expressing their complex identities within the confines of society. Connell sees Marianne as adaptable and able to shift identities, but she feels trapped in just one identity. This tension reveals the pressures women face to conform to different expectations and norms.
-"Marianne sometimes sees herself at the very bottom of the ladder, but at other times she pictures herself off the ladder completely, not affected by its mechanics, since she does not actually desire popularity or do anything to make it belong to her. From her vantage point it is not obvious what rewards the ladder provides, even to those who really are at the top." (pg. 25): Marianne demonstrates an awareness of her social positioning and the pointlessness of adhering to social norms that frequently value popularity and acceptance over authenticity. Women are conditioned and expected to search for social approval, exposing their internal conflict against external validation.
-"She has never believed herself fit to be loved by any person. But now she has a new life, of which this is the first moment, and even after many years have passed she will still think: Yes, that was it, the beginning of my life." (pg. 35): Recognizing the start of her life marks a departure from past repression, embodying feminist ideals of personal reclamation and empowerment.
-"He felt a vast rush of love for her, love and compassion, almost sympathy. He knew that he belonged with her. What they had together was normal, a good relationship. The life they were living was the right life." (pg. 121): This expression of love illustrates the potential for healthy, fulfilling relationships grounded in mutual respect, where people can thrive and support each other's growth, contrasting with the toxic dynamics that Marianne has experienced throughout her life in other relationships. This toxic relationships and power dynamics are seen in the following quote, in a relationship she forms with a photographer in which she partakes in sexual experiences in which she is the "submissive":
"Sometimes after sex Lukas takes a long time before he lets her get in the shower, just talking to her. He tells her bad things about herself. It’s hard to know whether Marianne likes to hear those things; she desires to hear them, but she’s conscious by now of being able to desire in some sense what she does not want. The quality of gratification is thin and hard, arriving too quickly and then leaving her sick and shivery. You’re worthless, Lukas likes to tell her. You’re nothing. And she feels like nothing, an absence to be forcibly filled in. It isn’t that she likes the feeling, but it relieves her somehow. Then she showers and the game is over." (pg. 134)
-"She spent much of her childhood and adolescence planning elaborate schemes to remove herself from family conflict: staying completely silent, keeping her face and body expressionless and immobile, wordlessly leaving the room and making her way to her bedroom, closing the door quietly behind her." (pg. 138): In this quote we see how social conditioning leads women to suppress their needs and desires for the sake of family harmony, highlighting the themes of emotional duty and invisibility many women expeirence throughout their lives.
- "Her body is just an item of property, and though it has been handed around and misused in various ways, it has somehow always belonged to him, and she feels like returning it to him now" (pg. 164): This quote shows how women’s bodies are battlegrounds in romantic relationships, as they are objectified and treated as properties. It illustrates the difficulties women encounter when trying to regain control over their own bodies.
Food for thought: Last remarks upon the complex relationship the main characters have in the novel:
-"How strange to feel herself so completely under the control of another person, but also how ordinary. No one can be independent of other people completely, so why not give up the attempt, she thought, go running in the other direction, depend on people for everything, allow them to depend on you, why not. She knows he loves her, she doesn’t wonder about that anymore." (pg. 182)
-"She closes her eyes. He probably won’t come back, she thinks. Or he will, differently. What they have now they can never have back again. But for her the pain of loneliness will be nothing to the pain that she used to feel, of being unworthy. He brought her goodness like a gift and now it belongs to her. Meanwhile his life opens out before him in all directions at once. They’ve done a lot of good for each other. Really, she thinks, really. People can really change one another" (pg. 184)
Connection betweeen The Bell Jar and Normal People:
-"Almost no paths seem definitively closed to her, not even the path of marrying an oligarch. When she goes out at night, men shout the most outrageously vulgar things at her on the street, so obviously they’re not ashamed to desire her, quite the contrary. And in college she often feels there’s no limit to what her brain can do, it can synthesise everything she puts into it, it’s like having a powerful machine inside her head. Really she has everything going for her. She has no idea what she’s going to do with her life." (pg. 64)
This is an important quote that reminded me of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, as both works show the ambitions of their respective protagonists in the context of patriarchal limitations. Marianne acknowledges her own intellectual potential and the countless opportunities available to her, but she is subject to constant objectification. This is also seen in Esther Greenwood, who battles for independence in the context of social demands. There is a duality in women’s lives: the desire for self-fulfillment and the burden of conformity. Both protagonists must fight to find their own identities and individuality, and strive to be able to be autonomous and form their own decisions.
