Gender Roles In Sedgwick's Hope Leslie

The title character of Catharine Maria Sedgewick’s novel, Hope Leslie, defies the standards to which women of the era were to adhere. Sedgewick’s novel is set in New England during the 17th century after the Puritans had broken away from the Church of England. Hope Leslie lives in a repressive Puritan society in which women behave passively, submit to the males around them, and live by the Bible. They allow the men of their family to make decisions for them and rarely, if ever, convey an opinion that differs from the status quo. However, Hope Leslie does not conform to the expected behavior of women during that time, behavior that only further expressed the supposed superiority of males. Hope

The next requirement for being a “true woman” was submissiveness. According to society men were superior to women by “God’s appointment.” If they acted otherwise they “tampered with the order of the Universe” (Welter 105). A “true woman” would not question this idea because she already understands her place. Grace Greenwood explained to the women of the Nineteenth Century, “True feminine genius is ever timid, doubtful, and clingingly dependant; a perpetual childhood.” Even in the case of an abusive husband, women were sometimes told to stay quiet

On the surface, women occupy a dominant role in the domestic politics of the novel. Robbie testifies to several ways in which this is true. First,

Authors have addressed the topic of female independence in various literary styles, including novels, novellas, and poetry. In our society today, independence for women is one of the main topics of many songs. The concept of female independence has changed over the years; people have gone from frowning upon female independence to celebrating it. Both Catharine Maria Sedgewick and pop singer Kelly Clarkson address female behavior that now, in the 21st century, is typical for many women. In Sedgewick’s Hope Leslie, the title character portrays a young woman that defies her society’s repressive Puritanical standards; she portrays

Lastly the dependence of men plays an extremely large role in this book. Williams uses Blanche’s and Stella’s dependence on men to expose and critique the treatment of women during the transition from the old to the new South. Both Blanche and Stella see male companions as their only means to achieve happiness, and they depend on men for both their sustenance and their self-image. Blanche recognizes that Stella could be happier without her physically abusive husband, Stanley. Yet, the alternative Blanche

Instead, they are only allowed to pursue painting and music. Women are never allowed to seek either formal employment or solicit for their income independently “The lady not being at hand to speak for herself, her guardian had decided, in her absence, on the earliest day mentioned—the twenty-second of December” (“Woman in White” 180). Nevertheless, women are strictly under the guard of either their uncles or their husbands. Looking after their husbands and children as well as to do housework are woman primary responsibilities. The dress code of the feminine is designed and mandated by the males, which has been tailored in a manner naturally capacitated to impair the women’s swift and comfortable movements. Furthermore, they have no choice in deciding who they should get married to because their male relatives such as uncles, fathers, and brothers play a role when it comes to marriage. “It is an engagement of honor, not of love—her father sanctioned it on his death-bed, two years since—he herself neither welcomed it, nor shrank from it—she was content to make it.” (“Woman in White” 73). However, unimaginable that the decisions made by men on behalf of their sisters and daughters often backfire. It happens when Laura meets misfortunes in her marriage because the husband was imposed on her without her approval. Laura loses the freedom and gets abused, poisoned and imprisoned following the forced marriage. Through the person of Marian, the author

In due course, the following analysis will examine deeper into how the female characters struggle to adhere to their social ideals and how the deviation of gender roles affect the characters’ social status and demises. First, Eliza Wharton’s attainment of freedom after her husband’s death exemplifies the notion of escapism from marriage and the subjugation of individual social status. Marriage during the Federalist Era was perceived as a contract to elevate one’s social status in the society. To women, it was an implicit imprisonment because their interaction with the society was limited, and they also had to bear another entitlement that society could easily use against them, which was being married or widowed women. In The Coquette, after Eliza’s husband death, her life takes a turn as she becomes a widow and a person with entitled class after her husband’s prestigious social status.

American Literature has always been about men and for men. In this essay, we are going to analyze the women’s role in the book, as inferior and weaker gender.

These readings talk about the expectations of women's roles and place in a male chauvinist society. Both Daisy and Marin are women who broke the standards of society, where a woman marries a man (being submissive and scared of him sometimes), devoted to him, completely dependent and pretending to live happily married forever. Marin was trouble, simply because she was an independent woman who used to wear short skirts and smoke cigarettes. In the other hand we have Daisy, who did not smoke, but liked women instead of men. These two women were against all the stereotypes society set regarding women, including being strong like a horse.

Marriage has always been a convoluted subject to every era of time, especially when wealth is brought into the equation of it. During the Romantic Era, the state of marriage illustrated women’s continued inequality in society. For instance, women lacked legal equality once they entered marriage due to coverture, which is the condition of a woman during her married life, when she is under the law of being the authority of and protection of her husband. This basically entails that once a woman marries, she is property of her husband. In later decades, women would make great strides to gain legal recognition. However, during the late eighteenth century, Romantic feminists voiced more practical concerns rather than that of law (Feldman 280). Before the nation could acknowledge women as equals, husbands must first accept their wives as true partners in marriage. This was considered not only logical, but practical. Feminists located one of the sources of inequality within women’s own behavior and the methods they employed to gain husbands. Women had been taught to use beauty and love to attract husbands, but beauty and love are only temporary states. These states do not establish a solid foundation for a lasting marriage. As illustrated in Jane Austen’s novel Emma, a successful marriage is founded upon the match between two personalities, and not upon looks.

This develops the idea that her future with this man as a married woman provided a stable lifestyle where she would not have to live by the rigid patterns of society, reinforcing a modern day feminist reader’s view of the expectations and restrictions placed on unmarried women during the Victorian era.

All characters in the novel are living in a man’s world; nevertheless, the author has tried to change this world by the help of her characters. She shows a myriad of opportunities and different paths of life that woman can take, and more importantly she does not show a perfect world, where women get everything they want, she shows a world where woman do make mistakes, but at the same time they are the ones that pay for these mistakes and correct them.

Examine Austen’s presentation of what is called in the novel, ‘women’s usual occupations of eye, and hand, and mind’. In Jane Austen’s society, the role of women was controlled by what was expected of them. In most cases, marriage was not for love, and was considered as a business arrangement, in which both partners could gain status and financial reassurance. Though Austen opposed the idea of none affectionate marriage, many

As the typical Southern Belle, Scarlett O’Hara enjoys the privileges of a well-to-do Southern woman, living a plantation life in the slave-owning South. She is not a champion of social change outright. Her fiery personality is not necessarily a virtue; though her “unladylike” behavior becomes a kind of feminist rebellion against when coupled with circumstances that cast her from a life of privilege to experiences of bitter responsibility and loss, her initial desires as a woman certainly represent superficial interests as a society girl in a society shaped around society; when she is widowed, her concerns are less for the death of her husband than for the damper that requisite public mourning placed on her social life. Scarlett’s “strength” also derives from self-interest; though her character may be endearing, her personality is distasteful. Despite all of this, and despite the fact that Scarlett O’Hara continues to make mistakes, her strong will and ability to rise to life’s challenges endear her and make her an example of an imperfect—utterly human—strong woman.

The topic of marriage is at the forefront of feminist literature. Throughout our readings, the question of marriage was thoughtfully explored in terms of sovereignty in the relationship and what the results of marriage are for each sex. Emily Dickinson depicts marriage as comparable to slavery and attempts to discard traditional gender roles. Mary Wilkins Freeman, however, embraces the feminine but depicts marriage as the culprit in repressing femininity and sovereignty. Fanny Fern attempts to discard traditional gender roles, much like Dickinson, however she does so through humor. While each author approaches the topic of marriage differently, all seem to share the opinion that marriage steals a woman’s independence.