Literature Review On Men And Women Of Literature

Throughout the history of literature, it appears there have been many novels that have set a standard for how the genders are to act upon the page. “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” and, “Little Women,” ensure we know where we stand as men and women, whether it is as a troublemaker, or a civil young woman. However, sometimes, there are books that step outside this standard. Novels such as, “The Scarlet Letter,” and “The Graveyard Book,” show us the atypical actions of genders, allowing us to view men and women in a different light. These novels show how things have changed in both literature, and society.
Other novels, both of that time and modern times show men and women of a different light. Niel Gaiman’s, “The Graveyard Book,” for example, tells the tale of Bod, a boy raised in a graveyard by ghosts. The odd plot aside, Bod is an intensely emotional individual who is curious about the outside world, but only because it has been kept from him. Unlike Sawyer, Bod’s greatest desire is to be invisible, go to school, learn, and become brilliant . He does not want glory, necessarily, but only to be smart. He also is very connected with other humans, partially because he has not been around many, and spends most of his childhood pining for a young girl he met as a boy . Sawyer, in contrast, exhibits few of these softer characteristics. Concerning women, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, “The Scarlet Letter,” formats a civil woman opposite of Alcott. Hawthorne’s Hester Prinn is accused of adultery as the novel begins . Refusing to give the name of her partner, she is forced to wear a scarlet A on her person, and then chooses to raise the child out of wedlock. Single mothers were not common at this time. She bore the shame as a badge of honor, for she believed she had done nothing wrong .
In sum, the stereotypes concerning men and women change vastly across the literary spectrum. Some novels exhibit the typical troubled boys and quiet women, while others show us sentimental boys and steadfast, strong women. Each novel, regardless of the characters, has a lesson to each. The evolution of the types of characters shows that literature, as well as the type of characters has been evolving, and with it, so has society’s willingness to accept such types of people.

Works Cited

Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women. New York: Bantam Classics, 1983. Book.
Gaiman, Niel. The Graveyard Book. HarperCollins: New York, 2010. Book.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Boston: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014. Book.
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. New York: Dover Publications, 1998. Book.