Daniel Defoe.
Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe was a member of the lower middle class, a Dissenting Protestant, and a staunch political activist, all of which contributed to a lifelong sense of alienation and embattlement. He suffered his share of ups and downs, falling into severe financial and legal trouble in mid-life. Having been twice imprisoned himself, Defoe had a first-hand knowledge of the social underworld he describes in Moll Flanders. Because of his class status and religious affiliation, Defoe was in some respects an outsider among the literary figures of his generation. He was educated, but in a practical vein; he did not receive the classical education that informed the careers of Pope and Dryden, for example. Moll Flanders was not a novel that enjoyed great success at the time of its publication; the coarseness of its subject matter alienated many potential readers. It was for later centuries to appreciate the nature of his achievement in this book. Though some 19th- and 20th-century critics have belittled Defoe's technical achievements, he currently enjoys a strong literary reputation and is counted by many contemporary scholars as one of the key figures in the early development of the novel. The full title of Moll Flanders gives an apt summary of the plot: "The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, Etc. Who was born in Newgate, and during a life of continu'd
Moll Flanders essay - marriage and wealth, a moral issue.
MOLL FLANDERS ESSAY: MARRIAGE & WEALTH: A MORAL ISSUE Moll describes the dark fate of children of criminals. Without any system to protect them, they are thrown into the world with no training in any subject and no goal other than starvation or the same life of crime that ended so badly for their parents. Moll's mother had been sentenced to death for having stolen three pieces of cloth. Moll herself was very lucky to be taken in: the parish, the area served by one church, were under no obligation to take care of penniless children who were not born there, or had no other particular claim to charity: "I was not a parish charge upon this or that part of the town by law." Indeed the parish officers tried to find the gypsies in order to send Moll back to them, even though they were unrelated to her and she did not like them. Legally, they could have sent her out to starve: she was saved only by their compassion. Once Moll was taken in, her troubles had not end. An eight-year old child could be made to work all day as a powerless "drudge to some cook maid," learning no useful skills and earning no more than an almost suitable income. Sewing and spinning was not much better: even working all the time, a woman could not earn a living. Moll's pay, "three pence when I spin, and four pence when I work plain work," would not even pay for her food, much less room or clothing. When her
An Analysis and Comparison of the reactions towards confinement and dilemma of Lindo Jong, An-Mei Hsu and Mary Maloney.
An Analysis and Comparison of the reactions towards confinement and dilemma of Lindo Jong, An-Mei Hsu and Mary Maloney The three characters I will compare and analysis include; Lindo Jong (from the short story Red Candle by Amy Tan), Mary Maloney (from the short story Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl) and An-Mei Hsu (from the short story Scar and Magpies by Amy Tan). I will be focusing on how these characters react towards their situations of confinement, which they face with different ways. They also face a dilemma and use their own methods solve their problems. The married Mary Maloney; she is a pregnant housewife whom daily waits patiently, her husband's arrival home from work. Her isolation and devotion for her husband seems at vain when her husband declares that he wants a divorce. At this point Mary turns to anger, jealousy and revenge by murdering him. She understands that if she was caught, it could lead to her death and perhaps her unborn child. Mary turns to deceit and covers up any possibility to find her guilty. At Lindo's side of the story, she goes through the terrible experience of being isolated from her family when they leave her with the signed marriage. Living with the Huang family for many years, she bears loathe of being separated from her family, ordered around by the Huangs and to live with her despised marriage. One day she decided to escape
In The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan explores the different mother-daughter relationships between the characters, and at a lower level, relationships between friends, lovers, and even enemies.
