The, Pistol, And Nym

In the 19th century women were not thought of much as sexual beings, and it was unusual for unmarried women to even speak to a man alone. The main character of this story doesn’t care about men, she sees what she wants and takes it. Laura describes her initial impression of Carmilla: “There was something in this lady's air and appearance so distinguished and even imposing, and in her manner so engaging, as to impress one, quite apart from the dignity of her equipage, with a conviction that she was a person of consequence” (LeFanu 217). Carmilla’s power is constantly demonstrated throughout the story: her treatment of Laura, the axe scene, and the climax. While Carmilla is portrayed as a power figure, all the men in the story seem to have lost some aspect control in their lives. Carmilla continues to be deliberately used as a way to destabilize both the traditional family and social structures. Though most features defy the stereotypes, there are some puzzling features to Carmilla. Throughout the story Laura seems to realize that she is emotionally unstable. In the church Laura observes her trembling as if she was holding back emotions, and barely able to control herself. This could be interpreted as playing to the characterization of women as emotional, although it could also be adding some realism to Carmilla’s character. Laura also has some qualms to

1) The Virginian: The Virginian was a man of justice and order. He strived to keep peace and make sure everything was fair. He was clean and orderly. The Virginian is a cowboy in Wyoming. He is good with people. He is a strong man that fights for himself and justice. When he was faced with Balaam, he attacked and won against him. Balaam was the horse killer, and since the Virginian saw Balaam trying to beat the horse, he became infuriated and killed Balaam. He falls in love at first sight upon meeting Molly Wood.

What are the characters’ emotions, attitudes, and behaviors? What do these indicate to the reader about the character?

These three brides represent the femme fatale, the fatal woman. The over sexualised women whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. These women serve as monstrous reminders of what happens if the boundaries of proper behaviour and traditional gender roles are crossed. These women, although beautiful, possess the wrong type of beauty, one of which brands them as evil, openly sexual and seductive women. Who, in addition lack the chaste passivity and fragility of the ideal Victorian lady, thus making them deserving of some form of punishment in order for them to be returned to their pure, innocent, albeit dead, human form.

     The women in A Tale of Two Cites behave in extremely opposing ways.  Lucie Manette is a frail young woman.  She constantly becomes overwhelmed and faints at even the thought of danger.  She has never been exposed to poverty nor suffered through severe hardships.  Lucie is genteel; she is  constantly pampered and always has people looking out for her.  She is constantly being treated like a small child; "she softly laid the patient [Lucie] on a sofa, and tended her with great skill and gentleness" (23).  Madame Defarge is a ruthless, bloodthirsty, vengeful, and poor woman.  She is best described by Ms. Pross as "the wife of Lucifer" (336).  She readily cuts off a man's head and "she never missed [an execution]" (342).  Madame Defarge's sadistic nature is seen best during the execution of Foulon, an aristocrat.  She tortures him,  "as a cat might have done to a mouse" and his head is impaled "upon a pike, with grass enough in the mouth for all of Saint Antoine to

• What are the ways in which each major character experiences conflict (either with self, with other characters, or with the social and/or physical environment)?

The narrator talks about his many ‘encounters’ with girls, singling out ‘Briony Nevis’ as a particular highlight whom he kissed once at a party and is ‘flat out beautiful with long black hair like some kind of Indian’. There is a definite male domination that is alluded to throughout the story. The introduction of the character Meg again displays poor treatment or women, describing her as ‘thick as a box of hammers’.

In the short story, The Old Chevalier by Isak Dinsen, the male protagonist, Baron von Brackel reflects on his past sexual encounters with two women whose personalities are extremely different from one another. In many novels, short stories and comics authors would create two women as “polar opposites” for a man’s sexual and/or possessive gaze, which is evident in the text. In order to understand, why a man may be attracted to different character traits in women, I will examine The Baron’s attraction to Nathalie and The Mistress by looking at how literary works men portray women, what they find attractive and the fulfilment that men seek from a woman.

