Discussion Post 4

During class I read "My Last Duchess" and tried to apply feminist criticism to it. The way that the duke describes her shows that she was indeed very beautiful and how paint couldn't reproduce how she really looked . The main image that I conjured up of her was the silly trophy wife. The duke picked out this young and beautiful girl mainly for her looks and attractions, and she was easily impressed which gives me the idea of her being ditzy. She flirted with other guys, which the duke didn't take very well and ultimately has her killed. He objectifies her and pretty much throws her away because he was displeased with the way she acted. Honestly that isn't a solid reason to have someone killed, let alone your wife, but this is how women were often treated and though of. He then goes on to meet another girl downstairs.

"The Storm" has a very sexual theme encompassing the story. Calixta is a typical stay at home wife where she attends to the household deeds like cooking,sewing, raising the children, ect. When the storm rolls in, Calixta is greeted by an old acquaintance Alcee who tries to console her during this emotional event. With tensions running high, one thing leads to another and ultimately they end up having sex. After they storm passes they continue on with their lives and remain as though nothing had happened. Women can definitely be highly emotional and sometimes driven by them, and during the time of the storm and the presence of an old lover they just did what came naturally I guess. (Although I cant really agree with it.) The way the author presents this story is kind of odd, it seems like what she did was ok and everyone lives happily ever after.

For my last piece of feminst criticism I chose to read "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid. I found this piece very interesting because it was presented almost as a manual on how to grow up being a "proper" girl. The mother is instructing the daughter on various tasks that women should know, and certainly how not to become a slut. The mother often contradicts herself numerous times telling her what not to do but implicates that she probably has done them herself, given she has solutions for them.The background of the author plays an important role in this piece of literature, she grew up on a very small island that was under British rule before she emigrated to the States. She could be comparing the life she had as a child to what our current society accepts as "proper".