Throughout the complicated web of humanity, we have had many people that are recognized today as great. From Christopher Columbus to Madonna, fame and recognition have graced many great members of our society. But many more members of our society, that deserve respect, don’t receive it. This was often the case in the past for women, as they were not treated equally to men. Yet the women of these times had a lot of value, especially compared to the praise they were given. Two examples of women of this quality are O-lan from The Good Earth, and the “Virtuous” woman from Proverbs 31:10-31. Both O-lan and The Virtuous Woman have many similarities and a few differences. Both of them provide a lot of value in the relationships that they are a part of, both romantically and platonically. These woman are both models that not only women, but all people should aspire to be like. …show more content…
For example, neither of them need to be spoiled. O-lan spends much of her life in poverty, from her early days as a slave to the days of her and Wang Lung begging in the streets. This parallels The Virtuous Woman, when she is described in Proverbs 31:11-12 “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.” This verse shows that The Virtuous Woman is like O-lan in respect to her humility and acceptance of life. Another way that these characters are similar is there tendency to give to their families. O-lan and the virtuous woman always make sure that their family are taken care of. These good qualities are shared between the two characters, highlighting both of their
Before Wang Lung got O-Lan as his wife, O-Lan was a slave owned by a big house called the Hwang house. She was bought when she was 10 years old and she worked there until she married Wang Lung. She was a respectful, hardworking women and mother of five children. She really respected her husband even though she gets replaced later on in the book.
This is an interesting quote from the book as it establishes two things. One, O-Lan is very devoted to her husband, and two, that Wang doesn’t want to sell his child into slavery, even though it would pay enough for him to be able to take the train back to his land. This quote adds to the fact that O-Lan is fully loyal to Wang Lung, even though he will turn out unfaithful to her. Also, Wang demonstrates love towards his daughter. During this time, girls were looked down upon and rarely loved.
women have made an exceedingly great impact on the world’s economical, social, and political spectrum. However, women are still deemed inferior to men in past and present cultures. The inferiority of women has been portrayed through various avenues such as literature and written works. The Virgil’s Aeneid and Ovid’s Metamorphoses’ women characters are three perfect depictions of how women in today’s society are dominated, disregarded, and discredited.
To begin with, Olan is a character that represents the traditional woman in China that spends her life working and bearing children. Throughout the whole book, she rarely complains and never asks for anything. Even when Wang Lung takes away the pearls he gave her, she doesn't defy him. “...when tears dropped slowly and heavily from her eyes she did not put her hand up to wipe them away…” (Buck 186). Although she is very upset and sad, she stays selfless
While at the same time as exemplifying masculinity through chivalry this line also begins the subversion of gender roles by putting the woman in the more dominant position - she is now in control of this situation. In the following line it is stated that “all the others honored her and offered to serve her” (166). The use of the verbs honor and offer are direct effects of the way they “see” her which continues to implicate the importance of her beauty while also putting her in a dominant role. This is emphasized once again in lines 611-612 “When they had looked at her well, when they greatly praised her beauty” (166). This is another instance in which a verb, “praised,” is a direct result of seeing her beauty. This direct relation between such verbs and her presence helps to demonstrate her force and impact as a woman along with her characterization as a sovereign being. In lines 613-614 it is stated that “she spoke in this way, she didn’t want to wait”
In the modern world women work, vote, run for office and the list goes on. In most aspects, women are equal to men. However, this was not always the case. In centuries past, women were not viewed as being equal to men socially, intellectually, or politically and were thought incapable of accomplishing anything of value. Consequently, many cultures held the view that women were possessions whose only purpose was to be subservient to men. The view of women as mere objects is evident in various works of literature throughout the ages. Two classic works of literature that exemplify this are The Thousand and One Nights and Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of
It is quite clear is that the main virtue of the “good” women is bearing sons to notable (or divine) men, while the crimes of the “bad” women are against their husbands or sons.
strength, capability and manliness attracts her. They weren't taught to love, but for them to love
The Humbling of Prideful Women It has been said that God will humble those who refuse to humble themselves. This certainly seems to be the case for protagonists in the short Stories “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor and “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. “The Necklace” tells the story of Mathilde, a French woman living in the early 1900s, whose pride drives her insatiable materialistic nature and transforms her into her own antagonist through a journey of self-destruction. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” introduces us to a Southern Grandmother whose prideful nature ultimately proves to be her fatal flaw during an encounter with the antagonist known as “The Misfit”. Despite the vastly different settings and events of these
Comparing and contrasting these two strong women, O-lan and The Virtuous Woman can be challenging but life changing. For example, as a reader of The Good Earth and “The Virtuous Woman” one could say they are alike in in some ways but different in many. Each woman has different situations because one comes from demanding orders while the other comes from freedom to do what she pleases. These women have strong families but do not always see eye to eye, which one would learn after seeing both roles as a mother. Life can throw challenging obstacles towards you, but can be conquered through strength.
To begin with, she pointed out examples of how women are treated unfairly in society. She began to point out several double standards. The wife states, “about accused Lamech’s bigamy? Abraham was a holy man I know, And as I understand it Jacob also; And each of them had wives now, more than one, as many other holy men have done.” (61-65) Here, she shows that there is truly a double standard for women who behave in an exact manner as men.
Woman, the most deprived group of humans, is the architect of civilization, the centre of the family, the protector of the house, the inspiration and strength of man on every front, who shaped the purpose of human race. She has proved that she is not weak, brittle and delicate, though physically weak yet spiritually
Throughout history men have been leading the battles, conquering worlds, discovering new lands, but behind every good man is a good woman! So, as I read this week, I learned an enormous amount of information about the diversity of the different roles women play according to where they might live or what era they grew up in. I will address the rights that women had, how they are viewed in society, the comparison between these women and the ones from the New Testament, the evidence to support my claim.
In search of holy joy, women must know who they are in Christ, living it also practice it daily. Yet, the author expresses self-esteem may well determine not only the ability of Christian women to follow God’s call on their life, but indeed the belief that God would call them at all (Pierce and Groothuis 431). Nonetheless, it’s one’s view of one’s self is determined by the way the world sees us, or do we look at ourselves through the lenses of God Himself, according to the truths of His Word? The biblical image of self every time we say or think to ourselves, “I’m not pretty enough. I’m not smart enough. I’m not skinny enough. I’m not funny enough. I’m not successful enough,” we are denying
Upon losing the election to become the 45th president of the United States, Hillary Clinton gave a concession speech and told “all the little girls who are watching this...never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and to achieve your own dreams” (Clinton). While Candidate Hillary Clinton said these girls are “deserving of every chance,” our society may prove otherwise. Although women today are no longer denied basic rights such as voting, our patriarchal society still sets up barriers, which limit a woman’s ability to be considered equal to a man. Here, “equal” would be defined as being perceived in the same light for equal opportunities and outcomes. Similarly, Christian women today are not limited in the same ways they were in early Christianity; however, the Bible still presents women in subalternate roles, compared to men. In American society today, there are double standards in the way men and women are perceived that date back to “traditional” Biblical expectations of women being subservient to men.