Sociological Explanations for Gender Differences in Crime

Sociological Explanations for Gender Differences in Crime Outline and assess sociological explanations for gender differences in patterns of crime. In recent years, based on the official statistics collected and recorded by the police, the number of people committing crime has increased rapidly. There are striking gender differences in the patterns of recorded crime. Women appear to commit fewer crimes than men and, when they do offend, women tend to commit different kinds of crime from men. The question is, does women really commit fewer crimes than men? Or men were born to have a criminal instinct inside them? From functionalists perspective, women do not commit crime because of sexual theory and differences in the socialisation. For example, women perform the expressive role in the home where they take the responsibility for socialising the children while men are socialised to be tough, rough and risk taking and this mean they are likely to commit acts of violence or take advantage of criminal opportunities when they present themselves. In addition, functionalists argue that gender differences in patterns of crime are due to the control theory. For example, women are controlled and more likely to be at home, they are not in the pubs or clubs getting drunk which makes them hardly exposed to commit crimes. While Interactionists refuse official statistics on crime and believe they are socially constructed. What is classed as crime or deviance is based on subjective decisions by agents of social controls (e.g. police and jury) which is also called as labelling theory. For instance, based on labeling theory, men get labeled as being violent and a criminal while women do not. Feminism, on the other hand, disagrees with both functionalism and interactionism, feminists theory is a radical theory. They accept that women do commit crime but they commit crime because of different reasons in comparison with other sociologists.There are a number of feminist perspectives. First and foremost, according to Marxist feminists, they claim that women are under oppression of a dominant power structure (patriarchal society). Marxist feminists argue that men often take advantage and greater control over women which indirectly reduces women opportunities to commit crime.We can see women are controlled by men not just in a wider society but also at home and work.For example, housewives are required to spend most of their time at home taking care of the children and do all the house chores which impose severe restrictions on their time and movement and indirectly minimise their opportunities to offend.Women who try to reject their role as housewives may find that their partners will force them to do it through domestic violence. As Dobash and Dobash (1979) show, many violent attacks result from mens dissatisfaction with their wives performance of domestic duties. These automatically shows that domestic violence are mostly committed by men. While at work, womens b ehaviour are controlled by male supervisors and managers and keep women in their places as most of them only given the opportunity to be in subordinate position.However, eventhough they are only given the lower position compare to men at work, women reduces their opportunities to involve in major criminal activity at work. Women are also controlled in public spaces by the threat or fear of male violence against them, especially sexual violence.Frances Heidensohn (1996) notes that sensationalist media reporting of rapes add to womens fear and frighten them into staying indoors. For example, Women are more likely to stay at home before night as they are afraid something will happen if they are outside.Furthermore, women are controlled in public by their fear of being defined as not respectable. These eventually prevent women from committing crime such as prostitution as it will deviate them from the norms of the society. In general, these patriarchal restrictions on womens lives mean they have fewer chances for crime. However Heidensohn recognizes that male dominated society can also push women into crime.For example, women are more likely to be poor as they did not get the opportunity to get a job in a higher position due to inequalities in gender. As a result, they will commit crime such as being a dru g dealer or prostitution for them to live in a decent life. Next, based on the results of unstructured interviews carried by Pat Carlen (1988) most convicted serious crime female criminals are working-class. People will turn to crime if they do not believe the rewards will be forthcoming