Comparing Lucrece And A Woman Killed With Kindness

Does being a female put every woman at a disadvantage in a patriarchal society? In The Marquise of O, Heinrich von Kleist tells the story of a woman named Giulietta who lost her husband, but continues to take care of her children. This almost perfect life of hers came to an end when she was raped and found out she was pregnant without any knowledge of the incident. As a woman living in the 18th century, she was put at a disadvantage because she now had to now find a father for the child in order for her and the child to avoid public scrutiny in the patriarchal society where having a father figure or more so his name was crucial. In this paper, I will be looking at the problem of feminine passivity in the Marquise of O and how this is shown

Purity was no less important than piety. Women were warned men would try to steal their purity, but they must be strong and resist the temptation. Thomas Branagan threatened women a horrible fate if they did not remain pure in the 1808 publication, The Excellency of the Female Character Vindicated, “You will be left in silent sadness to bewail your credulity, imbecility, duplicity, and premature prostitution” (Welter 103). Women of the Nineteenth Century were taught to believe the contradiction that purity before marriage brought happiness, until it was time to be married and all innocence is lost. Without proper preparation to deal with the moral dilemma women were expected to deal with this severe change in their lives without questions (Welter 104).

From this scene, there is clear evidence showing how Tartuffe is a hypocrite. Here, he preaches about the importance of chastity; however, in the scene that follows, he goes against this statement when he tries to pursue Elmire. Tartuffe tries to persuade Elmire to cheat on Orgon, but she comes up with a plan to expose Tartuffe's true personality to Orgon as well as to show him how Tartuffe was trying

Women were also expected to maintain their social positivity and kindness by never speaking or listening to evil about other women. Men hearing these women speak evil would appear to “listen gladly” but ultimately “hold such women in small respect” and “esteem them so lightly as to despise their company” (177.) From the accounts held in The Courtier of women in the Renaissance, it can be said that women were almost considered to be “status symbols” during this time period. Some men aimed to treat women with courtesy and respect but never viewed them as true equals. Women were expected not to make a fuss, not to speak up too loudly, and to act positive and apolitical at every turn, resulting in a stifling lack of agency. As a whole, women were expected to be seen and not heard, ultimately having a scarce role in the era. Even still, misogyny and hatred was ubiquitous in this time period.

Tartuffe is the ultimate hypocrite in this play due to his immoral actions that go against the Catholic ethics, which he preaches. Though he asserts to be religious, righteous, generous, he is in fact, deceitful, avaricious, and immoral (Cashman 80). Tartuffe hypocrisy is contagious, dangerous, and has a negative impact to those surrounding him; it affects Orgon by destabilizing his entire family and making them believe him as a supposedly spiritual man. Furthermore, those who result in believing him grow into pretenders. For example, Madame Pernelle who preaches Christian kindness, assaults her house help, whereas, Orgon commits wickedness against his household. Notably, some characters, such as Elmire, Dorine, and Cleante are strongly against Tartuffe’s hypocrisy. Both Dorine and Cleante employ rhetoric linguistic to attempt to contradict Tartuffe, and although their opinions are coherent, it is hard to triumph against him. Elmire notes, “You see him as a saint. I’m far less awed…in fact, I see right through him. He is fraud” (1.1.23). This aims to expose Tartuffe for what he truly is, by exploiting his lust for her to attest his insincerity to his spouse Orgon.

In the beginning of Chapter 10, Cunegonde’s jewels were taken. “‘[Cunegonde] WHO COULD have stolen my money and diamonds?... [Old Woman,] ‘I strongly suspect a reverend Franciscan who slept in the same inn with us last night in Badajoz’” (37). This quote is saying that Cunegonde and the Old Woman made a specific remark that a holy man can get corrupted and perform a sin. This is significant because this shows how Voltaire displays the use of greed surmounting a person who is pure. Furthermore, another example is when Cunegonde was about to marry a man because of his money but not for his love for her. “Madam, you have seventy-two years of nobility, but not one penny. You now have the chance to become the wife of a man who's the greatest lord in South America and has a very handsome mustache” (51). Cunegonde’s love for Candide disappears when a man offers her a hand in marriage. This quote is important because as Cunegonde questions whether she should marry a man for money, it creates the idea of corruption for her. Voltaire emphasizes the pettiness of human society and greed. In addition, Martin is one of the main characters who show how the world is full of many problems for people to

