Margaret Fuller Vs. Herman Melville - 1259 Words

(1255 words) Margaret Fuller vs. Herman Melville Kendall Kinney ENGL267 In her 1945 article, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, Margaret Fuller illustrates a world in which â€Å"there exists in the minds of men a tone of feeling toward women as toward slaves†, and where men hold â€Å"the belief that Woman was made for Man†. Two books, Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and Woman in the Nineteenth Century, provide male and female perspective in the 19th century. These separate texts exemplify two sides of the same coin. On the one hand, Woman in the Nineteenth Century provides perspective of the feminine experience in a male dominated world while Moby Dick portrays a society from a male point of view and experiences woman as subservient to himself.†¦show more content†¦This is the extent of Melville allows to cover the depth of her character. In fact, when Ishmael retreats into the kitchen to request a second serving by simply â€Å"utter[ing] the word ‘cod’† (59), the interaction is more reminiscent of a person directing a dog to perform a trick than demonstrating an interaction with another human. The portrayal of Mrs. Hussey in which her personality is entirely dedicated to performing tasks mirrors Fuller’s description of the masculine ideal that â€Å"[women] must be kept from mischief and melancholy by being constantly engaged in labor†. Mrs. Hussey’s primary purpose in the plot is to serve two men, Ishmael and Queequeg. Despite her seemingly diligent service, Ishmael displays a lack of respect towards her. In the scene where Queequeg locks himself in his room for his Ramadan ritual, Ishmael disregards Mrs. Hussey’s request to not knock down Queequeg’s door and speaks to her in the mocking tone of, â€Å"La! la, ma’am!—Mistress! murder! Mrs. Hussey! Apoplexy!† (74). Ishmael’s actions align with the male saying expressed by Fuller that goes, â€Å"You cannot reason with a woman†. The second of the two appearing female characters is Captain Bildad’s sister, Aunt Charity, described by Ishmael as being â€Å"ready to turn her hand and heart to anything that promised to yield safety, comfort, and consolation to all on board a ship in which her beloved brother Bildad was concerned†(86). â€Å"After the Pequod had been hauled out fromShow MoreRelatedBrief Survey of American Literature3339 Words   |  14 PagesRevolution(1789—1799) Romantic vs. Neoclassic (1) Neoclassicism: - reason, order, elegant wit - rationalism of enlightenment in 18th-cent. Romanticism: - passion, emotion, natural beauty - imagination, mysticism, liberalism (freedom to express personal feelings) Romantic vs. Neoclassic (2) Innovation: - subjects: common life; the supernatural; the far away and the long ago - style: common language really used by men; poetic symbolism Romantic vs. Neoclassic(3) Good poetry