Sunday, November 17, 2019
Underlying Causes of Power Struggle in Marriage as Gleaned from Literature Essay Example for Free
Underlying Causes of Power Struggle in Marriage as Gleaned from Literature Essay In the movie, Sylvia, talented poet and writer Sylvia Plath drives her husband intot he arms of another woman. Fed up with her recurring bouts of jealousy and insecurity, and the ensuing rounds of arguments and quarrels, he breaks free to preserve his sanity. Her world crumbles and she eventually commits suicide. A closer look points to indubitable flaws not just from the female but from the male, moreso from society around which their world revolves. The life story of the legendary Sylvia Plath, highlighted by her tumultuous relationship with husband and fellow poet Ted Hughes, provides a clear-cut illustration of marital power struggle.            Elisabeth Bronfen , a specialist in 19th and 20th century literature and a professor of English and American Studies, noted that the culprit in the tragic conflict between Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes was her â€Å"unbroken dependence on her perfect mate (which) lets her fall prey to jealousy, envy, anger, humiliation and burning loneliness when her trust in him is called into question†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Bronfen 46). Indeed, nothing perhaps can agitate or vex a man more than a woman’s constant nagging, mistrust, and fault-finding, especially when has not done anything yet to deserve it. To aggravate the situation, and as portrayed in Henrik Ibsen’s â€Å"A Doll’s House†, society dictates that a man must be the dominant individual in a marriage. The uneasiness of most men that arises when this is not followed is often what leads to fights (blatant outward sign of the power struggle) and worse, the eventual collapse of the partnership and, in Sylvia’s case, the worst tragic consequence – death.            The power struggle between husband and wife, or other similar pair of individuals in a relationship has, since time immemorial, existed not just in movies and books but in real-life settings. A power struggle in marriage emerges somewhat like `art imitating life’ and vice versa.            On the part of female partners, one must consider that there are other factors that account for the tangled web of emotions and personalities that women assume and drive them to engage in a â€Å"power struggle†with their mates. Women have been portrayed countless times in literature as being compassionate or easily taken advantage of, but able to put up (or attempt to) put up a fight when pushed too far.  In some instances, belonging to a clique has also been depicted in classic literature as a threat to a couple’s union. When constant interaction from the male or female’s side breeds contempt, jealousy and rivalry, it tends to destroy a couple’s relationship, as illustrated in Jane Austen’s sequel to Pride and Prejudice, â€Å"Mr. Darcy Presents his Bride written by Helen Halstead. In the latter’s book, Elizabeth Bennet’s prestigious clique posed a threat to her new marriage to Fitzwilliam Darcy.            Society undoubtedly plays a major part in heightening the power struggle between man and woman in a marital bind.            Antoinette Stafford in â€Å"The Feminist Critique of Hegel on Women and the Family†cited 18th century thinker Mary Wollstonecraft’s argument, â€Å"If women are in fact often frivolous, swayed by emotion and lacking in `the manly virtues of moral courage and disinterestedness, then this is not their natural character. Rather, it arises solely because of educational practices and social expectations which prevent them from perfecting their latent rational capacities.†In The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, James J. Delaney referred to Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s treatise on education pertaining to â€Å"Women, Marriage, and Family†: â€Å"Hers is not as focused on theoretical matters, as men’s minds are more suited to that type of thinking. Rousseau’s view on the nature of the relationship between men and women is rooted in the notion that men are stronger and therefore more independent. They depend on women only because they desire them. By contrast, women both need and desire men. Sophie is educated in such a way that she will fill what Rousseau takes to be her natural role as a wife. She is to be submissive to Emile.†Reacting to J.J. Rosseau’s abovementioned treatise, which also envisions an education for the boy that will foster an independent mind and spirit, autonomy and self-sufficiency, while his female counterpart is to be educated to please the male companion-to-be and in the process fulfill her womanly potential, Wollstonecraft argued that â€Å"..a separate standard of excellence for woman undermines the universality of rational freedom.†This rational freedom is at the core of the existentialist theory that is also among the larger causes of the power struggle occurring in a marriage. As Simone de Beauvoir expressed, â€Å"It is the individual who bears responsibility for the world†¦ It is the individual’s responsibility to create meaning through her choices†(Andrew 26). Existentialism, in essence, pertains to â€Å"ideas of choice, meaning and the limits of existence.† It is up to each individual to use his freedom to choose his actions and interactions in the world (Andrew 25), even if it is bound to instigate a power struggle at some point in a relationship. If someone opts to subjugate or be subjugated, often it arises from that person’s free will. In â€Å"The Feminist Critique of Hegel on Women and the Family,†Stafford cited how Simone de Beauvoir and subsequent thinkers set forth: â€Å"Lives circumscribed by domesticity and child-rearing are not fully human and women who accept the socially constructed belief in a pre-given female nature, and hence in a determinate female destiny, are accomplices in their own enslavement. The only means beyond this self-imposed oppression is actively to seek a reversal of roles, accepting and identifying oneself with the male model of transcendence†¦Ã¢â‚¬ In many parts of Asia and elsewhere in the world, one will see such reversal of roles widely practiced, both in literary pages and in real life. The â€Å"Good Woman of Setzuan†by Bertolt Brecht encapsulates such reversal of roles. The heroine, Shen Te, strives hard to love a good life in brutal pre-Communist China. She disguises herself as a man and finds her compassionate persona transformed into a violent, unconquerable character which allows her to cope better with the world