...Realism in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Churchill’s Top Girls Nineteen-century Europe held rigid conventionalisms of class division, social order and gender roles. Society hid behind the mask of hypocrisy in an attempt to preserve bourgeoisie’s position of power. In that concern, conceptions of ‘liberty of the spirit’[1] and ‘liberty of thought and of the human condition’[2] came to question. Thus, Henrik Ibsen drew attention to the threat to ideas of freedom and public opinion by giving life to A Doll’s House (1879). He aimed to critique constraints of Victorian society rather than vindicating the rights of women. In that sense, in a speech given in his honour by the Norwegian Women’s Rights League on 26 May 1898 he stresses: ‘Whatever I have written has been without any conscious thought of making propaganda. […] To me it has seemed a problem of humanity in general.’[3] Ibsen clearly states he strove to expose the manipulation of individuals’ liberties as he worked for the human cause. In Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls (1982) the aim of the play is to reveal how the fulfilment of women’s self-realization needs in the personal and social spheres is achieved by compromising humanity and morality. In the end, what ‘The New Woman’ gets is disillusionment and loneliness as she finds herself in a predicament: mother or career woman, sensitive or hardened. In Top Girls what is represented is the price women pay to go up the corporate ladder in a male-dominant world. Thus, I will...
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...What is Critical Theory?DefinitionGenerally, Critical Theory is a broad approach to challenging and destabilizing established knowledge.In a more focused sense, Critical Theory comes out of the German 'Frankfurt School,' (who called it Critical Theory of Society or Critical Social Theory)which emphasizes that all knowledge is historical and biased, and that 'objective' knowledge is illusory.DiscussionCritical Theory starts from Marx and Freud and expands through the 20th century to cover areas such as literary criticism, linguistics, semiotics, psychology, philosophy, feminism, screen theory, and includes methods such as structuralism, post-structuralism, deconstruction and postmodernism.Critical Theory is such a huge area, it is almost impossible to cover it in total depth. This section is based on an extension of a study done as a part of a postgraduate university course in psychology. | What is literary criticism? Literary criticism has multiple functions. It is used as a vehicle to interpret or analyze various types of literature, including poetry, novels, and plays. There are many different types, or schools, of literary criticism that can be applied to works of literature. Critical essays are the most common form of literary criticism, and they are generally found in scholarly journals or in books of collected essays or anthologies. In effect, literary criticism explores different possible meanings that a text may have. Criticism may look at an idea in a single text or may...
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...Art history From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the academic discipline of art history. For an overview of the history of art worldwide, see History of art. For other uses, see Art history (disambiguation). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2011) Venus de Milo on display at the Louvre Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style.[1] This includes the "major" arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture as well as the "minor" arts of ceramics, furniture, and other decorative objects. As a term, art history (also history of art) encompasses several methods of studying the visual arts; in common usage referring to works of art and architecture. Aspects of the discipline worms. As the art historian Ernst Gombrich once observed, "the field of art history [is] much like Caesar's Gaul, divided in three parts inhabited by three different, though not necessarily hostile tribes: (i) the connoisseurs, (ii) the critics, and (iii) the academic art historians".[2] As a discipline, art history is distinguished from art criticism, which is concerned with establishing a relative artistic value upon individual works with respect to others of...
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...ENGL 279 Dr. Aiping Zhang Term Paper Proposal The topic I’d like to explore for my term paper is the heavy gender role/ stereotypes placed on women throughout different cultures and times. I want to bring to light the moments in which women were oppressed in all aspects of their life. I am interested in this topic because I am a woman myself and although I haven’t had to deal with all the trials and tribulations as the women of these times, this is still my history. Women have always been oppressed into a stereotype, even in today’s society there are still certain stigmas on the female gender. This issue is discussed and expressed in all forms of today’s media, education, policies and so on. Many perspectives on this issue bring forth feminism acts and organizations with goals aimed towards equal rights for men and women. Without these struggles I don’t know where I’d be in today’s society. The two texts that I have selected to write my comparison on are The Awakening by Kate Chopin and Daisy Miller by Henry James to which I’ll be able to compare the bias and misery between each woman’s struggles. The questions that my research will cover will expand on the ideals and basis of the female gender role throughout history and the main concepts as to why they are placed in those realms. Within my preliminary research I have found the repetitive oppression of the women spirit and freedom. In my paper I will present my two literature selections as support for my findings of the...