Works Cited: Rooney, Sally. Normal People. London, Faber & Faber, 28 Aug. 2018.
Margaret Atwood, a Canedian author, is known for her novels, poetry, and essays. In Ottawa, Canada, she was born on November 18, 1939. Atwood is known for her impactful narratives, as for example The Handmaid's Tale, which envisions a reality in which women have totally lost their rights. She often explores themes such as society, gender, and the environment in her work. Besides her writing career, she engages in public speaking and defends several social issues. Due to her numerous awards for writing, Atwood has established herself as one of today’s most significant authors.
What is the novel about?
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is a deep analysis of female identity and oppression, enhancing its status as a foundational work of feminist literature. The narrative centers on Offred, the main character, who lives in a dystopian world where women's rights have been eliminated. Atwood explores the complexities of desire, grief, and defiance in the face of tyranny through the personal battles and reflections of the female protagonist. Atwood employs powerful language to illustrate Offred’s inner conflict, as she desires freedom while fighting with the identity imposed upon her. Love, control, and human resilience are among the themes examined in the novel, which makes the reader face the realities of women’s rights and autonomy in the middle of social oppression.
·I've just read the novel and I have to say that what I loved the most was the use of natural metaphors (specifically, flowers) that Margaret Atwood makes use of, to shed light on the themes of beauty, desire, and the contrasts between life and oppression. Flowers, traditionally seen as symbols of femininity and fertility, embody the Handmaids' diminished identities within a patriarchal society. The floral imagery evokes what has been lost—love, freedom, and humanity—while embodying the complex emotions experienced by women in a repressive and tyrannical world.
Important quotes from the novel:
- "There was old sex in the room and loneliness, and expectation, of
something without a shape or name. I remember that yearning, for
something that was always about to happen and was never the same
as the hands that were on us there and then, in the small of the back,
or out back, in the parking lot, or in the television room with the
sound turned down and only the pictures flickering over lifting flesh.
We yearned for the future. How did we learn it, that talent for
insatiability?": This quote illustrates Offred's profound yearning for independence and self-determination, emphasizing the innate human wish for having more than what a tyrannical society offers.
-"The tulips along the
border are redder than ever, opening, no longer wine cups but
chalices; thrusting themselves up, to what end? They are, after all,
empty. When they are old they turn themselves inside out, then
explode slowly, the petals thrown out like shards" (pg.37): With respect to tulips, this is a wonderful example of the language of flowers Atwood uses. In this case the tulips represent the duality between beauty and emptiness, reflecting Offred’s emotions of yearning and sadness in her imprisoned existence.
-"After a while it passes, like an epileptic fit. Here I am in the closet. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. I can'tsee it in the dark but I trace the tiny scratched writing with the ends of my fingers, as if it's a code in Braille. It sounds in my head now less like a prayer, more like a command; but to do what? Useless to me in any case, an ancient hieroglyph to which the key's been lost. Why did she write it, why did she bother? There's no way out of here." (pg.129) : This phrase left by an unknown woman that lived in the same room as the protagonist before and was subject to the same kind of oppression, symbolizes Offred’s rebellion and resistance since it embodies her hope and resolve to preserve her identity in the face of oppression.
- "We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank
white spaces at the edges of print. It gave us more freedom.
We lived in the gaps between the stories" (pg.49): This quote shows the suppressed voices of women within society, indicating that despite their historical erasure, they hold a unique freedom in their silent lives.
- "My nakedness is strange to me already. My body seems outdated. Did
I really wear bathing suits, at the beach? I did, without thought,
among men, without caring that my legs, my arms, my thighs and
back were on display, could be seen. Shameful, immodest. I avoid
looking down at my body, not so much because it's shameful or
immodest but because I don't want to see it. I don't want to look at
something that determines me so completely" (pg.54): Offred’s dissatisfaction regarding her body shows the social objectification of women and demonstrates the degradation of her self-worth and identity, and also serves as a representation of how women view their own bodies when they are stripped of their identity and their autonomy.
-"But this is wrong, nobody dies from lack of sex, It's lack of love we die
from. There's nobody here I can love, all the people I could love are
dead or elsewhere. Who knows where they are or what their names
are now? They might as well be nowhere, as I am for them. I too am a
missing person" (pg.88): Offred recognizes that emotional connections are essential for survival and she highlights the lack of touch she has with loved ones, having to survive in her case without her daughter and Luke, her former husband.
