"'Frau Brechenmacher' is a cry against the stupidity and brutality of men and the women who support arrangements through sentimentality or weakness; it is written with feminist rage." Do you agree with the above quote? Discuss.

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Ida Patera        English Literature        Jerudong International School12SFHS        Katherine Mansfield – Frau Brechenmacher         Mrs. Krueger “‘Frau Brechenmacher’ is a cry against the stupidity and brutality of men and the women who support arrangements through sentimentality or weakness; it is written with feminist rage.” Do you agree with the above quote? Discuss.         I do not fully agree that ‘Frau Brechenmacher’ was written with feminist rage. The suppression of woman and the dominance of men had always appeared in most of Mansfield’s writings. However in her biography it has been stated that she does not view herself as a feminist. I think ‘Frau Brechenmacher’ is more of a psychological exploration of women who let men deny them of independent roles and a reminder as well of what is lost once a woman is married. Also, being that the story was set in Germany, we have to take in the account that women, socially and culturally, were viewed and expected to be nothing more then an extension of the men they were with and were primarily viewed just as objects in the German society.         Throughout the story, Mansfield reveals with clarity, how the men completely dominates the women. The opening paragraph of the story immediately gives us a sense of Frau Brechenmacher’s strict household. There is also a sense of rush or hectic as she ‘runs over [Herr Brechenmacher’s] best shirt with hot iron’
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and prepares the rest of his uniform. The mentioning of uniform in the first paragraph, paints a picture of a military structure in the household and being that there are ‘five babies to bed’ gives us an idea of how busy and hard it would be to get things prepared before her husband arrives. The military atmosphere conveys that there is a lack of warmth in the household and everything must be done by schedule, therefore limiting Frau Brechenmacher’s freedom to take a rest once in a while. Frau Brechenmacher is so busy that she does have time to iron ...

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