Tma01_-_A210

------------------------------------------------- TMA 05 - Discuss the treatment of female alienation as it is presented in The Colour Purple and one other prose test from Literature and Gender. Your essay should be no more than 1,500 words in length. The novel The Colour Purple use the correct spelling of the title by Alice Walker, published in 1982 has been the subject of (much debate and controversy) this kind of generalisation does not add to your discussion over Walker’s depiction of stereotypical black men and women in the American South during the early nineteenth century. No, it is not set in the 1800’s – be more careful. Walker has written the novel in an epistolary style, meaning that it is structured in a series of letters written to God and another character Nettie. This creates a personal first-person point of view and enhances the dramatic and realistic perspective of the main character Celie. It is this structure that (allows the reader an intimacy and reliability of Celie’s story) this needs some rewriting and her voice without being interrupted by the abusive men that are present in her life. In many ways, writing letters is Celie’s escape from her life in Georgia and enables her to talk to someone, to express herself. The letters are written in a (possible) ' southern American dialect and the vocabulary combined with the idioms gives Walker the medium to express everyday life in a very (tangible) realistic' Authentic' way for the reader. “If hair is nappy” (p. 49) and “or clabber up” (p. 55) are examples of the oral culture of the old southern America and is reflected in all speaking characters. The first letter begins with the declaration from a naïve narrator that she has been raped by “Fonso”. We do not learn until Letter 6 that Celie believes Alphonso to be her father and then again, we learn later that he is her step-father. To procure her anonymity in Letter One, Celie does not give her name, which we learn later in Letter 7, however this is used by Walker to show how troubled and desperate this fourteen-year-old girl is for someone to confide in good. Rape is shown by Walker in the novel as something which the male has authority over and the woman in the weaker of the two genders, cowering to him while still finding her release in another medium. If her life as a woman has started with the rape by a male she was dependent on for security, it has influenced her decisions later on in the novel and her beliefs and attitude towards men. Again, be careful not to confuse the character and the author; Celie does not have agency (power) as a character in the novel but Walker uses her and depicts her in specific ways. Female alienation is a strong theme in the novel and (is an opposition) what is an opposition' This is not clear that Celie comes up against during her lifetime, as we see through her perspective in the letters. Oppression of the female sex and abuse are dramatically highlighted by Walker to show that Celie leads a hard life from a young age good. Celie has a set view of the world being a “man’s world”. In every aspect of her life, she is dominated by males including her step-father and authority figure Fonso, her husband Albert or Mr.—and God.  good point. If you could contextualise these points in terms of location and time they would have greater impact in the discussion. Religion is a deep-rooted theme in the novel as the first 53 Letters are addressed to God specifically. From the Letters, we know that Celie and Nettie are deeply pious women, raised Christians in a God-fearing and Male-fearing old South, meaning that they are alienated in their personal life through their beliefs and family structure how exactly'. This adds alienation for Celie as her God is an “old white man”, a contrast to herself as a black woman good point. Not only is her God white and male, but he is another authority in her life that is different to her good. It can be argued that God is an omnipresent character and the guiding hand for Celie, giving her the outlet to escape from her world and find solace in her belief. Doesn’t this contradict the point you have just made about the image of God being one source of alienation' The colour purple is a statement in itself. Walker uses the colour to represent the lesbianism between Shug and Celie, also to show the closeness of their continued relationship through their mutual connection to Albert. It is in the field of purple that Cellie expresses to Shug that she no longer writes to God, because she believes to be alienated from him, that his is some “old white man” and therefore further from her position you’ve already said this above, free and independent from the (shackles that the men are oppressing on her) this needs some rewriting. (Shug indicates to the purple flowers) what do you mean here' Leave time to reread to check that you have said what you meant to say and changes her mind to a more pantheistic view, that God is natural and has no gender. And that God is in everything. Later in the novel, Celie writes to vent her frustration and desperation for an answer. “I start to wonder why us need love. Why us