-"Temptation comes next. At the Center, temptation was anything
much more than eating and sleeping. Knowing was a temptation.
What you don't know won't tempt you, Aunt Lydia used to say.
Maybe I don't really want to know what's going on. Maybe I'd rather
not know. Maybe I couldn't bear to know. The Fall was a fall from
innocence to knowledge" (pg.174): This recognizes the serious consequences of knowledge and awareness, suggesting that in a repressive system, ignorance is a safer option in order to not think about your condition and therefore not feel completely empty.
-"I don't want pain. I don't want to be a dancer, my feet in the air, my
head a faceless oblong of white cloth. I don't want to be a doll hung
up on the Wall, I don't want to be a wingless angel. I want to keep on
living, in any form. I resign my body freely, to the uses of others.
They can do what they like with me. I am abject.
I feel, for the first time, their true power" (pg.257) : This is clearly an affirmation of Offred's determination to keep living life despite the dehumanizing circumstances she is being subjected to, highlighting her fight for survival and selfhood in the middle of despair.
-The importance of writing: In The Handmaid's Tale, we also see the importance of writing, which has always been a powerful form of resistance, highlighting the significance of voice in a society that seeks to silence it. Upon reflection, she says, "The pen between my fingers is sensuous, alive almost, I can feel its power, the power of the words it contains. Pen Is Envy, Aunt Lydia would say" (pg. 167). Her recognition of the pen’s authority exposes her desire for self-governance and the creativity that Gilead’s repressive regulations inhibit. The pen represents her wish to control her own story and her jealousy of those who can use words without restriction, the Commander among them. Moreover, she demonstrates her awareness of her difficulties with storytelling when she says, “As for me, I was only running: away, away. I don’t want to be telling this story” (pg. 202). This acknowledgment highlights the internal struggle she faces: the impulse to stay silent versus the need to reveal her truth. She wished her narrative were more uplifting—"I wish it had more shape. I wish it were about love... so much whispering, so much speculation about others" (pg. 237)—highlighting the difficulty in expressing her true self in a chaotic environment. In the end, she does it through writing her life experience, to remind us that the act of retelling one’s experience is an essential method of resisting erasure and oppression, even in the worst situations.
Jeanette Winterson is one of the most important contemporary writers in Great Britain, and as a British writer she’s a feminist writer, feminist woman, lesbian writer and a postmodernist writer. Jeannete Winterson was adopted and raised by a working class family in a region in Lancashire (UK), and her parents were part of the Pentecostal Evangelical Church. Jeannete Winterson went into different jobs to be economically independent from her family and she studied literature in the university of Oxford and graduated because of her talent, hard-work and because she was able to pay for her expensive university in Oxford. Her first professional experience when she graduated was to work as an editor at Pandora Press, and she worked in the feminist press in England. In England she will be encouraged to publish her first novel calledOranges are not the only fruit, when she’s only 26 years old in the year 1985.
What is the novel about?
The semi-autobiographical novel Oranges are not the only fruit by Jeanette Winterson examines the relationships between feminist self-empowerment, religious fundamentalism, and lesbian identity. The protagonist's journey demonstrates how patriarchal standards, female sexuality, especially lesbianism, and rigid gender roles based on binary oppositions like good against evil and believer against pagan are enforced by social and religious organizations. By illustrating Jeanette's discovery of her sexual identity and her defiance of her mother's rigid, dogmatic worldview, the book questions these patriarchal structures. Through her development, Winterson challenges the stereotype that heterosexuality is the only natural orientation and promotes personal authenticity by highlighting the diversity and complexity of love and sexuality.
The two most important phrases in the novel:
-The belief of the mother: The phrase "Oranges Are the Only Fruit" is a key phrase that embodies the mother's inflexible belief that heterosexuality is the only acceptable and natural sexual orientation. Similar to the forbidden fruit (the apple from the Book of Genesis), which represents sin and disobedience, the orange represents purity, holiness, and the biblical ideal of innocence. The mother of Jeanette is obsessed with purity and rejects all other options, including lesbianism, as she firmly believes that only oranges, as a "sacred" fruit, represent the proper sexuality.