around her. Indeed, assuming the male’s `strong, stern and aggressive’ characteristics often works in the male-dominated society. When women rise to the challenge of being co-equals with their mates over and on top of their preordained role as nurturer of family values, in some cases overshadowing their male counterparts, the power struggle is ignited. Many great works of literature have shown how women either succumbed or fought their way out of enslavement by the male species. Henrik Ibsen’s â€Å"A Doll’s House†is a much studied work that gives light to how a woman achieves self-liberation by leaving the confines of the home. The online study guide by SparkNotes: A Doll’s House, Themes, Motifs Symbols draw attention to how the instability of appearances within the main character’s household at the play’s end results from the main male character’s obsession with status and image. Most men’s preoccupation with status and image, including having a ‘trophy wife†by their side, may be commonplace, but feminists have not let this vision of male superiority go by without much lamentation.  Emily Friedman, in an article posted in ABCNews.com on July 13, 2007, departed from stereotypes and provided a positive connotation to the phrase, `trophy wife’ when she quoted author Anne Kingston (who wrote â€Å"The Meaning of Wife†): The idea of the trophy wife has progressed so that men want a woman who has some social equality, and its not a dominant-submissive relationship†¦ Increasingly, its not simply the decoration that a truly accomplished man wants, but an equal. Nonetheless, the Hegelian belief that `nature has assigned woman to the family’ may still be embraced by certain societies in the contemporary era, but the woman we find now has certainly metamorphosed to am multi-tasking and active participant in community affairs and national life. What well-meaning quarters caution, though, is the possibility that society’s basic institution – the family – may tend to be overlooked when both husband and wife assume a place in civil society and doggedly pursue their careers and personal aspirations. Herein lies another major issue of debate between husband and wife, especially when they fail to compromise. â€Å"The Feminist Critique on Women and Family†by Stafford also noted how women vary in their perception of what is `oppressive†and what is not. While serving as housewife may be denigrating and limiting (in terms of personal freedom) for some, â€Å"it may be regarded as a chosen instrument for creative self-expression†in others. Infidelity , whether imagined or actual, and argued by most as being part of the inherent nature of men, is another major source of friction between husband and wife. Whether infidelity, though, arises from protracted oppression from, or a form of assertion by, the husband, or the wife herself, is open to debate. During the Elizabethan Age, a wife’s fidelity was regarded more as an obligation foisted by society and circumstances. In The Literary Encyclopedia, classical literary critic and lecturer Ros King noted how William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew â€Å"reasserts male dominance†.            Another online site, Academic Forum, Sherri Thorne’s article, â€Å"Shakespeare: Advocate for Women in The Taming of the Shrew†noted how it was Shakespeare’s intention to show that family and society have contributed to the circumstances that make the female character, Katherina, the shrew she is. Her male counterpart in the story, Petruchio, recognizes that Katherina’s shrewish behavior is a societal response. â€Å"Shakespeare uses Petruchio to present his definition of the proper relationship between a husband and his wife†¦ At their first meeting, Petruchio and Katherina engage in an energetic and emotionally charged verbal exchange. Katherina strikes Petruchio when her verbal attacks are ineffective. Generally, Katherina’s words are effective artillery to keep her adversaries sufficiently subdued†¦ Petruchio gains control of the situation, keeping their sparring verbal rather than letting it escalate into physical violence†(Thorne 59) This exemplifies the genteel demeanor observed by most during the Elizabethan age. In the Comprehensive Online Educational Resource, Anne Parten noted the significance of another Shakespearean work, Merchant of Venice, citing the a ring as symbolism for man’s potential for fidelity, and the lead female character, Portia, is shown to have superiority over all the male characters. Whatever the underlying causes pointed out by perceptive literary minds as instigators of the power struggle occurring in marriages or relationships, men and women will continue to be at odds with each other on matters ranging from trivial and absurd to highly complex, simply because that is just how differently they are wired. In the words of Robert Louis Stevenson, â€Å"Marriage is like life in this – that it is a field of battle and not a bed of roses.†Works Cited Andrew, Barbara S. â€Å"Beavoir’s Place in Philosophical Thought.†The Cambridge Companion to Simone de Beauvoir. Ed. Claudia Card. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. 25-26. Bhatia, Praveen. Macbeth. New Delhi: UBS Publishers’ Distributors Pvt. Ltd., 2007. Brecht, Bertolt. Good Woman of Setzuan. England: Penguin Books Ltd., 2007. Bronfen, Elisabeth. â€Å"Trophy Wife: Just Hot or Smart Sexy?†Sylvia Plath. 2nd ed. UK: Athenaeum Press Ltd., 2004. Friedman, Emily. 13 July 2007. ABCNews.com. 28 January 2008 http//www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3372209page=1. Halstead, Helen. Mr. Darcy Presents His Bride. California: Ulysses Press, 2007. Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll’s House and Other Plays. Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 1973. King, Ros. â€Å"The Taming of the Shrew.†The Literary Encyclopedia. 2 November 2004. Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London. 28 January 2008 http//www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=trueUID=7887. Parton, Anne. Comprehensive Online Educational Resource. eNotes.com, Inc. 28 January 2008. http://www.enotes.com/merchant/portia. Shakespeare, William. Merchant of Venice. New York: Penguin Books Ltd., 1994. Shakespeare, William. Taming of the Shrew. New York: Penguin Books Ltd., 1995. Stafford, Antoinette. â€Å"The Feminist Critique of Hegel on Women and the Family.† 25 January 2008 http//www. mun.ca/animus/1997vol2/staford1.htm. Thorne, Sherri. â€Å"Shakespeare: Advocate for Women in The Taming of the Shrew† 2003-04.   Academic Forum. 28 Jan 2008
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