Monna Giovanni and Wife of Bath Essay Example for Free

Monna Giovanni and Wife of Bath Essay The personas crafted by Boccaccio and Chaucer are different. Chaucer’s Wife of Bath receives its recognition from her smart characterization that portrays her as unconventional and eccentric woman with certain strident elements whereas Boccaccio’s Monna is described as a creature of elegance and of high moral stature. Both these women are manifestation of two different faces and facets of the same age. One manifestation of the age is conventional i. e. Monna Giovanni who is utterly loyal and faithful whereas other illustration is unconventional that does take into consideration the conformist norms and values of the contemporary era. Both Wife of Bath and Monna Giovanni hail from higher social stratum. Wife of Bath’s attitude toward men is domineering and she advises other women to do so. She considers them lecherous and mean due to their indifferent attitude toward women. She refers to them as suspicious and lusty-fellows. (234-378) Her own attitude toward men is paradoxical. She is offensive toward them and considers it a good practice to get best out of men. But she expects patience from men in anger and urges them to emulate the well-known tolerance of Job. She expects fidelity from them e. g. she hates the infidelity of her fourth husband but never assure them her own fidelity. In contrast to Wife of Bath’s thoughts toward men, Monna’s attitude toward men is in conformity with the socio-cultural standards. Wife of Bath is does not behave in conformity with the social norms and traditions of the contemporary era. She does not meet the expectations of proper manners of a wife. She married to three aged but well-off husbands in her youth and inherited their wealth. She is of dominant nature and tried to override her fourth husband who was of her age. She had a bad experience with her fifth husband. All of them are now dead but Wife’s hopes are alive to marry anew. Through the summary of her married life (459-462), Chaucer portrays her as clever and selfish woman who unlike the common woman of her age does not marry due to matrimonial and ethical purposes but it was her materialistic desires that make her to marry old husbands. But again her attitude toward marriage is paradoxical as she loves her fifth and last husband due to his expertise in sexual relationship. Wife of Bath has had extramarital relationships as well (lines 461, 467, 476). Unlike Wife of Bath, Monna Giovanni is an epitome of chastity and virtuous. She did not notice the temptations of sentiments and paid no heed to the instigations of her lovers. Boccaccio says in this regard; â€Å"However the lady, no less virtuous than fair, cared not a jot for what he (Federigo) did for her sake, nor yet for him. † She marries and remains faithful to her husband till his death. Furthermore, Wife of Bath takes love and marriage in term of economic benefits and thus equalizes it to prostitution. She uses the economic terminology to denote to the marriage and matrimonial relationships. In contrast to Wife of Bath, Monna considers marriage socio-cultural obligations and takes pride in matrimonial bliss. Her faithfulness to her husband is a result of matrimonial accord. After her husband’s death, she does not usurp his inheritance but forward it to their only son. The only similarity between these characters is their stylish and trendy life. Wife of Bath is a fashionable lady adorned with the grace of the contemporary costumes and ornaments. But Chaucer provides certain references where she seems over-dressed. Monna Giovanni was â€Å"in her day held rank among the fairest and most elegant ladies of Florence†. But we do not find her snobbish and over-dressed. There is a feeling of superficiality about the Wife whereas Monna’s character carries elegance and grace with it.

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

When I was younger, I would often return home to a familiar question: So, what did you learn today? My answer would always be "nothing" or "stuff." As I look back, I never lied, yet, I never told the whole truth. Many people think that you don't know anything with only 18 years of experience; I think they're wrong. I've learned a lot about myself and others from the relationships I have built throughout the years. I believe my most important lessons were "people" lessons. Those are the ones which could never be taught out of a book or in a lecture; you have to go out and experience them for yourself. I have learned that you'll never know the answer if you don't ask the question. People like you for who your are, even if you wear watermelons on your head at homecoming, tight black leather pants for a fashion show, or get decked out in your parent's old polyester clothes for Disco Day. Everything is a give and take situation and we can never give enough. If you want to be heard, first you must listen. We are all different, yet very much the same. Everything I have just said can be ...

