Disadvantages of Societies Expectations of Women Explored in the Literary Works “Eveline” and “To the Ladies”

 “Eveline” by James Joyce and “To the Ladies” by Lady Mary Chudleigh both explore a similar theme of women’s expected role in society to be loyal to the male authority. “To the Ladies” is a poem written in the seventeenth century in which the author urges women to resist entering into a subservient position through marriage. “Eveline” also deals with harmful domestic expectations by telling a tragic story of a daughter’s obligations to her dysfunctional family at the cost of her own happiness. These two texts demonstrate how society’s expectations of women to be subservient homemakers for men are externally imposed. In both texts, the authors show how women have the choice to accept or rebel against these expectations, and ultimately, how conforming to these expectations significantly hinders women’s ability to be free from the male domination of their destinies.

In “To the Ladies”, Chudleigh explains how gender expectations are externally imposed on women through the legal contract of marriage. The author refers to marriage as a “fatal knot” (Chudleigh 3) and says that marriage makes “man by law supreme” (Chudleigh 6). The poem depicts the seventeenth century wife as relinquishing her personal voice. She instead treats her husband like an “eastern prince” (Chudleigh 9) who has supreme authority enforced by law. The obedient wife is expected to make no actions on her own accord but only those that “her haughty lord thinks fit” (Chudleigh19). Chudleigh’s poem portrays the socially accepted, yet very uneven dynamics in the relationship between men and women in the sixteen hundreds.

Similar to Chudleigh, Joyce shows how women’s familial expectations are imposed externally in his short story “Eveline”. The protagonist makes a promise to her dying mother “to keep the home together as long as she could" (Joyce 411). This indicates her expectations to keep the house in pristine condition and care for her family. This promise came at a hefty cost to her personal happiness: “She had hard work to keep the house together and to see that the two young children who had been left to her charge went to school regularly and got their meals regularly” (Joyce 411). As a daughter, Eveline is expected to be the sole caretaker of her siblings, her house, and her father. In addition to nurturing her family, she is expected to support her father financially  and “always [give] her entire wages” (Joyce 410) to him.. The nature of the imposition of expectations on women differs in “Eveline” from “To the Ladies” in that Eveline is obligated to her family while in the later text, the wives are expected to serve and obey their husbands. In addition, Eveline is born into the expectations imposed by her family unlike the wives in “To the Ladies” who willingly enter the “nuptial contract” (Chudleigh 12).

The seventeenth century women in Chudleigh’s poem work with their societal expectation to be subservient to men when they enter into marriage and allow their husbands control their fate. With a negative voice, Chudleigh explains how marriage in her century is not about true love, but instead focuses on emphasizing that a wife is expected to comply with her husband’s regulations. Chudleigh further laments that the wives allow themselves to “be governed by a nod, / and fear [their]  husband as [their] god” (Chudleigh 15-16). The women in Chudleigh’s era consent to their treatment as servants by their husbands. Although these women are not born into male authority contracts like Eveline, if they resist to conform to the expectations imposed by society, Chudleigh implies that they will be social outcastes despised not just by men, but all of society.

Unlike the wives in 17^th century England, Eveline initially does not give into the external expectations imposed by her family. She plans to escape her father’s control and violence by running off to Buenos Aires with her lover, Frank, who was a sailor. Even though “her father had found out the affair and had forbidden her to have anything to say to him” (Joyce 411), she continues to meet Frank clandestinely. Eveline wants to have her destiny in her own hands and build her own family and home by escaping her troubled past. “The pitiful vision of her mother’s life” (Joyce 411) worries her of her own future and makes her want to break the cycle of women’s maltreatment in her family. Like the wives in Chudleigh’s poem, as a woman, Eveline is expected to have a life filled with “commonplace sacrifices” (Joyce 411). However, unlike the wives in the poem, Eveline is determined to create a new pattern of female treatment within her family by escaping to Buenos Aires with a man who respects her.