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...Nia Nguyen A Blame on Nothing and Nothingness Abject: A Rereading of Vertigo “In a male libidinal economy… the only good woman is a dead woman.” Slavoj Zizek, A Pervert’s Guide to Cinema Robin Wood began his landmark studies, Hitchcock’s Films (1965), with the rhetorical question, “Why should we take Hitchcock seriously?” Yet it was also Wood himself who revised the question in 1983. He asks, “Can Hitchcock be saved for feminism?” While there is no denying the brilliance of Hitchcock’s subjective camera and his skillful manipulation of identification processes, one cannot help but loathe the pungent misogyny prevalent in his works. Vertigo (1958) is arguably no exception. Laura Mulvey, a vocal and influential feminist film critic, contends that Vertigo elucidates an active sadistic voyeurism of the male gaze that subjects the woman, as object-of-desire, to realize his impossible fantasy, time and again at the cost of brutish violence against her body and psychological wellness.[1] Also exploiting Freud’s theory, Tania Modleski deciphers female suffering in Vertigo as a punishment for her inherently close relationship with the mother with which the men envy.[2] In drawing on the phallocentric models of Freud and Lacan, these criticisms bear a blind spot in that they assume certain essentialist sexual development characteristics to formulate the backbone of their analysis, such as Mulvey’s reading of object-of-desire or Modleski’s draw on bisexuality...
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...B.A. (HONOURS) ENGLISH (Three Year Full Time Programme) COURSE CONTENTS (Effective from the Academic Year 2011-2012 onwards) DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH UNIVERSITY OF DELHI DELHI - 110007 0 Course: B.A. (Hons.) English Semester I Paper 1: English Literature 4(i) Paper 2: Twentieth Century Indian Writing(i) Paper 3: Concurrent – Qualifying Language Paper 4: English Literature 4(ii) Semester II Paper 5: Twentieth Century Indian Writing(ii) Paper 6: English Literature 1(i) Paper 7: Concurrent – Credit Language Paper 8: English Literature 1(ii) Semester III Paper 9: English Literature 2(i) Paper 10: Option A: Nineteenth Century European Realism(i) Option B: Classical Literature (i) Option C: Forms of Popular Fiction (i) Paper 11: Concurrent – Interdisciplinary Semester IV Semester V Paper 12: English Literature 2(ii) Paper 13: English Literature 3(i) Paper 14: Option A: Nineteenth Century European Realism(ii) Option B: Classical Literature (ii) Option C: Forms of Popular Fiction (ii) Paper 15: Concurrent – Discipline Centered I Paper 16: English Literature 3(ii) Paper 17: English Literature 5(i) Paper 18: Contemporary Literature(i) Paper 19: Option A: Anglo-American Writing from 1930(i) Option B: Literary Theory (i) Option C: Women’s Writing of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (i) Option D: Modern European Drama (i) Paper 20: English Literature 5(ii) Semester VI Paper 21: Contemporary Literature(ii) Paper 22: Option A: Anglo-American Writing from 1930(ii) Option B:...
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...Raven King Professor Holcomb ENG 3060J 18 September 2012 The Woman Identity Prior to the last 100 years, a woman’s true identity has been suppressed from public due to societal pressures and expectations. For example, women of the 19th century were primarily expected to marry and serve their husbands’ wishes, not receive an education, go out with friends, or find new forms of amusement. Instead, women were required to be at home and loyally obey their husbands. But how long can one go without exploring the inner intricacies of oneself? In her critical essay “Laugh of the Medusa”, Hélène Cixous looks upon the woman who “allows herself to be threatened by the big dick” (347) with contempt and scorn. Still, this intimidation that men have instilled in women is not easily overcome. Colette (1873-1954) and Jean Stubbs (1926- ) expose the risks that come with the discovery of a woman’s true desires in their short stories, “The Secret Woman” and “Cousin Lewis”. When the false woman is revealed, she suffers and is tormented by ridicule or shame even more than when she was in hiding. Cixous wants women to stand out and be who they are by embracing their bodies and being proud of their femininity. Women need to stop being reduced to “the servant of the militant male, his shadow” (338). “Laugh of the Medusa”, is a proclamation to women writers to “write about women and bring women to writing” (334) and to stop hating themselves and hating other women for being women- celebrate...
