Analysis Of The Point Of View Of A Woman - 2235 Words

When choosing to lead readers through a novel in the point of view of a woman that is described as â€Å"so impetuous, yet self-contained! Incapable of insincerity, devoid of affection and courageously naturally beautiful. . . . So unlike most women,† (Stoddard) Stoddard knows exactly what she is doing. The Morgesons resists the conventionally domestic, passive 19th-century feminine ideal and Stoddard purposefully chooses to ignore the previously set paths for a female writer. Instead she chooses to present readers with a narrative that is rich with emotional intensity, physicality, and sexuality. She does this, in order to present us with a character that is on a journey of sexual awakening. Cassandra’s varying degrees of hunger in the novel†¦show more content†¦Also most well-respected physicians of the time were in agreement that â€Å"true women felt little or no sexual desire, and that only abnormal or pathological women felt strong sexual desire† ( Source #2). In fact, being sexually forward in the presence of a man suggested a â€Å"worrying sexual appetite† and is directly in conflict with the notion that a woman only wanted sex in order to procreate and become a mother (Source #1). Being aware of these 19th century conventions, Stoddard would have had a hard time when writing, had she come out and explicitly stated that Cassandra is hungry for acceptance of her sexuality. Thus, it would then have been the question of how could a female writer of that time period cloak the meaning of her writing in a manner that would be accepted while still fighting conventional standards. The obvious choice that is made, is to use hunger as a metaphor for Cassandra’s sexual satisfaction and dissatisfaction. This may seem like an odd pairing, however, regardless of if Stoddard is aware of it, hunger and sex and a lot in common. As researchers have suggested, â€Å"Both feeding and sex are goal-oriented behaviors, both produce an advantageous outcome, both are triggered by a similar chemical in the brain† and both are something that humans in general struggle to satisfy while remaining in line with society’s current standards (Source #6). Many American’s today even go as far to use these two