Contemporary Connection

Time and time again gender-conflict is brought to the attention of the public in various forms. In our time someone who wants to make a point about gender-conflict and the inequality that is present will be more likely to use television or song to reach their audience. This however is a fairly new technology, books or some form of writing on the other hand have been around for thousands of years. Gender-conflict is nothing new. It is not as though one day it just came out of nowhere. It has been around since the dawn of time. What is a man’s place and what is a woman’s place in society or is there really a specific place at all. Furthermore are we even really that different to begin with? Two classic novels are To the Lighthouse and Lady Oracle are perfect examples of how gender-conflict is viewed and present in our society, but what is it that they are trying to teach us?
One of the central motifs in To the Lighthouse is the conflict between the feminine and masculine principles at work in pretty much the entire universe. Mrs. Ramsay, with her emotional, poetical edge of mind, represents the female principle, while Mr. Ramsay, a self-centered philosopher, expresses the male principle in his balanced point of view. Both of which are damaged by their limited and somewhat ignorant perspectives. A painter and friend of the family, Lily Briscoe, is Woolf's vision of the ideal blending of male and female qualities. When looked at more deeply Lily does not only personify the ideal male/female role in society. (Woolf, 14). Growing up as a female little alone trying to fit into the stereotypical role a women is expected to fill in a male dominated society can be a trying experience for any woman if not all women. Joan, the main character in Lady Oracle, is no exception from this. Joan is able to provide the reader with a intense description of the anxieties and trials of being a female throughout childhood and adolescence. She starts out with the simple desire to love and...