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...Note: The following excerpts from the MLA Formatting and Style Guide refer only to the most common kinds of sources you will be consulting for your research paper. For other sources not covered in this handout, kindly refer to the MLA 7 Formatting and Style Guide found at the Online Writing Lab of Purdue University, which can be accessed at: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/1/. MLA Works Cited Page: Books When you are gathering book sources, be sure to make note of the following bibliographic items: author name(s), book title, publication date, publisher, place of publication. The medium of publication for all “hard copy” books is Print. Basic Format The author’s name or a book with a single author's name appears in last name, first name format. The basic form for a book citation is: Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication. Book with One Author Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print. Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. Denver: MacMurray, 1999. Print. Book with More Than One Author The first given name appears in last name, first name format; subsequent author names appear in first name last name format. Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Boston: Allyn, 2000. Print. If there are more than three authors, you may choose to list only the first author followed by the phrase et al. (Latin for "and others")...
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...Global Cold War tensions increased as political turmoil turned to violent conflict in developing Third World nations. Responding to all of this, cinema became politicized on a scale not seen since World War II. The Third World was at the forefront of revolutionary cinema as filmmakers in those countries treated cinema as a tool of social change and a weapon of political liberation. This use of film as a social and political force emerged first in Latin America and spread to Africa and China, while also emerging in the First World countries including the U.S.S.R. and United States. The counterculture and the New Left were examples of an international politics of youth that focused on opposition to American involvement in Vietnam, critique of post-World War II capitalist society, and social-protest movements focused on equality of diverse groups. Eventually, radical leftism declined in the mid-1970s, but engaged filmmaking remained central to the micropolitics of the era. A June 1979 alternative-cinema conference in New York assembled over 400 political activists working in film and video in the United States. In some countries, government liberalization led to funding for militant film. The new Labour government in Britain assisted Liberation Film and Cinema Action, while the regional Maisons de la Culture allotted money for local media groups in France. Some parallel distribution and exhibition circuits proved successful in promoting films about nuclear power, day care...
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...The Significance of Cordelia’s Silence in King Lear Cordelia’s silence in King Lear by Shakespeare can be analyzed through different views. Here in this essay I try to criticize this matter through the principles of Kate Millet, Louis Althusser’s hegemony, Jacques Lacan, Roland Barthes, and Michele Foucault’s epitome and language. Although Cordelia’s presence in this play is not much frequent in comparison with the rest of other characters, her silence can reveal exciting information about the historical roots of renaissance. In order to provide a comprehensive approach toward the revelation of the Cordelia’s behavior, I have tried to add historical perspective to all the above mentioned critical thinkers. Kate Millet in her eminent book The Sexual Politics (1969), declares that our sex is determined at the moment of birth by biology and our sexuality is determined by social conventions. For instance, the society decrees that boys must be aggressive and active whereas girls are supposed to be humble and inactive. Now let’s see how far Kate Millet’s claims can be extended to Cordelia’s silence during Renaissance era. Well as we know, Renaissance was a patriarchal period in which men attained the highest jobs such as King, Earl, Minister, and the rest. But women usually had the lowest or the most humble jobs such as cooking and taking care of children. In such a society men used to control women. King Lear was not an exception during his own time. He was the king and had full...
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...Although she spent her years as a writer, she rarely referred to herself as an author the way her husband did and joked when people referred to her as an author. She thought of herself as just a writer. Alice Munro was a compelling author whose work has landed her numerous awards in several countries and even turned down chances of winning more awards. Influences: Alice Munro had many inspirations to include Updike, Cheever, Joyce Carol Oates, Peter Taylor, and William Maxwell. She is often compared to Chekhov, referring to Cynthia Ozick, when it comes to writing style. She fed off of her inspirations to become the author she is today. Cynthia Ozick called her in a vaulting comparison that has become something of an obligatory tip of the critical hat ever since, bringing ever more stratospheric analogies to Tolstoy and Flaubert in its wake. (MERKIN, 2004) Her work: Alice Munro wrote a wide array of work from love to violence to prostitution. She also talked about her young marriage, having kids, getting a divorce, the death of her parents and finding a new husband. She...