-The belief of Jeanette: In contrasts, the phrase"Oranges are not the only fruit," expresses Jeanette's understanding that sexuality, love, and desire are all varied and cannot be reduced to a single "holy" fruit or standard. Her realization that she is a lesbian and that her love for women is real and legitimate is reflected in it. This statement, which emphasizes that life and human relationships are full of variety—just as there are many fruits, there are various ways to love and express sexuality—marks her departure from her mother's binary world. The metaphor also conveys the idea that love can be romantic or platonic, sexual or non-sexual, and that each type of love is equally legitimate.
Feminist and LGBTQ+ significance:
The work of fiction makes a strong feminist message against the religious and patriarchal repression of women's sexuality. In contrast to society's propensity to suppress or dismiss lesbian love as wicked, it shows that it is normal and deserving of acceptance. The significance of individual autonomy, self-acceptance, and resistance against repressive institutions is highlighted by Jeanette's rejection of the church's prejudice. Fruits, particularly oranges, are used as a metaphor to represent the variety and plurality of human sexuality. Winterson's depiction of lesbian partnerships as legitimate, affectionate, and strong reaffirms that social or religious conventions shouldn't limit women's identities.
Works Cited:Winterson, Jeanette. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. 1985. London, Vintage Books, 1985.Jeanette Winterson's explanation of her work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HftTMGR4Vsg
Interesting interview with Jeanette Winterson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5oqHrMIUuk
Anaïs Nin is most known for her multi-volume work, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, which became a fundamental text in feminist thought. She was a pioneer as a writer of female erotica and also an excellent essayist. She began journaling in her teenage years in 1921 and continued doing that during her whole writing careeer. Her open-minded and transparent diaries touched a chord in many women, who believed she had stirred something within them. Anaïs began writing erotic stories for an anonymous reader. Living in New York's West Village, Anaïs wrote the sexual stories that would later complete the volume Delta of Venus and Little Birds.
·Little Birds offers an exploration of the enigmatic realms of sex and sensuality. From the coastal towns of Normandy to the streets of New Orleans, this work holds thirteen vignettes that present a desirable French painter, a sleepless nocturnal wanderer, a guitar-strumming gypsy, and many others who immerse themselves into the chaotic waters of romantic experience.
·Delta of Venus presents a group of female characters who act as active agents over their own sexual desires and sexual empowerment, defying society's norms and rules of sexual normativity. It is important to note that the women in most of the stories in Delta of Venus are actively involved in their sexual experiences, expressing their thoughts and feelings about the various sexual encounters they have with men and also women. They do not try to hide their deep sexual desires or thoughts when confronted with male violence or their own sexual frustration, and share with us a blunt account of their sexual experiences.
What we find in her work Delta of Venus:
·The
search for passion and love that women need to reach in order to have a full enjoyment of their
female sexuality in their sexual encounters is a central theme to understand
female sexual empowerment. This theme is clearly seen in the story of “Elena”,
in which the character of Elena vents her sexual frustration when she fails to
reach her sexual fulfillment because of the lack of love and passion she
experiences, as “she lay back tired of lust and caresses, but without
fulfillment” (Nin 89).
·Furthermore,
this search of love for women to fully enjoy the sexual experience is also seen
in the story “Mathilde”, since there is poetry in the way Mathilde wants to be
courted by men. This is seen in the following quote: “This was the kind of
feeling she wanted to inspire. Could she? Her glow was not of that nature. She
was much more like fire than light. Her eyes were ardent, violent in
color” (Nin 9). In the figure of Mathilde there is a clear desire of women to
be able to have the sexual experience mixed up with love to really enjoy sexual
relationships.
·However, there is also sexual dissatisfaction, which seen in the story of “Lillith '', since Lilith's
husband does not sexually satisfy her and she sees herself as being sexually
cold because of her lack of sexual enjoyment. She only endures sexual
relationships with him because it is the patriarchal duty and obligation of a
wife to ensure the pleasure of a man in women-men sex relationships, since “she
was a whore who had no feelings, and in exchange for his love and devotion she
would fling this empty, unfeeling body at him. She felt ashamed to be so dead
in her body” (Nin 53).
Works Cited: Nin, Anaïs. “Elena”. Delta of Venus, Penguin,
1990, p. 72-132.
Nin, Anaïs. “Mathilde”. Delta of Venus, Penguin, 1990, p. 8-18.
