Women's Lesser Lives Under Men
The Divide Between Men and Women
Many women in U.S. and all over the world have had the feeling of being controlled by superior beings, such as men. Women's lives were also very different compared to the lives of men in which there was an unstable equality where men had superiority and women were of the lesser and minor class.
"A Left-Handed Commencement Address"
"Women as women are largely excluded from, alien to, the self-declared male norms of this society, where human beings are called Man, the only respectable god is male, the only direction is up."
"The Story of An Hour"
"There will be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe that have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature."
"The Yellow Wallpaper"
"If a physician of high standing, and one's own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression - a slight hysterical tendency - what is one to do?"
The Lesser Power of Women
The representation of the unbalanced equality in these three short stories gave a good example of how women were most likely seen as by men. The men had the superiority to tell women what to do in which therefore, caused an unstable equality between men and women.
"Antigone"
"We are only women, we cannot fight with men, Antigone!"
"A Left-Handed Commencement Address"
"I'm talking about society, the so-called man's world of institutionalized competition, aggression, violence, authority, and power."
"The Story of An Hour"
"But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely."
The Effects of The Reign of Man
Women have felt many different emotions by the authority of men and after the powerful reign of man, such as fear, strength, and freedom. Women were fearful under the superiority of me. But in some cases as in a husband's death, some women found freedom and opportunities.
"The Yellow Wallpaper"
"But John says I feel so, I shall neglect proper self-control; so I take pains to control myself - before him, at least, and that makes me very tired."
" Antigone"
"I beg the Dead to forgive me, but I am helpless: I must yield to those in authority."
"A Left-Handed Commencement Address"
"In our society, women have lived, and have been despised for living, the whole side of life that includes and takes responsibility for helplessness, weakness, and illness, for the irrational and the irreparable, for all that is obscure, passive, uncontrolled, animal, unclean - the valley of the shadow, the deep, the depths of life."
The Superiority of Men Towards Women
In these three short stories, it was evident that men had high superiority and also had very different lives than women. Women had a whole different side of life in which they lived like prisoners under the unconquerable power and authority of men.
"The Story of an Hour"
"What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!"
"The Yellow Wallpaper"
"I even said so to John one moonlight evening, but he said what I felt was a draught, and shut the window."
"Antigone"
"Fool, adolescent fool! Taken in by a woman!"
The Different Aspects Between Men and Women
As the reign of man ended for some women, they saw many opportunities to take advantage of. Men, however, had a very different aspect of women in which they treated women more like servants than how proper women and wives should've been treated.
"The Story of an Hour" Bibliography
Chopin, Kate. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Kate Chopin: Complete Novels and Stories. Edited by Sandra Gilbert. New York: Library of America, 2002.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" Bibliography
Gilman, Charlotte. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Project Gutenberg, 5 November 2012. 2 February 2015.
"A Left-Handed Commencement Address" Bibliography
Le Guinn, Ursula. "A Left-Handed Commencement Address." Mills College, Oakland, California, 1983. Commencement Address.
"Antigone" Bibliography
Sophocles. "Antigone." F. Storr. Cambridge Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1912. Web.
Mike C. Ramirez
Email: mike.ramirez1998@gmail.com
Location: 316 South 27th Street, Nederland, TX, United States
Phone: 409-543-5246