...Women, Romance Novels and Shame Mac H English Composition 111 22 March 2013 Introduction “Bodice-ripper”, “trashy books”, “porn for women”, these are just some of the derogatory terms used to describe romance novels. The romance genre has maintained a steady popularity among women for many decades. Afraid of women gaining power in any form, they were labeled sub par literature by a male dominated social and literary culture. This anthology will attempt to answer the question of why women who read romance novels are ashamed of their choice or reading material and why these books are vilified in the literary world. Previous generations established a woman’s place as a mother and homemaker no matter her social status. This fear of women wielding more knowledge and power through reading was born because the women depicted in romance novels were independent and free of the sexual, social, and financial constraints that a patriarchal society placed on them. Although romance novels do not come to mind when literature is discussed, if you listen carefully you will realize they are actually the subtle battle cry of the feminist movement. Romance novels fly high the flag of feminism; they are the drumbeat swelling the dynamic purposefulness of women who read them. Nevertheless, the genre is covered in a layer of disdain and scorn and women are made to feel ashamed of reading such literature. The stigma attached to these books suggest that anyone who reads them...
Words: 2646 - Pages: 11
...Anka B ENG210H5 2 March 2011 Essay 2 A Short Analysis of Romance and Eroticism in Emma and The French Lieutenant’s Woman While both novels explore the ideas of romance, Jane Austen is much more conservative in her approach to courtship and marriage. She includes traditional love scenes where men confess their love to a lady, or a woman speaks of her love for a man. There is no strong sexual content or intimacy between characters that is able to evolve into a steamy affair. There are certainly no intimate scenes within the novel and much of the romance is expressed through flirtation, superficial interest and courtship. John Fowles on the other hand explores romanticism and eroticism through several affairs that end in romantic tragedy in The French Lieutenant’s Woman. Although this contrast exists between the two novels, both authors are still able to demonstrate the complexity of romantic relationships using their own unique approach to the subject. Jane Austen introduces romantic ideas through complex relationships that involve courtship and marriage. For some characters it is a growth process that allows them to make mistakes and learn new lessons. Emma is the main character in the novel and she is the main cause for the drama that goes on in the story. Emma assumes that she has cupid-like qualities that make her a great matchmaker for those she surrounds herself with. In reality, the matchmaking backfires and Emma finds herself entangled in a web of guilt and...
Words: 2096 - Pages: 9
...org/wiki/Novel A novel is a long narrative that is normally in prose, which describes fictional characters and events, usually in the form of a sequential story. While Ian Watt in The Rise of the Novel (1957) suggests that the novel came into being in the early 18th century, the genre has also been described as having "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years",[1] with historical roots in Classical Greece and Rome, medieval, early modern romance, and in the tradition of the novella. The latter, an Italian word used to describe short stories, supplied the present generic English term in the 18th century. Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, is frequently cited as the first significant European novelist of the modern era; the first part of Don Quixote was published in 1605.[2] While a more precise definition of the genre is difficult, the main elements that critics discuss are: how the narrative, and especially the plot, is constructed, the themes, settings, and characterization, how language is used, and the way that plot, character, and setting relate to reality. The romance is a related long prose narrative. Walter Scott defined it as "a fictitious narrative in prose or verse; the interest of which turns upon marvellous and uncommon incidents", whereas in the novel "the events are accommodated to the ordinary train of human events and the modern state of society".[3] However, many romances, including the historical romances of Scott...
Words: 312 - Pages: 2
...A novel is a long narrative, normally in prose, which describes fictional characters and events, usually in the form of a sequential story. While Ian Watt in The Rise of the Novel (1957) suggests that the novel came into being in the early 18th century, the genre has also been described as "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years",[1] with historical roots in Classical Greece and Rome, medieval, early modern romance, and in the tradition of the novella. The latter, an Italian word used to describe short stories, supplied the present generic English term in the 18th century. Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, is frequently cited as the first significant European novelist of the modern era; the first part of Don Quixote was published in 1605.[2] While a more precise definition of the genre is difficult, the main elements that critics discuss are: how the narrative, and especially the plot, is constructed; the themes, settings, and characterization; how language is used; and the way that plot, character, and setting relate to reality. The romance is a related long prose narrative. Walter Scott defined it as "a fictitious narrative in prose or verse; the interest of which turns upon marvellous and uncommon incidents", whereas in the novel "the events are accommodated to the ordinary train of human events and the modern state of society".[3] However, many romances, including the historical romances of Scott,[4] Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights[5]...
