The Family Structure as a “Mythical Force” in the Fate of the Heroines Essay Example for Free

The Family Structure as a Mythical Force in the Fate of the Heroines EssayIn the large history of Chinese Literature, the purpose of women has always been rattling limited to isolated cases scarce. These limitation and restriction refer of course non unspoiled now(prenominal) to women fictionists, poets, and other writers barely in any case to women characters in fiction, poems, and other writings. As a matter of fact, it is tell that womens literature has been badge by critics as inferior and mediocre in the context of a larger Chinese literary theory. This can be attri thoed to the many and varied restrictions imposed on women non only in mainstream and classic Chinese literature notwithstanding overly in Chinese societyi. At the onset, China has been portrayed by some(prenominal) Chinese and foreigners as a country which is kn protest to nurture observed 2 of the more or less women-biased practices in the world. First is a channelise where there is a patent patriarchal family system where women ar assigned and restricted to traditionalistic municipal roles. act is a place where 1949 revolution and post- Mao reforms has thwarted marri advance and family life altogetherii.Traditional China is known to have a government that reserve officialdom and educational opportunities exclusively for men. Women would only have an luck to learn by family ties and clans. For the most part of the population such as the peasant, the artisans, and the merchants, most of the women would not even have an opportunity for education as opposed to the members of educated elite where women have a chance to at least learn little things like playing a musical instrument, learning how to paint, and learning how to play chess.However, girls argon only limited to learn such things as comp atomic number 18d to their brothers who go to schools and taught by private tutors. This disparity is attributed to both rea watchwords. First, there is no such thing as l ure of wealth and fame for the family that accompanied girls involvement in civil service examinations and official career.Second, the Chinese society dictates that the primary and foremost role of a muliebrity is to fulfill her prescribed functions in the family as a married muliebrity, a overprotect, and a daughter-in-law. For the most part in the history of China, womens lives have been devoted to the preparation for and actual undertaking of these traditional roles in their own nuclear family and most in particular the family of their economisesiii.At an early age, young girls are undertaking an exclusive fair(prenominal) training program. This is followed in a precise strict manner from one family to some other. At the age of seven, the girl must be separated from her brothers and other anthropoid relatives. She will then be send in her own apartment where her only company would only be her nurse, her maidservant, and the female members of the family like mothers and s isters.At the age of ten, he will then be taught various and substantial ho affair servant arts such as sewing, weaving, embroidering, and supervising househ white-haired. In her middle late teens, her spousals will then be arranged by her parents and will have to devote her life to her save, parents-in-law, and childreniv.Marriage in China is not the kind of marriage that we know it today. It is an alliance of two families rather than an alliance of two lovers. The bride and the groom desires and choices were taken into consideration only if they are not contrary to the concern and interest of the familyv. There is a high range of agnatic involvement in the marriage choices of their children. As a matter of fact, parents often initiate the matchmaking most especially in urban areas.It is also said that mothers have exercised more influence in their childrens marriages than takes as a general rulevi. Women have the greatest burden in them because they are pass judgment to beha ve in certain fashion and to have the perfect qualities of a wife. In general, a bride is expected to have gross(a) her three major responsibilities. It is believed that to retrovert short of these expectations would bring disgrace to herself, her parents, and to her clan.First of these three obligations would be to complete domestic duties. This would include cooking, sewing, embroidering, taking care of children, and other domestic roles that she is taught and expected to learn and practice by heart and soul such as Mrs. Wenqing in A Posthumous Son by Ye Shaojun. Second of these obligations would be to attend to the needs and comfort of her preserve and other elders. This is understood as not only doing domestic roles but also to be there for the married man in times of both corporal and emotional needs. The third and the most important of all are the bearing and the raising of a male descendantvii.It is the fulfillment of the last obligation that a char womans position and authority in the family is greatly hinged. It is believed that having a son is highly important because it is the only way to assure the continuity of the family hunt. If she cant have a natural son, she would adopt from other family members and relatives.The family could also hire a concubine where the father could bear a child with. The child will then become a member of the family with the firstly wife as the acting mother of the child. He will then be incorporated in the first family as an heir as if he is a natural son of the first couple. passim the lifetime of a married Chinese woman, she is totally confined within the sphere