The homework/research given to us is surely a plot to establish who among the group actually research such topics, as apposed to those who rush off and plague Wikipedia or similar websites, cut and paste text and do not actually know what any of it means.
I have decided to that the hedonist approach and state quite clearly that at this stage in our studies, I was unable to answer the homework in high detail posed due to the simple fact I have little or no knowledge of Marxism, Post-Colonial or Feminist ideology at week 4 of my studies. I would argue that most are/were in a similar position!
I have detailed below a few publications which we should all read.
- ”The unhappy marriage of Marxism and Feminism”, by Hartman (Heidi).
Paper can be found on website: http://www.old.li.suu.edu/library/circulation/Gurung/soc2370sgUnhappyMarriageMarxismFeminismFall10.pdf - Marxism and literature, R Williams.
Brief text can be viewed on:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kFF9pV5FmucC&printsec=frontcover&dq=marxism+and+lite
rature&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZypTUqEx - 6ZvRBc6FgMgJ&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=marxism%20and%20literature&f=false
- Post-Colonialism: A very short introduction, R. Young.
Brief text can be viewed on:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5prvBIINKBkC&printsec=frontco
ver&dq=Post-Colonialism:+A+very+short+introduction&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vSpTUtqBJ4OY0AXyp4GADw&re
dir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Post-Colonialism%3A%20A%20very%20short%20introduction&f=false
The above should give you a better insight into the research posed. I intend to properly research the above and answer the question in more depth throughout the year as I am committed to only submitting well researched quality work. However, despite my methodology which has most probably caused a few ‘raised eyebrows’ I shall give my brief overview of what I have learnt from both my research and my fellow classmates blogs.
W.B Yeats
Post-Colonialism: From my very little knowledge on this topic this is what I have come up with. Yeats examining the idea of change throughout his poetry, mostly include the change within Ireland and the people around him. As in ‘September 1913′ Yeats compares contemporary Ireland to the “Romantic Ireland” in which he adored, also in ‘Easter 1916′ Yeats compares the abusive MacBride to the hero he changed into. Moreover, ‘Easter 1916′ and other poems are heavily about change, “all changed” and how the fighting has completely changed the social etiquette of Ireland.
Feminism: From my very little knowledge on this topic this is what I have come up with. Throughout Yeats’ poetry he does not seem to be a feminist. Living in this sexist time he did not help women through his poetry, although some of his poetry seem to suggest that he did worship or admire them. He mainly refers to Maud Gonne throughout his poetry as she was in fact the love of his life, however she did not love him back. Gonne was a strong feminist as she stood up for what she believed in to do with women’s rights. However, he also made many other references to other women such as: Eva Booth and Constance Markiewicz who he also admired.
Dorian Gray.
Post-Colonial: This topic seems to mainly revolve around the ‘misuse of power’ and this does strongly relate to the novel as a whole. He tends to misuse his power an awful lot throughout the plot, one of which was misusing his power to control Sybil.
Feminism: Throughout the novel ‘Dorian Gray’ women are deemed as inferior than men, thus this novel is not feminist at all. The main female character throughout the novel is Sybil, who is noted as being weak and dependent on Dorian. We do not see much of a personality in her at the start just the fact that she participates in the theatre regularly playing the main part in many Shakespearean plays. Later she becomes almost completely dependent on Dorian and once he insults her acting she decides to commit suicide. This shows how unimportant women must have been thought of and how powerlessness they were during the time the novel was wrote.
Marxism: Throughout ‘The picture of Dorian Gray’ there are many examples of the class system. This is in fact the very opposite of Marxism. Dorian’s respect and status was based on his youth and wealth, highlighting how the rich were indeed very high ranked in society itself. Overall this novel suggests that both life and society revolve around wealth, money and more important youth, which is initially the total opposite to Marxism.
The Room of Requirement. 