The film dramatizes these issues so that even if we do not get complete answers to our questions, we do believe that the characters were also tormented by these questions and acted from deep-seated fears, obsessions, desires, and anger. ... The central character is Teena Brandon, who dresses as a male and uses the name Brandon Teena. ... The character John, for instance, becomes quite friendly with Brandon, calling him "little buddy" and treating him in a way that raises questions of latent homosexuality. ... What has always seemed generally simple about gender is made extremely complex whe...

• Word Count: 920
• Approx Pages: 4

Women Prevail in Shakespeare's Comedies William Shakespeare's writings feature many complex and timeless characters. ... A common theme in the two plays is a contrast of characters. ... Katharina in The Taming of the Shrew is undoubtedly the central character in this play. ... This back and forth battle of wits informs the reader early on that Kate is, indeed, a strong character, unlike most women of this era. ... Many argue that she has given up her will and her strong character. ...

• Word Count: 2533
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Since the male protagonist in the story presents a male, mainstream viewpoint, a feminist point of view may lead readers to a more balanced understanding of the character. Apart from this, it is apparent that Hornby has developed a complex character through integrating gender stereotypes into one realistic personality, a technique also seen in his other novels. ... These stereotypes will be analyzed independently and then juxtaposed with corresponding sterotypical female characters in the novel. ... Statement of the Problem Rob, being the unique and well-developed character that he is, al...

• Word Count: 2791
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Although the male characters generally fail to notice or refuse to acknowledge women's authority and influence openly, they are affected by it. The contemporary reader can't help but be aware of them and in many cases, to view many of the characters present in several plays by Shakespeare as some of the main motivators of action as well as some of the most complex characters overall. Some of the most interesting female characters in Shakespeare's writing are Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Viola and Olivia in Twelfth Night, and Gertrude, the Queen of Denmark and Hamle...

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

The role of women in ancient Greek life is deemed irrelevant compared to that of Greek men, however, in tragedies, women are often written as major characters, revealing important insights on the perceptions and treatment of women in society. ... Many Greek plays contain several complex female characters; Aeschylus is a playwright whom incorporates a very complex female character, Clytemnestra in his play Agamemnon. ... Although women play irrelevant roles in everyday Greek life, playwrights incorporate females as major dramatic characters in order to reveal insights on how women were thought ...

• Word Count: 1190
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Unsurprisingly, perhaps due to the complex interplay of sexual tension and gender miscommunication, the conflict between men and women is frequently at the center of successful dramas; audiences can relate to such conflicts, and find them uniquely believable. ... This moment of conflict is fueled by contradictory emotions and motivations in both characters, primarily a mutual love and a mutual need for autonomy and control. ... First, until recently the vast majority of writers were men; capturing female characters accurately without denigrating or elevating their status is difficult in a pr...

• Word Count: 2278
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

This plot development is a staple in the tragic orientation of the play; but how can one explain the seemingly ambiguous qualities of Desdemona's character? ... This depression and the shock she experiences in the final scene surely influenced the outcome of her character. ... Desdemona also travels to Cyprus with Othello, her new husband, thus further cementing her status as a brave and courageous character as she left a safe place for one consumed by death and danger. ... Desdemona is not an ambiguous character, but she is a complex character. ... This person would be wrong, as Desd...

• Word Count: 1219
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The characters must navigate through black magic, incest, rape, and the supernatural as they fall from grace and are faced with their consequences of their actions. ... Antonia's virtue prevents her from having the knowledge to properly protect herself and causes her to be one of the novels weakest characters. ... Beatrice de las Cisternas is a nun who leaves the convent to fulfill her desires and is described by the narrator as, "a character so depraved, she did not long to confine her characters to one being" (134). ... It is clear that "The Monk" portrays female sexuality in ...

• Word Count: 1567
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Summary of Rebecca Rebecca's narrative takes the form of a flashback. The heroine who remains nameless, lives in Europe with her husband, Maxim de Winter traveling from hotel to hotel, harboring memories of a beautiful home called Manderley, which, we learn, has been destroyed by fire. The story be...

• Word Count: 3026
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

These two stories have different settings, different characters, they were even written at different times. ... Both of the authors through their stories lead the way for their characters and their final disillusionment. In his brief yet complex story "Araby-, James Joyce concentrates entirely on his character, a young boy who lived in Dublin around the turn of the century. ... As the story begins the main character is already a young woman. ... Both of the main characters in these stories are dreamers. ...

• Word Count: 776
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The movie and the stories were simple but at the same time complex. ... It was complex because of the manner the stories were told, specifically the story "In a Grove-. ... The characters remained the same, but the details are different and yet the same. ... They built and described the characters of the story. ... Each character tried to make him/herself the hero, trying to prove that s/he was the one who was taking the responsibility for the actions of others. ...

• Word Count: 1134
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

On the contrary " they are quite complex, and, in some aspects, different from the typical characters of the epoch. ... Phillip Wakem, a character who becomes increasingly important as the novel comes to an end, stands in stark contrast to the character of Tom Tulliver. ... The characters' actions are in some kind of a discrepancy with actions of characters in other Victorian novels. The characters are responsible for what they are doing. ... She shows through each character that living life inside a social construction is not rewarding, and, in fact, mostly causes pain for the cha...

• Word Count: 1400
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Through her deployment of the stream of consciousness style, Woolf dives into the inner world of her characters and expresses these themes through their thoughts and feelings. ... Ramsay is too complex a character to simply be seen under the light of traditional Victorian women. ... Through the character of Lily Briscoe, Woolf challenges the conventional female gender role in society and expresses her feminist perspective in regard to female gender role. ... They know that they want their lives to be different and more complex instead of just complying with the conventional female gender role...

