Drama and Poetry Essays Flashcards
Power and Gender
Ibsen (power with man)
“A woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society.”
Late-Victorian marriage and possessive nature. Power lodged with male.
Presented through the possessive language Torvald uses - “my little skylark.” “It is your fault I have made nothing of my life.”
Torvald - “I wouldn’t be a man if I didn’t find a woman doubly attractive for being so obviously helpless.” “I shall counsel you. I shall guide you” - Torvald
Rossetti (power with man)
“It’s a weary life… doubly blank in a woman’s lot.” Rossetti’s life - living in the shadow of Dante. Faced gender discrimination such as critics saying she suffered from “pretty language… the bane of women writers.” “Rossetti wrote poems that give a vibrant voice to the female experience despite Rossetti living the life of a Victorian lady, who were denied the social and economic freedoms enjoyed by men.” — Mold. ‘In the Round Tower’ shows men as more powerful.
Ibsen (power with women)
Nora leaves Torvald, leaving him begging. Portrayal of men in A Doll’s House is negative, while women are strong and independent. Could be because of Ibsen’s wife. Nora taking on a masculine role “it was almost like being a man.” Krogstad - “A heartless woman throws a man over the moment something more profitable offers itself.” Power over relationships.
Rossetti (power with women)
‘No Thank You, John’ - similar to Nora coldly telling Torvald - “you never loved me.” Maude Clare - assertive and confident. “Here’s my half of the golden chain.” However, Rossetti views Maude Clare as a sinner. Reflective of her life - rejecting Collinson and Cayley. “Here’s friendship if you like; but love/no thank you John.” However, in the “madwoman in the attic” by G and G, they label Rossetti as a “singer of the renunciation”, arguing that she willingly accepts the state of destitution which she is cast.
Both (not true power)
Both ‘Winter: My Secret’ and Nora are presented as childish, and their power is their lies - not true power. “It has been suggested that in a patriarchal society women can only assert power, ownership and control over something as ephemeral as a secret” Suzanne Williams
Complex Issues
Ibsen (women’s rights)
Rossetti (women’s rights)
Ibsen (religion)
Rossetti (religion)