The play starts with Sampson and Gregory, two of Capulet’s servants, beginning a quarrel with two servants of Montague. This shows that from the working-class to the upper-class in the two families, they still hold a grudge against the opposite family. Tybalt arrives at the scene, speaking of his loathing of the Montagues, “I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee”. A furious riot develops with Lords Capulet and Montague joining in and officers clubbing both sides of the fight, only for it to be stopped by the neutral Prince Escales. The riot further emphasises the vast level of hate between the two families.

     I have thought about many different ways to organize this paper and have come to the conclusion that the best way to approach the topic is on a book-by-book basis. My perceptions of the gender biases in these books vary greatly and I did not want to begin altering my views on each so that they would fit into certain contrived connections. What interests me most in these stories is how the authors utilize certain character’s within their given environment. Their instincts and reactions are a wonderful window into how the authors perceive these “people” would interact with their surroundings and often are either rewarded or punished by the author through consequences in the plot for

Women are primarily objects of sexual pleasure for the male protagonists. Their characters are always filtered through the men's perspective, with the exception of the maid Bertha, Charlie’s maid, who at times makes fun at either of the brothers. (Perspectives on How Women Internalize the Ideal Beauty Standard, Year Unknown).

Johanna Smith gives many examples of Marlow’s contradictions that his ideological discourse of empire and gender work to mystify. In Heart of Darkness the women are often silenced. Smith points out the example of the laundress: the company’s chief accountant insists that she had to be taught to launder his clothes properly and that she had a strong disliking for the job. But you never truly hear her side of the story; Smith suggests “Marlow’s silencing of the laundress shows Marlow’s authority as the masculine narrator of his story, to conceal not only her story but also those of the other silent women in Heart of Darkness” (Smith 193). Marlow’s Way of self asserting his dominating silence of the women is a clear example of Marlow’s view towards women and is a key illustration of just how much Marlow believes he, as a male, is far more superior than a women.

By projecting a heavy focus upon the manipulation of gender and ambition, Macbeth manages to extract a seemingly alien abstraction of the 1600s into a significant narrative element. The tension that coexists between the relations of gender allow for the complete rupture of all social norms. Macbeth’s world becomes disjointed as his masculinity is questioned, his psyche manipulated, and his future incarcerated. Reaves is of the opinion that “the spiritual well being of Scotland in Macbeth suffers from an infection that festers as the play continues. Where “fair is foul and foul is fair” (1.1.12), the basic binary relationships become blurred” (21). Macbeth certainly possesses little power over his choices, submitting to the machinations his

It is human nature to have issues of balance within any relationship. For example, the knight, desperate in need, found an old woman who knew the answer to save his life. In order for him to receive vindication, he had to pledge his life to her. The old woman at last revealed the answer, that all women want sovereignty over their husbands and lovers (“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” 170-71). In contrast, Walter forces Griselda to be submissive at all times as he tests her loyalty and obedience by pretending to kill both of her children and asking for a phony divorce. One tale appears to suggest that the male should be inferior to his wife as the other tale promotes that the woman should be at least steadfast in adversity and obedient to her significant other. The issue of an unbalance relationship is still a part of modern society because the majority of people are familiar with the saying, “Who wears the pants in the relationship?” That joke derives from the struggle of dominance in a relationship. Yet the characters’ opinions of where they believe a woman belongs in a relationship are slightly polar; both stories are constructed around the theme of struggle in a relationship (“The Clerk’s Tale” 217-24).

Although it was typically unusual, due to social acceptability, women like Mrs. Joe who beat and dominated their husbands were subjected to public humiliation as an informal form of popular justice (Clark 188). Although spousal abuse was acceptable as a means of obtaining control, murder was completely unacceptable. Going back to the idea that female crimes were a betrayal of nature, there was an extra twist to murder when the murderer was a woman (Hughes 86). Female murder criminals were stereotyped as Mr. Jaggers' housekeeper: oversexed, insane, hormonally unbalanced or suffering from some biological defect (Hughes 68). As Pip is told to look at Jaggers housekeeper--"you'll see a wild beast tamed"--one notices the suggestion of a biological defect, or hormonal unbalance (195; ch. 24). Pip is also instructed to "keep your eye on it," as if this woman belongs to neither sex nor is she portrayed as human (195; ch. 24).