suffer. Why us black. Why us men and women. Where do children really come from. It didn’t take long to realize I didn’t hardly know nothing. And that if you ast yourself why you black or a man or a woman or a bush it don’t mean nothing if you don’t ast why you here, period.” (lines 289-290) Celie is boldly stating the reasons why she feels oppressed and is looking for a way out of the imprisonment she’s in by knowing “nothing”. Uneducated and unloved, Celie is trapped in a world that is ruled by the male gender created by Walker to show (the gender issues present in the old South) you need to make this more specific. Walker does not concentrate on the horrible rape that the novel starts with, but on the feelings and affects that the initial rape causes. In Celie’s world, rape and violence go hand in hand until she meets Shug, who is kind, caring and (a gender away) expression from the males who have wrought authority over Celie. Again, Cellie’s love for Shug, even if at the beginning just infatuation, is simply to have someone who will be there for her and love her when no one else will in her life. However, in the case of Mabel Waring in Virginia Woolf’s 1924 short story “The New Dress”, the character arrives at a socialite party only to find that her dress is unsuitable for the occasion. It is written as a stream of consciousness from the protagonist Mabel Waring while maintaining a third person narrator and as we see the character develop through her inner ramblings, we see the plot unfold and learn what has happened for her to be in the situation she is in. Mabel catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror and goes to the mirror to scrutinise herself more closely (look with more scrutiny upon her). Woolf develops this well, showing the insecurities and inferiorities that Mabel in now feeling in her new dress as “It was not right.” Her imagination begins to work overtime and Woolf shows the inner consciousness begin to question and become paranoid over the thoughts the other guests could be having. Mabel begins to imagine that the guests were saying “What a fright she looks! What a hideous new dress!” It is Mabel’s simple-mindedness that is too overbearing even for her as she goes into a tirade about her new dress and how she wanted to appear “original” by having it made out of an old pattern. Can you link this interpretation of the story to the question' We do not know what the other guests were thinking at the party as the main focus is on Mabel, however, we do know that Mabel’s insecurities cause her to leave the party in great haste to mask herself in the streets instead of being in front of those who were (in her mind) criticising her. Mabel’s consciousness is very indicative of a socialite in the early twentieth century trying to get through large social gatherings with their peers when their finances are too meagre. This is reflected in the short story. Woolf uses the many ramblings of Mabel as a sign of madness and alienation for the woman from her peers in society. Mabel feels as though she is the centre of attention but for all the wrong reasons, inverting her need to be dominant and show off what she has achieved by being “original”, instead in her mind she is the centre of ridicule and as such she leaves the party to avoid the thoughts intruding on her mind. Is this the feminist of early twentieth century literature that Woolf is trying to convey' Don’t ask questions, answer the point in your discussion if you think it is important and relevant. The colour yellow features quite prominently in the short story as the dress is old made of a yellow decrepit pattern that no longer suits what she feels to be the fashion dictated by society. In the sense that Mabel feels the colour is confining to her, colour in The Colour Purple is liberating for the women, showing their sense of dominance. Whilst for Mabel it is an insecure colour, born of all her insecurities such as her finances, her personal life with her adequate husband and her just adequate life. Woolf shows that Mabel does not appreciate herself or trust her own judgement in any sense whatsoever; feeling crowded by the prying eyes of the other guests and swallowed up enough in her own self-esteem to have to leave for fear of being ridiculed. Her problems are not as (deeply construed) ' as Celie’s in The Colour Purple who has to settle for any kind of life instead of a simply adequate one. Woolf’s twentieth century woman and Walker’s twentieth century woman are living in two completely different worlds where dominance and insecurities are born from different life experiences. yes, and you could have contextualised these texts/worlds more clearly in order to situate your points within a firmer framework. ------------------------------------------------- Bibliography Literature and Gender: An Introductory Textbook this is not the title (Approaching Literature), Lizbeth Goodman, Routledge; 1 edition (28 Mar 1996) The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Phoenix; New Ed edition (5 Aug 2004) Check and follow the correct format for the presentation of bibliographical citations. Word Count: 1,566