Stange's Example Of New Historicism example essay topic

Summary and Analysis to New Historicism in The Awakening The term New Historicism is not a well stated expression due to the word new. What is new today may be old tomorrow. New historicism is actually old, and the best adjective to describe it is historical. New historic critics are less fact-oriented than critics used to be because they wonder whether the truth about what actually happened can ever be proved.

Therefore, they are unlikely to suggest that a literary text has a single or easily identifiable context. When new historicist critics describe a historical change, they often discuss the theory of historical change that informs their account. Michael Foucault, a well-known new historicist, says that no historical event has a single cause; rather it is connected with a vast web of economic, social, and political factors. The name Greenblatt is more synonymous with new historicism than anyone else. His essay entitled Invisible Bullets is said to be more frequently cited than any new historicist work. Greenblatt believes that history is driven by economics.

Many critics do not consider Foucault one of the central influences of new historicism. These critics do not like his method of work or his critiques on old-style historicism. However, the boundary around new historicism remains fuzzy because it is always changing on account of the word new. One thing agreed upon by all historicist is that a critic must study the author, his or her work, and the period which it was written in. I believe that this lesson on new historicism is very beneficial. It helped me learn a lot more about the subject I was assigned to and gave me important knowledge that is useful for everyday reading.

This section about new historicism is a great topic to learn about. Margi Stange gives an example of new historicism in her essay entitled Personal Property: Exchange Value and the Female Self in The Awakening. Stange describes how Leone looks at Edna as his property. Edna left the house, and she made the statement she will never belong to another than herself.

Self-ownership, in the second half of the nineteenth century, signified a wife's right to refuse marital sex and control her own person, independent of the desires of the husband. Edna's bare, naked hands show she is not the property of anyone. Kate Chopin connects Edna to the feminist drive for women's property rights. The freedom to withhold oneself sexually has its complement in the freedom to give oneself. Edna not giving herself to her children makes her not a motherly figure. Edna's death in the ocean dramatizes the self-ownership theory.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton says that when single women die they go to the gates of death to give life to every man that is born. I think that Marg it Stange's example of new historicism is very well written. It gives me a much better insight to the true meaning of new historicism. I believe this essay on personal property will help me out as I write my term paper and as I read in the future.