and if the rewards of crime appear greater than the risks.Women are generally led to comform through the promise of two types of rewards or deals.Firstly, women will find a job which will give them material rewards with a comfortable standard of living and leisure opportunities which also called the class deal.Secondly, the gender deal for example, men promises their wives with material and emotional rewards if they conform to the norms of a traditional domestic gender role such as taking care of the children and doing housework. In return, if these rewards are not available or worth the effort women will choose to commit crime to replace the rewards. However in terms of class deal, women in working-class are more likely to offend than middle-class women.So even if working-class women put on efforts more than middle-class women do, they still have a limited way or could not even find an allowed way of earning a decent living and this will bring them to commit crime as a way for them to run from poverty. In terms of gender deal, because of the patriarchal family norms, most of the women either not had the chance to make the deal or saw few rewards and many disadvantages in family. As example, some of them might be subjected to domestic violence by partners.Many women cocluded that crime was the only route to a decent standard of living. They had nothing to lose and everything to gain, which is the reason why they do offend. Carlen conclude that, for these women, poverty and oppressive family life were the main causes of their criminality.In general, Heidonsohn shows that male dominated society which control women helps to prevent w omen from deviating while Carlen shows that the failure of patriarchal society in delivering the promised deals to some women removes the controls which prevent them from offending. Last but not least, according to liberation feminist which is the closest type of feminism to the consensus view of society, nowadays women has become liberated from patriarchy and led to a new type of female criminal and eventually rises the crime rate. As now women get the same opportunities received by men which have become more equal, such as in education, employment, and political activity they are now more likely to commit more serious crime such as violence and white-collar crimes. Women no longer commit traditional female crimes such as shoplifting and prostitution because they now have greater opportunities in the society.However, not all women got liberated, most of female criminals are working class who still commit traditional crimes.Liberation feminist point of view shows us the importance of investigating the relationship between changes in womens role affects changes in patterns of women offending.

Gray and Goldsmith’s Attitudes towards Loss

Death as man’s fate can never be controlled by anyone or by anything. This is what one can infer from the poems of Thomas Gray and Oliver Goldsmith. These poems deal about death or loss of life and all other losses humans experience in life. Consequently, this paper is a comparative analysis of the attitudes of Gray and Goldsmith towards death or loss in their poems. This includes a discussion of the similarities and differences of the poet’s attitude which can be deduced from the speaker’s involvement or attachment, the speaker’s feelings towards the subject and the tone of the poems â€Å"Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard† by Thomas Gray and â€Å"The Deserted Village† by Oliver Goldsmith. Obviously, both poets have similar attitudes and feelings about the subject. However, Gray communicates stronger attitudes about loss or death in his poem than what Goldsmith articulates about the subject in his poem. To begin with, Gray’s â€Å"Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard† is a poem composed of 128 lines grouped into stanzas and it focuses on the dead people buried in a country churchyard. While, Goldsmith’s â€Å"The Deserted Village† is a poem consisting of 430 lines grouped into irregular number of lines per thought and it talks of the wretchedness of a village named Auburn. These poems have the following similarities. Initially, both poets are emotionally attached to the topic on hand. Gray feels the loss as he contemplates of his own death someday. Meanwhile, Goldsmith has personally experienced the loss of happy memories in Auburn especially in the first 34 lines of the poem. Next, the poems â€Å"Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard† and â€Å"The Deserted Village† attest that death prevents humans from doing what they were used to doing and from experiencing the