Just as Eveline first chooses to rebel against the expectations of her family, Chudleigh as an author defies her society’s expectations of women in her era. Her voice is explicitly understood in the last lines of her poem. The very act of writing a pro-feminist poem in the 17th century displays that Chudleigh is actively defying those expectations of women. The title of the poem “To the Ladies” indicates that the author intends to write this poem as a message to women in her era. She urges wives to work against the expectations, inflicted upon them by society, to be like a servant to their husbands. In the final stanza, Chudleigh urges wives to  “value [themselves], and men despise: / [They] must be proud, if [they’ll] be wise” (Chudleigh 23-24). Her use of the imperative tense in the final stanza emphasizes the urgency with which she seeks to change the society in which she lives. In this way, she inserts her own plea to her contemporary women to regain their pride despite the potential social backlash.

In this way, Chudleigh would argue against Eveline’s final decision to conform to the expectations imposed by her family. Even though Eveline initially decides to gain her freedom and live to her potential, her sense of family duty takes over and she gives in to her externally imposed expectations as a daughter. In her last steps onto the ship, which will sail her to freedom from her abusive father, she suddenly becomes “passive, like a helpless animal. Her eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or recognition” (Joyce 412). Joyce’s reference to an animal indicates how Eveline’s soul becomes like an animal’s, without free will. This treatment of women as abused animals draws a line to the wives in Chudleigh’s poem who obey their male authority.

Both Chudleigh and Joyce display how the expectations of women in society ultimately hinders the development of individual woman from realizing their potential happiness. Chudleigh emphatically implies that society’s gender expectations ultimately hamper women’s empowerment. Furthermore, she shows how marriage degrades women because in marriage “ all that’s kind is laid aside / And nothing [is] left but state and pride” (Chudleigh 7-8). The lack of emotional happiness in a marriage reveals that in this era, marriage is a business transaction in which women are treated more like objects than loving wives. Similarly, Joyce uses Eveline’s character to clearly portray that gender expectations significantly hinders Eveline’s development into an independent women. Instead of choosing her freedom, the end of the story implies that she returns to her abusive lifestyle in which “she sometimes felt herself in danger of her father’s violence” (Joyce 410). However, it is interesting to note that even if Eveline chooses to escape to Buenos Aires with her lover, Frank, she would still be dependent upon a man to save her: “He would give her life, perhaps love too. But she wanted to live” (Joyce 412). Joyce’s stance on marriage reinforces Chudleigh’s criticism that women rely too much on their husbands.

Even though women today are considered to have by far more freedom than in Chudleigh’s and Joyce’s eras, women are still faced with unfair expectations. Like the wives in Chudleigh’s era and the protagonist in Joyce’s short story, Eveline, women today are still faced with disadvantages compared to men due to societal norms. For instance, though modern society encourages women to pursue a career, women are simultaneously expected to be the primary homemaker and nurturer of carchildren. This therefore makes it a challenge for women to succeed in their careers because they typically have to juggle between their domestic life and profession. Women ought to take Chudleigh’s advice to “be proud, if [they’ll] be wise” (Chudleigh 24) and continue their struggle for equality.

"The Unknown Citizen" & "Eveline"

The poem "Miniver Cheevy", by Edward Arlington Robinson, is a poem regarding a "child of scorn" (778) that "wept that he was ever born" (Robinson 778). Miniver has self pity and no self worth. He blames the world for his underachievement's and his poverty. He wishes that he had lived during the Medieval period and that if he lived in this era, he would be more successful. His interpretations of the medieval times as a flourishing period in history is based off the legend and folk talks he hears of Camelot, which never actually existed. He doesn't realize that the medieval period was actually a catastrophic period in history with starvation and plagues. Miniver's name suits him because it includes the word mini which represents his small mindedness. Miniver doesn't realize that he is wasting his chances of gaining success by drinking, not getting a job, always complaining about his problems, and always thinking of what he does not have. In addition, if he lived in the Medieval times he would still be in the same situation of being stuck and not taking the responsibility for his actions to progress in life. This poem is ironic because as Miniver believes that if he had instead lived in the Medeivel times, he would have been more successful. He is wasting his chances of becoming successful by choosing to drink as an alcoholic.

