The ideas of marriage and roles of women Essay Example for Free

The ideas of labor union and situations of wo slicepower EssayThe ideas of marriage and roles of wo hands atomic number 18 in truth dosely linked. Comp ar the word-painting of marriage and mental representation of women in the leash texts studied.I am going to discuss, in this essay, the ideas of marriage and the roles of women at the times the three texts were set in, I sh all in all also talk astir(predicate) how these marriages and roles are similar in the texts. To compare the portrayal of marriage and representation of women the three texts that were studied foetor of Kerosene, which was a short study written by Amrita Pritam. Stench of Kerosene was ab out(a) a schoolboyish Sikh matrimonial wo spell, called Guleri, who could not bear children and how federation viewed and dealt with her due to this. It is a bilgewater of how she is beholdn as an outcast to the family so very muchtimes so that the m polarwise thence brings a new unite muliebrity into t he household to try to replace the old unmatchable this then leads Guleri to suicide. The other texts studied were a short story in epistolary organize called The third Sisters and a fabrication called assumption and injustice.These two stories were both written by Jane Austen and both move up very similar storylines. The Three Sisters is close a girl called bloody shame who receives a proposal from a very wealthy man, Mr wolframs. Mary however finds Mr Watts to be extremely disagree equal and does not know whether to link up him or not. Similarly Pride and Prejudice is about a make, Mrs Bennet, and her struggles of take a shitting her children married to wealthy men. They both show night clubs views of women and how women themselves view marriage and their roles. All three texts show a good indication of how partnership portrayed women at that time.Stench of Kerosene was written in 1927 and was set in a small rural village in Punjab. It was originally written in Punj abi save was all translated in the 1960s. This story was much tragic that the other two stories as integrity of the briny references, Guleri, commit suicide. The way that Guleri kills herself is very tragic and shocking, as she seemed interchangeable a very happy and loved character. She kills herself by soaking herself in kerosene and setting herself alit. The effort behind Pritam putting this in is because she valued to change how ordering viewed and treated women. In the story the club Guleri lived in and their prospects of her were strongly to blame for the outcome of the story.In the Sikh religion both men and women are seen as equal in the religious scriptures. However although Sikh women capture right within the scriptures galore(postnominal) of the scriptures are up to individual interpretation. Most men see the women are their possessions and indeed many an(prenominal) men see it acceptable to shake more than wiz wife, as Manaks mother did, regardless of wh at their present wife may rally. There are many originators to why men may take a punt wife, the close common among the Sikh community at that time was because having more than champion wife would summation the wealth of a man due to the brides family giving the husband a gift when the marriage was secure.This was know as a dowry. Men also married a second wife to divulge an heir if their beginning wife was unable as it was the slip of paper in Stench of Kerosene. The story hints that the main reason behind Guleri committing suicide and the mother regarding Manak to pick up a second wife was that Guleri could not have children. Manaks mother role in society then was to bring up her children well and then to find a good young woman in law who could have children and carry on the family name. She was very narrow and did what society expected of her. She felt that her decision for bringing a new wife into the family was justified, as that was what society expected her to do. She had finishled her role and the expectation that society had put upon her and now she valued a daughter in law who would do the same.The mother was brought up and guided by the expectations of society and she felt that if she had bygone against what society had expected of her then she would have ultimately become an outcast as society would have seen it as her not fulfilling her role as a mother. Guleri on the other hand, did not see it as Manaks mother fulfilling her role, hardly saw her interference as a punishment for not macrocosm able to fulfil expectations put on her by society. In the Sikh religion babies are of great sizeableness and their birth is rejoiced by the family. The birth of a baby is seen as strengthening the stability of the marriage and ensuring the continuance of the family line. If a woman in the Sikh religion is unable to have children then she is unable to inherit land or bullion from her husband when he dies.They are seen as outcasts as they ar e not able to produce an heir. This meant that bearing children was an essential role of a Sikh woman and Guleri was unable to fulfil the role she was expected to and as a result Guleri was made to feel like a gross(a) outcast by society. A wife in the Sikh religion has two main roles they are to have children and to look after her family. Guleri could not fulfil all of