Words: 305 - Pages: 2
... * I. INTRODUCTION * 1. OVERVIEW * Bella Swan moves from Phoenix, Arizona to live with her father in Washington to * * allow her mother to travel with her new husband, a minor league baseball player. After * * moving to Forks, Bella finds herself involuntarily drawn to a mysterious, handsome * * boy, Edward Cullen. She eventually learns that he is a member of a vampire family who * * drinks animal blood rather than human blood. Edward and Bella fall in love, while * * James, a sadistic vampire from another coven, is drawn to hunt down Bella. Edward * * and the other Cullens defend Bella. She escapes to Phoenix, Arizona, where she is * * tricked into confronting James, who tries to kill her. She is seriously wounded, but * * Edward rescues her and they return to Forks. * * 1.1 SETTING or CONTEXT * * Most of the story takes place in Forks, Washington, and its surrounding areas. * * According to Bella, Forks claims the highest rainfall per year in the United States. To put * * it bluntly, it's dreary and gray 99% of the time. The cloudy, rainy climate is one of the * * reasons the Cullens have chosen to live in Forks – because it's rarely sunny, they can * * go out in the daylight without having the sun sparkling off their glittery skin. If Forks is * * the land of the dark, Phoenix is the...
Words: 3881 - Pages: 16
...Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen was published on the 26th of May 2006 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. The genre is historical romance novel and the intended audience is adults and mature young adults who enjoy romantic and historical novels.In this novel, there are interesting characters that one can emotionally connect to. The main characters include Jacob, Marlena, August, Rosie the elephant and Uncle Al. Jacob is the narrator, he narrates the story while he is in the circus also when is the 93 years old in a nursing home. Jacob is a very kind, straightforward kind of guy. This is evident when he is young and also old. Jacob serves as the circus’ veterinarian. Marlena, the only female main character. Jacob instantly falls in love with Marlena the main performer, but she is married to August. After an outburst, August beats her and Marlena decides to leave and have a relationship with Jacob. August, Marlena’s husband, and the cruel and abusive animal trainer. He is classified as a paranoid schizophrenic. When August does not get his way, makes sure everyone is as miserable as he is. Rosie, the one and only elephant in the show. Everyone thinks she is number than a sack of nails, Jacob realizes that she understands polish and is actually very intelligent. Rosie is a very kind elephant who loves popcorn, lemonade and gin. Uncle Al the cruel...
Words: 596 - Pages: 3
...F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel. When F.Scott Fitzgerald evoked popular music of his period, he was criticized because jazz has ephemera of the moment. The idea to fuse traditional jazz and modern hip-hop. Regard as serious art form unto itself. The songs in the film epitomize the 1920s as wells as the characters of the novel in many distinctive ways. That hybrid comes across most clearly n retro modern sings that fuse old and new like (songs) and the eccentric covers . Primarily, the song is used in a scene to express a heightened nervousness as Gatsby is anxiously waiting to be reunited with Daisy at teas with Nick Carraway. It gave a comic relief→ amusing scene showing Gatsby butterflies in stomach / playfulness and quirkiness, his vulnerability. and we *prominently see *We love the idea that he is crazy in love....
Words: 638 - Pages: 3
... Fantasy is a type of genre that allows the reader to experience a place or world unlike any they have before. Fantasy lifts all our ideas of reality, and allows us to be a part of experiences that we would otherwise have no chance of taking part in. One of the first genres to be used in literary fiction was romance and this genre embraced fantasy by creating princesses and princes fighting an epic battle and mythical creatures such as dragons, Vampires and Ghost. In this paper I will explain how J.R.R Tolkien “The Hobbit” fits the genre of fantasy. This is important because every writer has there own writing style and there favorite genre. The novel “The Hobbit” by J.R.R Tolkien fits the characteristics of the fantasy genre because it has everything a fantasy book would have such as mythical creatures, wizards and an epic hero. J.R.R Tolkien was a scholar of English language and was a professor at oxford. He Specialized in Anglo Saxon and medieval literature. Tolkien being writing fantasy novels in 1976 and has said “No other Genre can put you in such a magical state expect fantasy”(A Short History of fantasy pg.123). J.R.R Tolkien has explained that his love for fantasy goes back to his childhood and when he would read books and forget about everything and everyone around him. J.R.R Tolkien has used every aspect of fantasy in his book “The Hobbit”. The majority of fantasy is based in a medieval-type setting, a unique fantasy world created by the author, but one...