pleasures they used to experience. In lines 17 to 28 of Gray’s poem, the speaker cites that the dead can no longer wake up every morning with the sounds of the â€Å"swallow†, the â€Å"cock† and the horn, be with their wife and children or go to work in the farm fields. Likewise, lines 243 to 250 of Goldsmith’s poem say that those who die can no longer enjoy the different pleasures in life. Another is that according to the two poems, death or loss will come to any person regardless of his/ her social position, prestige and economic status. No one is exempted from experiencing death. It comes to the poor as well as to the rich. It comes to the kind and to the unkind. This is exemplified in the lines 33 to 40 of Gray’s poem which point that even the rich will die and their riches will not prevent death or loss from happening. It is also cited in the lines 107 and 109 of Goldsmith’s poem that man will â€Å"meet his latter end† and will go down â€Å"to the grave†. The lives of the â€Å"village preacher† in lines 140 to 187 and the â€Å"village master† in lines 196 to 240 both exemplify that death comes to anyone in the poem â€Å"The Deserted Village†. Subsequently, both poems show that a human being goes to another place after his or her life on earth is over. Gray mentions the word â€Å"heaven† found in line 124 and â€Å"God† in the last line of the poem. Goldsmith also speaks of â€Å"heaven† in lines 112 and 188. This means that both poets believe that when death comes to a person, he or she has the hope of going to heaven to be with God who is the creator of man and of the universe. Lastly, the tone of Gray and Goldsmith’s poems is similarly mournful, hopeful and wishful. Since the poems talk about death or loss, they are obviously in a state of mourning for the dead. Gray evokes an atmosphere of mourning in the first twelve lines of the poem with the images of â€Å"the parting day† (line 1), the farmer going home, and the coming of darkness. Gray also uses the wailing of the â€Å"owl† in line 10 to conjure this tone. Meanwhile, Goldsmith uses the words â€Å"saddens† in line 38, â€Å"cries† in line 46, â€Å"griefs† in line 84 among others to present this tone. But in spite of the tone of mourning in these poems, they also express the hopes and wishes of the poets that after death or loss, there will be a new life or a new beginning as alluded to in words â€Å"heaven† in lines 122 and 124 and the word â€Å"Father† and â€Å"God† in line128 of Gray’s poem. In addition, Goldsmith mentions the word â€Å"heaven† in line 188 and the phrase â€Å"worlds beyond the grave in line 374 of his poem. The differences in the attitudes and feelings of Gray and Goldsmith towards loss in their poems are the following: first, Gray seems to feel uninvolved in the poem because he uses the pronouns â€Å"them† and â€Å"their† most of the time. Perhaps, this is because he does not personally know the people who died and who were laid in the country churchyard. In fact, he was just making guesses or contemplating of possibilities of what these could have become and what could have happened to them if they did not die yet. In contrast, Goldsmith feels very involved because he uses the personal pronouns â€Å"my† and â€Å"I† for many times in the poem. This could mean that what he has written in the poem is based on his very own experiences. Second, Gray demonstrates that death prevents anyone from achieving their ambitions or from discovering their hidden potentials. This can be interpreted from lines 45 to 64 where Gray elaborates the things that those who have died could have done in their lives if they were still alive. The speaker thinks of someone who could be a â€Å"Penury† in line 51, a â€Å"Hampden† in line 57, a â€Å"Milton† in line 59, and a â€Å"Cromwell† in line 60. On the contrary, Goldsmith does not mention the what- could-have-been in his poem because he primarily talks about the loss of the simple pleasures as part of village life. Third, Gray encourages that man should be prepared to die because it is a part of the natural course of life. Just as a day in a person’s life comes to an end as literally stated in lines 1 to 4 of the poem so does a person’s life on earth ends. If there is a beginning, there is also an ending. Nothing is ever permanent in this world. Everything is temporary. What has been commonly quoted by many: â€Å"The only thing that does not change is change itself† and â€Å"There is an end to everything† are indeed true. Gray tells us in the poem that humans need to prepare for that time when they will die because it is inevitable. He even makes himself an example of a person who gets ready for his death. As