Women's Literary Tradition

"Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli

Word Count: 261 "In an Artist's Studio" by Christina Rossetti "Not as she is, but was when hope shone bright; / Not as she is, but as she fills his dream." (Rossetti)     These lines are the last in the single stanza poem by Christina Rossetti called "In an Artist's Studio." These lines are a commentary on what are actually is - visions of people and no reality. They demonstrate that art is created from within oneself and not from truth. Art is reality that has been twisted and contorted into something else, sometimes more beautiful. This also demonstrates why art is so beautiful - because it is not real. The world is messy and scary, but art does not have to show those parts. Art only shows the serene beauty of the world. Even art that depicts ideas that might show the bad parts of the world, is never as ugly as reality is.     The message of this poem reminds one of The Picture of Dorian Gray  by Oscar Wilde. While "In an Artist's Studio...

Word Count: 301 "Goblin Market" by Christina Rossetti "'For there is no friend like a sister / In calm or stormy weather; / To cheer one on the tedious way, / To fetch one if one goes astray, / To lift one if one totters down, / To strengthen whilst one stands.'" (Rossetti)     This quotation creates the final lines of the poem and it depicts the moral behind this work. Throughout the poem, the narrator repeatedly reminds the audience of Lizzie and Laura's love and loyalty for one another as sisters. Their bond was so strong that when Lizzie witnessed Laura deteriorating from eating the fruit from the goblins, she faces the goblins herself. Luckily, she came out of the situation unscathed and saved her sister, but she knew that she might end up like her sister. The story of Jeanie's life and death scare both the sisters enough to know how dire Laura's situation is and motivate Lizzie to risk her own health to save her sister.      This poem also ...

Word Count: 290 Lady Audley's Secret       The scene that I found important in the film  Lady Audley's Secret  is when Lucy states that no aminal being actively hunted accepts its fate. This appears to be conducive to her feelings about her life and situation. She is constantly being chased, or hunted, by someone throughout the entire film. Throughout all of this she never truly gives in. Even at the end of the film when she is taken to a mental institution, she manages to get away and start a completely new life again as she had done once before. It seems as if her former person, beginning with Helen, gets captured by the hunter, but somehow she perseveres and continues on. She never accepts her fate, in fact, she rejects it in a multitude of situations.      Lady Audley wants to be in charge of her own life and destiny. During this time, the fate of a woman rested on her ability to marry well. Because of her past struggles with poverty, she...

 Word count: 317     Pride and Prejudice  by Jane Austen "No, Lizzy, let me once in my life feel how much I have been to blame. I am not afraid of being overpowered by the impression. It will pass away seen enough" (Austen, 271) "'My object then ,' replied Darcy, 'was to shew you, by every civility in my power, that I was not so mean as to resent the past; and I hoped to obtain your forgiveness, to lessen your ill opinion, by letting you see that your reproofs had been attended to.'" (Austen, 334)     The first quotation was pronounced by Mr. Bennet after Lydia had eloped with Mr. Wickham. This quotation relays his guilt over his past actions and his realization of his mistakes. His mistakes do not come from action, but, rather, lack of action. At the beginning of the novel, Mr. Bennet finds Lydia and Kitty's antics to be a source of comedy, rather than a cause for concern. When Lydia asks to go with the Regiment, he allows her to because he beli...

 Word count: 167 "Who Was The Real Jane Austen?" by Timeline - World History Documentaries and Lucy Worsley      As I knew virtually nothing about Jane Austen's life, "Who Was The Real Jane Austen" was immensely  informative. I had always assumed she had married and found love in the same way the protagonists do in her novels, and I was surprised to find the opposite was true. Austen died as a single woman. She never married, and at one point she was proposed to and accepted, but later she decided against the match. Another surprising fact was that Austen lived in poverty for most of her life, similar to the Bennet's in Pride and Prejudice .      Another interesting point was about her writing and novels. Austen began writing at a very young age, and Pride and Prejudice  was her most popular work while she was alive. However, she made very little money from publishing it. She sold the rights to it and did not make a commission, and she instea...

 Word count: 296 Pride and Prejudice  by Jane Austen "Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance" (Austen, 27). "He really believed, that were it not for the inferiority of her connexions, he should be in some danger" (Austen, 53).     The first quotation is pronounced by Charlotte Lucas on the topic of Jane Bennet and Charles Bingly's newly blossoming love. This quotation relays society's view of marriage at the time. Marriage was solely for new connections and property - especially for women. Although this novel focuses mostly on love matches, the reader learns about other, less fortunate matches. For example, Charlotte's match with Mr. Collins is most advantageous for her because she is the eldest in a large family; therefore, she does not have a big dowry for marriage for higher status. This marriage will also allow her younger sisters to "come out" into society sooner so seek husbands. As seen in the second quotations, people of ...

 Word Count: 289 Fantomina  by Eliza Haywood "tis thus our silly, fond, believing Sex are serv'd when they put Faith in Man: So had I been deceiv'd and cheated, had I like the rest believ'd, and sat down mourning in Absence, and vainly waiting recover'd Tendernesses. – How do some Women, (continued she) make their Life a Hell, burning in fruitless Expectations, and dreaming out their Days in Hopes and Fears, then wake at last to all the Horror of Dispair?" (Haywood)     This quotation encapsulates the main character's frustration in Fantomina . It depicts her pain, but also her lovesick stupidity. This quotation came after  Beauplaisir had already become bored with some of her characters, but she still seems surprised he committed the same atrocities with her new persona. She, playing a new role, pursues him repeatedly in hopes he might stay and not get bored, and every time he does, and she is disappointed.  This quotation also relays the fact that she fe...

 Word count: 316 The Duchess The Duke states, "For the life of me I don't understand why women's attire must be so damned complicated." Georgiana replies, "I suppose it's just our way of expressing ourselves." The Duke asks, "Whatever do you mean?" Georgiana replies, "Well, that you have so many ways of expressing yourselves, whereas we must make do with our hats and our dresses, I suppose" (Dibb, 2008) "I am sure you are full of the best intentions, Mr. Fox, but I dare say I would not spend my vote - assuming I had it - on so vague a statement. Either one is free or one is not. The concept of freedom is an absolute. After all, one cannot be moderately dead, moderately loved, or moderately free. It must always remain a matter of either or."       The first quote is dialogue is from the Duke and Georgiana's wedding night. They have this conversation as the Duke undresses her. This scene is immensely powerful. Georgiana ex...