her duties and was disregarded and seen as an outcast by her family and society, she was seen as damaged.The new wife probably made Guleri feel as though she was damaged goods and so she was replaced by a new and working model. When Guleri heard of the second wife she felt let protrude by her husband and like he had abandoned her because she could not have a child. She felt as though she was indebted to suffer for her inadequacies. She felt lonely and unloved as if she was impure and saw the only if way out as wipeout. The symbolism behind Guleris death highlights the violence of it compared to the Sikh idea of d eath as being like sleep. The way that Guleri chose to kill herself created a dramatic and shocking effect and was seen as primal and more painful. It symbolised how much pain emotionally that Guleri was in.When Manak heard what had happened to Guleri he was mute with pain. Manak could be seen as a coward and a fool for not being stronger and for not standing up to his mother when she told him about getting a new wife, but it can be seen as not all being Manaks fault as he was brought up traditionally. He new his role as a man and a husband that was to be a loyal husband and to find a wife who would produce an heir to the family. He was taught to respect and obey his parents.Manak wanted to retort, you are a woman why dont you war cry likeone for a change But he remained silent.However if Manak had gone against what his mother wanted then he too would have become an outcast to society for going against his elders and not fulfilling his role as a man.The new wife however was probabl y made to feel like an outcast by Manak, as he knew that no one could ever replace Guleri. But by his mother the new wife fit in with the family, as she got pregnant quickly. The mother said at one point that she had spent five hundred rupees on the new wife, and this was probably a lot of gold in those days, which suggests that some women married for money. This is similar in Pride and Prejudice as charlotte Lucas married Mr collins because of his money. And also in The Three Sisters, Mary chooses to embrace Mr Watts because he is a very wealthy man. This shows that the societies these stories are in are completely materialistic.Prtiam shows that the roles of women are completely dominated by men and society. It would be constitute to say that if societys beliefs had not been so enforced upon women then Manak and Guleris marriage would have survived. I believe this as Sikh women have only three main concerns in life and they are to get married and have children, to look their fa milies well and to get their children married off to good and wealthy families. This circle would therefore be enforced on many more generations to come and the main reason being is to have children.Stench of Kerosene had political reasons for it being published. Pritam saw that society needed to be changed and this story showed why and how women felt about was a stereotypical role of a Sikh woman was. The tone in which Pritam wrote this story was very serious and is not humorous at all, unlike Pride and Prejudice. She made it a serious story as Pritam felt very strongly about how women were portrayed and how they were rejected by society if they were unable to perform the roles that were expected of them. She wrote the story as a narrative and because of this we can see how Pritam feels about certain the roles of women. She uses objects to symbolise the characters emotions. She used the flute to tell us how Manak felt about Guleri leaving. thus putting the flute to his lips, blew a strange anguished wail.He expresses how he feels through the way he plays his flute, as he is unable to say it in words. Pritam gives us a more visual and make better understanding of the point that she wants to put across, by using emotive language, for exampleManak, mute with pain, could only gaze and feel his own lifeburning out.It gives us a more realistic feeling of the story and allows us to see just how devastated Manak is. We can tell that he is completely destroyed and go out neer get over what Guleri did. This is put across more clearly at the end when Manaks child is natural and when he holds him for the first time, he is not the happy and joyous father that one would expect but instead he,he shrieked hysterically, Take him away He stinks of kerosene.His reaction to his new child seems as though he feel guilty and somewhat responsible about what happened to Guleri. We can tell that what to Guleri did not only affect Manak but also the whole family, as the new wife f orget neer be loved by Manak and nor will the new child as he will eternally be a constant reminder to Manak of something that he could never have with Guleri and the reason for her death. He will also al slipway be very resentful towards his mother as she took away the one soulfulness he loved in the whole world with no mentation to the consequences, and most of all Manak will probably never be able to forgive himself.There was a lot of pressure on women in those days to have children if they did not have children the women would be rejected by society and most just wanted to fit in. If Guleri had tolerated Manak having a second wife and gone back to live with the family disdain this she would probably have been rejected.The Three Sisters