a matter of fact, he includes in lines 116 to 128 of the poem an epitaph that is to be written in his own grave. However, Goldsmith implies fear or suggests dread for the day of one’s death in lines 363 to 370 of his poem. The words or phrases â€Å"sorrows gloom’d†, â€Å"look’d their last†, â€Å"wish’d in vain†, and â€Å"shudd’ring† gives an idea that the poet is not yet prepared to die if he feels that death is something that comes to everyone. Fourth, Gray presents that nothing can bring back a dead person to life. He asks in the form of rhetorical questions in lines 41 to 44 if the things he has mentioned are able to bring back a dead person’s â€Å"breath†. Since these are rhetorical questions, obviously the answer to all these is a resounding â€Å"NO†. There is really nothing that can be done or no one can do anything to make life come back to someone who is already dead. A realization can then be made based on this. A person has to do what he can do and what he wants to do while he/ she is still alive because when he dies he can never do them or he cannot return to life to do them. Goldsmith, on the other hand, does not talk about these things. Fifth, Gray feels that those who are still alive should honor and remember those who have died. This is implicitly expressed in lines 77 to 112. The words â€Å"memorial† (line 78), â€Å"tribute† (line 80), â€Å"forgetfulness† (line 85), â€Å"unhonour’d† (line 93), and â€Å"tale relate† (line 94) are some of the hints that tell us that the poet wants to be honored. He also wishes in these lines that a friend or a â€Å"kindred spirit† (line 96) would remember him when he has died. Contrariwise, Goldsmith does not refer to these hopes in his poem. Instead he has other things revealed. Sixth, Goldsmith in â€Å"The Deserted Village† presents that loss is caused by a person’s discontentment or his/ her desire for luxury and wealth. The loss specifically referred here is the loss of the â€Å"ignorance of wealth† which leads to the loss of the simple pleasures in life that is analogous to the loss of one’s own life. It can be surmised from the poem that when humans lose their desire for the simple sources of joy and happiness and instead desire for luxury and wealth, then destruction or loss of life results just like what happened to Auburn. The speaker implicitly condemns â€Å"luxury† which caused the desolation of Auburn in lines 51 to 56 and lines 385 to 390. The discontentment of the village people for the simple pleasures referred to in the words â€Å"sports† (line 18), â€Å"pastime† (line 19), â€Å"sleights of art and feats of strength† (line 22), â€Å"dancing† (line 25), and â€Å"laughter† (line 28) led the people to â€Å"leave the land† (line 50). This idea is indeed true but Gray was not able to mention it in his poem. Seventh, according to Goldsmith, loss causes pain or is very painful on the part of the person who has lost someone or something very dear to him/ her. The words â€Å"pain† in line 82, â€Å"vexations† in line 95, and the phrase â€Å"sorrow, guilt and pain† in line 172 prove that it is painful to loss someone or even something. Likewise, the loss of happy memories can be as painful as having lost one’s body part. Conversely, Gray is silent about pain in his poem. Perhaps, he does not consider a natural process of life which is death as something painful or something which causes sorrow. Eighth, Goldsmith proposes that loss comes after luxury, wealth and pleasures. So for him, one should stay away from these things. He even calls â€Å"luxury† as â€Å"curst by Heaven’s decree† in line 385. He also demonstrates through irony in lines 52 to 56 that when riches abound, men’s lives deteriorate. In addition, lines 63 to 74 support the proposition that â€Å"trade’s unfeeling train† (line 63) resulted to â€Å"mirth and manners† (line 74) being lost. Finally, the tone of Gray’s â€Å"Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard† reveals his attitude or feelings for the poor, his readiness to die and his resignation to the inevitability of death whereas; the tone of Goldsmith’s poem is a mix of happiness, sadness, irony, and condemnation. Furthermore, the tone of Gray’s poem remains constant throughout the poem. In contrast, the tone of Goldsmith’s poem changes its tone from one feeling to another such as being happy then sad, ironic then condemning. To sum it up, both Gray and Goldsmith feel that death or loss comes to every human being whether he or she is poor, rich, kind or unkind at anytime. When loss comes, one can no longer do what he or she used to do or would want to do. And that loss comes with hope of going to heaven to be with God.

