Margret Atwood “Spotty-handed Villainesses” (1994)
Purpose
• To entertain, inform & challenge
• Attempted to provide the audience with an entertaining insight into the portrayal of women,
especially female villains in novels, short stories and plays
• Initially felt it necessary to outline the aims of fiction and the process by which it is createdpurpose is to explore the scope and genres of fiction, answering questions which are posed by
this area of academic interest
• Moved on to explore the pressing issue of feminisms influence on literature
• She wishes to inform and challenge the views and attitudes of her audience
• Established the idea that it was acceptable to portray some women as evil in literatureaccurate reflection of society which consists of ‘the murderers, the seducers, the espionage
agents, the cheats, the bad mothers and the stepmothers’ as well as a plethora of good women
• Aim appeared to defend the current portrayal of both good and bad female characters in
fictional works and to differentiate herself from the feminist movement
• she explores good & bad women in literature & deals particularly with the role of women &
how literature portrays them
• She asks for women to be behaving in a range of ways in literature that places them at all
points on the moral spectrum.
Role of Women in Society
• Explores the changing role of women in society– through her investigation of the portrayal
of female characters in literature, and the changes they have undergone over time
• Congratulates women’s movement for expanding the roles of women in literature and
simultaneously society- but she also criticises them for limiting the reality of this portrayal
• Her balanced appraisal for the benefits and detriments feminism has had on fictional female
characters parallels her views of the impact the women’s movement has had in society
• Advocates that women should be free to choose whether they want to be seen as good or
bad and it is wrong to deny them the right to have evil in them
• Supports the portrayal of evil and good women in literature ‘we have not enough evil in us’
- admires the varied roles females take on in fiction and society
Literature Reflecting Reality
• Discusses the relationship between literature and reality
• Fundamental difference is that: - in literature there is a requirement that ‘something has
to happen’- require definite action – plot, climax to be engaged in a text.
- In reality we don’t necessitate action and are satisfied with the absence of the ‘something’
that we require in literature- we are happy with a kind of ‘eternal breakfast’ and ‘we ask for
nothing’ to really happen
• The ideas discussed in literature are a reflection of the attitudes and values present in
reality.
Quotes and Techniques
• Relaxed, humorous
& personal tone & informal language - allows her to establish rapport with the audience.
• Personal anecdote – in the opening of her speech – allows her to make a personal
connection with the audience whilst introducing the issue of literature & the way it portrays
women –“little girl who had a curl”.
• Colloquialisms – make her speech more accessible to the audience & the humour of them is
engaging – “flogging a few dead horses”.
Defends herself from the feminist stereotype by using the colloquial term ‘sex bomb’,
feminists would not use this term.
• Question & answer technique – “what is a novel?” & then she explains how it should be
constructed.
• Humourous metaphor & religious allusion– compares the job of a novelist to God’s task of
creating the world, “one detail at a time” – emphasises the difficulty of writing & appeals to
the religious beliefs of the audience.
• Historical & literary references – allows her to validate her points & exploration about the
role of women & how they are portrayed in literature (good & bad) & the responder can
easily identify with them – Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Shakespeare – Lady
Macbeth. Makes the point that female authors should not restricted to using only good female
characters.
• Criticism of the women’s movement through a paradox to illustrate the divide which has
been created between “women who wore high-heels and make-up” and “those in overalls”.
• Quote from a notable historical figure – Dame
Rebecca West – “we have not enough evil in us”.
• Repetition – “novels are not” – emphasises her point.
• Spotty handed villainess- allusion to Lady Macbeth – portrayed as flawed character – killed
King Duncan with her husband Macbeth. Illustrating the idea that women can be bad too.
