Bobbo's Desertion Of Ruth example essay topic

In the beginning of The Life and Loves of a She Devil, Ruth is everything but autonomous. She married her husband, a selfish idiot named Bobbo, purely out of convenience. He does not love Ruth at all, and never fails to remind her of her numerous shortcomings. He is constantly cheating on her with a wealthy, petite, blonde woman named Mary Fisher, and does not try to hide the affair at all. After one particularly heated argument, Ruth's tolerance simply cracks. Bobbo tells her he is leaving to go be with his obedient blonde, and, as a result, Ruth meticulously plans her revenge.

Autonomy, in this book, can be defined as breaking free from those who control you; Ruth's marriage can be compared to a festering wound that is left untreated; it is nothing serious at first, but over time, things get worse and worse, until it is too late. Although unfortunate at first, Bobbo's desertion of Ruth was really a blessing in the long run. He thought that women were simply toys to be shoved around and taken advantage of; Ruth showed him that she did have a brain, a conscience, and common sense, and was not going to be tread on like a nasty old door-mat. I thought The Life and Loves of a She Devil was excellent until the last third of the book or so, when Ruth seduces the judge who is presiding over Bobbo's case. A truly autonomous woman would never have used sex to get what she wants.

Although sex is wonderful and perfectly natural, there are other ways to get what you want. I do find it amusing that the Fay Weldon emphasized Ruth's ugliness and large stature so much, when it seemed so easy for her (Ruth) to turn men to putty in her hands (and women, too, for that matter; she experimented sexually with a female nurse at her job at the nursing home). This proves that you do not have to be young and pretty to succeed. The years of verbal abuse from Bobbo has made Ruth bitter and ready to explode; she yearns to be powerful and admired, like Mary Fisher. The fact that Ruth was able to seduce the judge, the nurse, and others was defiantly not due to her looks.

She was intelligent and had a quick-witted personality, which made up for her less-than-glamorous looks. Ruth was by far the most autonomous before she had any plastic surgery. Autonomy can be defined as freedom from social stigmas and opinions, being indifferent to what others think, having a high self-esteem, and not letting others control you. What a great breath of fresh air it must have been for Ruth when she finally freed herself from Bobbo's vice-like grasp? Although plastic surgery is a quick fix for a huge problem, it did improve Ruth's self esteem.

The book would have been much more powerful if she had not gone back to Bobbo, because it's clear that he is nothing but bad news. The idea of autonomy is a bit less apparent in The Lover; it is clear from the beginning that the young girl and the Chinese man are not an "item". He has a wife, and she is much too young and innocent. In the end of the book when she leaves her lover and goes to France, she seems a bit unnerved, yet relieved at the same time. Autonomy is seen as a good thing for Marguerite Duras in her book, for when she is with her lover, she is nothing more than a whore, of sorts. Her family does not appreciate her lover, yet they take advantage of his money and kindness.

In this book, autonomy can be defined as freedom from the opposite sex, and, above all, financial independence. In The Life and Loves of a She Devil, autonomy is not really an ideal for women in the end. Ruth is an independent woman, but in the end of the book, all she yearns for is acceptance and appreciation from her husband. She wastes incredible amounts of money on plastic surgery, simply so she can please the opposite sex. I guess you could say that she gained her own personal freedom by becoming the people she hated (and at the same time, admired) - Bobbo, and most of all, Mary Fisher. Autonomy is pretty much the one who "wears the pants" in a relationship.

In The Lover, Marguerite Duras gains independence and autonomy by leaving Vietnam, and her beloved Chinese man. She knows in her heart that her affair is nothing more that lust, and to regain her autonomy as a woman, she must leave her familiar surroundings and strike out on her own. The ending of this book is bittersweet; she is doing what she knows is right, even though it is difficult. Autonomy for her is also being "set free" from her nagging, shallow mother. Her mother criticizes the love affair, yet takes advantage of the Chinese man's money. Secretly she is happy that someone has taken her daughter under his wing, and off her back.

It seems that people yearn to be independent and autonomous, yet when they " re lonely and all by themselves, they suddenly don't want that freedom as much. The Lover, and Hiroshima Mon Amour, both by Marguerite Duras, tell a similar story of a French girl (the "colonizer") and her much older Asian lover (the "colonized"). The French have long been known for their imperialism, traveling around the world conquering and occupying other regions. Duras could be called a colonizer, for she was somewhat of a "gold-digger", looking for someone old and wise to protect her. The French took advantage of resources in the countries they colonized, not really "loving" the people or the land, just as she did not truly love the Chinese man. Duras came from a poorer family, and always seemed to endure hardships.

Her lover was successful; one could even say he colonized her, for he took her innocence for his own pleasure. The French, and other powerful European nations, have historically milked the resources and life out of other lands and people. The United States is doing just that over in Iraq; the small nation has no chance against big-mean-policemen-of-the-world USA, and we are well aware of that. Virginia Woolf defines womanhood as having the right "mix" of masculinity and femininity, not letting one override the other.

Womanhood is independence and humility, ladihood is when a woman lets men control and influence her life. Women should be granted access to predominantly male professions, and also to education and literature. Those who function best in society are those who do not let their gender influence their daily activities. One must be realistic, and not try to be someone they " re not.

Women should do their best to be successful, but never let themselves become patriarchal capitalist pigs like so many of their male counterparts. When writing and speaking, women must say what they want to say, not what they think men want to hear. They must write as women, not as men. Fay Weldon's The Life and Loves of a She Devil deals with the same issue. Bobbo is an arrogant, unloving, materialistic man-whore, exactly the type of man Virginia Woolf criticizes. He constantly belittles Ruth and keeps her prisoner in a hellish suburban home.

The home can be compared to Woolf's England, for she felt that men did all they could to keep women submissive. A "woman", to Fay Weldon, is obedient and lacks a strong will of her own. A "she devil" does not let men hold her down; Ruth transformed from woman to she devil, and in the end, was a better mix of both. Just as Woolf said, the ideal woman is one who possesses the right mix of masculinity and femininity, or woman (feminine) and she-devil (masculine).