Isolation Of Women In English Literature Essay
How do authors portray the isolation of the female protagonists in ‘The Bell Jar’, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, ‘Ariel’ and ‘Look Back in Anger’?
Female emancipation and the struggle for women of existing within a predominately patriarchal society is a prevalent topic in literature. Female heroines are portrayed variably across all eras and genres of literature and yet the use of a melancholic and isolated female protagonist is arguably inescapable as writers continually refer back to a critical portrayal of women in their work. From Chaucer’s presentment of the Wife of Bath as an old hag to John Donne’s plea in his poem ‘Loves Alchemy’ that one should “Hope not for mind in women”1; or one of Shakespeare’s female protagonists, Ophelia driven mad arguably due to her unrequited love for Hamlet. There is a tendency in literature, with particular reference to Shakespeare’s …show more content…
Hughes’ alleged misogynistic tendencies towards his partner could be said to echo Jimmy Porter’s attitude towards his wife in Osborne’s Look Back in Anger, resulting in both the female protagonists of Esther Greenwood and Alison Porter experiencing supreme female isolation. The first person narrative voice of The Bell Jar creates a profound introspection for Esther, which drives the emotional power of the novel. This is also true of the first person narrative highlighting the isolation depicted in The Handmaid’s Tale, although the latter is a work of fiction and the former is a semi-autobiographical novel. With regard to Ariel, even without a specific narrative voice, being poetry it still condenses and crystallises the internal effects of Plath’s isolation and
Female emancipation and the struggle for women of existing within a predominately patriarchal society is a prevalent topic in literature. Female heroines are portrayed variably across all eras and genres of literature and yet the use of a melancholic and isolated female protagonist is arguably inescapable as writers continually refer back to a critical portrayal of women in their work. From Chaucer’s presentment of the Wife of Bath as an old hag to John Donne’s plea in his poem ‘Loves Alchemy’ that one should “Hope not for mind in women”1; or one of Shakespeare’s female protagonists, Ophelia driven mad arguably due to her unrequited love for Hamlet. There is a tendency in literature, with particular reference to Shakespeare’s …show more content…
Hughes’ alleged misogynistic tendencies towards his partner could be said to echo Jimmy Porter’s attitude towards his wife in Osborne’s Look Back in Anger, resulting in both the female protagonists of Esther Greenwood and Alison Porter experiencing supreme female isolation. The first person narrative voice of The Bell Jar creates a profound introspection for Esther, which drives the emotional power of the novel. This is also true of the first person narrative highlighting the isolation depicted in The Handmaid’s Tale, although the latter is a work of fiction and the former is a semi-autobiographical novel. With regard to Ariel, even without a specific narrative voice, being poetry it still condenses and crystallises the internal effects of Plath’s isolation and