Imagine
a woman who is not the main caretaker of her home. She works, comes home, and settles on the couch with a cold glass
of iced-tea while her husband cooks dinner for the family. This is not the typical woman depicted throughout
history in American literature, although it was a role that many women desired
to play. The typical woman was depicted
just the opposite: she was commonly a housewife whose main duties were to
cook, clean, and take care of her children while her husband earned money
for his family.
Now imagine a society where women are highly
respected for their intelligence and their opinions. They are never excluded from political activities
nor are they disrespected or called derogatory names. This is unfortunately an unrealistic society
that has not been depicted in literature. Women were rarely valued for their
intelligence and they were not encouraged to express themselves in any way.
Many opinionated women were discouraged from speaking out, and society
squeezed these women into crevices where they would not be seen nor heard.
Men have always been portrayed as dominators and women as subservient.
Men insisted on holding authority over women and some women actually
believed that this was the way society had to be.
Because of society's harsh treatment of women,
many women developed low self-esteem and a loss of self-assurance. The feeling of being trapped in a dark, lonely
world was a commonly shared feeling among women. Being confined to the house was one factor
that led to this feeling. Some women
longed to have occupations other than housewife, but these desires only got
knocked down by society. In literature,
women are often portrayed as viewing themselves in the same negative manner
as society views them. Even if they start out with high self-esteem
and expectations, they eventually
begin to share society's pessimistic views of women.
It is clear that these themes about women
can be traced in literature throughout modern history, from the mid-19h century
to the mid-20th century. In 1853,
for example, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was published. During the period The Scarlet Letter took place, women were only expected to be housewives.
Hester Prynne had an occupation of making clothes for rich and royal
families, but that was also an acceptable job for women.
Hester goes outside of the "box" that society had created
when she had a sexual affair with a priest, which led to the conception of
a baby.
This novel is set in a Puritan colony in Massachusetts where Puritan
townspeople held strong moral beliefs. One
in particular was about the sin of adultery. Hester Prynne's act appalls the townspeople
and starts a quick rush of gossip, mainly among the women. It is clear that American society in the mid-18th
century, especially the Puritans, condemned women who had sexual affairs.
All the accusations and blame were directed
at the women, because it was being a woman who was also sexual that
society found disgraceful and sinful.
After Hester's "crime" was committed,
she was punished in several ways. First
she was sent to the penitentiary for a short period of time. Then one day, she was taken to town where she
was forced to stand on a platform for several hours while the townspeople
just stood around and stared at her with blame and contempt in their eyes. In addition to that, Hester was forced to wear
a scarlet letter of "A" on the bosom of her dress which stood for
adultery. In an 1886 review of the
book in The Atlantic Monthly magazine, Julian Hawthorne quotes the author
to show that this punishment was issued to protect society and to use it as
a warning for others who were tempted as Hester was.
"We
trample you down," society says in effect to those who break its laws,
"not by any means in order to save your soul, -- for the welfare of that
problematical adjunct to your civic personality is a matter of complete indifference
to us,-- but because, by some act, you have forfeited your claim to our protection, because you are
a clog to our prosperity, and because the spectacle of your agony may discourage
others of similar unlawful inclinations."
Finally,
Hester was excluded from the town and society and forced to live in the depth
of the forest as an outcast with her child.
Whenever she came to town she was given rude looks and unkind murmurs
could be heard by nosy women. This
is how women were treated during the 18th century, just for one sexual affair.
While analyzing the treatment of women by
men in The Scarlet Letter, there are two male characters to must be examined:
Roger Chillingworth and Master Dimmesdale. When Roger Chillingworth, Hester
Prynne's husband, comes back to Massachusetts from a trip, he visits Hester
in the penitentiary. He knows what
"crime" she committed and tries to persuade her to admit the name
of her accomplice. Hester refuses
to reveal his name, which strongly angers Chillingworth.
He is angry not necessarily because he loves his wife, but because
he feels robbed. This feeling indicates
that to Chillingworth, Hester is an object rather than a human being, and
shows how selfish he is. Chillingworth
wants revenge against Hester's accomplice only from himself. He never acknowledges Hester's feelings about
the affair. Just the fact that someone
"robbed" him of his property was enough to motivate him to get revenge
so he will feel satisfied.
