The Chains of Femininity Essay -- Gender Roles, Esther

Throughout The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath explores a number of themes, particularly regarding the gender roles, and subsequently, the mental health care system for women. Her 19-year-old protagonist, Esther Greenwood, is the vessel through which Plath poses many probing questions about these topics to the reader. In the 1950’s when the novel was set, women were held to a high standard- to be attractive but pure, intelligent but submissive, and to generally accept the notion of bettering oneself only in order to make life more comfortable for the significant male in her life. Esther not only deals with the typical problems a woman would face in her time, but has to experience those things through the lens of mental illness- though it is up for debate whether or not it was those same issues that caused her â€Å"madness† in the first place. In particular, Esther finds herself both struggling against and succumbing to the 1950’s feminine ideal- a conflict made evident i n her judgments of other women, her relationships with men, and her tenuous goals for the future. Whenever a new character is introduced, the reader is immediately subjected to Esther’s painstaking physical description of them, which leads to her ultimate judgment of their character. For instance, when Esther introduces one of her fellow interns, Doreen, in chapter one, she says â€Å"Doreen . . . had bright white hair standing out in a cotton candy fluff round her head and blue eyes like transparent agate marbles, hard and polished and just about indestructible, and a mouth set in a sort of perpetual sneer . . . as if all the people around her were pretty silly and she could tell some good jokes on them if she wanted to† (Plath, 4). It is clear that she admires Doreen’s ice... ...em, but choosing one meant losing all the rest† (77). As a woman, Esther feels that she cannot have everything that she wants in life, because becoming a housewife and a mother would immediately rule out her other ambitions of fame and travel. In today’s society, it would be quite possible for a woman to choose many, if not all, of the figs that Esther describes. However, even though Esther exaggerates the total black-and-white nature of the decision, there still remains an element of truth in her lamentation. While a male could feasibly choose both a successful career (or multiple careers) and a family, Esther would be expected to put taking care of a home and children ahead of making advances in her chosen field. Therefore, she is restricted by her femininity and cornered into making choices that will force her to make major sacrifices regarding her future.

