StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

The Revolt of 'Mother by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman as a feminist text - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Revolt of a Mother The story, ‘Revolt of a Mother’ speaks volumes about the strength of a downtrodden battered up woman, Sarah Penn, who has lost all materialistic comforts, but refuses to give up her principle & indomitable attitude towards life. The story speaks of unbridled feminist power which remains unsuppressed even after combating the most treacherous of circumstances…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER95.1% of users find it useful
The Revolt of Mother by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman as a feminist text
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The Revolt of 'Mother by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman as a feminist text"

Download file to see previous pages

For an instance Sarah says: "Father, you come here. Then Sarah Penn stood in the door like a queen; she held her head as if it bore a crown; there was that patience which makes authority royal in her voice”. Adoniram departs. (Wilkins, 555) It becomes notable that Sarah addresses her husband not by his name but according to his position & status within their household. The reader discovers that Sarah calls Adoniram as “father.” Here it’s noticeable that the husband gets influenced by the wife’s presence & calls her “mother” in return.

There is a second instance when Sarah proves that she is simply oblivious of the existence of the male chauvinistic ego. While discussing about the barn, she orders her husband to take a seat in following fashion:   ‘"Sit down, father," said she; "I've got somethin' I want to say to you." He sat down heavily; his face was quite stolid, but he looked at her with restive eyes. "Well, what is it, mother?" "I want to know what you're buildin' that new barn for, father…"’ (Wilkins, 555) The idealist woman opposes her husband in the most subtlest of ways.

She never encroaches or pounces upon Adoniram, but always creates an ambience which proves that she has a precise ideology & she is going to implement it. She maintains a perennial calmness while opposing about the construction of an extra barn. She dismantles her husband’s whim by denoting that constructing the barn is not the immediate need of the hour. She emphasizes that the upcoming marriage of their daughter needs a better preparation & thus advices her husband to invest his money in the wedding & not in the barn.

Her character evokes humility, dedication, honesty & firmness at the same time which proves that ‘feminism’ in essence may not actually be some sort of an ‘ism’, but an approach towards life. She speaks to her husband in the ‘humble fashion of a scripture’ (Wilkins, 555-556): "I'm goin' to talk real plain to you: I never have since I married you, but I'm goin' to now. I 'ain't never complained, an' I ain't goin' to complain now, but I'm goin' to talk plain. You see this room here, father; you look at it well.

You see there ain't no carpet on the floor, an' you see the paper is all dirty, an' droppin' off the walls. We 'ain't had no new paper on it for ten year, an' then I put it on myself, an' it didn't cost but nine-pence a roll. You see this room, father; it's all the one I've had to work in an' eat in an' sit in sence we was married” (Wilkins, 556).  The portion where she explains why her daughter requires a stable marriage proves that she is concerned about the precarious position of women in her society & that she would try her best in eradicating those unjust practices & ideologies.

She is woman who is clear to herself that he is supporting her daughter’s well being from an idealist point of view & not from some petty motherly idiosyncrasy (Reichardt, 171-173). This story speaks of the woman spirit; the woman, who fights for her rights & equally remains concerned about the rights & privileges of others around her. She represents meekness, but the author clears the air by saying that the meekness is a characteristic of her own will, not coerced upon by some other person (Vees, 2).

There is a mechanical air in Adoniram’s attitude while he listens to his wife’s lectures, which may be deemed as mechanical, but nevertheless the

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“The Revolt of 'Mother by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman as a feminist text Essay”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/literature/1431257-consider-ypthe-revolt-of-ychmothery-by-mary-e
(The Revolt of 'Mother by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman As a Feminist Text Essay)
https://studentshare.org/literature/1431257-consider-ypthe-revolt-of-ychmothery-by-mary-e.
“The Revolt of 'Mother by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman As a Feminist Text Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/literature/1431257-consider-ypthe-revolt-of-ychmothery-by-mary-e.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Revolt of 'Mother by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman as a feminist text

What do the freedman's bureau papers tell about african american life in the reconstruction era

Despite many challenges faced by the freeman bureau, it contributed a lot during the reconstruction period in Virginia states, which was among the ten southern states undergoing reconstruction after the war (Freedman Bureau NP).... The black community in America had been denied access to religion during slavery the freeman's bureau helped to establish churches which gave the African community a sense of belonging to a particular religion...
4 Pages (1000 words) Term Paper

Why Women love to wear High heels

This study outlines the women's perception over high heels and how this affects their perception of life and success.... Also, the essay gives an ample evidence that high heels are more than just a shoe style, it is a statement of progress.... … This study is practically aimed to tie up the different reasons behind the fondness of women over the usage of heels and how this reasoning mirrors the impartial explanation of how the attitude of women towards fashion may not be plainly vain but instead is philosophically based on their perception of personal growth and maturity....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Culture and Region in the Revolt of Mother by Mary E Wilkins Freeman

As it is observed that it is stated in the text as well, “I wish youd go into the house, mother, an tend to your own affairs,” (13) while the father was tightening the buckles on his harness.... However, the story focuses on depicting the… The story presents the readers with a new interpretation of the culture and the trends that were practiced in the nineteenth century. freeman makes use of many stylistic tools to depict the culture and region and the approaching change, which includes the setting and title, characterization of her characters and their respective roles....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

The Revolt of Mother by Mary E. Wilkins

In the research paper “The Revolt of Mother by mary e.... Wilkins” the author analyzes the differences and similarities between a story The Revolt of a Mother written by mary e.... The title of the revolt of a Mother suggests that the most significant character in the story is of a female protagonist, who stands against something which is unacceptable to her.... In the revolt of Mother, all the characters are annoyed with Adoniram because he didn't fulfill his promise of building a house for the family; he never cared to provide a better life to his wife for which she was hopeful since 40 years....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

The Concept of The War on Feminism

The present paper is about feminist superhero, Frida Kahlo, who through her painting people can Frida Kahlo mentored by Iris Marion Young, who is a feminist theorist, under whose feministic argument and glow, the superhero sails.... From the time of old, men have dominated the leadership while women were seen in most cases as mere subjects to men… The women were held more as objects rather than subjects with equal status to men and so the feminist movement was born to seek this lost glory of women (Chadwick, 2007)....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Violence in the Movies

The essay "Violence in the Movies" discusses how a movie makes have realized the power and movement within society that a film can create when the real people do not wish to accept is put before their very own eyes.... hellip; We have seen violence in cinema create all types of reactions from people; tough criticism, assassination attempts, and claims of demonic possession....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

Woman and Economics

freeman and Mr.... The author of the "Woman and Economics" essay examines the role of women in economics on the example from literature.... The story of Marguerite Johnson as depicted by Angelou's book 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' is not just an interesting piece of autobiography spiced up with a literary appeal....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Reforms and Defences in the Context of Sex and Domestic Violence

During the 1970s and 1980s, in the United Kingdom, the feminist movement had put the issue of men's violence against women in the home on the public agenda (Stanko, 1989).... … Roll No: _________Criminal Law, reforms and defences in the context of sex and domestic violencePrior to the early 1970s, domestic violence whether related to sex or any other crime was generally thought of as a private matter....
22 Pages (5500 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us