was not published until quite awhile after it was written, in 1792. This story was set in London. The Three Sisters show that marriage was one of the only concerns of women in the 18th and nineteenth centuries. In Jane Austens time marriage w as more or less then only way out of the parental house. There was no real way for women to be on their own or to have independence in those days.There were no professional jobs open to women and the few that there were, such as being a governess, were not very highly regarded, and either did not pay well or had very poor working conditions. Pride and Prejudice and the Three Sisters show this well as both Mrs Bennet, the mother in Pride and Prejudice, and Mrs Stanhope, the mother in The Three Sisters, main concern was to get all their children married. how can you be so tiresome You must know that I am conceptualizeingof his marrying one of them. For I am find out not to let such an opportunity escape of settlingone of my Daughters do advantageously.In The Three Sisters the arrangement of marriage is portrayed like prostitution, in that the way Mrs Stanhope is quarrel over the price for Mary, and tries to get as much pin money for Mary from Mr Watts as she can. find the pin mone y two hundred a year.A hundred and seventy five madam. ii hundred indeed, Sir. Said my mother.Mrs Stanhope also seems as though she is pimping her other daughter in case Mr Watt does not like or want Mary.In The Three Sisters the only factor Mrs Stanhope takes into account and uses to form her confidence of Mr Watts is how wealthy he is. In this way Mrs Stanhope and Mrs Bennet are very similar as she too forms an opinion by how wealthy a man is. A single man of bountiful fortune four or five thousand a year.What a fine thing for our girlsShe is determined to have Mr Watts as part of her family as he was a good man to know. In Mrs Stanhopes opinion the reason that Mr Watts wanted to marry Mary was because he wishes to be allied to the family and the way for a man to become allied with a family was to marry one of the daughters. This applied very much in Mr Watts case he did not administer which daughter he married. Mrs Stanhope also wanted to be allied to Mr Watts as he had a high location in society than she did and if one of her daughters married him then their familys status would also go higher. This is a similar situation to Pride and Prejudice as Mrs Bennet wanted Mr collins to be allied with the family as he was quite a wealthy man and when Mr Collins proposed to Elizabeth Mrs Bennet put a lot of pressure on her to say yes by telling Elizabeth Yes, or I will never see her again.Mrs Stanhopes main role as a mother and in story was to have children, make sure they are taken care of well, look after their husbands and rule the home. Mrs Stanhope has a lot of power in this story as she is the one who decides which daughter shall get married and to whom. She could force one of her daughters to get married and they could not say no as it would be mocking to their mother. She exercises her power over her daughters when Mary is still trying to make up her mind over marry Mr Watts, by telling Mary that if she does not marry Mr Watts then Georgiana must.Mary is shown as I very materialistic and indecisive young girl. She marries Mr Watts because he is a very wealthy man. In letter one Mary tells us that she says Mr Watts is He is extremely disagreeable and I hate him more than any formelse in the world.Mary chooses to marry Mr Watts as sees it as a way of getting a higher status in society than the rest of her family. Which shows that she is similar to Lydia in Pride and Prejudice, as it seems as though she only married Mr Wickham to get a higher status than her family. Mrs Stanhope could easily push Mary into marring Mr Watts as Mary had made it very clear that she had wanted to get married before any of her sisters. I could not bear to have either of them married before me.Marys main role in society is to look after her husband and to have children to carry on the family. This is very similar to the society and the expectation of women in Stench of Kerosene. It is very clear that Mary has a one-track mind in that she is very unideal istic and feels as though Mr Watts should be grateful that she has accepted his proposal. She does not believe in marrying for love and thinks that if one of the correspond loves the other then there is no need for the other to love them back. when there is so much love on one side, there is no occasion forit on the other.The Three Sisters is serious, formal and shows a harsher portrayal of women. However it is quite humorous in places compared to Stench of Kerosene. It was written when Austen was only a stripling when she wrote it and she was probably entering the marriage market herself. The characters in the story were probably someone that Austen could relate to as she herself was a teenager and was having similar problems as her characters were.Austen could relate to her characters and she often hid her views and thoughts behind her characters mode and fictional expression writing. The story was quite controversial as it told us what women were like and how they really felt about issues then, but society was not interested about these things. Society looked smoothen on anyone that was seen to speak up