Next there is Master Dimmesdale, who refuses
to admit to the town that he is Hester's lover, mainly out of selfishness
as well. Since he is a minister he
has a pristine reputation among the townspeople. Master Dimmesdale is so concerned about keeping
his reputation that he doesn't care if he looses his self-respect, his soul,
etc. Eventually he suggests that Hester
and Pearl flee with him from the town, but he and Hester realize that the
sin will still be with them, no matter where they go.
During all of this drama, Hester feels angry
deep down inside. Because of the guilt
that society presses upon her, she feels at fault for her "sin."
She feels lonely and trapped and feels like she is being punished unfairly. Her strength shines through when she refuses
to reveal her accomplice's name to Chillingworth. She is protecting Dimmesdale,
but at the same time, she is protecting herself. She doesn't actually fight and become physical , but her tone of
voice proves that she has some self-awareness and self-assurance, two characteristics
that women needed to help them through difficult times.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Forty-three years after The Scarlet Letter
was published, a short story titled Maggie: A Girl of the Streets was written
by Stephen Crane. This story takes
place in the slums of New York City. As
a journalist, Crane observed the unsanitary living conditions on the streets
of New York City, noting extremely accurate and realistic details. His story portrays the poverty that overshadowed
a vast majority of the New York population, including the main character's
family. Maggie is a young woman who
lives in a tenement with her alcoholic parents and siblings. Her life at home is miserable, for she lives
in fear of her parents whenever they drink.
Both her mother and her father treat her poorly, and it appears that the mother has slightly
more authority than the father, especially when she is drunk.
Towards
the beginning of the book, Maggie falls in love with a young man who is wealthy.
According to society, this was not an acceptable match.
During that time it was not common for people of different economic
status to intermingle and especially to become romantically involved. One day the young man comes to Maggie's home
and asks her to move away with him, since he is aware of Maggie's sad living
conditions. She agrees even though
her mother is screaming angrily. Here
it seems as if Maggie is almost treated as a princess who is rescued by a
prince. Maggie is thrilled to leave
her unbearable home and to go off with the man who she loves and who she thinks
loves her. Later on, the two go off
to a club where many women are dancing on stage for money and prostitutes
are lingering. The young man spots a woman who he was once
acquainted with and who likes him. She
has an advantage over Maggie, since she is wealthy like the young man. She and the young man start chatting and Maggie
feels excluded and betrayed. Maggie
leaves the club in search of a job, and out of desperation she becomes a prostitute.
This is not only so she can make money but also so she can win back
the man she loves. In the end Maggie feels too much pressure from
her poverty and society, as well as her desire to be with her lover, and she
does the only thing that she thinks well liberate her from her pain: she kills
herself.
From this short story, it is evident how
much poverty affected people's daily lives and caused them to feel pressure
to find a job, especially women. In
this society, women still had similar low occupational expectations as women
in The Scarlet Letter did. Acceptable
jobs were associated with staying home and taking care of the children and
the house chores, or sewing in factories.
Since poverty was so harsh in these times, many
women were forced to find a job to not only support their family and themselves,
but also to keep from starving. According
to Jason P. Mitchell of the University of Mississippi, in his essay "The
Historical Context of Stephen Cranes's Maggie: A Girl of the Streets",
"there was a connection between poverty and prostitution in Maggie."
Many women were only offered a job as a prostitute, which for some
people was considered evil according to their religion and/or morals.
Women like Maggie who hated the idea of prostitution were often left
in a difficult situation. Women did
not receive as many opportunities as men to work, and when they were offered
jobs they were often expected to show off their bodies by dancing at clubs
or to sell their bodies by sleeping with desperate men. Overall, women's social and economic state was poor in the late
19th century.
Just as Hester Prynne felt guilty because
society did not approve of her actions, Maggie felt society did not leave
her another choice except to become a prostitute.
Hester did not have to feel guilty for what she did and Maggie did
not have to become a prostitute, but
because of the great boundaries that blocked women's rights, both women in
these cases did not have much of a choice. Maggie did not have high self-esteem
and she was not very self-assured. She
attempted to become a prostitute mainly to earn money and win back the man
that she was in love with, rather than to please herself. Women during Maggie's times did not have much self-assurance because
of the inhumane living conditions they were surrounded by daily. This prevented them from obtaining the self-confidence
and self-love they needed to overcome their terrible living conditions, as
well as to gain pride at being women.