Words: 746 - Pages: 3
...Romeo And Juliet : Not Acceptable for Ninth Grade Curriculum. Romance could be tragic but it's how lovers cooperate with it. Romeo and Juliet showed that love is tragic especially when situations are being rushed. In the novel of Romeo And Juliet it clearly had showed based on the situations that was being occurred that those couples were a bad example of romance. Since they showed a bad example of being a role model it shouldn't be teacher in a ninth grade curriculum. In this essay i will be covering three different reasons to why Romeo And Juliet shouldn't be taught in a ninth grade curriculum, due to the fact of immatureness students are still which connects to them idolizing actions and taking it as a lesson. First of all, income students in high school are still not matured enough to understand serious situations that's happening in the story. Based and according to my experience in watching the movie i clearly saw the situation that was being occurred that those situations of action are just a silly part of those student’s part of life . As in reality i have actually seen how my other classmates could be so immature when we were watching the movie about Romeo And Juliet. Further on yet there are still students who doesnt consider maturity yet in their age....
Words: 698 - Pages: 3
...Is Daphnis and Chloe a Religious novel? The story of Daphnis and Chloe The story of Daphnis and Chloe pays homage to the God of love, Eros, Pan, and the Nypmhs with Dionysius and Hermes also present within the story, The role of the Gods in the novel is one of protection towards the essential love plot of Daphnis and Chloe, Whilst it is important to not take the Gods involvement away from the nature of love ( a dominant theme of the book) The religious themes of the novel are already apparent in the title, without even opening the pages a reader with a knowledge of greek lore and myth will already relate the name Daphnis to its greek meaning of ‘Laurus nobilis’ or ‘Bay Laurel’ which stood as a significant symbol to Apollo, Daphnis himself in greek myth was citied to be the child of Hermes and a Nymph who struggled to contain himself and subsequently lost his eyesight at the wrath of a infatuated nymph. The similarities between the Mythological Daphnis and Longus’ Daphnis would suggest that Longus intended to relate his character to the legend. However in the novel Daphnis barely portrays any of the divine features which the legend holds, the word ‘par excellence’ is used in relation to the Legend, the word meaning ‘Better than all others of the same kind’ and it does not relate to Longus’ Daphnis . Furthermore the name Daphnis was a commonly used name in Greek literature especially in pastoral poetry which is hardly surprising seeing as the Legend is supposedly the...
Words: 521 - Pages: 3
...Characters: Augustus Waters, Hazel Grace Lancaster, more Genres: Young-adult fiction, Romance novel Awards: Goodreads Choice Awards Best Young Adult Fiction 1)The-Fault-in-Our-StarsCancer is such a dreadful disease, indiscriminate in its choice of victim, choosing with aplomb regardless of age, gender, or status. There are a myriad of stories behind the tragedy and many of them remain untold. In The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, he builds a story out of darkness and despair. He takes the tragedy of cancer and immerses us in the lives of characters that could very well be real. Many know of the heartaches in dealing with those who fight the fight, and many of those scars last a lifetime. He brings his story in the form of a teen girl, Hazel Lancaster. Stricken with cancer from a young age, she believes she has come to terms with what her life has become. Then she meets a young man, Augustus Waters, a survivor of cancer. He is drawn to her in a way that is initially uncomfortable, and as she tries to push him away in her sarcastic vein, he finds her to be exactly the type of girl he has been looking for. Throughout the story there is a beauty and humor, a 'candle in the wind' for each of those whose lives have been touched by such an uncaring disease. For cancer touches not just the victim but all those who love and are in anyway touched by them. Be prepared for a story of romance and anger, excitement and humor, and friendship and bravery for that is the direction we...