Tartuffe initially comes off as a well put together religious man, who has nothing but good intentions in mind. However, Tartuffe is deviously disguising his harmful intentions through religion in which he puts on a front of smoke and mirrors hiding the fact that he is, in fact, the opposite of a devout, put together christian.  When Orgon first meets Tartuffe, he has great respect for him simply for the fact that Orgon believes that Tartuffe is a religious man.  Knowing this, Tartuffe believes that he now has the power to do whatever he wants within Orgon’s house.  Molière exposes Tartuffe’s hypocrisy and abuse of religious power through the way that Tartuffe communicates throughout the play.  The character Tartuffe does not appear in the play until the third act, once every other character has had the opportunity to describe their opinion.  Molière uses this as a way to expose tartuffe’s real character through the way tartuffe communicates with the other characters.  When Tartuffe speaks, he portrays a very confident superior being to everybody else with almost a divine presence. It fools the society that tartuffe is targeting and essentially gets what he wants.  He also takes religious passages and interprets them to fit into his

Jean Baptiste Poquelin, better known as Moliere, is one of the most studied and renowned literary authors in history. Moliere was proficient in the art of satire and many of his plays used this element as the forefront of the plots to get across to the audience what it was Moliere wanted to get across. Moliere’s time period allows him to exploit the hypocrisy of his time through the use of his most powerful tool, his characters. During the time of Moliere, France was becoming the major power in Europe.

In the time of the Renaissance society, men often held positions of power over women. Women were not seen as having an independent voice, as they were often seen as property of their fathers before they were married. In The Rape of Lucrece, Tarquin is able to control Lucrece and silence her. The physical act of raping her is able to dominate her physically and emotionally, and that is what remains constant throughout this poem. If Lucrece has anything, it is her chastity which holds great power, and that is stolen from her in such a grotesque way.

In the sixteenth century the role of women in society was very limited. Women were generally stereotyped as housewives and mothers. They were to be married, living their life providing for her husband and children. The patriarchal values of the Elizabethan times regarded women as the weaker sex.’ Men were considered the dominant gender and were treated with the utmost respect by females. Women were mainly restricted within the confines of their homes and were not allowed to go school or to university, but they could be educated at home by private tutors. Men were said to be the ones to provide for their families financially. Women were often seen as not intelligent. Property could not be titled in the name of a female within the family. Legally everything the female had belonged to her husband. Poor and middle class wives were kept very busy but rich women were not idle either. In a big house they had to organize and supervise the servants.

Suzanne Edwards states the tale “refuses the ambiguities of the medieval regulation of sexual violence” there was no difference in a violent attack where a woman was raped by a stranger or acquaintance and the forced sex of her marital partner (3). However, there was a legal difference since a woman was the property of her husband; he could do whatever he wished to her short of murdering her.

In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, an eclectic mix of people gathers together at Tabard Inn to begin a pilgrimage to Canterbury. In the General Prologue, the readers are introduced to each of these characters. Among the pilgrims are the provocative Wife of Bath and the meek Pardoner. These two characters both demonstrate sexuality, in very different ways. Chaucer uses the Wife and the Pardoner to examine sexuality in the medieval period.

In Chaucer’s “Merciles Beautee”, feminine beauty is represented as a superficial threat, “merciless” lust is the sole weapon of the female against man in the fin

Over the centuries, women’s duties or roles in the home and in the work force have arguably changed for the better. In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen teaches the reader about reputation and loves in the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries by showing how Elizabeth shows up in a muddy dress, declines a marriage proposal and how women have changed over time. Anything a woman does is reflected on her future and how other people look at her. When Elizabeth shows up to the Bingley’s in a muddy dress they categorize her as being low class and unfashionable. Charles Bingley, a rich attractive man, and his sister had a reputation to protect by not letting their brother marry a ‘low class girl’. Reputation even today and back in the nineteenth

The debate on whether to sanction Queen Guinevere by death, or not, takes place between the Pope, King Arthur and Sir Lancelot through letters. Men who are the source of women’s suffering are the same ones to redeem them from their bondage.