* * * * * * * * * *
In 1877, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte
Perkins Gilman was published. This
short story is about a woman who suffers from depression and is denied effective
treatment. It reveals the emotions
that many women, including the narrator of the story, felt about being confined
at home as a housewife and a mother, with the inability to do desired hobbies
such as reading and writing. It also
reveals the negative impact that society had on women. In this story, it is evident that women were
expected to stay in the "box": in other words, play their role. If they didn't, there would be consequences
like loosing their family.
The Yellow Wallpaper emphasizes the poor
treatment of women by men during the late 19th century and the debilitating
affects it had on women's psychological health. The narrator (who is not given a name) seeks help from her husband,
John, because he is a physician. John
does not take her illness seriously and he tells her to just rest. He takes her to a summer house in the country,
thinking it will cure his wife.
The narrator's feelings of neglect, and disbelief in her husband's
reaction, can be noted in this quote:
"You
see, he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do? 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? (p.3)
There
are other examples of the narrator's unkind treatment by her husband which
show the dominance that men exercised in these times. First, John restricts her from writing because he thinks it will
only worsen her condition, when actually writing is one of her passions and
one of the only ways to express her feelings about being a women in the 1800's.
Secondly, the husband insists that the narrator stays in a room that
he chose in the summer house, which the narrator dislikes.
She wants to stay in a larger room downstairs which is prettier and
not so stuffy, but her husband does not really care what she wants, only what
he feels is best. Thirdly, the narrator wishes to visit her cousins.
She feels very lonely staying in a room by herself each day, but John refuses
to let her go. From these examples
it can be concluded that women were not taken seriously by men and doctors
when it came to illness. They were
not given the chance to think for themselves nor to openly express themselves.
Men insisted on holding authority over women, which inevitably caused
women to become anxious or depressed.
The social status of women during the late
19th century in The Yellow Wallpaper was not too different from that of Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. Women were assigned the same role as a housewife
and mother. They weren't expected
to want to do anything other than play those roles, and if they did they "suffered
ridicule and punishment from their peers." In Ann J. Lane's introduction to The Charlotte
Perkins Gilman Reader, which is titled
"The Fictional World of Charlotte Perkins Gilman," she wrote, "The
ideal woman was not only assigned a social role that locked her into her home,
but she was also expected to like it, be cheerful and gay, smiling and good
humored." During this time many
women like the narrator were anxious to write, read, and even have a career,
but women who attempted to take on a career often lost their families.
They faced a difficult decision about the direction of their life:
did they want to be a housewife and keep their family or have a career and
loose their family? Society placed women in a position as a housewife
while men were positioned to be the money-earners and family providers.
Women were not supposed to leave this position as much as they desired
to, but for some, it was the only way to seek happiness and liberation.
In this story, the narrator is aware of her
mental illness and tries to get help by asking for her husband's advice.
She refuses to be held down by society as a housewife, but she is unable
to fully escape because of her husband's constraint.
She is depressed because of her expected duty and the pressure that
she feels from it. She tries her best to help free herself and
other "women" in the wallpaper, by ripping off the wallpaper in
her room. This is also a sign of her
desperation to be liberated from her illness.
She had some self-awareness because she knew that she wasn't being
treated fairly by her husband, although
because of the strong impact that her illness brought upon her, she was not
very self-assured.
* * * * * * * * * *
Forty-seven years later, in 1934, the play
The Children's Hour was written. This
play by Lillian Hellman was very controversial and even banned in Boston after
its New York premiere for it's theme of lesbianism. It takes place in a girl's boarding school,
which teaches girls to become "proper" young women by learning how
to mend and sew, along with educational skills such as reading and foreign
languages. One girl in particular,
Mary Tilford, has "unearthly malice and turns her vengeful eyes towards
the headmistresses." She
doesn't like the way she is treated by them, so she creates a lie that the
two teachers are having an affair, which leads to more lies about hearing
"sounds" and even seeing things through the keyhole.
Angered by this rumor, the two teachers sue Mary Tilford's grandmother,
who believes her granddaughter, but they loose their case because they are
unable to prove that they are innocent. Eventually
this lie destroys four people's lives, including one of the headmistresses,
who kills herself from the pressure and the secret feelings that she had about
the other headmistress.
