Abstract This paper explains the prevailing theme of mother-daughter relationships in Amy Tan's novel, "The Joy Luck Club," and looks at the novel's focus on the need for Asian-born mothers and their daughters to reconcile the past with the present.
From the Paper "One way Tan came to terms with this was embracing multiple perspectives and dual identities, Chinese and American. "I think that the other reason that I've become a storyteller is that I was raised with so many different conflicting ideas that it posed many questions for me in life, and those questions became a filter for looking at all my experiences and seeing them from different angles. That's what I think that a storyteller does, and underneath the surface of the story is a question or a perspective or a nagging little emotion, and then it grows." (Giles, 1995) The multi-layered narrative structure of The Joy Luck Club generated by this upbringing is striking, as it alternates past and present, between the different perspectives of the members of the club and their daughters."
Abstract In this analysis of Amy Tan's novel "The Bonesetter's Daughter" the writer discusses the impact of the intergenerational relationship between a daughter, Ruth, and her mother, LuLing. The writer looks at the theme of identity formation.
From the Paper "In Amy Tan's 'The Bonesetter's Daughter' we are provided with a similar theme in Tan's earlier works. That theme revolves around the cause and effect impact on identity of intergenerational relationships and experiences. In 'The Bonesetter's Daughter' the main character is Ruth Young a middle-aged Chinese American ghostwriter living in San Francisco with her live-in. Being a ghostwriter is apropos for Ruth whose mother is haunted by ghosts in this case, mainly memories of the past. The story becomes involved when Ruth discovers her ... "
Tags: Chinese American, assimilation, humiliation, mother-daughter bond, superstition, healing, understanding, character, human development
Abstract This paper discusses an article reviewing the relationship between mother-daughter interactions related to weight and food restrictions and subsequent behavioral habits relating to food in daughters in a longitudinal study at 5, 7, 9 and 11 years. The paper critically assesses the article along with citations from other related articles. The paper further discusses comments on what else could have been done differently in the study and contributions to the field.
Abstract This paper compares and contrasts how the theme of man's appreciation of beauty is handled in each of two stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Birthmark" and "Rappaccini's Daughter".
From the Paper "Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birthmark" and "Rappaccini's Daughter" both deal with man's pursuit of beauty yet his failure to recognize true beauty when he finds it in nature. Instead man always tries to improve on what he has and often with ..."
Abstract This paper analyzers the ways that Amy Tan, in "Rules of the Game" and Alice Walker in "Everyday Use" investigate the relationships between mothers and daughters. It looks at how these relationships that the authors find compelling in and of themselves, are also found to be illuminative of the larger conflicts between past and future, tradition and progress, the Old World and the New. It shows how both writers root their stories within a specific ethnic tradition and how both are also engaged in that retelling of the universal.
From the Paper "Amy Tan in "Rules of the Game" and Alice Walker in "Everyday Use" investigate the relationships between mothers and daughters, relationships that the authors find compelling in and of themselves and that they also find to be illuminative of the larger conflicts .."
Abstract Using John Mayer's song, "Daughters," as inspiration, the paper examines how family relationships, particularly that of a father and daughter, which is a woman's first "love" relationship, can influence her behaviors in future romantic relationships. It examines how "The Merchant of Venice" chronicles the relationships of two father-daughter pairs, showing how a father's selfishness can be ruinous to his daughter's marriage, whereas a close father-daughter bond can ensure a woman a better chance of a happy, healthy marriage.
From the Paper "Jessica portends the negative impact that her folly for revenge and escape will have on her marriage when she says "But love is blind, and lovers cannot see/The pretty follies that themselves commit," (2.5.36-37). Despite having everything she thinks she wanted - a life free from her father's house, and marriage to a man she loves - Jessica's actions will always hang over her life like a dark cloud. As she and Lorenzo sit and sing together near the end of the play, they "uneasily equate their love" to doomed couples such as Trolius and Cressida, Jason and Medea, and Pyramus and Thisbe, "all ominous archetypes of bonds somehow shattered in conjunction with attempts to invalidate family or cultural allegiances" (Boose 337)."
The paper analyzes the use of father-daughter relationships in the plays of William Shakespeare, and focuses on the influence the daughter often possesses over her father.
Abstract The paper looks at the importance of the father-daughter relationship to the playwright and the Sixteenth Century society he wrote for. The paper highlights the Shakespearean play "King Lear" as containing the perfect example of such a relationship, in the way King Lear loved Cordelia, his third daughter. The paper also examines other heroines of Shakespeare who have also been shown in roles as daughters, where they either help their fathers or become a source of genuine comfort for them.