Dream analaysis

Table of Contents Sigmund Freud, The father of psychology as referred to many around the world till this very day. Freud developed an interest in dreams as his patient would disclose their dreams whilst in therapy under his supervision, which today is called psycho analysis.Carl Jung another very important figure in the shaping of psychology was in fact a student of Freud, but although he Jung was indeed a student of Freud they did not necessarily come to the same conclusion when it came to their theory about the interpretation of dreams. In short according to Freud , dreams are the reflection f the unconscious whereas Jung not only expanded on that but also added a twist and went on to say that dreams not only lead to a personal sub consciousness they also contained a collective unconsciousness.Bring (1995) I will roughly present the two theories and attempt to describe the theoretical foundations of psychoanalysis and Jungian analysis and therapy, discuss the key concepts in the va rious theories, explore the implications of the key concepts on personality theory and counseling as well as summarize basic techniques and therapeutic goals and processes, on the one f the theories I will Journal one of my own dreams and attempt to interpret it.The theoretical foundations of Psychoanalysis and Jungian Analysis Now as mentioned earlier in the introduction, Freud ultimately became accustomed to hearing the dreams of his patients and rather developed a profound interest in the subject of dreams, he soon included the interpretation of dreams in psychoanalysis alongside hypnosis and free association. Bring (1995) As the end of the 19th century wound up, Freud had then researched and unveiled the mechanisms of dreams, and there after dream analysis became the indispensable LOL in the psychoanalysts therapy.Bring (1995) Then again what is the purpose of dreams or how does one achieve a good quality dream or better yet how does one interpret their own dreams or those of ot hers? Another important note is that dream are or may be influenced by notion of Fraud's three structures of personality namely the id the ego and the super ego. Corey (2009) The id is the foundation of personality that revolves mainly around instincts and pleasure, and therefore it never has any rationality in the way it goes about.The ego is where all reasoning is communicated, s its code is based on the reality principle to satisfy or control the impulses of the id. The superego is modeled on a moral code and either rewards with feelings of pride and self-love or punishes with guilt and inferiority Corey (2009) â€Å"A dream is a work of art which requires of the dreamer no particular talent, special training, or technical competence. Dreaming is a creative enterprise in which all may and most do participate. Hall (1953) But who's to say dreams aren't Just a form of an activity that keeps us from being disturbed during sleep, Just as we do activities or work in day mime to preve nt us from falling asleep or to simply keep us busy. â€Å"Dreams are things which get rid of (psychical) stimuli disturbing to sleep, by the method of hallucinatory satisfaction. † Richards (1978) As cited by Corey (2009, P. 76) Freud suggested that dreams are the â€Å"royal road to the unconscious† and â€Å"an attempted wish-fulfillment. † As cited by Hall (1953).Jung also incorporated four stages to dream interpretation but not exactly like the elements in that of the dream work notion from Freud. Jung theorized that the first phase named the exposition accounts for the setting of the dream entailing a conflict expressed in the dream. The plot is the second phase that usually administers a different angle or change, in the next phase, the culmination is where most of the critical transformation occurs in order to bring closure to the dream or dreamer.Leaving the fourth and final stage being the denouement, well this is where Jung believed that, it is what i t is, meaning the dream will always have an ending that can't be influenced to suite the dreamer, much rather t will be a truthful ending based on a real conflict or reflection of one's life. Bring (1995) Jung maintained the notion of the collective unconscious consisting of various myths, religions and many more thoughts that are spiritual or superstitions hard wired in our unconscious to help make rational or realistic decisions otherwise known as Archetypes.The persona, the anima & animus and the shadow are the key concepts of the archetypes. The Persona is in a sense the human veil we wear or the image we choose to portray to the public for our protection of our inner self. (Veered 997) As cited by Bring (1995) â€Å"The persona consists of what a person appears to be to others, in contrast to what s/he actually is. That is to say the persona is the role the individual chooses to play in life, the impression and the way s/he wishes to appear to, and makes on, the outside world. † .The animus and anima refer to concept that there are both masculine and feminine forces in both the male and female sexes respectively. The shadow can well be the most dangerous and powerful factor in the archetypes as it â€Å"represents our dark side, the thoughts, feelings, and actions that we end to disown by projecting them outward. † Corey (2009,P. 80) Jung also proposed that in