The Role of Women in Literature - Research Paper Example

? 15 February The Role of Women Introduction Women have always been at the center of almost all works of literature. Gender relationships reflected the realities of the social and cultural life and enabled writers to express their attitudes to the norms and social conventions affecting women’s behaviors. As the role of women in society changed, so did the quality and content of classical writing. Needless to say, the roles of women in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, D.H. Lawrence’s “Cocksure Women and Hensure Men”, and Nora Ephron’s “The Hurled Ashtray” differ dramatically. These differences reflect the cultural and social disparities that affected the writers at different times. It would be fair to assume that, written at different times, Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, D.H. Lawrence’s “Cocksure Women and Hensure Men” and Nora Ephron’s “The Hurled Ashtray” depict the long and continuous social progress from complete powerless and subordination, through radical feminism and male chauvinism, towards a reasonable balance of gender forces that gives the woman a voice against injustice and power to fight against discrimination without abusing the rights and position of men. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” is rightly considered as one of the most outstanding feminist stories in classic and modern literature. The story is about a woman who, when she is informed about her husband’s death, experiences unprecedented exhilaration at the fact that she can finally release herself from the chains of marriage. However, once she sees her husband enter the house, she dies of a heart attack – of joy that kills (Chopin 306). The feminist implications of Chopin’s story and its connections to the context in which it was created cannot be ignored. To begin with, the name of Chopin’s protagonist, Louise, closely resembles “Eliza”: Eliza O’Flaherty became one of the role models in Kate Chopin’s story (Toth 10). In Kate Chopin’s story, the woman is depicted in complete submission to the will of marriage (Toth 10). Marriage stands out as an instrument of female imprisonment that deprives women of power and voice and does not let them realize themselves to the fullest. Mrs. Mallard find herself trapped by the marriage conventions of her society, and her husband’s death is the only way to escape this pressure. Bearing in mind the seriousness of marriage and the consequences of freedom for women in Chopin’s society, the writer has to disguise the reality and makes her heroine die (Toth 10). At times of Kate Chopin, a story that depicts a woman who suddenly goes widowed, rich and lives the rest of her life in happiness would have been too radical and challenging (Toth 10). Most probably, if Kate Chopin had her heroine stay alive and live her life without her husband, her story would have never been published. Chopin wanted to tell the story of her own liberation: her father died when she was a child and she was happy to live her life away from the patriarchal conventions of a traditional household (Toth 10). The fact that Kate Chopin’s heroine dies and the fact that Chopin could not publish the story in ways she saw it suggests of the complex social norms that existed at that time. To a large extent, the situation with Mrs. Mallard exemplifies the starting point in women’s subsequent progress to self-liberation and power. D.H. Lawrence’s “Cocksure Women and Hensure Men” can be interpreted as the second stage in women’s evolution from complete submission to personal empowerment and self-liberation. In distinction from Chopin’s Mrs. Mallard, women in Lawrence’s essay make a successful although somewhat radical attack on the outdated norms of gender behavior. D.H. Lawrence writes: “It seems to me there are two aspects to women. There is the demure and the dauntless. Men have loved to dwell, in fiction at least, on the demure maiden whose inevitable reply is: Oh yes, if you please, kind sir!” (10). In other words, D.H. Lawrence exposes the changes women have undergone over the course of human existence, from being predominantly demure to being mainly dauntless. Women in D.H. Lawrence’s essay come in two basic forms: those who are cocksure and those who are hensure (10). The former is a preferred type of woman for D.H. Lawrence, who has no doubts about her social position and is fully confident about her fashionable style (10). The latter, by contrast, are quite outdated and have no idea about what it takes to be modern (D.H. Lawrence 10). The mere fact that D.H. Lawrence divides women into cocksure and hensure implies that the society has undergone a profound social shift since the times of Kate Chopin. That women can be fashionable or unfashionable implies that the contemporary society of D.H. Lawrence gives women a choice – something that was absent in Chopin’s