Eveline is a story about a young woman who wants to escape her abused life in Dublin and move to Buenos Aires with her lover Frank. She can no longer handle her father's physical and mental abuse. She believes that life is better anywhere else besides were she currently resides. The only problem is that she struggles to undergo this change and start a new life. 

The theme of "Eveline" and "Miniver Cheevy" are similar because they both discuss the ideas that people always believe that the "grass is always greener on the other side" and wanting more, but not working hard for achievement. Both Eveline and Miniver are trapped in this dilemma and believe that their life will no longer be unfulfilling if they lived in a different place or time period in history.

"The Waking" & "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas"

Roethke conveys many life lessons in his poem, "The Waking". In the first line of the Waking, "I learn by going where I have to go", means that death is inevitable.  We should therefore make the most of what life has to offer.   In comparison to the rest of the poem, it seems that the poet feels it is his obligation to explore as much as he can about the world given the short amount of time he has left on earth.  In contrast to the last line, in the first stanza the poet realizes that death is like a step away, so he therefore appreciates the opportunity given to him to have set foot onto earth.  In the second stanza, “I hear my being dance from ear to ear", the poet is on a journey to understand as much as possible about what life has to offer before the last journey to the eternal destiny.  In stanza 3, he is truly grateful for being surrounded by loved ones, and treasures mother nature for being so good to him. In the fourth stanza, the poet is trying to convey to the reader to accept the challenges that life has to offer just as a "lowly worm [struggles as it] climbs up a winding stair". In the final line, "I learn by going where I have to go", the poet loves the opportunity given to grow as he journeys through life. Roethke is willing to accept the challenges life has to offer and take the path in life he has to take and accepts the challenges that may come with it versus the one he wants to take. In this last line the poet teaches us that is our mission to find our purpose in life.  The process of finding our purpose in life takes a lot of dedication given the short amount of time we have on earth. 

In "The Ones Who Walk Away Ffrom Omelas", we see that societies are not appreciative of what they have, and they feel that luxury can be achieved only by torturing and dehumanizing the feeble.  The ones who left were the strong ones who were against all this cruelty.  The gave up, all of their luxuries in order to save a person from torture.  It was their own decision to leave in order to find a more purposeful and meaningful life free of guilt. The ones who walk away from Omelas's society display the theme in "The Waking" because despite their mind telling them to stay, because it is difficult to let go of luxuries, their heart told them to leave because it is the moral thing to do and it is therefore the path in life they "have" to take.

"Metaphors"

After analyzing Sylvia Plath's poem, "Metaphors", it crossed my mind that the simplest poems can be more complicated to dig the true meaning from than the lengthiest poems ever crafted. The poem's title, "Metaphors",  is appropriate because each line contains a metaphor. This poem is intended to be a riddle, as stated in the first line, and it depicts Plath's feelings regarding her pregnancy.  She describes her state during her pregnancy through her use of imagery and other types of figures of speech. It is understood that she is not very happy with her pregnancy through her use of diction which has a negative connotation to it. It is apparent that she expresses a sort of melancholy towards the situation.  Her state of mind and feeling towards her pregnancy resonates from her own private life.  She lived on and off in state of depression, and had a very sad married life.  

In this first line, she makes a connection to the nine months of being pregnant as she states that every line will have "nine syllables" (Plath 717). In addition, there are nine lines to further demonstrate this idea. She hints out a collection of clues such as "elephant" and "house" which conjure images of things that are large and bulky as she is indeed when pregnant.  In the third line, she provides imagery of the size of her pregnant "mellon" like belly compared to her weak small "tendrill" like legs.  She brings up an allusion to "fruit of thy womb"when she mentions "red fruit" (Plath 717).  She then draws a line to Eve eating the apple in the garden of eden which brought suffering among all pregnant women.  The train Plath boards in the last line is the train of motherhood, and "theres no getting off" (Plath 717).  