order for us to become integrated we had to acknowledge and accept that in our own nature there are both constructive and destructive forces forming our dark side otherwise known as the shadow.Corey (2009) My dream My dream starts with me entering one of my most trusted barbershops; I wait for my barber to finish with another client first before he attends to me. When he finally comes around to me I am so excited I can hardly talk anymore, so with me not being able to talk and tell him what hairstyle I want he gets started. He started off by shaving the back of my head completely bold then holding up a mirror to show me what he did without me knowing.He had this continuous grin on his face as if he had accomplished the greatest thing in his life while continuing to shave my head. In that same instance I'm kicking and screaming and flashing red with anger as I want to smack this barber so dearly, but I could not get up from the chair and strangely enough there where really no strings or anything holding me down. After I left the barber shop I went into great depression, never leaving the house not even for school, which resulted in me being expelled from school.The sound of my alarm ended the dream, which I am surprised to even remember afterwards, so there e is most definitely a strong conflict I need to deal with. See appendix 1 for free association Dream interpretation I will be using Fraud's theory for the interpretation of my dream. I will incorporate the likes of the manifest and latent content, the residua notion and a piece of the topographical model will be included.The manifest content derived from this dream was merely the agonizing thought of me losing my beloved hair, which completes my arsenal image. The latent content however was quite strongly suggestive in the thought of what could happen if ever I was to lose my hair, the id mechanism is driven by instinct, and it was left severely damaged in a sense that it could not in fact not react instinctively to this conflict situation.However the ego mechanism I believe is the reason I felt like I was pinned to my seat, and although it did not present any psychical restraints, I was indeed psychologically paralyzed in that moment of anger. The ego fortunately did not satisfy the id's instinct to strike as it relies heavily on the lethality principle and rational thinking, otherwise I would be faced with the consequences of reality. Because the id did not get its way in the beginning, led to the super ego being thrown off course as it strives for perfection and towards an ideal situa tion.The thought of my hair gone is not in any anyway an ideal situation as the only way I could rectify that mistake was to wait till the hair grew back and that in itself send me into a great depression, as the changes made to my appearance where not customary to the super egos values and standards of society. Corey (2008, P. 2) How this dream came about however is in fact related to the thought of me visiting the barber for my regular haircut.Mind you, I pass by this particular barber shop on my way to school, which has me preoccupied with assignments at the moment. So the day before I had this dream I was actually standing at the entrance of this barber shop contemplating whether I had enough time to get a full hairdo or not, I decided not to in the end, and that lead to experience forming the residua of the day that caused the occurrence of the dream I would think. Bring (1995) ConclusionThis essay has in fact taught me a lot about dreams pointing mainly at the significance or message in regards too real life conflict fear or wish it may be trying to bring to the conscious mind. The help to realizes the conflict being presented in the dream is Just as good as the interpretation of the dream in particular, so one has to be careful in the conclusions they draw to because if you were to conclude and started confronting a conflict not stressed in the dream it could well lead to many more unwanted conflicts.But in fact the complete opposite happened, I went there expecting that good Sunday feeling but the barber had a different agenda, he turned my whole experience upside down, he almost was like the id in a errors much to the notion of it being impulsive and doing what it pleases, the barber Just started shaving my head bold without waiting for directions, merely because I could not talk.The possible associations I can relate that image to is that of me attending my first year of college and the time of assignment has arrived and I'm much clueless as what the lecturer expects of me so I am rather drawn to Just go in the direction of trial and error in trying to be original. After the barber starts destroying my image, I want so badly to strike him but I cannot bring myself to do it.For me the part where the barber is destroying my image points to the possibility of me failing my assignment and the part where I want to strike but can't relates to the fact that I want to voice my anger on the subject of not being guided properly to complete these assignments but can't because I know it's an academic department where one is expected to find their own way. The part of going into this deep depression and being suspended interrelates to the feeling of despair and hopelessness on the subject of school and wanting to drop out already.