From the Paper "The relationship between a father and his daughter is one of the most beautiful bonds that Nature has created and is unique in the sense that it provides both the concerned parties a kind of comfort that is missing from father-son relationship. Why this happens is probably not known. But the answer to this question is certainly grounded in psychology, which makes one authority figure deeply care about a younger dependent of opposite sex. While it was in recent times only that we came to learn and appreciate the significance of this bond, Shakespeare was a genius to have felt, detected and illustrated it in 16th century when he used his plays to highlight the beauty and worth of this important connection."
Abstract The mother-daughter tale is a relatively new phenomenon in literature, which has not yet been defined by any particular characteristics. This essay proposes three essential characteristics of a such a tale: estrangement between the mother and the daughter, a crisis which brings the mother and the daughter together, and the daughter's epiphany. Furthermore, the essay applies these characteristics in comparing the two novels at hand, "One True Thing" by Anna Quindlen and "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tam.
From the Paper "Similarly, The Joy Luck Club, a novel by Amy Tam, is a collection of sixteen separate stories about four mothers and each of their daughters. The mothers, who were are all born in China, struggle to teach their Americanized daughters the valuable truths that they have accumulated through life's experiences. The estrangement between the mothers and daughters in The Joy Luck Club is the product of their cultural difference. For example, when playing Mah-Jongg with the Aunties, her deceased mother's friends, June comments on the nature of all of the Aunties' relationships with their daughters. "In me they see their own daughters, just as ignorant, just as unmindful of all the truths and hopes they have brought to America. They see daughters who grow impatient when mothers talk in Chinese, who think they are stupid when they explain things in fractured English" (Tam, 31). The cultural difference between the mothers and their daughters is a barrier that impedes their communication and understanding of each other. In their daughters, the mothers are reminded of the false hopes and dreams that brought them to America. While in their mothers, the daughters are confronted with a culture and philosophy of life that they don't understand being born and raised in America. Due to this, the mothers and daughters in the novel share estranged relationships."
Abstract This paper examines how William Shakespeare's plays "Othello", "King Lear" and "The Tempest" all have critical elements of familial conflict. It looks at how in "Othello" and "The Tempest", the daughters' relationships with their fathers are initially perceived as reliant and dependent; however, each daughter eventually detaches from her father to form a new attachment with another man. It discusses how "King Lear" is different from the other two because it involves multiple daughters who are not stereotypical Shakespearean era females; that is, each daughter is independent of their father from the inception of the play.
From the Paper "The second scene of Shakespeare's The Tempest showcases the dependence of Miranda upon her father, Prospero. Miranda calls him "my dearest father" (1.2.1) and several variants of "sir" (1.2.42, 55, 78, 88, 106, 175). In this first exchange between the two, the audience begins to understand the depth of Miranda's devotion to her father. Prospero tells the story of how he and Miranda were driven from Milan twelve years prior to the start of the play. Since then, they have lived on a deserted island and Prospero has been Miranda's only company. Her dependence is out of necessity - she had no one else to utilize as a companion during her time on the island; her closeness with her father seems completely natural. "
Abstract This paper discusses troubled mother-daughter relationships and suggests reasons why they are so common in female coming-of-age novels. In the process, the author compares the mother-daughter relationship in Dorothy Allison's "Bastard Out of Carolina" with the mother-daughter relationships in Louisa Alvarez's "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents."
Abstract This paper examines "Rappacini's Daughter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a complex and magical story, which has been interpreted in many different ways. It looks at how, although many different interpretations of this story exist, the one that seems to make the most sense is the underlying story of the father and daughter and how their relationship alters as Beatrice grows older. It shows how the father is so immersed in his scientific study that he has ignored his daughter's growing up, but he understands her needs as a woman and tries to supply them the only way he knows how, with a lover immune to her poison.
From the Paper "Throughout the story, there are many references to the relationship between the father and the daughter, and what it means to them. Giovanni realizes Beatrice has never been outside the garden ? she has led a very sheltered and lonely life. Her father realizes this too, and attempts to provide her with the perfect man, one who is immune to the numerous poisons running through her system. Her father has taught her everything he knows, but she does not recognize her knowledge. She tells Giovanni, "Do people say that I am skilled in my father's science of plants? What a jest is there! No; though I have grown up among these flowers, I know no more of them than their hues and perfume; and sometimes, methinks I would fain rid myself of even that small knowledge" (Hawthorne)."