Major Differences Between Classical Athens and Han China

Major Differences Between Classical Athens and Han China Classical Athens and the Han Dynasty In China were two of the most famous and successful early clvlllzatlons. Even though they were In different geographical regions and existed In different centuries, they were both able to make there civilizations relevant in different ways. The differences in these civilizations include size/ population and geographically where the civilization was, their government, and their different ways of life.Size/population and geography were big differences between Classical Athens and the Han Dynasty in China. Where each civilization was located is one of the many major differences between the Han Dynasty and Classical Athens. According to Document A, the Han Dynasty is shown to be near the Pacific Ocean on the other side of Asia, putting the civilization basically in isolation.On the other hand, although Athens Is near the Eurasian Steppes near the Aegean and Mediterranean Sea which would allow ma ke trading with other countries Ilke Persia and Egypt easier because the Mediterranean Sea was a great trading ground during the times of Classical Athens. Size also Is a big difference because Athens Is a city In the area of Attica hile The Han Dynasty is a little bit small than the current size of China today. Population were also two other big differences between the Han Dynasty in China and Classical Athens.According to Document B and Document C, the ratio of people living in Athens Compared to the Han Dynasty was largely in the Han Dynasty's favor. Classical Athens population in the year 432 BCE was composed of about 50,000 free male citizens, 50,000 free male non-citizens (citizens under the age of 18 and residents without Athenian parentage), 100,000 free females and 115,000 slaves for a total of about 315,000 people. The Han Dynasty on the other hand was roughly 200 times the size of Classical Athens population wise.There were an estimated 1,000 emperors and appointed offici als, 130,000 educated bureaucrats, 1 landed aristocracy, 58,500,000 peasant farmers and some skilled urban workers, 50,000 merchants, and 5,000,000 unskilled workers, street artist and household slaves for a grand total of roughly 65,000,000 people. Although these numbers can not be the accurate actual populations of both civilizations, these documents give a basic understanding as to how big each civilization was.These numbers concerning the wo civilizations show how different population wise each civilization was with Classical Athens looking relatively small compared to the Han Dynasty. The governments of both The Han Dynasty and Classical Athens were also different. Classical Athens had a democratic type of government while The Han Dynasty had a monarchical/central type of government. Many citizens in Classical Athens viewed democracy as a the role model for other countries and a precedent for future governments.Indeed, Athens' democracy did set a precedent for many democracies today because there are many glaring slmllarltles between Classical Athens' democracy and a current democracy today such as the united States of Amerlca. Slmllarltles Include tne Atnenlan AssemDly ana todays current electlons on laws and future leaders because both are using a representative type of government (Document E).According to Pericles in Document D, Classical Athen's government was the best form of government because the administration of the government is in the hands of all the people, very unlike the Han Dynastys government which, because of the Mandate of Heaven, kept the government of the Han Dynasty in the hands of the oyal family passing down the dynasty from generation to generation in the Han family (Document F).The Han Dynastys governments main focus was expanding the powers of bureaucracy which would play a very pivotal role in the amount of territory controlled by the dynasty. The emperors of the dynasty would also appoint officials to be in charge of each part of his territory in the name of the emperor. The appointed officials would act very much like an emperor to the section of the territory they were assigned (Document G). This is very different from Classical Athens because ClassicalAthens had a representative type of democracy where they would have a representative represent their point of view on a issue where as in the Han Dynasty, all decisions and issues were decided by either the officials of the sections approved by the emperor of the emperor himself. In Classical Athens, according to Pericles in Document H, a good citizen of Athens must be well informed on general politics because it is for the well being of Athens since every citizen is involved in the deciding of issues, laws, etc.That would not be the case in the Han Dynasty because hatever the emperor says goes and the citizens can only follow the law. Document I talks about the time after the Athenians lost their war with Sparta and their democratic government was destr oyed. Instead their government transformed into a type of monarchy where their main focus was on the enemies inside and outside of Athens that would try to overthrow them.This is important because of the way Classical Athens had converted to a kind of monarchy that was similar to the Han Dynasty with the fact that is was a type of monarchy but still different because in the Han Dynasty if you were able to pass the test to become a government official, you could be a part of the government whereas during this time in Classical Athens, there was group of men and only those men who controlled the government. Confucius in Document J talks about how any person who is doing good to others can have influence upon the government which would also mean they are a part of the government.This is very much Confucius' was of interpreting representation in the Han Dynasty's government, difference from Classical Athens because Athens' emocracy directly lets citizens have a say in the government whi le the Han Dynasty indirectly lets their citizens have a say in the government. An additional document of an average citizen living in both Classical Athens and the Han Dynasty would create a greater understanding and another point of view on both how effective and successful each government was.Both governments were able to lead to the relative success of each civilization, however both governments ways of making their civilization successful in different ways. Living in two different parts of the world, Classical Athens' way of life is completely ifferent from the Han Dynastys way of life. According to Document L, The Han Dynasty was a very isolated and kept to themselves while Document K shows the Greek culture of the Ancient Olympics which was the gathering of Greeks to celeorate, very mucn OITTerent Trom tne cnlnese culture 0T Isolation.Also In tne Han Dynasty the child was the lesser between the parent and the child. Filial Piety is the child showing respect to the parents whi le working for them, showing that the elders are more important that the child in the Han Dynasty's way of life (Document P). The heory that the parent is more important than the child is also shown in Document O in which Wan Can explains an event where he saw a woman let go of her child in the weeds and the woman walk away, basically condemning the baby to a death sentence.The note beneath the document also gives more evidence to this idea, stating that in order to limit family size, abandonment and infanticide were accepted means in the Han Dynasty and usually occurred on the third day of the infants life where the parents would then decide whether to let the infant live or die. Although his also occurred in Classical Athens, many people, including Socrates, do not agree with this practice (Document M).

