Little Women is first and foremost a girl's novel "it is written by a girl, about girls, and for girls. ... Social constraints on women during the nineteenth-century play an important role in this novel. ... Alcott stresses the virtue of acting humble and genuine throughout her novel. This virtue is just one I will focus on, in consideration of length restrictions, but it's important to note that Little Women deals with a broad spectrum of emotions and ideas. ... Whereas Alcott seeks to grapple with the hardships of everyday life, putting her characters through common situa...

• Word Count: 1473
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

On the other hand, the fact that the novel was written by a woman is crucial itself, and says a lot. ... In keeping the Victorian mindset, the novel encompasses many stereotypes of gender roles for its main characters. ... Phillip, born with a deformity of the spine, is considered weak throughout the entire novel. ... Lucy Deane, a relative to the Tullivers, is not a main character in the novel. However, it is important to note that she is one of the characters who followed gender roles almost perfectly as an adult. ...

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

The novel "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Attwood tells the story of a near future oppressive society governed by an elite group - men. ... However it is ironic to note that they have turned this side of their "values" on its head - women are not only forbidden to abort unwanted babies, but are forced into a culture where their only purpose is to give birth to healthy babies, "we are two legged wombs, that's all: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices". ... The novel challenges how far a woman is prepared to go in order to achieve her freedom. ... The novel is written in a first-perso...

• Word Count: 1443
• Approx Pages: 6

As the novel progresses, she voices her feelings and begins to put them into action. ... By the end of the novel, Edna is independent from her husband and states, "I am no longer one of Mr. ... From the start of the novel, Edna feels her lust for Robert. ... Robert abandons Edna, leaving her a note, which allows Edna to come to the realization that her life is no longer acceptable according to society's standards and that she is alone in her awakening. ...

• Word Count: 625
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

As the novel progresses, she voices her feelings and begins to put them into action. ... By the end of the novel, Edna is independent from her husband and states, "I am no longer one of Mr. ... From the start of the novel, Edna feels her lust for Robert. ... Robert abandons Edna, leaving her a note, which allows Edna to come to the realization that her life is no longer acceptable according to society's standards and that she is alone in her awakening. ...

• Word Count: 671
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In the Anglo- Saxon time period in which the novel, Beowulf, was written, women were seen to have specifically only one role that was what made them who they were. ... In one important scene in the novel, Grendel's mother's violent ways come out in a fight between her and Beowulf. ... During this time period of the novel, women were shown to have gross- like actions, which is not what a man desired in a woman. ... Note that the author uses 'good warrior' to describe Beowulf in the same line as Grendel's mother having 'horrible claws' to portray how men were...

• Word Count: 1052
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography

Racism is a main issue in the novel. ... Sexism is also a problem in the novel. ... There are many female relationships in the novel. ... During Nettie's time in Africa, Samuel notes to her that the Olinka women have a strong relationship between each other. ... The men in the novel are given no last name. ...

• Word Count: 1740
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

Fiona's character helps Dunny understand the significance of his independence and the realization that "nobody-not even my mother-was to be trusted in this strange world that showed very little of itself on the surface" (pg. 30) Leola Cruickshank Leola's character remains much the same throughout the novel. ... These three represent Dunstan's sexual growth and the fact that he samples women from different walks of life (as he continues to do through the novel). ... The important thing to note is that she makes Ramsay realize that without acknowledging his "devil" (subcons...

• Word Count: 740
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The King of the Novel and the Duchess of Dumb: Exploring Women's Exclusion from Writing Prof.: Donna Vittorio ENGL 205 In the interest of upholding a position of superiority, one might denigrate and ridicule others. ... Leapor notes the different perceptions held of these two people, as early on in the piece Mary's writing is compared to the "rhyme- of December, insinuating something that is disagreeable and lifeless. ... Quoted in Course Notes of ENGL 205*. ... Quoted in Course Notes of ENGL 2...

• Word Count: 1286
• Approx Pages: 5

Written and set in the late 19th century, Bram Stoker's epistolary novel, Dracula, is a pivotal book in the horror/gothic literature. ... I think Stoker showed this as a threat in the novel perhaps because of the society he lived in believed that a woman that embraces her sexuality would have power over a man because she could control and nourish men's greatest sexual desires. ... Although Dracula himself is the embodiment of the horror aspect of the novel, the "hidden horror" lies in the liberation a woman's sexuality. ... " (Stoker 86) With all of this...