This play does not directly stress the treatment
of women by men, because it deals mainly with the cruelty of society and the
destruction caused by lies. There
is only one main male character, Dr. Cardin, who is engaged to one of the
headmistresses, Karen Wright. From
his portrayal, Hellman showed that some men treated women respectfully and
politely. It also appears that he
took medical issues a bit more seriously than in The Yellow Wallpaper, even
if they were feigned. Mary was constantly
pretending to faint and have "heart attacks" and Dr. Cardin was
always there to help her, even if she didn't actually need help. Dr. Cardin does tell Kate Wright that he doesn't
believe the accusations of lesbianism placed upon her, which shows that he
trusted his fiancee. However, whether
or not he believed her, Ms. Wright felt that she wouldn't be able to have
any type of physical interactions with him without the slight suspicion that
he really felt that the accusations against her might be true.
According to Steve Mencher in his review
of a 1997 production of The Children's Hour on the Internet site ArtZone Arts
News, the play was "seen as a bold statement against McCarthyism. It was a time when lies were destroying many
lives, especially those of artists, and The Children's Hour was a cry for
sanity in an insane time." This
play accentuated how dangerous one lie can become and how harshly society
can react toward it. In this case
it was two women who were innocently accused, although Martha secretly did
have feelings for Kate Wright. Just
as adultery was a sin during the period portrayed in The Scarlet Letter, lesbianism
was a sin during the 1930s. Women
were expected to be feminine and to be housewives and to be supported by men. The thought of two women being romantically
involved during the '30s was unheard of and unacceptable. When Mary and Kate's supposed lesbianism was
exposed in the play, it erupted into a fear among everyone at the boarding
school, including the families of the girls.
The day the rumor became public all of the girls were taken home by
their parents because of their parents' disgust and fear. By analyzing this play, it can be said that
when something uncommon is brought up--something most people never discuss,
such as lesbianism--it can cause concern among people.
Mary Tilford shows that she is not very self-assured
through her vengeful actions. She
longs for attention by everyone, obviously because she does not receive enough
at home, and feels like the only way to get what she wants is to do something
so evil that it draws everyone's attention to her . Martha Dobie, who secretly admires Karen Wright,
is not very self-assured either. She
is madly jealous over Karen's future marriage to Dr. Cardin, which proves
that she is not so satisfied with her own conditions. She eventually kills herself for several reasons,
but mainly because she does not feel like she can live with her own feelings
for Karen Wright. The pressure from
society to be heterosexual is too much for her to bare, so she does the only
thing that can free her from this pressure.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Only two years after the publication of
The Children's Hour, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe was published in 1936.
This short story, written by Carson McCullers, takes place in a small,
lazy town in the South. The main character, Miss Amelia, lives in a two- story
house that she inherited from her father after his death. Miss Amelia is depicted as a very tall, slender
woman who has a masculine disposition. She
loves to wear overalls and is never seen wearing a dress by the townspeople.
She falls in love with her Cousin Lymon, a dwarf, who comes to live
with her in the beginning of the story. Later
in the story, Marvin Macy, Miss Amelia's ex-husband, comes back to town after
spending time in the penitentiary and Cousin Lymon quickly
becomes infatuated with him. This
story is about a love triangle with twists of evil.
At the end of the book, the reader concludes that such a love triangle
cannot survive, and the triangle gets broken apart by a disaster.
The treatment of women by men in The Ballad
of the Sad Cafe can by analyzed through the actions of Marvin Macy. In the beginning of the story he proposes to Miss Amelia, who is
rather surprised that the most handsome man in the town would choose her for
his wife and says "yes." The
night the two newly-weds were married, Marvin Macy tries to sleep with Miss
Amelia. This angered and offended
Miss Amelia and she kicked Marvin Macy out of her house. She told him to sleep outside, but he refused. After he tried to get back into the house,
Miss Amelia threatened to file a court case against Marvin for trespassing,
and that provoked him to leave town. Men
were expected to sleep with there wives and if they didn't, they could be
subject to humiliation. So naturally,
because of society's expectations, Marvin Macy attempted to sleep with his
new wife. What he didn't do was consider
Miss Amelia's feelings about sleeping with him and whether she felt comfortable
sleeping with him or not. He assumed
that she would want to sleep with him, which was not a wise assumption especially
considering the fact that she was not very well acquainted with him.
In
The Ballad of the Sad Cafe the townspeople were involved in everyone's lives.
Since the town was so small, all of the residents were acquainted with each
other and knew each other's business. When the townspeople found out that Miss Amelia
refused to sleep with Marvin Macy on their wedding night, it was considered
a scandal. The scandal was that Miss
Amelia wouldn't sleep with Marvin, rather than that Miss Amelia was asked
to doing something she didn't want to do. Her feelings were totally ignored. This shows how society didn't value women's feelings during this
time.