Words: 2732 - Pages: 11
...in Translation Historian, Robert Shickel, says; "A great novel is concerned primarily with the interior lives of its characters as they respond to the inconvenient narratives that fate imposes on them. Movie adaptations of these monumental fictions often fail because they become mere exercises in interior decoration". Highly acclaimed dystopian novels are constantly being adapted into movies. Fans of these novels are excited that they will finally get to see their favorite dystopian worlds brought to life, but then they are disappointed when the films do not adhere to the books. It is understandable when the film varies slightly from the original novel, because directors are not expected to fit a three hundred to five hundred page story into a two hour film. However, when a book is converted into a movie, the filmmakers neglect to include essential parts of the novel in the film. Elements such as character development, narration, and point of view are lost in translation. The underlying themes in dystopian novels are lost when adapted to the big screen, because filmmakers are more concerned with the entertainment value, such as the romance and action, more than the message and actual story the novel originally presents. A major problem that filmmakers face when adapting a novel is the limit that the camera has to present literary points of view. The point of view— or narration— in the novel can offer insight into a characters mind as well as a characters...
Words: 1483 - Pages: 6
...life Ume Sumayya Abstract My aspiration to contemplate what I want is the fundamental question that essentially arises whenever associate degree scholar of ideas ‘deals with a piece that he hopes to grasp. Such scholar could have centered his attention on a piece of literature - a literary composition, a play, a completely unique novel - or on a piece of philosophy – some exercise in moral, political, religious, or different such mode of thought. However the fundamental question can all tell such cases remain the same: what area unit the suitable procedures to adopt within the try of arrival at understanding of the work? This paper provides a synopsis of Sidney Sheldon life, reviews its key scientific challenges, and discusses its philosophical implications. It ends with many words concerning the implications of his work for the society. INTRODUCTION Sydney Sheldon is the most celebrated dramatic/suspense novel author of twentieth century. He’s additionally film, TV & amp; stage show/drama author and winner of an honor. Sydney’s own life was a pure drama, poorest at one stage; rich person at another. State capital wrote his 1st novel at the age of fifty three once individuals begin coming up with for retirement. It had been an enormous flop, he didn’t surrender, wrote another that clothed to be an excellent success. He thought of life as a completely unique, you never understand what happens next till you switch consecutive page. Never Stop, never quit, was his message...
Words: 3676 - Pages: 15
... For a single genre type film, it is comparatively easy to analyze the posters since each and every element of the poster is contributing to one genre that the film is based on. Hybrid-genre film posters, on the other hand, are trickier to analyze. Not only their audience can miss some of the information present in the posters but there are also chances of the posters failing to project what actually is the sole purpose of the posters, or some posters may be intentionally designed so as to focus one dominant genre and leave out the rest for the audience to find out after watching the movie. Since hybrid-genre can be a blend of any number of different genres, to focus my research, I have chosen romance to be one common genre in all the film posters while other genres may differ. Romance being a genre in itself has its specific features and characteristics that the audience of this genre might expect. The film...
Words: 2187 - Pages: 9
...Vampire Twilight I would like to suggest an interesting book about a young adult vampire romance novel by author Stephenie Meyer. It is the first book of the Twilight series. Bella Swan, who moves from Phoenix to Forks. She is falling in love with Edward Cullen, a vampire. Additional novels in the series are New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. A seventeen year old Bella Swan leaves Arizona to live with her father in the small and clouded house in Forks she doesn’t like it. Living in Forks, with its constant mist and rain, wasn’t bad much she will have to make a whole new friends a new school. Edward and his whole family are vampires. Edward himself was made a vampire when he was seventeen years old. Edward and his family are vampires who drink animal blood. First day at school, he seems disgust her. He disappears for a few days. Another day Edward saves Bella by stopping the van with only his hand because Bella is nearly crushed by Tyler's van in the school parking, it makes Bella want to know Edward more. Bella is saved by Edward again when she is almost attacked after that Edward takes Bella to dinner and home. On the car, she tells him of the stories that he is a vampire. Edward says he tried to stay away. Over time, Edward and Bella fall in love. While Cullen’s family and Bella playing sport in woods there were another vampires, James a tracker vampire who knows about Cullens' relationship with a human, He wants to hunt Bella. The Cullen family try to separate Bella...
Words: 380 - Pages: 2