Who was Katherine Mansfield? Katherine Mansfield aimed to address the feminine experience in her writing, as many believed that women’s literature did not qualify as high literature. Her writing consists of experimental fiction that explores the female inner life and the social roles women must adopt in a society dominated by men. She delves into the psychological introspection happening in the minds of women, observing their struggles to survive in a male-dominated world and examining the effects of gender roles on their lives. In this story, we observe Mansfield's examination of a woman's personality and conduct. Katherine Mansfield delves into character introspection, as she aims to uncover the inner workings of her characters’ minds and to illustrate for us readers the harmful effects that women’s social roles in a patriarchal society can have on women. She is interested not only in women’s social and family lives and its significant effects on women’s private lives but also, specifically, in the everyday life of women.
What is the story of "The Garden Party" about?·The story centres around a garden party that the protagonist Laura arranges with the help of her mother, as well as the revelation of the death of an individual who is very poor named Mr. Scott. ·Laura is exploring her teenage years as she transitions into womanhood. Along the way, she is entrusted with certain responsibilities. She must assist in organizing the garden party and is quite occupied with its preparations; however, she then learns of the death of a man who lives close to them. ·She wishes to call off the party, but her family, specially her mother, tell her that she is acting foolishly, as they see no justification for canceling the event even though a man has died. This is because they are superficial people who are not willing to cancel a rich party for the death of their poor neighbor. ·After the party, they take some leftover food from the event to bring to the grieving family of the deceased man. Allegedly, she experiences a moment of revelation upon seeing the corpse.
Important quotes from the story:
·“They were the greatest possible eyesore, and they had no right to be in that neighborhood at all.”: We see the clear judgment Laura feels for the lower classes of society, and seems to only want the exclusivity and privilege of there being only houses of her own social class there. The phrase highly shows a lack of empathy on Laura’s part, since she doesn’t seem aware of the troubles and hardships that the lower social classes have to deal with in their daily lives, in contrast with her perfect and comfortable life.
·“In the garden patches there was nothing but cabbage stalks, sick hens and tomato cans.”: At the beginning of the story, Laura's garden is described as a beautiful landscape with a great climate condition, so it is an idyllic version of nature, whereas in this fragment the garden is not idyllic, it is explained as if the land was abandoned and there are only some rests left, like the tomato cans mentioned in the text. Moreover, the garden has sick hens, so it plays a contrast with the beauty created in Laura's garden where nothing is imperfect.
· In the text it is said that “When the Sheridans were little they were forbidden to set foot there because of the revolting language and what they might catch”: When she thinks of her neighbors, she immediately associates them with poverty, as she has been taught from a young age to stay away from the working-class and to look down on their social condition, instead of showing compassion.
It is important to emphasize that Maxine Hong Kingston will have difficulties because of her dual identity of having Chinese Ancestry and American Ancestry, and so we see her dual identity and we see the difficulties and conflict between her Chinese Ancestry and American modernity.Particularly in her work The Woman Warrior, she tries to express her own female voice and she explores her dual identity and the conflict between modernity in the United States and her Chinese Heritage.The Woman Warrior is a perfect example of Chinese American literature. Therefore, we see how Hong Kingston tries to express her bicultural identity in her writings, and she’s not only interested in the interplay between ethnicity and being a woman, but also in the conflict between different generations (mother-daughter relationships).
What is "The Woman Warrior" about?
The "Woman Warrior" is a memoir about how Maxine herself abandons childhood and becomes an adult woman, and it blends autobiography and fiction, since we find myths and tales from Old rural China. However, it is also an autobiography because it is a coming of age memoir about her growing up and finally becoming a woman. It is also a combination between the past, present and future, and we find the past from the Chinese Ancestors of Maxine and her family members, and Maxine is going to tell the story of her own mother and aunt (story of her Chinese Ancestors and family members). Several distinct chapters or stories make up "The Woman Warrior," with each focusing on various facets of Kingston's experiences and Chinese-American identity. There are stories with folklore, personal history, and cultural insights, combining memoir and myth. The chapters frequently delve into topics like gender roles, silence, the immigrant experience, and the significance of storytelling. The stories are structured in a non-linear way.
The Main Characters of the Story:
-Maxine Hong Kingston: The main character and storyteller, contemplating her life as a girl of Chinese-American descent.
