Struggle for Identity- Gender Play: Educating Rita, Willy Russell I should have had a baby by nowI dont

t want a baby yet -Russell shows us societys expectations in the 1980s that women should stay at home and look after the children while men worked. Russell injects a sense of despair into Ritas speech which suggests to his audiences that although she doesnt want a baby she expects that shell have one anyway. The first thing Ill have to do is forget myself for the sake of him -Here Russell shows how women were expected to put their husbands before themselves, behave as their husbands wanted them to and adhere to societys expectations of how a wife should behave even if it meant not being true to themselves. Alternatively it could be seen as women have the real power but are trained to repress this to satisfy the male need to dominate. It makes me stronger coming here. Thats what Dennys frightened of -With this Russell implies that women have been subordinate to men due to their lack of education and that if all women were educated then they would be equal to men.

Why is John Lennon Wearing a Skirt?, Claire Dowie covered up and protected like boys -This quotation implies to an audience that while boys are protected girls arent thus making boys superior. This also suggests that females are exposed thought to what we are unsure perhaps to the cruelty of men? females from birth trained to rely on men to protect them -The words from birth suggest to Dowies audiences that all of their lives women are taught to rely on men. This in turn implies that women have no power and need to have protection from men. saw me as nothing more than breeding equipment, a womb, a womb-man -With the words breeding equipment Dowie suggests that women are only used for one thing and that they are all the same thus meaning they have no personal identity. Also the twist Dowie put on woman- womb-man implies that women are defined by their ability to give birth. femininitys just another word for fuckability and fuckabilitys just another word for future -Here Dowie implies that in the narrators view all men think of women as a means for sex and that to be feminine is to accept this view.

Prose: The Handmaids Tale, Margaret Atwood A sister dipped in blood .-The words a sister imply that they are defined by their ability to bear children and no other facet of their individuality is important. Alternatively it could suggest being part of a group and therefore they have no individual identity. like childrens -The word children has connotations of the sisters being innocent despite their role in society. It also implies inferiority in this case to men/those in power. commander - With this word emphasises the military lifestyle in which the novel takes place. It could also suggest that men have all of the power and women have little to none. stand or kneel only Irony, this quotation could suggest a nuunery however sex is forced upon the sisters whereas in a nunnery none of the sisters would be allowed to have sex. Alternatively it could imply that the commander is a Godlike figure. Offred -OF FRED by naming her characters thus Atwood shows her readers many things, firstly that this future is completely dominated by men that they are the holders of power and that society has taken a step back. It also creates the sense of possession or belonging and that the sisters individual identity has been stripped from them.

The Colour Purple, Alice Walker Wives is like children -We can see how women are treated as the inferior gender and the word children suggests that theyre uneducated, innocent and are in need of protection. Mr -The fact that in the novel Walker never provides the reader with the mens surnames could be to show a sign of respect or alternatively fear. It could show that all men represent authority and so women have no need to differentiate between them as all men are the same. She aint freshshe spoiled. Twice. But you dont need a fresh womanI got a fresh oneshe sick -In the novel ,men refer to women as if theyre objects and from this its evident men dont see them as equal to them or even as people in their own right. As well as this the tone of this conversation has resonances of the men bartering for the women this is similar to Zephaniahs The Race Industry. Also the words fresh and spoiled can be used to describe food and taking this metaphor further the food (women) is consumed by men.

Small Island, Andrea Levy Come Hortense - This command shows how men had the power to order what their wives did and expect to be obeyed. Also the word Come echoes commands that you would give to a dog, this could suggest that women were treated as if they no more intelligent than animals. A wife must do as her husband say. You ask a judge. You ask a policeman. - We see here how women have little or no free will implied with the word must. Adding to this by using titles such as policeman and judge (which both are positions of authority and power) Levy suggests that it is law and there will be severe consequences if this law is broken. Everyting in that trunk belong to you. What is hers is yours and if she no like it then .a little licking will make her obey - Here we see how during WWII a woman owned nothing outright and whatever they did have was owned by their husband. her frame, over the years, had obligingly hunched shorter so as to spare her husband that indignity - With this we can see how men as well as being socially superior to women they had to be physically superior as well and it was embarrassing to be otherwise. Poem: Aunt Jennifers Tigers, Adrienne Rich The massive weight of Uncles wedding band sits heavily -The words sits heavily imply that she cannot escape him and he is always present. With the word weight Rich has left it up to the reader to decide if this is a metaphorical or physical weight. However a metaphorical weight could be guilt over a wrongdoing or perhaps Aunt Jennifer is feeling pressured by her husband or society. They do not fear menthey pace in chivalric certainty -In this poem the tigers could be seen as a metaphor for what Aunt Jennifer wants to be and this would then suggest that AJ does fear men, is uncertain in her life and wants to be able to leave her husband. Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by -The word ringed has connotations of being surrounded which implies AJ cannot escape being oppressed. Also the word mastered suggests that uncle was controlling AJ and that she was treated as inferior to him.