Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to be nominated as Vice President of
the United States, said "We've chosen the path to equality, don't let them
turn us around." Geraldine Ferraro was right. Women certainly have ‘chosen
the path to equality’ by engaging in ‘Waves of Feminism’ from 19th
century to today. One of branches of Feminism movement is Feminism theory,
which is the extension of Feminism into theoretical or philosophical discourse
to comprehend the nature of gender equality. ‘My heart is broken’ and ‘Prue’
are two short stories that exemplify Feminism theory by incorporating Feminism
to convey the social status of women. However, while the two stories both
suggest the true gender equality is yet to go, they focus on different aspects
of women’s rights.
‘My
heart is broken’ shares common aspects with ‘The Second Wave of Feminism’ in
that it addresses social issues relevant to women’s rights. The story specifically
emphasizes sexual abuse by portraying the rape incident of the protagonist
Jeannie that is not dealt with properly. For instance, instead of seeking for
an assailant of the rape incident to file a lawsuit and to resolve the
situation, most characters in the story except Vern were busy trying to ascribe
the cause of the event to the victim herself. Mrs. Thomson, who is introduced
as Jeannie’s ‘best friend’, does not empathize with the protagonist’s situation
but rather snaps at her by saying “I said nothing makes trouble faster in a
place like this than a grown woman behaving like a little girl.” It is important
to note that the fictitious world of ‘My heart is broken’ is a projection of
the real society itself. Both fictitious and real societies perceive the rape
issue with a merciless cold gaze filled with bias and devoid of empathy towards
victims. However, while Jeannie passively accepts her fate that she has to live
forever haunted by the traumatic event, women living in a real world create ‘The
Second Wave of Feminism’ to reform a society, so that there would no longer be ‘Jeannie’
with broken heart.
‘Prue’
is different to ‘My heart is broken,’ since it is more intimately related to ‘The
Third Wave of Feminism.’ The third wave challenges definitions of femininity
from the second wave, which over-emphasized the experiences of
upper-middle-class white women. ‘Prue’ shares several commonalities with ‘The
Third Wave of Feminism,’ since the story portrays how women who are under
upper-middle-class are treated within a community. To recapitulate several
aspects of the protagonist Prue, she is a lower class woman with very passive
personality. Prue’s passiveness is emphasized by her relationship with Gordon. For
instance, Gordon states “I think I’m in love with this person” but later says “
But I do think I want to marry you, in a few years time.” In other words, he
directly states that he does not regard Prue as top priority, which is an insolent
attitude. However, Prue showed no sign of hurt feelings and merely replied
Gordon’s arrogant statement with “Well, I guess nobody can know what happens in
a few years of time.” Through the relationship between Gordon and the
protagonist, readers can sense that while the protagonist of the story is clearly
Prue, she never plays major role throughout the story. Instead, she merely perceives
ongoing events like a powerless bystander incapable of fostering any changes to
her own situation nor others’ perception towards her. These aspects of Prue transcend
the fictitious world and represent the very reality of women under
upper-middle-class in a real society. Instead of discussing social issues
relevant to women’s rights, Alice Munro attempted to reveal the status of
lower-class women realistically and called attention to the necessity of “The
Third Wave of Feminism” to guarantee these women equal rights.
Overall,
the two stories evidently showed different unique aspects that fit in separate
waves of Feminist movement. ‘My heart is broken’ seems to have its aim at
alerting the society the importance of reform of social systems and perception
to protect women’s rights. On the other hand, ‘Prue’ seems to be more focused
on portraying the life of women situated in class that had not been in the
center of attention. However, readers should not falsely conclude that the two
stories have different ultimate goals. They should always remind that the main
purpose of the Feminist movement, regardless of time periods, is to ensure
women equal rights and that incorporation of Feminism into literature is one
part of such effort.
Well done, but not polished. You write well enough, now you simply have to add the finishing touches that make your writing look more thorough - such as keeping the titles of the short stories consistent (upper or lower case?) and accurate (" and not ').
답글삭제You are spot on when it comes to Gallant's work, and I like that you have a grasp of first wave versus third wave. That said, I don't think Munro had a strong agenda when she wrote Prue, and I don't think Prue, as a character, is a victim or downtrodden woman who society needs to assist. Prue is Prue, and she isn't a distinct feminist icon with a distinct purpose. As readers, we can interpret her in many ways, and while I respect your interpretation, I think it is too concerned with feminism. Is Prue truly lower class? If she is, it isn't that important to the story that is told. Basically, Monro just wants us to spend some time with a woman who has gone through a divorce, doesn't take sex or relationships too seriously, and although she seems to have a diffident attitude towards Gordon and his ridiculous attitude, she does steal his cufflinks for some unknown, yet hinted at, reason. So, it this story isn't so much about rights as it is about women who wander off of the traditional path. It is neither praising nor condemning them, and is simply saying "take a look at this woman" in a Chekhovian sort of way.
All in all, solid work at usual.;)