Miss Amelia had authority over Marvin Macy,
which was something that not many women had during these times. In Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, Maggie's
mother was dominant over her husband, which was unusual in the late
19th century. It is clear that women like Miss Amelia and Maggie's mother were
switching the traditional roles of men and women. Miss Amelia did have an advantage over Marvin Macy, though, since
she was very strong and was skilled in self-defense. Miss Amelia wasn't depicted as the "average" woman during
the 1930's, and perhaps she was starting a new generation of women who refused
to wear dresses and be submissive to their husbands needs.
Miss Amelia was very self-assured, since
she refused to be submissive and she defended herself. An example of her self-assurance can be found
through one of her quotes: "Ho! if I could lay hand on him I would rip
out his gizzard and throw it to the cat!" (p.70) She had a fair amount of self-esteem, as she didn't do anything
to endanger herself, like committing suicide, as other women have done in
past literature. Miss Amelia was well
aware of what she wanted and didn't want.
She valued herself enough not to let men treat her anyway they pleased. Miss Amelia was a strong woman who knew how
to take care of herself and treat herself well, traits that not many women
during her times had for fear of their husbands and society.
* * * * * * * * * * *
In
1960, To Kill a Mockingbird was published.
This well-known novel by Harper Lee takes place in Alabama during the
1930's, a place and time when discrimination and segregation against African-Americans
was unjustly practiced. One man, Atticus,
is strongly against discrimination, and as a lawyer he works on a difficult
case to defend an innocently accused African-American man of rape.
The story is narrated by Atticus's young daughter, Scout, who has similar
liberal beliefs as her father and is quite witty for her age.
To Kill a Mockingbird is based on Scout and her brother Jem's childhood
adventures during a time of poverty and racism.
This book is about human behavior and how it affects the society people
live in.
Scout, whose real name is Jean Louise, is
depicted as a tom-boy in this story. Just
like Miss Amelia, Scout hated to wear dresses and act "lady-like."
She loved to go on adventures with her older brother Jem, rather than
to do the more "normal" girl hobbies, such as sewing or playing
with dolls. Because her non-feminine behavior, Jem's brother
expects Scout to act like a boy rather than like a girl. Sometimes he tells her stop acting like a girl,
which implies that being a girl is an insult. "Scout, I'm tellin' you for the last time, shut your trap or
go home--I declare to the Lord You're gettin' more like a girl everyday!"(p.51)
Scout didn't exactly fit society's idea of an ordinary woman, so she
wasn't expected to act like one. Her
dad notices her uncommon behavior, but he doesn't try to force her to change
her habits or style of dressing .
In this story there is a young woman who
gets beat by her alcoholic father, which is a more violent example of how
women were treated by men. This girl
accuses Tom Robinson, Atticus's client, of raping and beating her when in
reality it was her father who abused her.
Tom Robinson was an African-American and the accuser was white. The accuser seduced Tom, although she refused
to admit it. In society during the
1930's, especially in the South, romantic relationships between African-Americans
and whites were forbidden. Because
of this code, the young woman felt extremely shameful about her action, when
she had no need to be. It wasn't uncommon
for white women to accuse black men of rape during this era.
Many times the women did this in order to destroy the evidence of their
own actions. They couldn't live with the guilt and shame they felt, so they put
blame on the person that they tempted.
Scout was not the typical Southern lady during
the 1930's, and while her father didn't interfere with her non-feminine behavior,
her Aunt Alexandra did. She nagged
Scout to wear a dress and to act properly and "lady-like." "We decided that it would be best for
you to have some feminine influence. It
won't be many years, Jean Louise, before you become interested in clothes
and boys--." Aunt Alexandra was
a very feminine, traditional, conservative women who had trouble understanding
Scout's unusual habits. Scout was
out of society's "box" that defined female behavior, and she had
no intention of trying to fit into that "box."
For a child, Scout was strong in her self-assessment
and self-awareness. She held strong
beliefs against descrimination and for equality, and she always defended them.
She said what was on her mind and she wasn't afraid to express her
opinions:
"Hell
no. She doesn't like me, that's all there is to it, and I don't care. It was her callin' Walter Cunningham trash
that got me goin', Jem, not what she said about being a problem to Atticus.
We got that all straight one time, I asked him if I was a problem and
he said not much of one, at most one that he could always figure out, and
not to worry about my head a second about botherin' him.
