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Tarquinius and Lucretia
Tizian
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tizian_094.jpg
Similar in reality and literature:
The information on abuse that can be found in literature is actually quite similar to what we may learn in real life. The reason the two are similar is because writers often incorporate personal experiences, knowledge they gain from victims of abuse, or what they have observed in their lifetime.
Stereotypes of Abuse in Literature
Different forms of abuse show up in various works of literature and across cultures. The magnitude of its influence on characters and speakers in literature varies greatly, however there are some overarching commonalities. Often times both physical and sexual abuse are used as a form of showing dominance. The typical stereotype casts males as the attacker and females as the victim in almost all abuse cases. In literature we have seen male characters who are driven by the desire to have power over women. There are other comparable materialistic men, who abuse women because they desire her as a possession. For these men, possessions are everything, they will stop at nothing to make it so, even if it means they must force their domestic partners into submission through the use of violence.
Connections to "Their Eyes Were Watching God" - Zora Neale Hurston
Men sometimes affiliate their partners with property rather than family or a spouse. "Being able to whip her reassured him in possession" (TIWWG, 147). Abusers commit these acts towards these women to bolster their ownership of this 'property'. These type of men men believe that they have the utmost power, that they are in full jurisdiction. Tea Cake "just slapped her (Janie) around a bit to show he was boss" (TIWWG, 147). In this novel, the attacker's incorrect assumption of women's place in society was only reassured by using physical violence to enforce such ways. A possible explanation for such truly unjustified behavior is that this man in "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and other men how behave like him, have their own insecurities. Abusers can feel so inclined to act this way to accommodate and fit in with the common stereotype of males being the dominant partner in the relationship. This leads to them believing that the only way in which they can be powerful is by harming someone who has no chance of fighting back. Domestic violence like this is a serious and intolerable act. Although it is something you may just read in a novel, it is alive and well within our society and needs to be avoided at all costs.
The information on abuse that can be found in literature is actually quite similar to what we may learn in real life. The reason the two are similar is because writers often incorporate personal experiences, knowledge they gain from victims of abuse, or what they have observed in their lifetime.
Stereotypes of Abuse in Literature
Different forms of abuse show up in various works of literature and across cultures. The magnitude of its influence on characters and speakers in literature varies greatly, however there are some overarching commonalities. Often times both physical and sexual abuse are used as a form of showing dominance. The typical stereotype casts males as the attacker and females as the victim in almost all abuse cases. In literature we have seen male characters who are driven by the desire to have power over women. There are other comparable materialistic men, who abuse women because they desire her as a possession. For these men, possessions are everything, they will stop at nothing to make it so, even if it means they must force their domestic partners into submission through the use of violence.
Connections to "Their Eyes Were Watching God" - Zora Neale Hurston
Men sometimes affiliate their partners with property rather than family or a spouse. "Being able to whip her reassured him in possession" (TIWWG, 147). Abusers commit these acts towards these women to bolster their ownership of this 'property'. These type of men men believe that they have the utmost power, that they are in full jurisdiction. Tea Cake "just slapped her (Janie) around a bit to show he was boss" (TIWWG, 147). In this novel, the attacker's incorrect assumption of women's place in society was only reassured by using physical violence to enforce such ways. A possible explanation for such truly unjustified behavior is that this man in "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and other men how behave like him, have their own insecurities. Abusers can feel so inclined to act this way to accommodate and fit in with the common stereotype of males being the dominant partner in the relationship. This leads to them believing that the only way in which they can be powerful is by harming someone who has no chance of fighting back. Domestic violence like this is a serious and intolerable act. Although it is something you may just read in a novel, it is alive and well within our society and needs to be avoided at all costs.