The central idea of this passage is to reflect upon the ideals of men in society, and their demand of control over women in society. Mr. Brocklehurst is portrayed as a condescending, hyprocritical, man that shames women for presenting themselves in a high manor. Even though the women in his own family dress in a very high fashion and luxurious way. His characterization can be best summed up as,
"Madam," he pursued, "I have a Master to serve whose kingdom is not of this world: my mission is to mortify in these girls the lusts of the flesh; to teach them to clothe themselves with shame-facedness and sobriety, not with braided hair and costly apparel; and each of the young persons before us has a string of hair twisted in plaits which vanity itself might have woven; these, I repeat, must be cut off; think of the time wasted, of--" Mr. Brocklehurst was here interrupted: three other visitors, ladies, now entered the room. They ought to have come a little sooner to have heard his lecture on dress, for they were splendidly attired in velvet, silk, and furs."
This small passage is the epitome of Mr. Brocklehurst's characterization and symbolizes the attitude the author has of men. She believes that men are controlling and to the fault of determining the physical look of women. This is the central idea of the passage and is why Mr. Brocklehurst is described with a quote that is of disagreement to feminist views in present day. Mr. Brocklehurst, to the author, is the representation of men and is a wrongful characterization of the majority of men. I do not agree with the actions or standards that MR. Brocklehurst believes the girls should follow, rather, I believe women are individuals that can declare what is right in their own minds. This is another reason why I believe the school dress code can be ridiculous at times. Girls should not be punished for what they wear, and this chapter maybe be taking shots at a male's governing of a girl's outfit. This article affectively portrays a man's characterization to me and I disagree with the central idea presented. I believe that this generalization is not a correct representation and delivers a message that is unfair to men that do not follow the standards presented by Mr. Brocklehurst.
Harambe did not die for the generalizations presented in this chapter,
Connor Finnegan
I answered the same question as you, and actually used a quote from the exact same part of the story. That part stuck out to me as well because of the hypocrisy of Mr. Brocklehurst's actions. I liked your connection to the present day by talking about the dress code.
ReplyDeleteNice organization here- you acknowledge all parts of the question.
ReplyDeleteI'd suggest thinking a bit more deeply about your response and intended effect- it's a bit surface-level in this particular response.
I agree with your interpretation of the author's view point of Mr. Brocklehurst. I like how you took time to consider the author's perspective, while I just looked at the perspective of Mr. Brocklehurst and the snooty man that he was. I get your comparison to school dress code, but I believe this is a different issue than just the freedom of women to express themselves. There is a time and a place to dress a certain way, and there still should be rules in place to allow for a proper learning environment.
ReplyDelete