In The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan explores the different mother-daughter relationships between the characters, and at a lower level, relationships between friends, lovers, and even enemies. The mother-daughter relationships are most likely different aspects of Tan's relationship with her mother, and perhaps a figment of her imagination. In this book, she presents the conflicting views and the stories of both sides, providing the reader and ultimately the characters with an understanding of the mentalities of both mother and daughter, and why each one is the way she is. Amy Tan explores the difficulties in growing up as a Chinese-American and the problems assimilating into modern society. The Chinese-American daughters try their best to become "Americanized," at the same time casting off their heritage while their mothers watch on, troubled. Social pressures to become like everyone else, and not to be different are what motivated the daughters to resent their nationality. They didn't try to comprehend their culture, which was a big part of understanding their traditional Chinese mothers. The swan feather in the beginning of the book was a symbol of all hopes and dreams that the mother wanted to give to her daughter. This woman crossing a vast ocean, with only the company of a swan, she was not scared but yet motivated. She dreams for her daughter, and this dream is the driving
A study of 'Charlotte O'Neil's Song' and 'Presents from my aunts in Pakistan'.
A study of 'Charlotte O'Neil's Song' and 'Presents from my aunts in Pakistan' The poem 'Charlotte O'Neil's song' was written by Fiona Farrell in the 1980's. Fiona Farrell originates from New Zealand. This poem comes from a group of poems called passengers, passengers consists of three poems and a song. These poems were set in 1871 and were inspired by 19th Century ship records. Charlotte O'Neil is a real person, she's 17 years old and she travelled on the 'Isabella Hercus' in 1871 from Britain. Farrell stereotyped charlotte's situation on what she knew about lower class women in the late 19th Century. Charlotte left Britain for New Zealand in search of a job to escape from servitude, to find a better life. The poem tells us about Charlotte's strenuous lifestyle and the manner in which her mistress treats her. The poem itself consists of five stanzas; each verse has five or more lines accept for the third. The theme of the poem is of Charlotte O'Neil's bitterness and hatred towards her mistress. She is addressing her opinion of her wretched lifestyle to her mistress. Judging by her tone, she has plenty of courage and knows how to answer up for herself, she might even be described as cheeky. The poem begins with the line "You rang your bell and I answered." From this line you immediately get the impression that Charlotte is being treated like a pet animal in the sense her
Women violence and its connection to sexuality and madness in Marina Carr's Portia Coughlan, By the Bog of Cats and Martin McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Linane.
Women violence and its connection to sexuality and madness in Marina Carr's Portia Coughlan, By the Bog of Cats and Martin McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Linane. According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, violence is a behaviour involving physical force intended to hurt, damage or kill someone or something, a strength of emotion or an unpleasant destructive natural force. The origin of the word comes from Latin where 'violentia' meant 'to have a marked of powerful effect'. Sexuality is defined as a capacity for sexual feelings, where sexual means relating to the instincts, psychological processes and activities connected with physical attraction or intimate physical contact between individuals. As for madness it is a state of being mentally ill, especially severely. Psychology has always associated violence with sexuality and madness claiming that in most cases those terms are inseparable.Violence is usually bred by madness which results from sexuality problems, dissatisfaction with own sexuality results first in depression which can evolve into mad behaviour , and later in violence towards self or others. Irish literature is full of violence having sexual background. Especially women seem to present a perfect example for this thesis. The feeling of being abandoned, useless or misunderstood creates anger and fury which come to the light under the form of violence. Being
Discuss the form and narrative perspective of The Yellow Wallpaper with close reference to language and imagery.
Discuss The Form And Narrative Perspective Of The Yellow Wallpaper With Close Reference To Language And Imagery. Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote the Yellow Wallpaper in 1891. For many years she had suffered from severe and continuous nervous breakdown. She found that doctors and specialist were unsympathetic and they warned her never to write again. However, with the help of a friend she disregarded the doctor's advice and began to write again. She slowly began to live a normal life again and regained some power and control over her own life. The story is an account of a middle class, nineteenth century woman and her struggle with mental illness. She is intelligent and likes to write. She craves intellectual company and stimulation. However, her husband, who is a doctor, advises complete bed rest and has forbidden her to write. A first person narrator tells the story. It is written in the style of her diary, which gives the reader an intimate glimpse into her mind. This enables the reader to trace her decline into insanity. In the first entry the narrator describes the house with mixed feelings. On the one hand, she compliments the house and calls it "The most beautiful place" with a "delicious garden" (p128) but then she seems apprehensive. She dismisses the thoughts that the house may be "haunted" but she still feels that there is "something queer about it." Perhaps she
The Social Constraints of Marriage on Women.
