Representation of wives over the century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Representation of wives over the century - Essay ExampleWives had a societal connotation and were expected to satisfy the social characterisations ad expectations of women.Edna Pontellier, the booster dose in Kate Chopins The Awakening is a controversial character, considering the time that the novel was written. Edna is against all the cultural anticipations and made-up roles of women in the nineteenth century including denying being a mother or wife. She prefers being herself, a self-defined individual, rather than the societal structures of maternity that coerce her to be titled as Leonce Pontelliers wife and mother of Raoul and Etienne Pontellier. Edna represents wives who test autonomy and individuality, and inopportunely, this is against societal constructs. Women are male-defined and society-defined creatures, and are either seen as mothers and wives, or considered as exiles. Since Edna is not expected to live like a man as she desires, she commits suicide to free herself fr om the desolation.In Washington Irvings The Devil and Tom Walker, Tom Walkers wife is a high-tempered and strong woman who on a regular basis engaged in wordy conflicts with her husband. Mrs Walker fought with her husband regularly, instead of being submissive as the society demanded. Tom loathes his wife to an limit that when she is taken by the devil, he is more concerned of the lost valuables than his wife, Mrs Walker. The couple have similar behaviour, with no difference on who is the man or woman in the relationship, to an extent that Mrs Walker desires to be better-off than her husband. This shows her endeavour to demand equality between the sexes in an age where the society stipulated that women be submissive.Jack, in Stephen Cranes The Bride Come to yellowish Sky, uses his bride as a source of social status in the society. He does not marry a woman he does he marries her to stay live and escape Scratchys brunt. Marriage was valued during that time, and wives were an indis pensable property. Jacks wife