Margaret Atwood Essay

Maggie Atwood when wrote “Does feminist indicate a large annoying person who’ll shout toward you or someone who believes women are individuals. To me it’s the latter, and so i sign up. ” This evidently shows that Atwood believes that feminism is definitely not about depicting a woman as a solid and masculino character although a real a single with admirable traits and some imperfections.

Cat’s Eye, certainly one of Atwood’s acclaimed novels, can be distinctively a feminist novel that displays two different varieties of women in society. The first staying the stereotypically traditional girl, who is weak and submissive to guy. She displays this type of girl through her minor character types – Ms. Smeath and Susie, both of whom enjoy weak and traditional women who face disaster in life.

Her second kind is the heroic and feminist character that although being remarkable and solid has some man weaknesses. Your woman presents this kind of with two unconventional protagonists – Elaine Risley and Cordelia. The girl depicts Elaine and Cordelia as two tough but insecure girls that fight to create their unique personality in the culture. During the time shape of the book (1940- 1980), society was extremely men dominated especially the literary aspect of it. The majority of the famous authors were man and most from the highly regarded ebooks were drafted in a chauvinistic manner, describing women because weak, vulnerable, disloyal, trivial and narrow minded.

However, men had been portrayed as heroic, excessively strong, and perfect in every impression. Feminist novels, throughout this time around, were books that pictured women while the “hero” and protagonists rather than since women. Atwood’s Cat’s Eye, however , differed from the standard feminist novels as it illustrated the women since admirable “heroines” who were solid and proud but flawed. This brought a realistic feel to the personas as visitors were able to understand them better as they looked more humanlike – with strengths and weaknesses.

Maggie Atwood cleverly proves her book uniquely feminist through her portrayal of characters as the lady explores the struggles of dual standard of women in society; the stereotypical and vulnerable woman and the strong and non-traditional feminist. Ms. Smeath is first introduced like a woman which has a weak heart and somebody who needs continuous rest due to her disease. Already, readers pity her and have a mental image of a poor and failing mother that is in need of support. In contrast, if a novel of the same era would be to depict a guy with the same condition, he’d be proven as someone who is inside very strong and despite his physical health issues, he would become fighting to save lots of himself.

This can be a clear example of the sexist views of society in that time. Through the description of her appearance, one can notice that Ms Smeath believes that women should dress yourself in a plain and conservative vogue. She is shown as wearing print housedresses which are specifically saggy surrounding the chest and Oxfords- which are very plain leather shoes.

In addition, she does not use make-up or make extravagant hairstyles which is perceived to become strict, direct and upright. This perception of her is afterwards proven true as Atwood describes her as someone who doesn’t laugh, goes to church every week and stand for items she does not like – like the time she was told that Carol’s mom and dad slept on two different bedrooms. “Mrs. Smeath is nothing like Mrs. Campbell. For instance, this wounderful woman has no cal king sets and views associated with contempt.

I am aware this because once, once Carol was bragging about her mother’s twin sets, Mrs. Smeath said “Is that so”, not as a question but as a way of making Jean shut up. ” Inside the novel, Mrs. Smeath can be depicted being a narrow-minded mother who is convinced that Elaine deserves to become punished by simply God mainly because she comes from a family that is not as spiritual as the Smeaths. “It’s God’s punishment”, says Mrs.

Smeath. “It serves her right”. This shows her high-self confidence and her belief of superiority more than others. Mrs. Smeath symbolizes the darker and wicked side of ladies in society during that period of time. Another stereotypical woman, sensitive and defenceless, is shown in the form of Susie, a guy classmate of Elaine’s in night college.

Susie is seen as someone who dons a lot of make-up and jewellery, would wear skin-tight garments, and provides a quiet words. To Elaine, she is simply a fake and dumb young lady who’s merely fooling about in class. Elaine also suspects Susie of having an affair with the art tutor Mr.

Joseph Hrbik, while she is the only person who stays up for him when the rest of the class taunts him. Initially, Elaine believes that Susie is incapable of love – as she is too ” light “; another stereotype of women in that society, she believes that Susie is just playing with Mr. Hrbik’s feelings for personal advantage. “Susie herself is not capable of love, she’s too short, I think of her since the conscious one, one in control: she’s toying with him” Susie represents lack of of the stereotypical woman in society – the opposite of Mrs.

Smeath. She is seen as a dependant person as your woman seems to be in awe of Mr. Hrbik at all times.

Another proof of it is now time Susie concerns visit Elaine one last time in Switzerland Chalet. “Have you noticed Josef? ” she asked. I lied to you not very well “No for what reason would My spouse and i? ” “I just believed you might find out where he was”, she stated. ” This shows that not simply is Susie aware that Elaine and Josef are having an affair; the lady can bum about it, while she is as well dependent on Josef. This also proves her to be weak and which has a low self-confidence.

However , Elaine later understands that Susie was in simple fact pregnant and knew that Josef might refuse to marry her and thus she decides to cease the baby – herself. This kind of shows her helplessness, as she is not able to defend herself against the pain of Josef leaving her. Even in her poorest moment, the time she was in the ambulance she pleads with Elaine not to inform Josef.

Together, Mrs. Smeath and Susie represent the stereotype of women as both evil and dark or weak and vulnerable in society in those days period. On the other hand are Atwood’s two distinctly feminist character types – Cordelia and Elaine. Cordelia and Elaine represent the reality of women rather than the meant roles displayed by Mrs.

Smeath and beauty. Cordelia presents a very good but made their victim woman of society and Elaine may be the unusual central character which is a very ardent and skilled with a distressing childhood, which influences her entire life. Cordelia is first presented in the beginning in the novel in a single of Elaine’s first memories.

