Subjection of Women towards Men

The eighteenth century novels, Fanny Hill a Woman of Pleasure by John Cleveland, The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, and Mary the Wrongs of a Woman by Wollstonecraft are episodes of women being subject to men. Though women were treated as a subject, history has shown that in every great man – beside him is a woman. In the work written by Cleveland during the time he was imprisoned was critiqued that the book can be questioned by its substance since it is written by a man.

However, it is a story wherein the main character admitted that her sexual faculty is both her “point of pleasure and pride (Cleveland, 1749). “ Though the girl in the story finds herself unworthy for the man she loves she also questioned the worthiness of Mr. H especially when she witnessed how her maid was raped and how he bribed the girl with his money. Being a prostitute she was able to compare who is more rotten, if it was the one who sells sex or the one who buys it.

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Despite of the apparent loss of virtue in chastity of the main character in the story, in her heart she would want to do the sex act with the person she loves despite of her complex understanding between love and desire. The story reveals about how innocence and struggle for survival can lead a young woman astray and be treated not more than a merchandize. The story also gave a lot of examples on how a woman’s submission are often abused and how her femininity are being obscured by wanton people, treating women as if they were not borne of a woman.

The Gothic story of Otranto depicts how a statute in authority is clouded by ardent desire for women. The story gave a contrast between the desire for Isabella and the love for Matilda. Though the story treated those dainty ladies with outward refinement, it vividly portrays the subjectivism on the female gender towards chauvinism of some authoritarian men. The story classified that male children are more important than the girls and they are just reared to become mothers of the next lineage.

Women’s role was obscurely assigned to child bearing alone and the caring for their husbands. Beyond their dignified looks they are treated only as possession subjected to men. Manfred’s because of his power forget the fact that his dignity lies on how he takes care of his body or on how well he treated his wife. This 18th century novel though fictitiously written is able to accomplish how the arrogance of men in high stature can actually put man in digression if the women’s role is given a limited view as only a helper than a partner.

Horace Walpole the 4th Earl of Orford significantly opened his reader’s awareness on the equal dignity of men and women and how the female gender in his time was subjected by its male counterpart. In Mary the Wrongs of a Woman is a book authored by a pregnant woman in an asylum a place in which in those days where marginalized women were kept by their society. The novel was considered by feminist as a biographical sketch rather than an unfinished fiction story. It was published by the author’s husband and regarded as a work to vindicate the rights of women.

The Author stated the following “Addressing these memoirs to you, my child, uncertain whether I shall ever have the opportunity of instructing you, many observations will probably flow from my heart, which only a mother- a mother schooled in misery, could make (Matthews, 2001)” will deeply move a reader to sympathize with the author in her profound words who is very much in pain upon realizing that she may never have the chance to care for her child. The story about Maria tells about the experiences of a woman when they are wronged by their husbands.

These women too are denied with their dignity on motherhood, a sad fact which since in the beginning was the reason why broken homes became in fashion. This means that citizens who are not raised by a motherly care and attention are possibly to become persons who are withdrawn and lack compassion. This eventually leads to a society that is less humane and uncaring. Because of the subjectivism of women towards men, her self giving was abused in many ways and her assertiveness misconstrued as rebelliousness and feminism.

Women are required to give her complete self because that is the dignity of her calling but that self giving is often not granted the love that is due to a woman. Rather, she is abused and is treated like a personal property and not as an equal partner. The British novels described the female gender both as strong women and weak women of which society of today still seeks her true meaning of femininity as a gift to the world. The fact that she is given her femininity her woman’s dignity is found in the order of love meaning she is the one to receive love in order give to love in return.

Woman’s dignity is measured by her giving love to others but it can only be witnessed if she also receives it, for who can give something which she or he does not have? Men and children who are not capable knowing what genuine love is are those who lack the experience of being touched by the warmth of a mother’s love and if there is a cold woman out there it could be a reason that she was not given the love she deserved. Weak women are borne by societies who have disregarded their dignity and reduced their personhood as second citizens of this world.

However, women are born strong because through motherhood a human being is entrusted to her care always and everywhere even in situations of social discrimination where she may find herself. She is also referred in (Proverbs 31:10) the perfect woman because her irreplaceable support for other people are owned much by their families and by the whole nations. . The three novels are characterized by different women during the 18th century, Fanny Hill a rural girl, Matilda and Isabella who belongs to noble blood, and Maria who is a woman of intellect.

They have all the qualities to be called perfect women but also have their weaknesses or soft spots which are an essence of their own femininity. Work Cited Cleveland, J. (1749). A Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure. Retrieved 14 April 2008, from http://books. google. com/books? id=cj5Za3JXXxkC Matthews, S. L. (2001). Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley: Writing. Retrieved 14 April 2008, from http://books. google. com/books? id=zeiXNBvquncC&dq=Mary+the+wrongs+of+a+woman&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0

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