"Digging"

In the Poem "Digging" by Seamus Heaney uses imagery and metaphors in order to convey the theme and main idea. Heaney uses the concept of digging as an extended metaphor to make an indirect comparison between himself and his father. The metaphor of digging shows an unexpected common ground between the livelihood of potato farming and writing. There is also the metaphor of digging up roots.  In this poem, digging not only refers to the literal action of digging but it also alludes to the idea of digging up memories and Heany's family genealogy.

Although he will not follow the footsteps of his forefathers, by digging in the fields, he will instead dig with his pen to fulfill a career as a writer. He may not be equal to "men like them", with a spade, but he knows that he is much more powerful with a pen in his hand.  His pen would allow him to dig more into his past by recreating his own poetry with it. When he writes, him and his pen become one in harmony as the pen rests "Between [his] finger and [his] thumb....snug as a gun" (Heaney 730). This shows how well suited he is to write. The metaphor "snug as a gun", can also be related to keeping himself safe from the criticisms of other's for not pursuing his predecessor's career as a farmer.  Heaney uses the spade as a metaphor for his pen which digs into his memories and feelings about his heritage.  He describes that he will follow the same footsteps as his father and grandfather, but instead of using a spade he will use his pen.  

When Heaney's father "Bends low, comes up twenty years away",  he helps the reader transition with him into his past when his father was farming potatoes. The paradox "coarse boot nestled on the lug" brings the imagery of the strenuous task of digging.  In this poem, it is understood how proud Heaney is of his own heritage, and that he will continue with his family's heritage of digging as a writer. Through out this poem, he constantly praises his father who "could handle a spade, just like his old man" (Heaney 730-731). This demonstrates how proud he is of own heritage.  It is apparent that Heaney will carry on his family tradition, through his writings. 

Heaney also utilizes imagery in order to connect the readers to the atmosphere displayed in the story.  Through his writings, he gives the impressions of a harsh environment with "the cold smell of potato mould"(Heaney 731).  

Insights on "To the Ladies" & "Eveline"

        The central idea Lady Chudleigh conveys to the readers of her poem, "To the Ladies", is that a woman should be viewed as an equal to their husband. She focuses on this idea in her poem primarily because in her era, "wife and servant [were] the same" (Chudleigh 950), in other words, women were subservient to their husbands upon the signing of their "nuptial contract" (Chudleigh 950). This story reflects Chudleigh's views as a proto-feminist. Chudleigh's main theme in her poems argues against a mans demeaning expectations of their wife in the 17th century.  Chudleigh instead supported women to "value [themselves], and men despise: [women] must be proud, if [they'll] be wise" ( Chudleigh 950).   She also writes about how the church views women as second class citizens.  This story pertains to themes explored in the short story, Eveline, primarily because both texts discuss women's loyalty to men. In the story "Eveline" the protagonist struggles to protect her own values and escape "her fathers violence" (Joyce 410). She therefore wants to part away from her controlled and abused life in Ireland and escape to Buenos Aires with her lover, Frank. Yet, because of her "promise to her mother, her promise to keep the home together as long as she could" (Joyce 411), she could not free herself from her life in Ireland.  Just like the women of the 17th century, Eveline is trapped in a society in which she is not able to make a life changing decision without being hindered by a male authority.  According to Mary Chudleigh, women can gain their independence from men by using their own intrinsic abilities and intelligence to shun away men's flattery which prevents them from gaining further authority over women. In Eveline, the authority and malicious attitude of her father hindered her from making a progressive decision in her life.  She was therefore stuck in a rut, continuing on with the same life as her mother did.