Naw, it was Walter--that boy's not trash, Jem.
He ain't like the Ewells."
Scout
was aware of the evils of society even as a child and felt disgusted by them.
Like Miss Amelia, Scout had self-defense skills and she used them whenever
she felt threatened. This proves that Scout had a healthy amount
of self-esteem and cared about her own safety.
She had qualities that helped her through predicaments and accentuated
her unique personality.
* * * * * * * * * * *
In 1943, "Livvie" was written by
Eudora Welty. This short story is
from The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty and is about a young woman named
Livvie who is married to a much older man, Solomon.
Solomon marries Livvie when she is only sixteen and carries her twenty-one
miles away from her home to his home. It appears that Solomon mainly marries Livvie so she will take care
of him, considering that he is such an old age. Welty wrote, "He was good to her, but he kept her in the house."
(p.228) "Solomon had never let
Livvie go any farther than the chicken house and the well." (p.232)
He treated her kindly in some respects, but the fact that he kept her
in the house shows poor treatment of her and a lack of consideration for her
freedom. Livvie feared Solomon, so she always did what she was supposed to.
She made sure everything was perfect for her husband, and she never
wanted him to be uncomfortable or disturbed: "All nights the frogs had
sung out in the swamp, like a commotion in the room, and he had not stirred,
though she lay wide awake and saying "Shh, frogs!" for fear he would
mind them." Solomon is also portrayed as being strict and
Livvie doesn't like to ask him for anything, especially money: "Yes'm.
My husband, he keep the money," said Livvie, trembling.
"He is strict as he can be. He don't know you walk in here--Miss
Baby Marie!" "Right now, he is yonder sound asleep, an old man. I wouldn't ever ask him for anything."
Livvie played the role of a housewife during
her marriage with Solomon. She cooked
all his meals for him and did all of the housework. She acted as more of a maid than a wife, especially since she and Solomon
were not in love and didn't engage in sexual relations. Clearly Solomon dominated Livvie while Livvie
was subservient. Livvie was controlled
by Solomon, and everything she did was for him. Her job was to keep Solomon happy and content;
she never did anything pleasurable for herself, since she was always confined
to the house.
Because of the circumstances of Livvie's
life, she was not self-assured or self-aware.
She did not think of herself, for her job was to think of her husband.
She did not have high self-esteem nor did she ever think about defending
herself against Solomon's strict rules. Sadly,
Livvie believed that she was supposed to be a housewife to Solomon and nothing
else. She probably believed that all women were supposed
to serve their husbands, since she would watch the women workers on the field
bring food to their husbands during lunch-time. Livvie was forced to grow up quickly, being
married at such a tender age, and this prevented her from dreaming about what
she really wanted for herself.
* * * * * * * * * * *
In 1963,twenty years after Livvie was written,
The Bell Jar was published. This feminist novel was written by Slyvia Plath
and was her only novel. The Bell Jar
is about a young woman named Esther Greenwood who becomes depressed after
returning from a month living a glamorous life in New York. Esther travels a difficult journey to overcome
a mental breakdown and struggles with her desire for freedom to live without
society's confinements. This novel
truly opens the reader's eyes to women's frustration and struggles within
society's codes, as well as the tragic results it occasionally brought forth.
"What I hate is the thought of being
under a man's thumb." (p.249) Esther's
statement shows how she felt about being confined by men. Unfortunately for her, many men thought just
the opposite about this statement and believed they were supposed to have
control over women. One man who fits
this description is Buddy Willard, Esther's boyfriend. He believes that a woman can only live as a
housewife and if she doesn't, she will be nobody. "I wonder who you'll marry now, Esther. Now you've been here."(p.271) This is said after Esther has been released
from a sanitarium, and demonstrates how Buddy Willard felt about women and
their independence.
Another example of men's treatment of women
can be seen in Marco, one
of the
men that Esther dated in New York. Esther's
attitude about Marco is clear:
"I
could tell Marco was a woman-hater, because in spite of all the models and
TV starlets in the room that night, he paid attention to nobody but me. Not out of kindness or even curiosity, but
because I'd happened to be dealt to him, like a playing card in a pack of
identical cards." (p.118)
This
statement by Esther reveals a common feeling among women during the 1950's.
Many women felt like objects rather than individual human beings, mainly
because of the treatment they received by men.