• Word Count: 1474
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

In contrast to male characters of the play, female characters lack the vivid, multi-layered human quality that male characters seem to possess. ... Given the complex and compelling traits of the male characters in Death of a Salesman, it is surprising that Miller chose to give so little attention to the female characters. ... Then we have the generic mistress character. ... In the same manner as the other female characters in the play, Miller depicts Miss. Forsythe as gullible and vain barfly characters that lack utter common sense. ...

• Word Count: 1860
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Aeschylus makes her character so dominant, by skillfully reversing the roles between the male characters and Clytemnestra. ... Clytemnestra's character demands complex and clever handling especially if we keep the Greek society in mind and Aeschylus does that with skill. ... Her tragic character experiences pain, which the audience could relate to. ... Throughout the play it is seen that Clytemnestra's character is not afraid to express what she feels. ... The Majority of the characters in Agamemnon have a hate towards Clytemnestra. ...

• Word Count: 1325
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Madame comes off similar to these characteristics but within the story she turns into a different character. ... "She lavished attention on her husband, spoiling and coddling him, and the charm of her person was so great that six years after their first meeting he loved her even more than in the early days". (1034-1035) She tricked him, she made him complexly comfortable so he wouldn't suspect a thing. ...

• Word Count: 559
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The character of Judith (name meaning "Jewish woman", "Jewess", "woman from Judea") in the book bearing the same name is a complex person with many contradictions. ... This is a dramatic and fast moving story once we meet the main character in Judith, half way through the book. ... Critics suggest these changes in her character and appearance can be viewed as demeaning to women and frightening for men – could she achieve the same end if she were the same character when introduced. ... Judith (and other female leaders5) also comments on God's character and ...

• Word Count: 1014
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

I believe The Color Purple to be the most complex, real and truthful novel I have ever read. ... After awhile, however, one begins to slowly unravel the language, and smile at the mistakes the characters make, and how different other cultures can be. ... Walker paints colourful characters in The Color Purple, each of them undergoing a series of changes. In the beginning of the novel, Celie proves herself to be a pathetic character, almost begging the readers to say she should stand up to Mr. ______ and fight back. Sofia is a tough character, but her experiences show that fighting back does...

• Word Count: 949
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Desdemona, of the Shakespearean play Othello, is a very complex character who takes on both roles. ... The majority of the characters in Othello are marked by their power and influence in their society. ... Iago is a character plagued with hate, every move that we see Iago make can be derived from a hatred of one person or another. ... The greatest difference amongst characters can be seen between Othello and Desdemona. ... The other characters in the play act on their emotions, which ultimately leads to trouble. ...

• Word Count: 1594
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

In the character of Claudia, Day has subverted the chauvinistic male stereotype in the detective genre, and changed the way people perceive women. ... The character Claudia is initially portrayed as a typical forties, hard-boiled detective. ... Day is creating a complex character and an interesting voice to express the flexibility and multifariousness of women in today's society. Day has created the character of personified Sydney as being guiltless, yet it is secretly corrupt. ... In created this character, Day has tried to show that in society there is always something to bring us down...

• Word Count: 1571
• Approx Pages: 6

Two characters in Chekhov's "The Lady with the Dog- fell in love. ... He did not know that women are complex individuals who need to be treated as equals. ... His character in Lermontov's "Princess Mary- was able to seduce any woman at will. ... In Gogol's "Nevsky Project-, the romantic character Piskaryov is brought into play. ... Because of that, they are the only genuinely happy characters discussed here. ...

• Word Count: 1555
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

However, in the tragedies of the fifth century, women were dominant major characters that were seen as heroines. ... The character of Clytemnestra in Aeschylus" Agamemnon is very masculine and is shown posses some male traits. ... Euripides Medea is one of the tragedies that shows a woman dominating the rest of the characters in the play. This female character throughout the play criticises the conditions of women and they way they were treated. ... These female characters are just some of the complex, intelligent strong women that appear in Greek tragedy, who seem t...

• Word Count: 1759
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

He presents gender as a changeable trait, not necessarily corresponding to the sex of the character. ... Initially in the play, Shakespeare establishes the conventional definition of a man and a woman in the characters of Orsino and Olivia. ... Shakespeare displays more contradictions in the characters of Viola and Maria, who both have considerable wit and intelligence. ... Therefore, although appearance can amplify and confuse the issue, Shakespeare is presenting gender and identity as much more complex issues, dependent on many factors other than appearance. The language of a character...

• Word Count: 2131
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

However, while Desdemona is strong and bold, Hero can be seen, at least from a modern perspective, as pathetic, while from an Elizabethan audience's point of view she can be seen as an honourable character. ... The subject of chastity and female honour can be further examined by exploring Desdemona's character. ... Her sacrifice at the beginning of the play foreshadows her sacrifice at the end, both in the name of love and honour, thus is a female character who acts honourably. ... Although both strong characters, Emilia differs from Desdemona as she doesn't have the love and d...

• Word Count: 4511
• Approx Pages: 18
• Grade Level: High School

Morel, pitifully living with an Oedipus complex, which enables her to be a powerful hermaphrodite, gaining access to power. Another character, Miriam, is imprisoned by Victorian morality, but her world is not purely spiritual and she desires much more from her life. ... The picture he finished on the day of his mother's death, one that he felt the most satisfied with, was the last thing he did. " Secondly, in this "Oedipus Complex ", Paul abnormally loved his mother. ... Miriam was also a complex character, an overpowering one like Paul's mother which is a plausible reason why Paul i...

• Word Count: 2551
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School