of her residence and her domestic roles. She can only have occasional trips to temples, scenic spots, and house of a relative but for the most part of her life she is confine in the four corners of the house of her husbandviii.Not only are women portrayed in this kind of roles and predicament in the society but also in literature. There are a lot of criticisms over the silencing of women not only in everyday life situations but also in literatureix.In particular, a Chinese place is represented primarily by a long string of ancestors that is traced back from one senior male to another senior male. This lineage is defined by the relationship of a father to his son and from brother to brother. In this sense, women are generally outsiders. They are only necessary for so long as they can reproduce sons and heirs. Otherwise, they are aliens in the husbands family. After she is married to her husband, she is to retain her natal surname because she is expected to maintain links of her birth family to desex political alliances.This is only for this purpose, other than this she is also an alien to her birth family as well. This means one thing, the woman is only recognized as a member of the family and as a blood relative for so long as they are beneficial to the ties. In other words, she is really an outsider to their personal lives. Daughters are only considered as a temporary member of his fathers home base because she is expected to be married to her husband. Moreover, daughter also does not have a share in her fathers land and other propertiesx.In the stories that will discussed in the next paragraphs, it is pellucid that the role of women in the domestic sphere and the positions that they occupy in the household and in the family results not only to their inferiority but also to their dying and fall. This pre-determined roles that they have which is both imposed by the society and defined by patriarchal ideologies is the very reason why women in traditional China ended up to their graveyards and their misfortunes. This is also true up in literature, the prescribed roles that women have in the household outline their troubles, grief, and fate. The roles that they have to fulfill for the benefit of the family are seldom appreciated and were never enough for their male counterparts.These demise and misfor tune that they experienced and will experience could be explained not only because of their imposed traditional roles but also to their relationship with men especially their husbands. Womens top executivelessness coupled with mens authority is the main reason why womens lives fall apart. Because of these two factors, women are sent to their fall.First, they are inefficient to decide for themselves because of the prescribed roles imposed by the society. Second, they are un equal to(p) to defy the norms because of a patriarchal authority and power that they are made to succumb to. These two factors work hand in hand to oppressed women not only in the society but also in literature. The heroines in the four stories that are to be discussed next will contextualize the abovementioned claim that this cover is espousing.At the onset, women are expected to accomplish all the three obligations that she is expected to have. The third and the most important one which is already mentioned e arlier would be to produce an heir. In A Posthumous Son, the wifes predicament started when she is unable to produce a son after several attempts. The first child was a daughter.The second up to the seventh one is also a daughter which saddened the mother and angered the father. It is evident that the Chinese tradition dislikes daughters. In Mr. Wenqings opinion save the third one was also a girl. This was getting a bit irritating. Were not gardeners, what can we do with all these flowers, even if they do look pretty as far as keeping us company in our old age is concerned, we wear upont need that many And then the fourth one was also a girlI cant help feeling that there must be something victimize with the way your body works, if it can only produce girls and cipher else. Whats the point in producing the alike(p) thing time after when what we need is some varietyxi. This quote suggest more than the dislike of daughters but also of attributing the entire fault to the woman. Thi s statement by the father asserts his authority over the woman. Moreover, it also reasserts the responsibilities of the woman to produce a son.It is evident that all throughout the story the only concern of both the mother and the father was to produce a son and nothing else. As a matter of fact, the mother has already compensated her attention towards her other kids because of her desire to produce an heir. However, this desire is not wholly for her sake but only for the sake of the husband.It is evident that she is instinctive to undergo several pregnancies which are dangerous to her health just for the sake of fulfilling her obligation to her husband. Nevertheless she did not give way to despair, since she retained her faith in her child-bearing capacity. at a time more she pleaded him, Please wait one more time, just this once If theres no change this time, I wont stand in your way any longer. I dont want to project things worse for either of usxiiFurthermore, this story also affirms the earlier assertion that the role of a woman is reduced to their abilities to accomplish the very important obligation of hers which is to produce an heir. Otherwise, they can be replaceable and will be considered as a stranger or an alien in the household. The husband has in fact considered switch her and has replaced her with another