Women were mostly admired for their beauty rather than for their intelligence,
and Esther feels like she is just another woman who is picked up by a man
because he is attracted to her. In
one case when Esther unconsciously defends Marco, he pins her to the ground
and starts hurting her until he is satisfied.
Marco is an example of the cruel treatment of women during the 1950's.
Many
women, like the narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper and Esther Greenwood, wanted
to have careers but women were not supposed to want careers in the 1950's.
Esther knew that she wouldn't be fulfilled as a housewife and a mother,
so she escaped from being tied down to marriage.
Society's roles were still the same in this era and women were still
frustrated by these roles. Women like
Esther were discouraged by peers if they spoke out about wanting an occupation
outside the home, because in society a woman was a vital part of a man and
a family's life. Women were supposed
to be happy as housewives, and during the 1950's there were many advertisements
that depicted a smiling American housewife as part of a "perfect"
family.
The title The Bell Jar refers to a glass
jar that an object is placed under to be observed, which is a metaphor of
how Esther feels. Women were valued
as sexual objects during the 1950's (like Marilyn Monroe), and were "looked
upon as objects of their men and their culture." Women were expected to be submissive towards
men and their desires, but many women refused to be so. The terms "slut" and "whore"
were used by men in The Bell Jar as insults to women, which is ironic because
men were the ones who paid women to sleep with them. The men using these terms are implying that
a woman being promiscuous was a bad thing, when in reality both women and
men are promiscuous, and it is not a sin at all but part of human nature.
Esther is not satisfied with herself nor
with society. "It was as if what
I wanted to kill wasn't in that skin or the thin blue pulse that jumped under
my thumb, but somewhere else, deeper, more secret, and a whole lot harder
to get at." (p.165) What Esther
wants to kill is not actually herself, but society's standards that she doesn't
want to conform to. Esther knows
what she wants and what she doesn't want, which proves that she was good at
self-assessment. She didn't have any self-defense skills like
Scout or Miss Amelia, though, but she did know when she was treated badly. Esther's self-esteem is lowered after she is
rejected by a prestigious writing workshop that she wanted to attend, and
feels like a useless failure. Deep
down inside Esther wants to help herself recover; it just takes her a long
and difficult journey to realize that there is some value to living, despite
the demands of society.
* * * * * * * * * * *
The social status of women did not change
dramatically in literature through much of the 19th and 20th centuries, nor
did the treatment of women by men. Women's
self-assesment and self-awareness did improve somewhat towards the mid-20th
century. Today in the 21st century,
the social status of women is very different.
For example, it is very common for women to have a career and there
are fewer women who stay at home as housewives as they did in the past. Women are finally starting to be recognized
for their intelligence and there opinions.
There is an abundance of female scholars who go to college and make
great contributions to the world. Women
are taken more seriously than they were in past centuries, and they are valued
by men and society for more than their appearances and sex appeal. In certain cultures, men are taught to never
hit a woman, while some men unfortunately believe it is acceptable behavior.
Overall, women have finally gained the respect they deserved centuries
ago, as well as the acknowledgment of being equal human beings who have rights,
opinions, and feelings, just as men do.
In some cases, however, the social status
of women hasn't changed at all. There
are still many women who get raped and abused, especially young women. The terms "slut" and "whore"
are still used as insults by males today.
Women who are promiscuous are ridiculed by other women, who call them
names like "hoe" for being so.
There are still prostitutes and women who work at strip clubs who feel
like that is the only job suitable for them.
Women are still advertised as sex objects throughout the media. Some women still find themselves acting submissively
towards men, even though in their hearts they don't feel like they should
be. Women still suffer today to reach
a social status where are they are free from being labeled derogatory names
and are depicted only as sexual objects.
That day is yet to come. In
some families, the roles of the husband and wife are still the same as they
were before, and the husbands are the dominators in the families. There are still families where women are expected
to cook, clean, and take care of the children, while the husbands work and
support the family. Perhaps some day,
the roles of men and women will change, and it will be common for the wife
to come home and settle on the couch with a cold iced tea, while her husband
cooks dinner for the family.
Gilbert, Kelly. "The Yellow Wallpaper": An Autobiography of Emotions
by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Mencher, Steve. ArtsZone Reviews:
July 30th, 1997 The Shaw Festival Niagra on the Lake
Burnett, Tony. Denver & The
West: The Children's Hour
Sjolie, Gyda Elin. "In What Way(s)
Can Slyvia Plath's The Bell Jar Be Seen As an Early Feminist Text?"