Arguments on the Existence of God - 602 Words

God’s existence may actually depend upon our belief in his existence but it is more plausible to believe that God exists using the different types of arguments such as the cosmological argument and ontological argument, Leibniz and the Principle of Sufficient Reason and the Problem of Evil, and the definition of basic belief as evidence. The Cosmological argument can be simplified into three reasons that everything that begins to exist has a cause; the universe began to exist, therefore the universe has a cause. Using the first proposition and the basis of metaphysics, something cannot come from nothing. If this were possible, everything and anything that comes into being emerges from nothing. Some may argue the quantum theory, which gives particles the ability to come into existence from nothing, but these particles do not materialize from nothing. Instead, they appeared from a quantum vacuum. So again, everything that exists has to have a cause. If everything were caused by something else though, then there would be no first cause, and if there were no first cause, then the first effect would not exist. Therefore, the ultimate cause of the universe then must be uncreated. A being that does not exist in time so therefore does not come into existence. In this case, God is the ultimate creator because he exists outside of time and has neither beginning nor end. This type of argument argues the existence of contingent things on the necessity of a God being the ultimateShow MoreRelatedThe Argument On The Existence Of God1629 Words   |  7 PagesThe idea of God has been a part of man’s history for centuries. Since time began there has been various combination of believers, and non-believers. Individuals who believes in God, belong to many different religion. Whereas, skeptics find the existence of God somewhat baffling, and have continually sought answers to His existence through scientific methods. As the world progresses in scientific, and technol ogical advancement, the human race still faces the question of God’s existence. Many philosophersRead MoreThe Arguments For The Existence Of God1056 Words   |  5 Pages16 November 2015 Rough Draft for The arguments for the Existence of God. The question Does God Exist? is a well-known asked question in the world. Most people believe they know the answer to it. The religious people would say, well of course he does, while the non-religious people or atheist would say no He does not exist. Because evil exist and chaos exists, God cannot be all-powerful. In the modern world, there are many different opinions as to whether a God exists or not. This has been an issueRead MoreThe Argument For The Existence Of God1674 Words   |  7 Pagesfind the three arguments I analyzed satisfactory for the existence of God. The existence of God simply cannot be proven. Regardless of how strong a person’s faith is, or how many miracles they claim to have witnessed, God can only ever be a possibility. First, I will discuss why Pascal’s wager is not a satisfying argument for the existence of God. I will then examine C.D. Broad’s â€Å"Argument for the Existence of God†, and why it is also not a satisfying argument for the existence of God. Finally, IRead MoreArguments For The Existence Of God974 Words   |  4 PagesArguments for the existence of God through critical thinking and rationalization are called ontological, cosmological, teleological, or pragmeatic arguments. The most widely known of such arguments is that of St. Anselm from Proslogium of St. Anselm, which states that God is considered a perfect being unlike humans or any other world subject. The fact that he is perfect in a world of imperfection proves his existence. 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Descartes offered two arguments towards the existence of God: an informal proof in the third meditation and the ontological proof in the fifth meditation. Descartes believed that with the employment of a rational method of inquiry which applied some of the methods of analytic geomet ry to the study of philosophy, our ability to attain certaintyRead MoreThe Argument Of The Existence Of God1480 Words   |  6 PagesThe arguments trying to â€Å"prove† the existence of God are by far some of the most controversial philosophical arguments out there. When some of the people who created these philosophies it was illegal or even punishable by death to even question his existence, let alone try to come up with a logical explanation to â€Å"prove† he is real. The two main arguments used today are the ontological argument and the cosmological argument. Neither one of these arguments are correct nor incorrect; moreover, theRead MoreThe Arguments For The Existence Of God940 Words   |  4 Pagesp. 209, question# 1 Among the numerous arguments for the existence of God, the argument of design stands as the most persuasive in terms of providing a logical basis for the absolute presence of God. This argument is concerned with the intricate nature of creation and existence: one must believe that there is a Supreme Being that designed the characteristics and features of every existing thing in the entire universe, both living and non-living. The precise and complicated design of the universeRead MoreThe Argument For The Existence Of God1411 Words   |  6 PagesMy paper scrutinizes numerous logical disputes for and alongside the presence of God. I shall argue that there’s no adequate evidence or inclusive arguments for the existence of God. It is grounded on the views of certain great philosophers and scientists of all of mankind. Generally speaking for myself, I would correspond to have faith that there is â€Å"God†. Regrettably, it’s awfully well-defined that the being built up on insightful faith is no longer a suitable custom to shadow. During the courseRead MoreThe Cosmological Argument For The Existence Of God Essay1556 Words   |  7 Pagesconcerning the existence of God. If God exists, we probably have to make him accountable. The universe would probably have a meaning and a purpose. Also, our very existence may not be cease after physical death. But if God does not exist, we are probably here by chance and we have no accountability to any transcendent. This life is probably all we have, so we should live as we please. The question arises - Does God exist? At first glance, it seems contradictory to prove the existence of something