Allegory And Ambiguity In Katharine Brush's The Birthday Party

The short story presents women as aware but misunderstood by men through use of narrative point of view. In society women are usually seen as inferior to men, and therefore often don’t get the acknowledgement they deserve. “The women held their secrets because when they mentioned it to their husbands or brothers they were laughed at….Instead of sympathy, the husbands and brothers now had a secret weapon”. This shows that women did not share their fears as it gave others ideas to torment them further. Women in the short story are also shown to be fully aware of the boy’s behaviour early on in the story. “The men of his home town said, but how

Does anyone like surprises? Whenever media portrays a surprise party, it is typically in a manner that has the recipient insisting on not having any surprise party. Something usually goes wrong to prove them right. If it is not something at the gathering, it is the guest of honor turning into a horrible metaphorical monster because of being forced into the situation. It is a mistrust in surprises that create this kind of reaction, and it is also mistrust that is left behind when someone decides to throw the party anyway. In Jane Kenyon’s poem “Surprise,” she uses female imagery, regression, and active reversal to relay the theme of mistrust.

Writings from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s often depict husbands as controlling. This would lead to the demise of their wives. In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gillman the husband’s insistence upon control, leaves their wives longing for the freedom of simple expression. “The Story of an Hour” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” illustrates how the husband is the controlling figure in the marriage. The two short stories also expose how the oppression put on them by their husband leaves the women unfulfilled and unhappy with their lives.

Question 1 Science fiction often involves social criticism. The use of social criticism, in general, is an author’s interest in addressing specific political, social, cultural, economic or religious issues in their work. When reading or critiquing these stories, it is necessary to see what the author might be saying about our lives, our society, our political or power relations, gender roles, or sexuality. Every author has a point to make, and he may make use of social criticism as a means to this end.

Stevenson, the author observes: “In modern America the home is not the boundary of a woman’s life.” Stevenson describes the task for women, as spouses and moms, has extraordinary preferences, and the author comments how the home can empower women integrity. Essentially, Stevenson wants to advance gender balance by encouraging females, with an emphasis on recognizing and giving ladies more self-sufficiency to deal with their own lives. Gender equality does not imply that men and ladies turn into the same; an entrance to circumstances and life changes is neither subject to, nor obliged by, their gender. Stevenson realizes that gender uniformity requires ladies’ strengthening to guarantee that basic leadership at private and public levels, and access to assets are no longer weighted to support men, so that both ladies and men can completely take an interest in equivalent

Many people describe the role as a mother and a wife as something that is to be welcomed, a natural stage for women. However for the narrator, it changed from something seemingly beautiful to “old foul, bad...” Motherhood to her is then what creative women were to other people during the 19th century. Creativity was natural for the narrator, unlike motherhood; it was part of her being. Motherhood however, was a prison of domestic

Born in 1945, Wilson grew up in a misogynist society. He was able to witness the vocal power that a man could express over a woman. Many women took on the role of staying home to maintain the household and be of service to their husbands.(Women in 1950s). A nuclear family structure was ideal during this time period.(Women in 1950s). Being that Wilson was raised during this era he was apart of a nuclear family, being raised by his mother and her second husband. Moreover, Wilson’s upbringing has influenced his writings. Despite the mentality of a subservient wife and a male being the head of the household, Wilson does not depict the woman of his writings to be subjected to a man’s authority he demonstrates the opposite that can be realized through a deeper analysis of the text.

According to societal expectations, women are expected to be docile and submissive to men. Daisy, a character in The Great Gatsby, claims that she hopes her daughter will “be a fool- that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald 17). Put simply, women are expected to look pretty and keep their mouths shut and opinions to themselves. By being a “beautiful little fool” a girl would grow up, unaware and ignorant of the constraints put on her (Fitzgerald 17). Similarly, Rugen from The Princess Bride says, “Your

Women in history stood best known for a less ascendant sex in the mid-nineteen centuries. Since times have gone by women had fought for their equal rights and freedom. There had been many stereotypes, where the women were considered as a slave to the men’s because the women’s position was to be the homemakers and a mother to their children, while the men’s are out socializing with others. If they were not happy with the marriage, they cannot just walk out or complain because a women role is to endure all these pains without a word coming out of their mouths. Two out of the ordinary short stories, “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Story of An Hour,” mostly focused on a women’s dilemma that they faced near the 19th century. The two main characters in the short stories show some resemblances in some ways, but both characters portrayed them in different ways of how they dealt their sorrows in their marriages.

The roles and expectations for women in the 1950s differed in many ways from today’s society. “Society placed high importance and many expectations on behavior at home as well as in public” (Colorado.edu). In the 1950s women were considered “housewives”. Women’s sole purpose was to maintain the home, take care of the children, provide meals, and be obedient wives. “Good wives” listened to their

In 1950’s society, both women and men had their place. Although men may have more opportunities and differentiation than women, they both still have their places. Generally, a woman’s literal place is in the household, often the kitchen to be more exact. The typical housewife wears a conservative dress, heels, pearls, and possibly an apron depending on whether they are “on duty” or not. This standard lifestyle of women is portrayed well through Gidget’s mother. Gidget, however, does not seem to want to follow in the footsteps of her mother in this jail cell of a stereotypical matriarchal role. Instead of wiping cake batter off her fingers, Gidget would rather wipe sand off her feet after a long day of surfing. While

  Women were once little more than slaves to their male "betters." Some women might have been respected, but their places were limited to roles as wives and mothers. They might rule a home, but were not believed intelligent enough for any other role. This chauvinistic attitude is well reflected in the novels Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, and Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad.

“The Yellow Wallpaper”, written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “The Chrysanthemums”, by John Steinbeck, are two inspirational stories about the limitations and stereotypical roles of a woman in the early 1900’s. The reader can easily conclude that in both of the stories, the women feel like they are underappreciated by their husbands. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the woman keeps describing herself as “one’s self”, as she feels that she is not her own person. The viewers notice this woman has a husband, John, whom is her caretaker and believes he shows his love in a very dysfunctional way. In order for her to remain stable, she relies on writing, which John does not like and has in his head that she is sick. This

Women were always seen as being inferior or “weak” to men; that they couldn’t do the same things men did because they lacked the physical strength to do so. Because women were physically inferior, it became easy to oppress them due to this difference in power.

During this period in time, men had dominated with power and control over women. Women were seen as weak and powerless, therefore it was assumed and expected of women to obey the