Death in the Hours - 985 Words

The men and women of The Hours view death as an escape from an ordinary lifestyle which lacks anything truly extraordinary or exhilarating. Laura Brown considers death as an alternative to the constraints of her role as a mother and a wife. Both Richard Brown and Virginia Woolf ultimately commit suicide in order to escape their illnesses and their failures to live up to societys expectations. Though Laura does not end her life, she does die symbolically to her family. Over the period of a day, Laura Brown gradually succumbs to her overwhelming desire to liberate herself from her mundane life. Her life has taken a very different direction from what she ever thought it would, and she finds herself completing commonplace household†¦show more content†¦She feels she has done an inadequate job as a wife and as an author: she wishes fruitlessly that she might live up to societys expectations of being a mother who is not afflicted with illness and a much-celebrated novelist. However, in the day of her life that Cunningham recounts over the course of the novel, she does not fully accept death as the way to end her suffering, because she still bears a sense of optimism about her own capabilities. Initially, she convinces herself that the ordinary housewife, Clarissa, in her novel Mrs. Dalloway will commit suicide to flee her sorrows over being unable to accomplish some extraordinary or applauded feat. Yet, a glimpse at death in nature acts to change her view: . . . the bird is laid on the grass compactly, its wings folded up against its body. She knows it has died already, in Quentins palms. It seems to have wanted to make the smallest possibly package of itself (120). In death, the bird bears less significance, and life perdures all around it in the form of Vanessas children. Virginia relates herself to the bird, and realizes that she is not yet ready to be so insignificant. She has great hope in the potential for her novel, eagerly anticipating that in its writing, she can integrate herself to a degree back into the life of the thriving society of London. Thus, she chooses to use Clarissa Dalloway to represent the life she aspires to have, and chooses thatShow MoreRelatedDeath in the Story of an Hour Essay906 Words   |  4 PagesChopin‘s short story, â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, focus on a woman’s dilemma near the turn of the 19th century. Contradicting the â€Å"normal† or sad assu mption of death, â€Å"The Story of an Hour† illustrates the significance of death representing freedom. The Story narrates about an hour of Louise Mallard’s life, as she tries to understand, and deal with her feelings of her husbands death. In The Story of an Hour, Chopin suggests that in certain situations, the death of a loved one may be a blessing. 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Laura Brown considers death as an alternative to the constraints of her role as a mother and a wife. Both Richard Brown and Virginia Woolf ultimately commit suicide in order to escape their illnesses and their failures to live up to societys expectations. Though Laura does not end her life, she does die symbolically to her family. Over the period ofRead MoreEssay on The Hours: Women, Sexuality, and Death821 Words   |  4 PagesThe Hours: Women, Sexuality, and Death The Hours is a movie that won the most awards in 2002.The movie is mainly about relationships, love, and death. This movie follows a single day in the lives of three women in different time periods between 1941 to 2001.The clothes that all three of these women wore were from different time periods. It is apparent from this movie that throughout history women were faced with trials and tribulations. 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Cunningham, the author of The Hours, explains it best: We live our lives, do whatever we do and then we sleep - its as simple and ordinary as that. A few jump out of windows or drown themselves or takeRead More Essay on the Death of Freedom in Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour919 Words   |  4 PagesDeath of Freedom in The Story of an Hour In Kate Chopin’s short story, The Story of an Hour, we are told that Mrs. Mallard, the main character, has a heart condition. Then Mrs. Mallard’s sister, Josephine, tells her Mr. Mallard died in a railroad disaster. At the end of the story, Mrs. Mallard dies when her husband suddenly walks through the door. The doctor says that Mrs. Mallard died of heart disease—of joy that kills (Chopin 27). Some people may agree with the doctor’s diagnosisRead MoreThe Death of Louise Mallard and Female Identity in The Story of an Hour1858 Words   |  8 PagesStory of an Hour, the protagonist Louise Mallard is afflicted with heart trouble but learns that her husband has died in a railroad accident. Upon her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard catches a glimpse of what independence feels like, but it is quickly taken away from once her husband returns unharmed. Chopin’s feminist ideals form the basis of this story where she explores female identity in a patriarchal society. For women of her time, marriage could be likened to prison where only death could set