society. Unfortunately, in their striving to power and self-liberation, many women cross the boundaries of reason, and D.H. Lawrence’s essay is actually an attack on the radical forms of feminism that leave no room for femininity (Shiach 74). It seems that, in their way to liberation and freedom, humans inevitably go through certain periods of radicalism and dysfunctional commitment to everything new. It is the time when humans face new frontiers but cannot yet distinguish the good from the bad. Feminism and women are no exception to this rule, and D.H. Lawrence shows that women are not secured from the misbalanced effects of freedom on their lives. In D.H. Lawrence’s society women are much stronger, but they cannot use their strength wisely. As a result, the new society gives rise to new, distorted forms of femininity that are dangerous, fraudulent and false (Shiach 74). Yet, nothing is eternal, and even the utmost forms of radical feminist gradually wane, to give place to subtler and more balanced forms of femininity in contemporary society. This is the next but, probably, not the last stage in women’s evolution toward self-liberation and empowerment, when women have voice against injustice and power to fight against discrimination, without inhibiting on men’s rights. This is exactly how Nora Ephron depicts women in her “The Hurled Ashtray.” In Ephron’s story, the woman is equally submissive and powerful. She expects that men will have enough strength to protect her from the damaging effects of society’s discrimination and, simultaneously, anticipates that these acts of male strength and protection will not violate the norms and traditions of the society in which she lives. However, even norms and conventions do not matter, when men make women feel powerless: “Do you think I couldn’t have handled that, or ignored it? Did I ask you to come to my defense against some poor stupid drunk?” (Ephron 17). In Ephron’s story, making the woman feel powerless is the most serious assault a man could take against a woman in the post-discriminative world. Ephron tells her story as if she knows the state of feminist art and relationships in great detail: her journalistic experiences leave a huge trace that transcends her “feminist” works (McGilligan). Eventually, it is the balance of power and powerlessness of women that Ephron depicts in her story. The roles women play in her society are equally female- and male-like. This is how women, from being submissive and through being radically feminist, manage to achieve the desired balance of femininity, power and voice in their relations with the world. This is the balance that does not inhibit on male powers and leaves sufficient room for male superiority and triumph. Conclusion Women and their role in society have always been among the most popular topics of literary analysis and criticism. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, D.H. Lawrence’s “Cocksure Women and Hensure Men” and Nora Ephron’s “The Hurled Ashtray” depict the long and continuous social progress from complete powerless and subordination, through radical feminism and male chauvinism, towards a reasonable balance of gender forces that gives the woman a voice against injustice and power to fight against discrimination without abusing the rights and position of men. Kate Chopin depicts Mrs. Mallard as totally submissive and trapped in the chains of marriage that does not leave her any chance to escape. Death is the only way to run from powerlessness in Chopin’s society. With time, women come to empower themselves to the extent that turns them into radical feminists, and it is not until Nora Ephron writes her story that women achieve the desired balance of power and powerlessness. This is the balance that gives women voice against discrimination and injustice but does not inhibit on male powers and leaves sufficient room for male superiority and triumph. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.” In R. Scholes, N.R. Comley, C.H. Klaus & M. Silverman (eds), Elements of Literature: Essay, Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Film, 304-6. Print. D.H. Lawrence. “Cocksure Women and Hensure Men.” In R. Scholes, N.R. Comley, C.H. Klaus & M. Silverman (eds), Elements of Literature: Essay, Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Film, 10-12. Print. Ephron, Nora. “The Hurled Ashtray.” In R. Scholes, N.R. Comley, C.H. Klaus & M. Silverman (eds), Elements of Literature: Essay, Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Film, 16-9. Print. McGilligan, Patrick. Backstory 5: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1990s. University of California Press, 2010. Print. Shiach, Morag. Modernism, labor, and selfhood in British literature and culture, 1890-1930. Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print. Toth, Emily. Unveiling Kate Chopin. University Press of Mississippi, 1999. Print. Read More