-The Mother: Kingston’s mother, who had a considerable impact on her life and embodied strength, heritage, and the challenges faced by immigrant women as we see the retelling of her life and what she studied and who she married, showing us the challenges she faced and the bravery she had.
-The Father: Kingston's father, whose immigrant experiences shape the family's cultural dynamics and perspectives.
-The Ghosts: Figures of symbolism that embody ancestral spirits, the cultural past, and the burdens of expectation that the narrator is supposed to follow.
Important quotes from the novel The Woman Warrior:
·pg. 67: "My mother may have been afraid, but she would be a dragoness (“my totem, your
totem”). She could make herself not weak. During danger she fanned out her dragon
claws and riɽed her red sequin scales and unfolded her coiling green stripes. Danger
was a good time for showing oʃ. Like the dragons living in temple eaves, my mother
looked down on plain people who were lonely and afraid": In this quote we see the strength of Kingston's mother, who is represented with the symbol of the dragon, that symbolises fierceness and bravery. In Chinese culture, the dragon represents power, and Kingston emphasizes her mother’s capacity to confront danger and hardship by connecting her to a dragoness. The notion of "showing off" in the face of danger implies that her mother directly confronts challenges with great inner strength.
·pg. 87: "To make my waking life American-normal, I turn on the lights before anything
untoward makes an appearance. I push the deformed into my dreams, which are in
Chinese, the language of impossible stories": This shows the challenges of being in-between two cultures: American and Chinese. We see the desire to feel safe and "normal" in an American context, pushing aside her Chinese heritage and her cultural identity, repressing uncomfortable truths about her background.
·pg. 97: "Whenever my parents said “home,” they suspended America. They
suspended enjoyment, but I did not want to go to China. In China my parents would sell
my sisters and me. My father would marry two or three more wives, who would spatter
cooking oil on our bare toes and lie that we were crying for naughtiness. They would
give food to their own children and rocks to us. I did not want to go where the ghosts
took shapes nothing like our own": We see the protagonist's fear of going back to China, which is linked with the fact that she has no family support, and we see also the brutal truths of life in China (trading daughters, fathers taking multple wives, ...). The protagonist realizes she does not form part of the conventional stories of her ancestors.
·pg. 166: "It was when I found out I had to talk that school became a misery, that the silence
became a misery. I did not speak and felt bad each time that I did not speak. I read
aloud in first grade, though, and heard the barest whisper with little squeaks come out of
my throat. “Louder,” said the teacher, who scared the voice away again. The other
Chinese girls did not talk either, so I knew the silence had to do with being a Chinese
girl": Here we see the pressure and isolation experienced by the main character, especially in her role as a young Chinese girl in America. The silence she feels is connected to her cultural identity and the difficulties of fitting in at school. This is not only a problem faced by her, but all of the Chinese girls of her classroom also have troubles expressing themselves and remain "voiceless", without speaking even a word.
·pg. 183: "There
were secrets never to be said in front of the ghosts, immigration secrets whose telling
could get us sent back to China.
Sometimes I hated the ghosts for not letting us talk; sometimes I hated the secrecy of
the Chinese": The ghosts represent the burden of family secrets in the immigrant experience, since the ghosts represent the cultural past that still endures in the new context they are in. We see the vulnerability of these families and also the complexity of their stories.
Works Cited: Maxine Hong Kingston. The Woman Warrior. Vintage, 1 Sept. 2010.
Alice Walker is a widely known novelist, essayist, and poet. Her most recognized work is the 1982 novel The Color Purple, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983 and was later adapted into a film by Steven Spielberg. In addition, Alice Walker is also well-known for her activism.
·In 1982, Walker's third novel, The Color Purple, was published, marking the beginning of her career as a writer. The novel, set in the early 20th century, examines the experiences of African American women through the life and challenges faced by its narrator, Celie. Celie endures horrifying and terrible physical and emotional mistreatment, first from her father and then from her husband. This work made her earn the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction in 1983.
Important quotes from the novel:
- "He act like he can’t stand me no more. Say I’m evil an always up to no good. He took my other little baby, a boy this time. But I don’t think he kilt it. I think he sold it to a man an his wife over Monticello. I got breasts full of milk running down myself. He say Why don’t you look decent? Put on something. But what I’m sposed to put on? I don’t have nothing.