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...Being a ‘Team’ Player: The Linguistic Alteration of Identity in Online Communities Dedicated to The Hunger Games In the first chapter of Gender and Language, Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell-Ginet discuss how the connection between language and gender enables a “continual performance” of gendered interactions (33), which, in turn, enables “social reproduction” founded on the separate categories of male and female. They argue that language not only reflects gendered categories but “constructs and maintains these categories” (34). Being such strong categories, they claim it is “impossible” to escape gendered behavior and not influence others to give gendered responses (50). In a later chapter, Eckert and McConnell-Ginet discuss how “gender schemas and ideologies” are implied and interpreted (203). Using an example from a university setting, the authors illustrate their point that the assumption of gender may not result from “the particulars of our exchange but in familiar gender stereotypes” (204). If no specific clues or pronouns are given during the exchange of information, presuppositions relying on stereotypes often emerge. Not only do stereotypes and behavior fill the linguistic gaps, but the power in individual words alone is a cause for concern. Sally McConnell-Ginet explores this further in her article “Words in the World: How and Why Meanings Can Matter.” She argues that single words can carry multiple meanings in each use whether the speaker means them to or not...
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...Bryant-45099 Part I.qxd 10/18/2006 7:42 PM Page 36 5 FEMINIST METHODOLOGIES AND EPISTEMOLOGY ANDREA DOUCET Carleton University, Canada NATASHA S. MAUTHNER University of Aberdeen, Scotland O ver the past 10 years of teaching courses on research methods and feminist approaches to methodologies and epistemologies, a recurring question from our students concerns the distinctiveness of feminist approaches to methods, methodologies, and epistemologies. This key question is posed in different ways: Is there a specifically feminist method? Are there feminist methodologies and epistemologies, or simply feminist approaches to these? Given diversity and debates in feminist theory, how can there be a consensus on what constitutes “feminist” methodologies and epistemologies? Answers to these questions are far from straightforward given the continually evolving nature of feminist reflections on the methodological and epistemological dimensions and dilemmas of research. This chapter on feminist methodologies and epistemologies attempts to address these questions by tracing historical developments in this area, by considering what may be unique about feminist epistemologies and feminist methodologies, by reviewing some of sociology’s key contributions to this area of scholarship and by highlighting some key emergent trends. The chapter begins with a brief overview of the theoretical and historical development of feminist epistemologies, followed by a similar overview...
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...50 Key Concepts in Gender Studies Jane Pilcher & Imelda Whelehan Fifty Key Concepts in Gender Studies i Recent volumes include: Key Concepts in Social Research Geoff Payne and Judy Payne Key Concepts in Medical Sociology Jonathan Gabe, Mike Bury and Mary Ann Elston Forthcoming titles include: Key Concepts in Leisure Studies David Harris Key Concepts in Critical Social Theory Nick Crossley Key Concepts in Urban Studies Mark Gottdiener The SAGE Key Concepts series provide students with accessible and authoritative knowledge of the essential topics in a variety of disciplines. Cross-referenced throughout, the format encourages critical evaluation through understanding. Written by experienced and respected academics, the books are indispensable study aids and guides to comprehension. JANE PILCHER AND IMELDA WHELEHAN Fifty Key Concepts in Gender Studies SAGE Publications London • Thousand Oaks • New Delhi iii © Jane Pilcher and Imelda Whelehan 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the Publishers. SAGE Publications Ltd 1 Oliver’s Yard 55 City Road London EC1Y 1SP SAGE Publications Inc 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd B-42 Panchsheel Enclave Post Box 4109 New Delhi 100 017 British Library...
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...AS/A2 English Literature B Student Guide A-LEVEL STUDENT HANDBOOK CONTENTS PAGE | | | |What we Expect of A-Level Students |3 | |Overview of the AS and A2 Course |4 | |Assessment Objectives |5 | |AS Marking Criteria |6 | |A2 Marking Criteria |7 | |Selecting and Studying Texts |8 | |Approaching Essays – coursework |9 | |Punctuation Guide |11 | |Glossary of Literary Terms |12 | |Reading List ...
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