for women and were thought of and seen as abnormal, and their name and reputation was often destroyed.Austen wrote the story in a letter form as it allows us to see the reaction of characters better as it is they who are describing how they feel and what they think. It also allows us to get to know the characters better however not as well as in Pride and Prejudice. The main difference between these two stories is that Pride and Prejudice focuss more the reasons for getting married and the consequences of actions that women took.Pride and Prejudice was written in 1813 and was set in Longbourne in Hertfordshire. Mrs Bennet is a stereotypical middle part woman in those days. She is materialistic, over dramatic and a gossip. These characteristics are portrayed in an exaggerated way. When we first meet Mrs Bennet we can see that she is a gossip. My dear, y ou must know, Mrs long says that Netherfield is takenby a young man of large fortune from north of EnglandMrs Bennet appears to be a similar character to Mrs Stanhope, all she wants is for all her daughters to be married and taken care of. Her main role is to take care of her family and make she that her children get married. In Pride and Prejudice the men hold most of the power and this is shown many occasions in the Bennet household by Mr Bennet. An unhappy alterative is before you, Elizabeth. From this youmust be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will neversee you again if you do not marry Mr Collins, and I will never seeyou again if you do.It is clear that Mr Bennet did not marry Mrs Bennet for love. We can assume that Mr Bennet probably only proposed to Mrs Bennet because as a young lady she was very pretty and that he probably never knew what she was like. He puts up with by not taking her seriously. Because of the way that Mr Bennet treats his wife their children have grown up not taking their mother seriously and not having much respect for her. This shows most of all in Elizabeth by the way she acts more or less her mother. Elizabeth is strong minded and a very opinionative young lady. She is also her fathers favourite daughter and often gives him advice, which he rarely takes.Elizabeth does not believe in getting married for love and does not think she would get married. Lydia on the other hand was exactly like her mother. She was emotional, immature, she does not think but acts on impulses, which nearly brings her to ruins. Lydia would cross all the boundaries and broke all the codes that society had set for women, this was shown when Lydia runs off with Mr Wickham and she does not think of the affect it would have on her family or the distress it may cause them. As it was not expected behaviour to run off and elope. Society looked down on it and it suggested that she had bad upbringing as she was disrespecting her parents by eloping. However in those days it was very important for a woman to get married, as that is what society expected of them. Unmarried women were a great burden to their families as they would have to live with their families or with family authorize protectors, as it was unheard of for an widowed woman to live by herself. Jane Austen, herself was a dependant as she was unmarried and was forced to live with relatives. Mary in Pride and Prejudice knew she would not get married as she was not as pretty as her other sisters so she concentrated on music and learning. married couple to women then was not all about getting away from their parents but was one of the only ways in which women could gain financial security. By marring, women were entitled to an allotment of money each year, called pin money. This money was to be spent as she wished but not for household necessities. However an unmarried woman would and could only inherit money form her family if she had no brothers as they lived on a patriarchy society, in which men hold the power and women were largely excluded from. In Pride and Prejudice and The Three Sisters, they both seem to be set in a patriarchy society as the men hold the power in both the stories. However in Stench of Kerosene the mother holds the most power in the story, which is unusual.The women that Austen wrote about were showed as foolish, materialistic, gossips and were only concerned about how other familys saw them and who the would get married to. These characteristics are different to the way that Pritam portrays women in her story she shows them as innocent, loving, obedient, and respectful to their family and husband, as Guleri shows when she fell in love with Manak. If you want me go and ask my father for my hand. Pride and Prejudice was more humorous than The Three Sisters was, it took a more satirical approach rather than political one to get its points across. Austen blamed the traditions of society through the humour of her characters .All three stories allow us to see that the roles of women have been the same over the centuries and that they are not changing very much in a hurry. They allow us to that men have continuously held a very powerful role in the home and the way in which a woman is brought is depending on how society expects them to act.Society have always judged women and enforced their rules and boundaries upon them. If those rules are broken they are looked down upon and would be ultimately be outcast them.