woman which can give him a son.Only girls, never anything else You cant blame me, Ive been as patient as any man could be, Ive got no choice but to get another woman.xiii. This suggests that the relationship of husband and wife in the Chinese household is really all about having an heir and never about love and support. This is also true in the story Slaves Mother in which the father hired a concubine. Moreover, he was even willing to spend a fortune just for him to have a son with the second mother.This responsibility outlines the deserving of the woman. In which case, it depresses her when she cannot fulfill them because this responsibil ity is equal to her life and her survival. As a matter of fact, it is evident that in the story she was likewise devastated as her husband when she found out that she cannot produce anything else but daughters. When she was still unable to produce a son, she was so sad that she wept almost always. Finally, when she was able to give birth to a son, it was believed that she was able to restore her dignity. Together with this, she has also restored her position in the household as a wife replacing the concubines role.The seniors wife dignity was from this point on restored, and all were unanimous in her praise. Fortunes caught up with her now, they agreed. She herself was very clear and now she was fully entitled to make demandsxiv.This means that the fulfillment of the obligation is the only factor why she enjoyed that position. When the son died, she went back to her original demise. The death of the son even further caused the demise and the fall of the entire family when her husb and died or committed felo-de-se in the river. In this kind of situation, the womans reason for living is reduce to her functions and not to her internality as a living being.The story is a commentary of two things. First, womens roles in the household are always upheld to the extent that it becomes the very essence of her existence. Second, the man can do whatever he pleases and can alienate the woman as long he wanted provided that she is unable to fulfill her responsibilities. The demise of the woman will have to result to the fall of the whole family which is a reaffirmation of the secret power that the woman has in the family which is seldom appreciated and recognized.Another story entitled the Slaves Mother by Rou Shi as mentioned earlier is also a commentary on how a woman is expected to fulfill her responsibilities both as a wife and a producer of an heir. However, the story added another element to the role of the woman, that is, breadwinning. But everything still boils d own to her obligation to provide an heir to another man. The wifes predicament in this story is different from the first story in the sense that she is not fertile to produce nothing but daughters.Her demise lies in the fact that her husband cannot earn a living because of his disease. This shifts the burden of breadwinning to the wife which was likewise left without a choice. This story is a commentary on the role of the wife to the household as different to the prescribed as far as it is in relation to his original husband. sooner of just being a wife, the woman is attributed a different role, that is, to earn a living for the husband and the child. In the words of the husband There is nothing for it. If we go on this way well even be selling our little cooking pots before long. Looks as though youll have to provide the solution. No use your staying and starving with me.xv This is a blunt admission on the part of the man that he can no longer support the family which is supposed t o be his responsibility. In this sense, the role of the woman is uplifted to a higher(prenominal) level than the man but is still hinged unto the main obligations that a woman should take part in as the society.But this does not last for very long because the woman was still restricted to her traditional role as a wife in her second husbands household. She was still expected to produce a son which she was able to accomplish. However, even with this, she was still brought to her failure by losing both sons outdoor(a) from her. When she gave birth to the second son, she was longing for the first. When she was finally with the firs son, she was longing for the second.This can be explained through the previous line of thought already mentioned earlier. The very essence of a womans role has become the very essence of her existence. Without the fruits of his responsibilities which are her sons, she cannot survive. Her worth is measured through her ability to produce an heir. In the story , even if the woman has successfully undergone the responsibility in an easy manner, still she lost both sons. The firs son was lost because she was not able to take care of him due to her being away from her. The second son was lost because he was simply not destined to be hers since she was just a second wife.Secondly, the authority of the first husband is also evident as she was unable to defy his orders when he ordered she had to be sold to another man for the family to be able to eat. This is another factor to the fall of the woman in the story. It is evident that everything the husband told her is a matter of compliance on the part of the wife. She was willing to leave her two-year old son just to fulfill the orders of the husband. She was willing to endure the pain of giving birth to another child because her husband told her so. Even at the end of the story, the husband was still very authoritative. Neither she nor her husband spoke. As nighttime fell his drooping head stra ightened up and she said Cook us a mealxvi.