I keep hoping he fine somebody to marry. I see him looking at my little sister. She scared. But I say I’ll take care of you. With God help." (page 10): Celie's complicated marriage to her husband exposes the many levels of emotional neglect and abuse she endures. Her story demonstrates institutional misogyny, in which a woman's value is determined by her capacity to have children and comply with gender norms
- "He beat me today cause he say I winked at a boy in church. I may have got somethin in my eye but I didn’t wink. I don’t even look at mens. That’s the truth. I look at women, tho, cause I’m not scared of them." (page 12): The way patriarchal authority aims to suppress female autonomy and expression is demonstrated by Celie's fear of retribution for an imaginary transgression. A rejection of patriarchal structures is demonstrated by Celie's preference to confide in women rather than men, which suggests the camaraderie and freedom that women can find in one another.
-"Well, next time you come you can look at her. She ugly. Don’t even look like she kin to Nettie. But she’ll make the betterwife. She ain’t smart either, and I’ll just be fair, you have to watch her or she’ll give away everything you own. But she can work like a man" (page 14): Echoing themes of commodification in relationships, this statement exposes the expectations placed on women by society to fulfill particular roles and adhere to particular physical standards.
-"I spend my wedding day running from the oldest boy. He twelve. His mama died in his arms and he don’t want to hear nothing bout no new one. He pick up a rock and laid my head open. The blood run all down tween my breasts. His daddysay Don’t do that! But that’s all he say. He got four children, instead of three, two boys and two girls. The girls hair ain’tbeen comb since their mammy died." (page 16): Celie's dual roles as a caregiver and a victim of sexual assault highlight the connections between maternal responsibility and gendered violence. There is a cycle of violence throughout the family that places women in traumatizing situations that they must overcome by developing resilience.
-"I think what color Shug Avery would wear. She like a queen to me so I say to Kate, Somethinpurple, maybe little red in it too. But us look an look and no purple. Plenty red but she say, Naw, he won’t want to pay forred. Too happy lookin. We got choice of brown, maroon or navy blue. I say blue.
I can’t remember being the first one in my own dress. Now to have one made just for me." (page 20): Shug is a symbol of empowerment who inspires Celie to see herself beyond the constraints imposed on her, and that is why she begins to explore her individuality and emotions through her relationship with Shug Avery and by developing an interest in fashion.
-"You ever hit her? Mr. _____ ast.
Harpo look down at his hands. Naw suh, he say low, embarrass.
Well how you spect to make her mind? Wives is like children. You have to let ’em know who got the upper hand. Nothing can do that better than a good sound beating." (page 29): In this quote we see the acceptance and normalization of domestic abuse in patriarchal systems. Here we see how women are considered more like objects to be controlled than like sentient beings.
."Every time they ast me to do something, Miss Celie, I act like I’m you. I jump right up and do just what they say.
She look wild when she say that, and her bad eye wander round the room.
Mr. _____ suck in his breath. Harpo groan. Miss Shug cuss. She come from Memphis special to see Sofia.
I can’t fix my mouth to say how I feel.
I’m a good prisoner, she say. Best convict they ever see. They can’t believe I’m the one sass the mayor’s wife, knock themayor down. She laugh. It sound like something from a song. The part where everybody done gone home but you." (page 55): Sofia's defiance to oppression is an illustration of the spirit of feminism and defiance to social norms. When women address the systematic inequalities in their life, they can find strength in one another, as seen by her defiance in the face of oppression.
-"My mama die, I tell Shug. My sister Nettie run away. Mr. _____ come git me to take care his rotten children. He never astme nothing bout myself. He clam on top of me and fuck and fuck, even when my head bandaged. Nobody ever love me, Isay." (page 65): Here we see Celie's statements of worthlessness, which result from the systematic abuse and neglect she has suffered throughout her life.
-"There is a way that the men speak to women that reminds me too much of Pa. They listen just long enough to issueinstructions. They don’t even look at women when women are speaking. They look at the ground and bend their headstoward the ground. The women also do not “look in a man’s face” as they say. To “look in a man’s face” is a brazen thing to do. They look instead at his feet or his knees. And what can I say to this? Again, it is our own behavior around Pa!"(page 85): In this quote we see the cycle of violence that women suffer under a patriarchal framework. Celie's analysis of men's treatment of women reveals a profound awareness of oppressive and dehumanizing social norms.