Straightaway, the reader gets the impression of a digital rebel when the narrative voice says, “We’re impervious, we scintillate, and we are thirteen”. Through the way they will express their likes and dislikes, and the power they will thought they’d, one can conveniently make out they are feminists. Atwood uses meaning when the lady writes “Cordelia sits with non-chalance, nudging me with her arm now and then, staring blankly on the other people with her grey-green eyes, opaque and glinting metal.

This kind of symbolizes Cordelia’s eyes since cold and sharp because metal to show Cordelia’s attitude towards others. Cordelia has its own traits in shape for a heroine – one example is her outer self-confidence – she reveals herself in an extremely assured manner in spite of her true feelings inside. Her independence- she is by no means dependant on anyone to guide her and in spite of having two sisters and mother to look up to, the girl lives your life her own way nearly struggling to produce her own place, her own identification in the world. Her intelligence-she received promoted to a higher grade inspite of being youthful than the others. Her durability to become what she wants and not what the society would like her to become.

And her leadership skills, which even though used wrongly, were effective enough to make sure she was always head. However , Cordelia has some apparent weaknesses – her family members. Throughout the publication, Cordelia shows that she has a specific discomfort with her friends and family, especially her father – who overcome her- and her sisters who were an ideal girls as a result, creating a lot of pressure for Cordelia to accomplish well. But no matter how well Cordelia did, her daddy paid not any attention to her.

She later on reveals to Elaine that as a child she would swallow mercury so the lady wouldn’t have to go to school, and she would drill down holes in her lawn so the girl could be secure in all of them and how the lady used to get to a lot of difficulty with her dad which she disliked moving to the new house because she didn’t include any good friends except for Elaine. At that moment, viewers see the busted and concealed child behind the hard and cold outdoor. Readers see a young lady who has been a patient to many challenges and tasks. Another illustration of this can be when Perdi says to Cordelia “Pull up your clothes, Cordelia, or you’ll flunk your season again.

Guess what happens Daddy stated last time. ” Cordelia flushes and doesn’t react. This reveals Cordelia’s fear of disappointing her dad and again readers see this kind of young child simply stuck in cruel and cold community, wanting to turn out, but hardly ever given the possibility. Another some weakness of Cordelia is her self-esteem, which can be very low.

When Elaine and Cordelia are in high school, Elaine deals with to get more focus from folks than Cordelia as Cordelia comes across like a fake person to most guys since your woman lacks the self-confidence to behave obviously. One more example of this is when Cordelia looses her job and tries to eliminate herself at home and gets sent to a mental hospital. Visitors can make a connection between Susie and Cordelia, as both in times of difficulty resorted to self-harm.

Which proves the genuineness of Cordelia’s figure as she gets strengths of any hero and weakness in the female stereotype, which type her character – the two powerful and vulnerable Elaine Risley, the key unconventional protagonist of the publication when first introduced, can be described as successful half century old artist back in Barcelone (her house town) to perform an exhibit. She is first seen as a great insecure girl with a tormenting past but as the publication progresses one can possibly fully appreciate Elaine’s brave traits. One can see the voyage Elaine requires the challenges she looks, the road blocks she prevails over and the memories she leaves behind.

Elaine, even though not the traditional heroine and perfect, is somebody most women will admire because she has a lot of inner strength. There are numerous times exactly where Elaine reveals her interior strength – especially when your woman walks far from Cordelia, Sophistication and Carol, and when the lady finds the inner strength (through Virgin Mary) to go back residence instead of losing consciousness with the freezing riverbank. She also locates the inner durability to walk away from a screwing up marriage, while sporting no cement plans.

Elaine also has a thirst for finding a place where she is supposed to be, her individual identity, which is why she challenges to please people- thus she can fit in. She is very exclusive in her thoughts and actions – for example once she works past her poster and she has moustache, instead of feeling hurt or perhaps breaking down because the stereotypical women might, Elaine wants the moustache because your woman thinks this lady has “achieved, finally, a deal with that a moustache can be driven on, a face that attracts moustaches. She is the proud feminist who stands up for women, when she would go to “consciousness raising” meeting for women, in which female issues are raised.

In addition, she feels nasty towards the Art Gallery of Ontario as they declined to hold her exhibit within their gallery mainly because as she says, “Because there is a bias toward old deceased men”. The girl with also viewed as someone who cares for others because she is displayed giving money to the poor on more than one occasion and is also found doing things to please persons even if the girl does not need to – for example the interview with Hazel. She also shows her qualified side when ever she discovers Grace’s mother has a poor heart so she should go and checks everyday to see if Mrs.

Smeath is fine. However , Elaine even offers her man weaknesses just like her behavior on putting on masks and faking things to please persons. She also evolves neurotic habits such as gnawing at her skin area, pulling her hair and peeling her skin and so she may feel soreness and her existence. In addition, she develops fainting fits and has taking once life impulses.

This lady has moments wherever she is shed and needs help, she is scared of galleries, and is afraid expressing her feelings and all in all she carry a lot in from her past that she should let out in order to move on. The girl with also self-doubting as she has no self-confidence in her abilities and she is paranoid as to what other women think and claim about her. She is constantly afraid she is going to end up just like someone and thus takes enjoyment in learning she’s better than others. She challenges her whole life to create her own personality that is not pre-determined by culture. Elaine and Cordelia stand for the unique and real woman protagonist Atwood creates to symbolize the true role of women in society.

Through her brilliant way of portraying characters to symbolize a society much like a normal one rather than a false one, Atwood explores the detailed have difficulty in the lives of all four characters, which will at a primary glance appear very distinct but are connected with each other in their tasks in the society. Atwood delivers forth an unconventional protagonist, who in spite of being prone to weaknesses and flaws deals with to gain the admiration of many readers through her actions in life.