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Chattel or Treasure:

A Research BasedPerspective on the

Portrayal of Women inLiterature

Debbie Watkinsfor

William Allan Kritsonis, PhD

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Prisms of Perspectives• Women have been

painted through theartistic brush of literature.

• Through the strokes

of a creative writer,women can be seenin unique prisms of perspectives.

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Women asthe Prize

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Women as the Prize:Penelope and Her Suitors

/wEPDwU

/wEWAgK

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Characteristics

•Beauty

•Wealth

•Offspring•Gratification

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and One

Arabian Nights

 The Story of King Shahrayarand His Vizier’s

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King 

Shahrayar 

Woman as an object of 

pleasure

A virgin every night and

then discarded

Wise in his eyes only.

Shahrazad 

Smart

Intelligent

Witty

Shrewd

Beats the King at his

own game

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 M a n ’ s  P e r s p

 e c t i v e  o n  W o m e n  a

 n d  L o v e

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Star by EdgarAllan Poe• 'Twas noontide of summer,And mid-time of night;And stars, in their orbits,Shone pale, thro' the lightOf the brighter, cold moon,'Mid planets her slaves,Herself in the Heavens,

Her beam on the waves.I gazed awhileOn her cold smile;Too cold— too cold for me—There pass'd, as a shroud,A fleecy cloud,And I turned away to thee,Proud Evening Star,In thy glory afar,And dearer thy beam shall be;For joy to my heart

Is the proud partThou bearest in Heaven at night,And more I admireThy distant fire,Than that colder, lowly light.

Edgar Allan Poe [1809-1849]Evening Star from Tamerlane and Other Poems, 1827

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Edgar Allan Poe [1809-1849]

“Evening Star”

from Tamerlane and Other Poems, 1827

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  R o  b e

  r  t   B  r

 o  w  n  i  n g

 

Excerpt from:

“Love among the

Ruins”Men and Women: Vol. I

t/ EPD U

/ EWA K

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ove mong t e

Ruins• But he looked upon the city, every side,

Far and wide,All the mountains topped with temples, allthe glades'Colonnades,All the causeys, bridges, aqueducts,—andthen,All the men!When I do come, she will speak not, shewill stand,

Either handOn my shoulder, give her eyes the firstembraceOf my face,Ere we rush, ere we extinguish sight andspeechEach on each.

For whole centuries of folly, noise and sin!

Shut them in,With their triumphs and their glories andthe rest.

Love is best!

/wEPDwU/wEWAgK

/ EPD U

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William

Shakespeare

/wEPDwU

/ EPD U

/ EWA L

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Romeo and Juliet• O, speak again, bright angel,

for thou art• As glorious to this night, being

o’er my head,• As in a winged messenger of 

heaven• Unto the white-upturnedwond’ring eyes

• Of mortals that fall back togaze on him

• When he bestrides the lazy

puffing clouds• And sails upon the bosom of the air.

• Shakespeare Scene 2 (lines25-32)

/wEPDwU/wEWAgL

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Juliet’s Characteristics

• Deceived by Love

• Obsessed

• Life Dependent Upon the Love of Romeo

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Beauty

/wEPDwU

/wEPDwU

/wEWAgK

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The Madonna:Woman of Purity

• Edward Reginald Frampton

British, 1870 - 1923 

La Madonna Di Promessa

Date: circa 1914

/wEPDwU/wEPDwU/wEWAgK

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The Antithesis of Good

  Medea

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The

Wife of Bath

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 The Wife of Bath•Clever

•Self-Assured

•Witty•Knowledgeable

•Ultimate Winner

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The Weight of Death

 

Lady Macbeth

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Lady MacbethGreedy

Self-Consumed

Immersed by

Guilt

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Women as theSeductress

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Eve: Seduced and

the Seductress

• Seduced bySatan

• Seductress of Adam

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Cleopatra

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 John Keats: La Belle DameSans Merci

• John Keats• La Belle Dame Sans Merci 

•  •  • I

Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight,Alone and palely loitering;The sedge is wither'd from the lake,And no birds sing.

IIAh, what can ail thee, wretched wight,So haggard and so woe-begone?The squirrel's granary is full,And the harvest's done.

IIII see a lily on thy brow,With anguish moist and fever dew;And on thy cheek a fading roseFast withereth too.

IVI met a lady in the meadsFull beautiful, a faery's child;

Her hair was long, her foot was light,And her eyes were wild.

VI set her on my pacing steed,And nothing else saw all day long;For sideways would she lean, and singA faery's song.

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Women Who,

Even Now, Are

Changing theWorld

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enomena

Woman”• Phenomenal Women

• By Maya Angelou

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Maya Angelou’s Testament to the Strength and

Character of Today’s Woman

• Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion models size. Butwhen I start to tell them, they think I'm telling lies. I say, It's in the reach of my arms, The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenalwoman, that's me.

I walk into a room Just as cool as you please, And to a man, The fellows stand or Fall down ontheir knees. They swarm around me, A hive of honey bees. I say, It's the fire in my eyes, And theflash of my teeth, the swing in my waist, And the joy in my feet. I'm a woman Phenomenally,Phenomenal woman, that's me.

Men themselves have wondered what they see in me. They try so much But they can't touch Myinner mystery. When I try to show them they say they still can't see. I say, It's in the arch of myback, The sun of my smile, The ride of my breast, the grace of my style. I'm a womanPhenomenally, Phenomenal woman, that's me.

Now you understand Just why my head's not bowed. I don't shout or jump about Or have to talkreal loud. When you see me passing It ought to make you proud. I say, It's in the click of myheals, the bend of my hair, The palm of my hand, The need for my care. Cause I'm a woman

Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, that's me...Copyright 1978, from "And Still I Rise" by permission of Random House.

Reference: Maya Angelou

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Conclusion• Through the study of literature, ancient through

modern, we see the commonalities among all

women. Every woman has experienced or will

potentially experience characteristics of all of thewomen portrayed in this study. Therefore, the

study of women and their influence upon men,

society, and their own gener, adds depth to the

meaning and appreciation of life as seen throughthe perspective of world literature, words “in the

nick of time.”

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ReferencesAshby, Ruth and Ohrn, Gore. Herstory. New York: Byron Press, 1995.

Damrosch, David and Pike, David. The Longman Anthology of World Literature. NewYork: Pearson Longman, 2008.

Dibble, Terry J. “The Scarlet Letter Notes.” Cliff Publishing. 1988

Keats, John. “La Belle Dame Sans Merce”http://www.artmagick.com/poetry/poem.aspx?id=11207&name=la-belle-dame-sans-merci Retrieved 11 Nov 2008.

Rigby, S.H. “Misogynist versus Feminist Chaucer.” Chaucer in Context: Society, Allegory and

Gender 1996 116-63. 1 Nov 2008.

Scheimerdine, Cynthia. “Penelope.” World Book. 2007

• Image Sources: Artmajick. Com, Clipart.com, and Google Images,Wallpaperz.com

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Thank You!