Empowerment of the Girl Child Essay

I. Introduction In a seminal article in 1990, Amartya Sen suggested that worldwide, particularly in Asia, millions of women were missing from the population totals of many countries. He also noted the alarming fact that the sex ratio for female children in China, India and South Korea is actually deteriorating while the overall sex ratio for females in those countries has marginally improved. Sen argued that the number of women missing in any population could be estimated by calculating the numbers of extra women who would have survived in that society. This would have been so if it had the same ratio of women to men as in other regions of the world where both sexes receive similar care. Given the low ratio of 0.94 women to men in South Asia, West Asia and China indicating a deficit of 6 percent, he surmised that since in countries where women and men receive similar care the ratio is about 1.05, the real deficit is about 11percent of their women. These numbers tell, †quietly a terrible story of inequality and neglect leading to excess mortality of women† (Sen, 1990). In India, the widening gap in the ratio of girls to boys is clearly brought to light in the Census of 2001, confirming a trend that has been in place since 1901. This is most pronounced in the youngest age group, 0-6, thus indicating the scale of injustice as well as the long-term social and economic consequences implied. Ansley Coale (1991) also drew attention to unusually high sex ratios at birth and high female mortality rates relative to males, especially in the early years of life and for daughters with elder sisters. To give a rough approximation of the numerical impact of excessive female mortality, he also estimated the ratio of males to females in selected populations that would exist in the absence of discriminatory treatment of females, and thus the total number of ’missing’ females. For the populations of China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, West Asia, and Egypt, he calculated the total number of missing females to be about 60 million, a figure lower than.

The Glass Menagerie Criticism Essay - 910 Words

â€Å"The Glass Menagerie,† is a woeful play, plagued by a missing father, a young man walking in the very father’s footsteps, and a mother whose only life is lived in the past. There is one other unfortunate member of this dysfunctional family—Amanda’s daughter, Laura. Laura lives in a fantasy world, afraid to face the reality of her crippled destiny. She exists in a world of glass, pretty and flawless. Laura represents the glass menagerie; this is reinforced by the disjunction of the horn from the misfit unicorn which in turn represents her handicap. The fragile Laura is treated throughout the story as though she is breakable. When she attempts to do something, her family members, â€Å"come to her rescue† and prohibit her from†¦show more content†¦As previously mentioned, the families tend to protect the affected person. Though the families have changed, the person with the disability is affected the most. Their families attribute to thi s—if at first they try to succeed in a goal and those who are meant to support them impede them, then they begin to believe that this is the way it is and that they are unable to succeed whether that statement is true or untrue. This is close in relation to a concept in psychology known as Learned Helplessness. If one encounters many failures in a situation, they begin to believe that this is the way it is and theres nothing they can do to change it. Lauras Learned Helplessness is depicted in the conversation between Jim and Laura. While speaking to Laura, Jim realizes that she has very low self esteem and responds by saying, â€Å"You know what I judge to be the trouble with you? Inferiority complex!† Jim supports his hypothesis by informing her that she is too self conscious and things she worries about really aren’t that bad, but amplified by her imagination. Laura’s vulnerability is exhibited by both her physical disability and her skewed psychologica l perspective of herself. Like Laura, glass is vulnerable. Talk of Laura’s glass menagerie enters in the midst of the conversation between her and Jim. Since Laura’s world centers around her glass collection, she attempts to interject the subject of the glass menagerie between the subjects currently beingShow MoreRelated Comparing the Life of Tennessee Williams and Glass Menagerie707 Words   |  3 PagesParallels in the Life of Tennessee Williams and The Glass Menagerie   Ã‚  Ã‚   Tennessee Williams is one the major writers of the mid-twentieth century. His work includes the plays, The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire. One theme of The Glass Menagerie is that hopeful aspirations are followed by inevitable disappointments. This theme is common throughout all of Williams work and throughout his own life as well. 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