Oppression Of Women In Letters In Open Secrets, By Alice Munro

Mallard is unsatisfied with the limitations of her marriage, however, like Desiree, she is submissive and believes that the end of her duties as a wife will come at the death of her husband and her freedom will be given to her. Also, she experiences little or no feelings because of her marriage. This is shown when Mrs. Mallard, after hearing of her husband’s death, cries, but ironically she senses a moment of euphoric pleasure at the awaiting freedom in her remaining life. “She saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely.” Mrs. Millard is now aware of things that were not noticeable before such as: the beginning of spring, patches of blue sky through clouds, the twittering of sparrows and the smelling of the pending rain, which may signify the nature of her freedom. Mrs. Mallard would now be able to live her life outside the home and find her identity.

Marilyn relates the oppression of women to a bird stuck in a cage. This was a clever comparison; women should have higher importance to society, notwithstanding, something binds them to become immobile in the social ranks. The birdcage is vague, it symbolizes many situation, and not just the oppression of women. "It is perfectly obvious that the bird is surrounded by a network of systematically related barriers, no one of which would be the least hindrance to its flight,... by the their relations to each other, are as confining as the solid walls of a dungeon"( Paragraph 5). Everyone will fall into a cage where he or she sense there is no solution to a situation.

Alice Munro's short story, "Boys and Girls," explores the different roles of men and women in society through a young girl's discovery of what it means to be a girl. A close examination of the elements of a short story as they are used in "Boys and Girls" helps us to understand the meaning of the story.

Recognized to be one of the most influential feminist novels, A Thousand Splendid Suns reminds readers just how often women are marginalized. And it illustrates how women who speak out are unfairly criticized. Beginning in the early 1960s in Herat, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a book that addresses issues unique to Afghanistan as well as issues worldwide through the eyes of two very different women over the course of 40 years. One main issue that is repeatedly addressed in A Thousand Splendid Suns is oppression of women. Even at the beginning of the book when Mariam is a child her own mother directly tells her not to trust men: “Like a compass needle that always points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman.

Throughout the history of American Literature there has been a common theme of male oppression. Especially towards the end of the 19th century, before the first wave of feminism, women were faced with an unshakeable social prison. Husband, home and children were the only life they knew, many encouraged not to work. That being said, many female writers at the time, including Emily Dickinson and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, were determined to examine the mind behind the American woman, through the lens of mental illness and personal experience.

Alice Walker's The Color Purple is an excellent account of the life of poor black women who must suffer not only social ostracism due to gender and skin color but also women who suffer greatly at the hands of black men.  This is true in terms of infidelity, physical and verbal abuse, and sexual abuse.

The ever changing thoughts and actions of people help to push this novel along and cause progression. In Lives of Girls and Women, author Alice Munro welcomes progression through the changing thoughts of women as

People are shaped by the external forces that act upon them. They can choose whether or not to accept the pressure and conform to them or they can reject it altogether, further reinforcing their original traits. Sometimes these external forces are too substantial for the individual to handle and they have no choice but to conform and submit to these forces. In the short story “Boys and Girls”, written by Alice Munro the protagonist begins to discover that society plays an important role in the shaping of a one's character and personality. In her childhood, the protagonist exhibits a very unorthodox nature as she prefers to do manual labour alongside her father rather than residing in her house doing more domestic tasks. As the protagonist

Expectations are inevitable. People from all around the world are pressured by society to play a certain role or given unrealistic expectations to follow. As an individual we are compelled to accept the role that has been given to us since birth either by choice or by force. In “Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro, the author, depicts the impact on how conformation towards societal values effect how we live our lives, as a result the protagonist instead of following those expectations rebels against society’s norm. Through her struggles of finding acceptance, Munro reveals that one must conform to their duties to be accepted by society, family and themselves.

“For most of history, Anonymous was a woman,” Virginia Woolf once boldly stated. Though she was from a privileged background and was well educated, Woolf still felt she was faced with the oppression that women have been treated with for as far as history goes back. Her education allowed her to explore the works of the most celebrated authors, but one who she had a long and complicated relationship with was the Bard of Avon himself, William Shakespeare. As one of the most highly regarded and well studied authors of all time, Shakespeare has been elevated from mere playwright to a pillar of the British Empire, instrumental to the institutions that boasted British superiority. It is evident throughout Woolf’s writing that Shakespeare’s works were highly influential. Her novels frequently allude to his plays, most notably Orlando, Mrs. Dalloway, and also in her famous essay, A Room of One’s Own. Though Woolf admires Shakespeare’s androgyny (specifically in A Room of One’s Own), she also makes the case that his treatment of female characters does not allow for the women to be three-dimensional, therefore leaving them flat and lacking in depth. Even though for the most part Woolf’s assertion is correct, there are several examples in Shakespeare’s plays that suggest otherwise, namely in the play Othello. Additionally, in a similar vain, one could explore Shakespeare’s treatment of other minority groups in his works, such as Jews and anyone who is not English. Though it is easy to

However, O’Brien presents her character in a sympathetic light which can be described as immensely Chekhovian (Oates). She does not focus upon how this modern woman does not embody a conservative nature; instead she focuses upon how she has been left bereft of emotion through her affair. She “constructs the female identity in The Love Object in terms of a private world of sexual and emotional fulfilment.” Unfortunately, numerous critics have been blinded by the promiscuity within her texts to realise that her narratives explored the issues surrounding female identity within a patriarchal society.

Comparing Female Sexuality in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Alice Munro’s Lives of Girls and Women

Initially, a point that can be studied in Munro’s writing is her ability to write female protagonists that are strong-willed and independently fierce. Nowadays writers try to create female characters based on stock ideas. The woman has to save herself and others from some imminent danger while clearly stating that she can do it all on her own. Admittedly, these views can serve to empower women and give them tools to be stronger and better suited to handle life’s complications. There has been a resurgence of the genre in the past few years, targeting much younger girls as seen in movies such as Brave or Frozen. These preconceived ideas of the perfect independent female serve only as a bias view of women. Not all of them can fit into the roles depicted in action movies, books or television programs. Nevertheless, women can still be powerful at any age. Munro’s vision of women is more appropriate for the day-to-day woman, the daughter, mother, or sister. She, The Munro Woman (Fulford, 2013), can be associated with a greater range of women, which makes Munro’s work relatable to the masses instead of just a few.

The Story of an Hour is short, yet, contains important examples of gender roles in marriage. They are important because they represent how women felt married in the 19th century due to male dominance that manifested throughout marriages all over the world. In The Story of an Hour, Mrs. Mallard is a wife that is, at first, seen as distraught, because of her husband’s death. She starts to cry and run to her room, to soon be lifted with the joy that she is now free. It is clear that she felt trapped in the marriage and is now happy that there is no one controlling her any longer. Mrs. Mallard is a prime example of women in marriages in the 19th century, and even some today. Unfortunately, they have to experience sexism from their husbands. Women are dominated by men in marriage and are expected to acquire the stereotypical gender roles.

Books, plays, and movies that depict culture and social life often make statements about social issues such as gender roles, racism, and class distinction. Stories set up a context in which characters relate, often representing “stock” characters chosen from society and placed in situations where their stereotypical behaviors—and sometimes their breaking of these stereotypes—are highlighted. As feminism became a popular movement in Western countries in general and the United States in particular, female voices were naturally heard through fictional characters. Social and political issues commonly fuel entertainment; feminism, racism, and classism—recurring themes in entertainment through the 20th Century and into the modern day—have