Kimberly Backes Professor Fesmire Humanities 107W 9 February 2004 The Social Constraints of Marriage on Women Virginia Woolf views marriage as very stifling to the identity of women. She feels the institution of marriage creates a mindset in women to be self sacrificing, passive, and to use their talents to excel in domestic tasks. Virginia Woolf calls this mindset the angel in the house. Virginia Woolf kills her own angel and is able to achieve success as a female writer but she knows this is not true for most women in a male-dominated society. Woolf feels women are endowed with all kinds of potential, some of which will never be expressed due to the social restrictions placed on women. People should be valued for their potential, be it realized or not, in addition to being valued for work they have actually performed. Woolf expresses the struggle between the killing the angel and embracing the angel through the character of Clarissa Dalloway in Mrs. Dalloway while Michael Cunningham does this through Laura Brown in The Hours. These women live decades apart but still are in conflict. Clarissa Dalloway embraces the angel in her house since it allows for her to avoid reaching her full potential. She is well aware of her role as a wife and instead of trying to overcome the restrictions, she reinforces them. Clarissa uses the angel as an escape from living a full
Compare and contrast the presentation of women's lives in 'An old woman' by Arun Kolatar and 'Charlotte O'Neil's song' by Fiona Farrell.
Compare and contrast the presentation of women's lives in 'An old woman' by Arun Kolatar and 'Charlotte O'Neil's song' by Fiona Farrell. Fiona Farrell wrote Charlotte O'Neil's song in the 20th C, however it is set in the 19th C. Farrell was born and spent the majority of her life in New Zealand. The poem is about a servant called charlotte who is currently on a ship heading for New Zealand and for her a new life. In the poem she is talking about her "past" life as a servant, she is saying what she had to do while she worked for her master and mistress; she also gives them commands about what they will have to do now she's gone. An old woman was written in the 20th century, by Arun Kolatker. He was visting an ancient Hindu temple in a town called Jejuri. This is when he meets the old woman. Charlotte O'Neil's song begins with Charlotte with her looking back at the tasks she had to do for her master and mistress. She is making statements. 'I scraped out your grate And washed your plate' Here we get the feeling that charlotte is quite bitter. By the end of the poem although she is still angry she is no longer making statements, she is making commands. 'And you can open your own front door.' She is finally free from them and can do what she pleases. 'But your on your own my dear. I won't be there anymore.' She is no longer looking at the past she is looking
chinese cinderella
Chinese Cinderella. Some readers might say Adeline had presented a picture of childhood which was consistently unhappy? Do you agree? Chinese Cinderella is about a young girl battling through life and many misfortunes to finally get a good future, which she gets through sheer perseverance. I believe that Adeline Yen Mah does have a terrible childhood which consists of mainly sorrowful situations; but her being an optimistic child; she is able to transform little actions into something she can find pleasure from. Therefore in this essay I will discuss how I disagree with the statement "Some readers might say Adeline had presented a picture of childhood which was consistently unhappy", as I believe that however rarely it took place there were a few happy situations. I will also try to discuss the idea of how each of these "happy" situations are transformed each time into depressing situations. The story begins with an enthusiastic child, overjoyed by the recent events where she was awarded a prize at school. She is then delighted about the fact that her dearly loved Aunt Baba would keep her certificate in the same box in which she kept her truly, valuable, possessions, as if her "award were also some precious jewel impossible to replace". Therefore I believe she did have moments of true happiness but they were short-lived as these emotions are soon distorted by the