-"You should just see how they make admiration over them. Praise their smallest accomplishments. Stuff them with palmwine and sweets. No wonder the men are often childish. And a grown child is a dangerous thing, especially since, amongthe Olinka, the husband has life and death power over the wife. If he accuses one of his wives of witchcraft or infidelity, she can be killed". (page 87): We see here the infantilization of grown men and how dangerous they become once they are accostumed to having everything done around the house for them and how they even have the power to make women get killed.
Beautiful quote upon how Celie thinks she is worthless of love and doesn't value her physical appearance:
-"Sometimes I think Shug never love me. I stand looking at my naked self in the looking glass. What would she love? I astmyself. My hair is short and kinky because I don’t straighten it anymore. Once Shug say she love it no need to. My skindark. My nose just a nose. My lips just lips. My body just any woman’s body going through the changes of age. Nothingspecial here for nobody to love. No honey colored curly hair, no cuteness. Nothing young and fresh. My heart must be young and fresh though, it feel like it blooming blood." (page 122)
This is due to the way she is perceived by men and the way they mistreat her and not value her:
-"You’ll be back, he say. Nothing up North for nobody like you. Shug got talent, he say. She can sing. She got spunk, he say.She can talk to anybody. Shug got looks, he say. She can stand up and be notice. But what you got? You ugly. You skinny.You shape funny. You too scared to open your mouth to people. All you fit to do in Memphis is be Shug’s maid. Take outher slop-jar and maybe cook her food. You not that good a cook either. And this house ain’t been clean good since my first wife died. And nobody crazy or backward enough to want to marry you, neither." (page 102)
-Sylvia Plath was one of the most dynamic and admired poets of the 20th century. She had already earned a popularity in the literary community by the time she took her life at age 30. Over the years, her work drew the interest of numerous readers, who recognized in her unique poetry, an effort to document despair, intense feelings, and a concern with mortality and death. In addition to this obsession with death, in her literature, Sylvia Plath is characterized for her representation of a very painful mother-daughter relationship and husband-wife relationship.
·She had the capacity to give voice to her own anger and rage, and also to give voice to the anger and range of other women. With courage and honesty, she expresses in her poetry and in her novel, violent emotions and emotional pain. She expresses her distress, her anxiety, and her despair in the novel The Bell Jar. She also fascinates the readers because she transmits in her poetry and In The Bell Jar, a sense of female victimization and a sense that women are victims in a male-dominated world.
Important quotes from The Bell Jar:
· "I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story.
From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned
and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was
a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the
amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another
fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names
and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and
beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out". (Path, 40): The fig tree is a metaphor for the paths open to the protagonist, Esther Greenwood. Every branch symbolizes a distinct possible future—one is of having conventional roles such as marriage and parenthood, while others point toward more aspirational endeavors like becoming a poet or a professor. The struggles Esther faces in making choices are highlighted by the imagery of “wonderful futures.” However, there is the pressure of expectations that comes with every fig, which is what overhelms her throughout her life, and make her feel as if trapped in a Bell Jar.
· "I knew I should be grateful to Mrs. Guinea, only I couldn't feel a thing. If Mrs.
Guinea had given me a ticket to Europe, or a round-the-world cruise, it wouldn't have
made one scrap of difference to me, because wherever I sat -- on the deck of a ship or at a
street café in Paris or Bangkok -- I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing
in my own sour air" (Plath, 98)
· "I hated these visits, because I kept feeling the visitors measuring my fat and
stringy hair against what I had been and what they wanted me to be, and I knew they
went away utterly confounded.
I thought if they left me alone I might have some peace.
My mother was the worst. She never scolded me, but kept begging me, with a
sorrowful face, to tell her what she had done wrong. She said she was sure the doctors
thought she had done something wrong because they asked her a lot of questions about
my toilet training, and I had been perfectly trained at a very early age and given her no
trouble whatsoever" (Plath, 107).
·"We'll take up where we left off, Esther," she had said, with her sweet, martyr's
smile. "Well act as if all this were a bad dream."
A bad dream.
To the person in the bell jar, blank and stopped as a dead baby, the world itself is
the bad dream.
A bad dream.
I remembered everything. (Plath, 124)
·These three quotes represent the metaphor of the Bell Jar:The Bell Jar metaphor represents her feelings of being trapped and suffocated. We see her isolation and mental illness, and how she feels terrible no matter what surrounds her. In addition, the bell jar not only represents the expectations, life pressures and feeling of being trapped, but also the fact that she is always judged by others, looking at her from outside her bell jar.
