The Woman as Muse and Begetter: Susan Barton’s “anxiety of authorship”

In their 1979 work titled The Madwoman in the Attic, Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar discuss the difficulties faced by Victorian women attempting to write in a patriarchal society. Gilbert and Gubar describe the â€Å"anxiety of authorship† experienced by female writers who thus believe they are not capable of creating a successful work. J.M. Coetzee’s 1986 novel Foe, follows its protagonist Susan Barton as she experiences such anxiety in early eighteenth century England. Barton’s anxieties as well as the society in which she lives lead her to employ the writer Daniel Foe to write the story of her experience as a castaway. Throughout her encounters with Foe, Barton describes the difficulty of writing and in one instance, asks whether there exists a muse for female writers as well as males. This question echoes that asked by Gilbert and Gubar in their examination of the differences between the experience of male and female writers. In Foe, despite the fact that Barton gives over the responsibility of writing her story, she maintains some authority and control over the way in which it is written. The most concentrated example of this is when Barton claims the role of Foe’s muse, along with that of â€Å"father† of her story. In doing so, she reverses gendered terms associated with reproduction and successfully remains an active participant in the writing of her story despite not writing it herself. One question raised by Gilbert and Gubar in â€Å"The Madwoman in the Attic† is that of the muse in relation to the female poet. Cited is Harold Bloom’s idea that sexual intercourse between the male poet and the female muse is a metaphor for the poetic process. Through this metaphorical encounter, the male poet and the female muse unite with the res... ...ished to tell, there is a sense that she has resigned herself to this fact and has attempted to remain close with her story through her sexual encounter with Foe and embodiment of the muse. That she is not the writer of her story seems to imply the failings of society rather than those of her own attempts to write it. Although Barton does not overcome the gendered ideas of who can be a writer and who cannot, her decision to take advantage of other gender roles and influence the production of her story as a muse deeply involves her in the writing process. Works Cited Coetzee, J.M. Foe. London: Penguin, 1987. Print. Gilbert, Sandra M. and Susan Gubar. "From The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination." The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2010. 1926-1938. Print.

Martin Luther King and Henry DavidThoreau Essay

However with different motives; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau were both admirable men that strived for a better government. As respected spokesmen they served as rebels against what they thought to be bad one’s stopping at nothing. Not even jail. Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. were both brilliant men. Thoreau’s â€Å"Civil Obedience† and Dr. King’s â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† are perfect examples of their intellect. Looking at these documents and observing the tactics they use while attempting to move their audience toward their ultimate goal, one can see the finesse that both men possessed. Thoreau and Dr. King lived during two different centuries. So being that they were vocalist and activist on the current issues it’s almost certain that they would have a different motive. Even though their motive was ‘poles apart’, differing in many ways, both Thoreau and Dr. King wrote with the aspiration of obtaining a new form of government presumably resembling the republican one we exercise today. Although awfully controversial, to do so both men felt nonverbal actions such as breaking the laws was the only effective way. In spite of the fact that it’s relatively ironic, they viewed going to jail in order to make a mockery of an immoral or impractical laws put in place by the government was â€Å"the very highest respect for law (King para. 5).†Henry David Thoreau motive for rebelling against the government was to make it more of a democratic one. He had no respect for the way it was being ran. His proclaimed problem basically summed up to be that he felt the government was being ran like a monarchy, or in other words by a selective few and not an entire society as it should. It simply wasn’t up to par according to his standards; for he stated this â€Å"I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government (para. 4).†Unlike Henry David Thoreau, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an African American during the times of segregation. This alone is a critical manipulating variable in the equation of why the two’s motive wasn’t the same. Dr. King was all about helping America move towards a desegregated future. He had zeal towards annihilating all unjust laws which he stated to be â€Å"a code inflicted upon a minority which that minority had no part in enacting or creating†¦ (para. 4),† but for the most part he had an overall respect for the government. In conclusion, it’s safe to say that other than race and motive Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. were pretty similar. They both were men of their own opinion that could be classified as moralized radicals. As spokesmen of their time they were both good at what they did. Through the form of speeches, protest, letters, and etcetera they both exemplified â€Å"Civil Disobedience (Thoreau). â€Å"Thoreau, Henry D. Civil Disobedience. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1849. 263-287. King Jr., Dr. Martin L. â€Å"Letter from Birmingham City Jail.† 16 Apr.-May 1963. Birmingham: Charles Moore, 1963. 1.

Theu.s. Election, And The U.s. - 839 Words

Immigration is one of several top priority issues in the 2016 U.S. elections, and the U.S. badly needs a new immigration plan. â€Å"President Obama announced on Nov. 20, 2014 a series of executive actions that grants up to five million unauthorized immigrants protection from deportation.† ( Parlapiano, Alicia) Under this order, currently unauthorized immigrants would benefit greatly, despite Congress s disturbing lack of support in this area. However, this new, executive-ordered program is on hold, its legality is being contested in the courts. President Obama is in favor of the Dream act. Note, too, under President Obama s two terms of office, more people than under any previous administration have been deported. The Supreme Court†¦show more content†¦Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton both favor a path to citizenship and deportation protection for illegal immigrants. Hillary Clinton wants immigration reform, and she would keep DACA and DAPA. She also favors the DREAMERS and the Dream Act, which seeks to put an end to the terrible separation within families that indiscriminate deportation creates. She understands the harm that is done by this kind of separation, which is so destructive to family life. Bernie Sanders is also in favor of immigration reform, though there is one policy he is concerned about, which is the guest worker programs, H2A and H1B. He is concerned these programs will bring in so many unskilled workers that it could cause a loss of jobs for some U.S. citizens. He s particularly concerned that these programs would cut into jobs that might otherwise be taken by young people, that there will be even less jobs for them, then there are now. On the Republican side, there is Donald Trump, probably the most hated candidates by immigrants because of his prejudice sounding comments, directed at Mexico and Mexicans, and other countries and citizens, too. Donald Trump wants everyone to be legal, that anyone entering the coun try does so in a legal manner. Donald Trump wants to build a wall, but not just any wall. He wants to build a big wall, beautiful wall with a nice door, to stop the flow of immigrants, from Mexico and beyond, coming into the United States. Ted Cruz is in