As one can see from these statistics, as the tradition of women writers grew so as did the number of women writers. ... Furthermore, men who had the advantage of education, contemporary male peer groups and/or male literary forefathers, they could learn and work from, only served to reinforce the exclusively male dominated medium that produced the literary icons of the time One can see that Woolf's argument substantiated by studying the inequalities in educational, financial and social background by comparing herself with another nineteenth century writer, William Wordsworth. ... A...

• Word Count: 1471
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Graduate

To Malvolio, she orders that suitors come to call, he inform them that "I am sick, or not at home", as she wants nothing to do with the foolish men who try to curry her favor. The fact that Olivia uses her power as the lady of the house to compel a servant to lie on her behalf so that she can make her romantic and sexual decisions for herself is an affirmation of her agency and the subversive techniques that she uses to achieve it. ... What makes this detail particularly interesting and important is that most women in Shakespeare's day did not work outside the home, particularly...

• Word Count: 2208
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Graduate

Forced to keep her marriage to the Count a secret because of his aversion to her "low degree", and unable to otherwise explain Roderigo's presence in her home every night, Violenta becomes, in the eyes of her neighbors, a rich man's whore, "a prey to shame and dishonesty". ... No matter how regaled her beauty and wit, no matter how well known Roderigo's "inconstancy", no matter the actual truth of the situation - in the eyes of society Violenta can have no other reputation than "that of an abominable whore" because of false appearances and...

• Word Count: 1986
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Graduate