• Shares her vision of how women should be viewed in society and literature
Reference: Downloaded from boredofstudies.org 2008
Aung San Suu Kyi
‘Keynote Address to the Beijing World Conference on Women’ (1995)
Purpose
 To present an analytical overview of the global forces affecting the quality of life of
the human community and the challenges these pose for everyone and for women in
particular
 To liberate women around the world and help them to realise and fulfil their role in
society as peacekeepers
 Global forces mentioned included approaches to governance, such as questions of
citizenship and political participation, as well as looking at obstacles to peace and
human security such as militarization, violence and poverty
 Addressed these issues which took on global significance and also targeted her
domestic audience
o Did this by criticising the government’s failure to end their oppressive tactics
used to maintain power
o Criticised the government for denying that ‘women too can play a part in
bringing the necessary change and progress to their society’
 Speech carried with it the international purpose of campaigning for the liberation of
women, motivating women to achieve their full potential and unifying females
throughout the world in the fight for equality
 Attempted to use speech to inspire hope that change is possible through non violent
protest within Burma
Role of Women in Society
 Focus on the role of women in society, government and politics to ‘struggle for
justice and peace’ in the world
 She strongly believes that this role should be centred on their traditional, biological
qualities and their dedication to the ‘nurturing, protecting and caring for the young
and old’
 These qualities ‘imposed on’ women enable them to play an important role in inciting
political and social change, provoking progress and helping to ‘dissipate the darkness
of intolerance… and suffering’
 Women play a large role in helping to achieve ‘a peaceful life for all’ within the
global community
 Traditionally given the ‘responsibility of teaching children values that will guide them
throughout their lives’ women have a privileged role as teachers and educators of
tomorrow’s generation
 Women are also good communicators allowing them to solve ‘situations of conflict’
and deliver peace by non-violent means
 Women, as ‘intelligent human beings’ who have performed highly ‘in our educational
system and the management of commercial enterprises ’can ‘contribute to the
betterment of society’ by playing a greater role in business and in government
 In order for world to truly appreciate role of women they need to be given a political
platform and a role in government to ‘participate fully In the decisions and processes
that shape their lives’
Quotes & Techniques
 Positive emotive words- wonderful, splendid, greatest
1. Helps to congratulate the women who have organised forum and begins on a
positive tone
 Uses strong emotive language whenever discussing the role of women in society
1. strong and principled
2. ‘emancipated..empowered’ women who with their ‘wisdom and experience’
should ‘struggle for justice and peace’
o Positive words are used to illustrate the vital contribution women can
make to the world
 Reduces the contribution of men using negative, emotive language
1. ‘patronising behaviour or exploitation’
2. ‘patriarchal domination and degradation’
 Uses sarcasm and irony when discussing ‘war toys of grown men’
1. reduces men to little boys whose childish games have fatal consequences for
women and children
 Discrepancy between contribution of males and females is highlighted by a contrast of
positive and negative connotations
1. ‘compassion and self-sacrifice, their courage and perseverance’ juxtaposed
with ‘the darkness of intolerance and hate, suffering and despair’
 illustrates how important women are by presenting a bleak image of a world without
them
 Religious allusions to appeal to the religious beliefs of her audience and to justify her
opinions as being approved by god
 References to Buddhism and philosophies is effective in presenting ‘mutual
understanding and peace’ as a religious and ‘spiritual aspiration’ we must strive
towards
 Cultural references using her own background to present an understandable intelligent
and humorous analogy
1. ‘Burmese proverb- the dawn rises only when the rooster crows’
o metaphoric light women bring to the world to ‘relieve the darkness of
the night
 By appealing to the audiences cultural and religious values she
illustrates how women ‘too can play a part in bringing
change’
 Broadens her opinions and ‘own experience... in Burma´ to an international platform
 Global reference to the International Year of Tolerance
 Direct quote from UN who have recognised that ‘tolerance, human rights, democracy
and peace are closely related’
 Provides political statistics to add credibility
 Similes
1. ‘tender as mothers nursing their newly born’
2. ‘brave as lionesses defending their young’
 Describing wife’s dedication to husband
By evoking poetic and maternal images she illustrates how women should use their biological
tendency to nurture loved ones to ‘work for the good of their country’ and create peace
 Universal images similar to the clichés she uses- ‘live and let live’ ‘the other side of
the coin’

Speech retains an inherent poetic quality- clichéd metaphor- ‘women to mould their
own destiny’
 Idealises the empowerment of women as being a timeless aim
 Rhetorical questions- ‘But is this really a weakness? Could it not be in fact a
strength?’ ‘How much more could they not achieve?’ –asks for the obvious truths
Starts many sentences with conjunctions- ‘But there’, ‘And in’, ‘And the’.- creates a
flow of ideas and dramatic pause