• Word Count: 1338
• Approx Pages: 5

In her novel 'Nectar in a Sieve', the central consciousness is that of a woman. This novel is characterized by a fine feminine sensibility. ... Indian womanhood and all its facets are portrayed significantly in Kamala Markandaya's novel 'Nectar in a Sieve'.This image of the unsullied, selfless Indian woman is primary in this novel. ... We note that Rukmani is prepared at an early age to accept her role as a wife, which is evident in the gay response she makes to her mother, "I shall have a grand wedding". In the novel, Rukmani is seen to fulfill all the roles of the In...

• Word Count: 3535
• Approx Pages: 14

The novel, like Trainspotting and Bridget Jones", is another potential cult classic. ... A testament to this is the 2000 release of a movie adaptation of the novel starring John Cusack. Though not a top-grosser, it was heralded for its simple beauty consistent with that of the novel. ... The novel was indeed an accurate depiction of the idiosyncrasies of amorous relationships. ... In a personal note to this writer, she adds that the theory "also looks at male stereotypes but always paralleled with the female stereotype." ...

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

Throughout the novel, Kesey portrays women as dominant and terrifying figures to which men are forced to answer to. ... When I open my eyes she's down the hall about to turn into the glass Nurse's Station where she'll spend the day sitting at her desk and looking out of her window and making notes on what goes on in front of her in the day room during the next eight hours. ... More explicit images of and references to emasculation appear later in the novel, bolstering Kesey's idea of castration set forth by the malicious nurse. ...

• Word Count: 957
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

This is the question that troubles Esther Greenwood in Sylvia Plath's novel "The Bell Jar." ... In the novel "The Bell Jar," Sylvia Plath's style requests her readers to look inside the distraught mind of Ms. ... Pat Macpherson, the author of Reflecting on The Bell Jar states that rather than predominantly ascribing symbolic meaning to the author's use of language, objects, relationships or attempting to understand Esther's inner turmoil through the chaos of the outside world, the novel can be cleanly outlined in terms of Esther's psychological illness and her skewed p...

• Word Count: 2257
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

Characters The Heroine - The novel's protagonist and narrator; we never learn her given name. A shy, self-conscious young woman from a lower-middle class background, she begins the novel as a paid companion to Mrs. ... When the novel begins, he has recently lost his beautiful, accomplished wife, Rebecca, in what the world believes was a tragic drowning. ... Maxim treats her coldly, but later that day he sends a note to the heroine, apologizing for his rudeness at tea. ...

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

The unhealthy male/female relationship in this novel is between Milkman and Hagar. ... Milkman goes to the office and writes Hagar a good-bye note, which ends with a "thank you" for all she had done for him. ... It was not really that note that drove her crazy, but it was seeing Milkman at Mary's bar with a woman from the Honore crowd. ...

• Word Count: 1568
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Abigail's favorite books were novels by Samuel Richardson (pg 11). She got a lot of her ideas from reading Richardson's novels, especially the book Sir Charles Gradison. ... Why didn't more people make a note of her letters? ...

• Word Count: 1735
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

EDNA'S SELF-EXPRESSION In Kate Chopin's novel The Awakening, the protagonist, Edna Pontellier, suddenly finds herself dissatisfied with her marriage and the conservative lifestyle that it allows. ... The mockingbird, which merely whistles inarticulate "fluty notes" with "maddening persistence," resembles Edna's friends who seem to understand Edna but do not speak back. ... The sensuous sound of the surf constantly beckons and seduces Edna throughout the novel. ...

• Word Count: 1307
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

There was also a marked increase in women's non-fiction including Marsh's The Female Captive.9 Female authorship brought up anxieties, suggesting that novel reading would take women out of the domestic sphere and spawn desires that could not be met by the domestic contract.10 With Colley using Marsh's book as a source for her biography, arose some controversy. In Elizabeth Marsh's writings of her travels, on no account did it contain any detailed notes compiled at the time of her journey, and no information about the society she was involved with.11 It was also written t...

• Word Count: 1708
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

The Chrysanthemums Throughout history women have often been portrayed as the subordinates of men or the weaker sex. As a result of these assumptions held by society, women have been working hard to disassociate themselves from these stereotypes and become more independent with their lives. Many...

• Word Count: 1196
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Crosby, who published a novel, The Unexpected Advantages of Balancing Career and Home for Women and Their Families, affirms in her literature that, "intricate experiments by researchers say that children from affluent homes cared my mothers and nannies still displayed significant insecurity in their attachments."" ...

• Word Count: 2200
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School