Abstract In this essay, the writer discusses Shakespeare's work, while examining the way in which he portrays the relationship between fathers and daughters. The writer looks at the plays "King Lear" and "The Tempest," in which the daughters pursue a certain course in life due to their fathers' patriarchal actions. Further, the writer discusses the play "The Tempest," in which the character Miranda follows, although somewhat rebelliously, the eventually advantageous path set out by her father. The writer also looks at "Romeo and Juliet" in which the bonds between Juliet and her father appear to be much more loyalty bound than love oriented and patriarchy constraints are to the extreme. Using references from literature discussing Shakespeare's writings, the writer presents this view of the roles of fathers and daughters in Shakespeare's work.
From the Paper ""Romeo and Juliet" is naturally one of the first Shakespeare plays that comes to mind when considering the role of fathers and daughters, because of the work's popularity through the years with its many modern renditions. However the bonds between Juliet and her father appear to be much more loyalty and dutiful bound than love oriented, and patriarchy constraints are to the extreme. Although Cordelia does not actually say the exact words her father, Lear, wants to hear, it is because of love not fear. Likewise, Miranda and Prospero have a very loving father-daughter relationship from the very beginning of "The Tempest." Although "Romeo and Juliet" does definitely show how a daughter's actions are set in place by her father's behavior, "King Lear" and "The Tempest" are even more interesting due to the additional conflicting relationships that exist due to this strong love between father and child."
Abstract This paper looks at how Jerrold Packard's "Victoria's Daughters", examines the lives of the five daughters of Victoria, Queen of England: Vicky, Alice, Louise, Lenchen, and Beatrice. It examines how the book tells about each daughter and their families and concludes that it is a good book to read for learning more about the royal family in the 1800s, and the tragedies that can befall anyone, even the royal family.
From the Paper "Packard focused on how even a royal family cannot escape tragedy. Tragedy will strike even the Queen of England, the most powerful woman in the world in the late 1800's. Her husband was taken from her on December 14, 1861, and then her third child, and second daughter was taken from her on December 14, 1878. Once Prince Albert died, Queen Victoria lived the rest of her life in a state of mourning, and allowed her days to be consumed with self-pity. Her sometimes aloof ways in raising her children would lead to her eldest daughter raising her children in the same aloof manner. This action would lead to Vicky's eldest son, Willy, to become quite harsh with his parents. "
Abstract This paper summarizes the story of Edwidge Danticat's "Breath, Eyes, Memory," and clearly links the novel to that of the life of the author. It correlates the Greek mythological story of Demeter and Persephone to that in the book in the context of a mother and daughter relationship and link. It also examines the connections mothers, daughters, and women have throughout a bloodline that extends for generations.
From the paper:
"Running throughout this book is a sense that this is the darker version of the Demeter and Persephone story. The connection of these divinities is so great that they cannot bear to be parted, which is something like what happens in this Haitian story. But the story of Demeter's love for Persephone is bound up with images of fertility and lushness while Sophie's mother is a force for virginity and sterility. This contrasting set of pairs ? joy and fertility in the Greek myth and sorrow and sterility in the Haitian story may be seen to be a commentary on the nature of what happens to women's bodies when they are colonized."
Abstract This paper reviews George Bernard Shaw's play "Mrs. Warren's Profession" and discusses how Mrs. Warren's secretive profession lies at the core of the relationship between Mrs. Warren and her daughter, Vivie. The income derived from her profession, running several bordello houses in continental Europe, takes Mrs. Warren physically away from her daughter but has allowed Mrs. Warren to provide Vivie with the lifestyle and education, which only people from the upper class can afford. It analyzes how Vivie's perception of her relationship with her mother may seem brutal, but truthful and how without experiencing the intimacy and love of a mother, the grown-up Vivie -- who is cynical of her relationship to her mother because the latter is a virtual stranger -- eventually sees that their only connection is monetary.
From the Paper "In her proud and flaunting confession about her pseudo holiday in London to a total stranger (Shaw 38; Act I), Vivie demonstrates her audacity and complete lack of concern that she may be "caught" by her mother. On the other hand, Mrs. Warren is clueless to Vivie's activities and interests. Vivie's description of her holiday in London illustrates she is creating an existence of financial independence and passion for actuarial calculations, which is divorced from Mrs. Warren's ideal conception of her daughter's life. Although Mrs. Warren thinks her daughter is still dependent on her for her affluent lifestyle that includes sightseeing in London, Vivie "[has been] initiated into the business" of Chancery Lane and paid off her expenses. Ironically, Vivie's "secret" project behind her mother's back will become completely dwarfed by her mother's greater life of secrecy."
Tags: prostitution, money, mother, daughter, class
