Blog 3: A Woman on a Roof

9/27/2012

After reading "A Woman on a Roof," write 3 sentences on how each of the four literary theories might interpret this story. Your response should be 12 sentences in total.

26 Comments

Jake R.

9/27/2012 06:39:27 am

Reader Response critics i think would interpret the story themselves. they would try and think of what they would do if they were in that situation. They would try to become part of the story. I think a Psychoanalysit critic would try and find the unconscious meaning of the story.They would pay close attention to Tom, Stanley, and Harry and how their egos affected their decisions. They would focus on the part of the story that is part of the ID to interpret the meaning. A Marxist critic would look at the story with two classes. The upper class would be represented by the woman because she can just lie on the roof and relax and doesnt have to work hard for money. Tom, Stanley, and Harry would represent the lower class because they have to work hard in the sun for money and admires the upper class, wishing they could be them. A Feministic critic would focus on the different genders in the story. They would associate the woman as superior because of the men admiring her and dreaming about meeting her. She would focus on the idea that the story and actions of the men relying upon the actions of the woman.

Noah M.

9/27/2012 07:22:57 am

A reader response critic would try to read himself into the story, and associate himself with the three main characters. He/she would try to relate to one of the workers, who each made a different decision. The RR critic would think about if they would confront the situation directly like Stanley, if they would confront the situation discreetly like Tom, or if they would avoid the situation completely like Harry. A Marxist Critic would pick up on how the two social classes interact. The lower class being the workers, the higher class being the woman on the roof. The Marxist critic would observe how the upper class refuses to have any association with the lower class, while the lower class wants to understand how the upper class behaves. A psychoanalytic critic (Hey it rhymes!) would think of the three workers as one being each representing a part of the mind. This type of critic would observe that each worker made their decision subconsciously. They would base those decisions off of the past experiences and personalities of the workers. A feminist critic would see this story as a step against patriarchy. They would observe that the woman is making a bold move exposing herself on a rooftop. They would see that she is defying her husband in a way that is expressing herself.

Garrick Schultz

9/27/2012 07:56:55 am

Reader Responce: In my opinion, the woman in the story is the sun. Throughout the story, both she and the sun drive the workers to anger. And in the end, the workers lose both of them.
Marxism: A Marxist would compare the workers to the lower class and the woman to the higher class. The workers are intrigued by the upper-class woman, all in their own way. They want to connect with her, and therefore wish to connect with the upper class.
Psychoanalytic: A Psychoanalyst would view the workers as the three parts of the mind. Stanley, the most outgoing, represents the outermost superego. Harry, the patient one, is the ego, and Tom, who hides his feelings, is the id.
Feminist: A Feminist Would examine the different ways that the workers treat the woman, comparing them to different attitudes of men towards women. They would also examine the woman's outspokenness, considering how she represents feminism. The interactions between the two parties would be considered as well, viewed as how man's many faces place women in different positions of society.

David Shore

9/27/2012 08:16:42 am

Reader Response: I believe that a reader response critic would interpret this in his/her own way. She/he would try to connect this story to their own life or other known experiences. They would view this as a similar event in their own life.
Marxism: A Marxist would view this as each individual worker as a class and the woman as the government. Stanley, who expresses his views loudly, is the upper class, Harry is the middle class, and Tom is the lowest class. The woman is the government because all three classes are trying to communicate to her.
Psychoanalytic: A psychoanalytic critic would view each person a part of the mind. Stanley would be the super ego. Harry would be the ego, and young Tom is the id.
Feminist: A Feminist would view the different ways the men and woman interacted. They would also view how these fictional interactions apply to modern day treatment of women. Finally, one would examine the way the women defied what her husband said.

Kate

9/28/2012 12:06:02 am

I think that reader response theory might make me relate to the worker Stanely who is being ignored and it is like he is invisible. I think that Feminism woul focus on who the girl did not give up her dignity to the men and play the man's game. Pshycoanalytic would say that the three workers represent the three parts of the human conciouse. Lastly Marxism would say that the workers represent the lower class and the women is the higher class and the higher class pays no attention to the lower class.

George Kyriazis

9/27/2012 08:55:35 am

Reader Response: A reader response critic would interpret his/hers own style. They would try to look at one of the main characters situation and think about they would do in one of those situations. They would try and became a part of the story in their own way.
I believe a psychoanalytic critic would try and find the unconscious meaning of the story. They would try and find which worker identified with which ego. one such would probably be the ego cause he is the one with the calm persona.
Marxism: A marxist critic would try and find the two classes in this story. Focusing on finding the repression of the lower class in this story. The upper class be the naked women and the lower be the three workers.
Feminism: A feminist would look for the repression of women in this story and the empowerment of patriarchy. In this story the female is empowered because she ignores the workers jeers and blows off Tom entirely. Yet one might look at the fact that the men are staring at a naked women; and think about how its of course a women being stared at by men and not a man being stared by a group of women.

Katya Kuzemka

9/27/2012 09:32:02 am

Reader Response: I think a reader response critic would try to make a connection to his or her life. He/She would try and interpret the meaning of the story in their own opinion. They would try to associate the events that take place in the story to their own life.
Marxist: a Marxist critic would try to identify oppression between the classes. They might identify the workers as the lower class and the woman as the upperclass. He/She would identify the oppression as the workers all want her to acknowledge them and she ignores them and comes across as having the opinion that she is better.
Psychoanalytic: A psychoanalytic critic would try to apply the elements of the psyche to the story. For example they could interpret Stanley as the superego, Harry as the Ego and Tom as the id. Stanley being the superego because he thinks that the woman should acknowledge him, Harry as the ego because he understands why she won't acknowledge them but gets slightly annoyed anyway and Tom as the id because he believes he has a connection with the woman despite the fact of them never speaking.
Feminist: A feminist critic would look for ways women are either oppressed or empowered. They could look at how the woman was harassed by Stanley and how he believed she should acknowledge him. They could also look at how the women ignored the taunting and turned Tom away firmly as feminine empowerment and self confidence.

Charlotte Mansfield

9/27/2012 09:54:10 am

A Reader Response critic focuses on the reader’s personal experience with the book. They would look at how the reader interprets the book due to their believes and past experiences. They would also observe what meaning the reader personally gets out of the book.
A Marxist critic would try to deference between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. They would try to distinguish between a work’s overt and covert content. They would notice the woman’s power over the man and how she able to control over the men.
A Psychoanalytic critic would investigate each of the characters conscious and unconscious actions and thoughts. They would try to analyze Tom dream about the woman and try to determine what this means about his unconscious thoughts. They would try to observe how much the unconscious affects each of the characters.
A Feminist critic would observe upon the fact that all of the men view this woman as a prize to be won and in turn all face rejection from her. They would also see how each of the men face her rejections in different ways, Stanley take this rejection as a hit on his manhood. They would also observe how each of the men seem to believe that she shouldn’t be able to do this and the male figure in her life should stop her.

Alex Brown

9/27/2012 10:14:09 am

Reader Response Theory:
I would interpret this story as a story about why you should think about your prior actions before acting upon a new one. For example, when Tom approached the women, she already knew of him and his co-workers staring at her, so he was shocked when she denied him but i personally think he shouldn't have been based on his prior actions. Also when the workers didn't tell their supervisors about the excessive heat they got sick and had to leave.

Marxist:
When I interpret the story through a Marxist lens, I think the woman represents the lower class and the workers represent the upper class. The "upper class" in this story oppress the "lower class" by watching the "lower class" tan topless under the sun, and then the "upper class" begins to make sly and sexual remarks about the "lower class." Also the "lower class" stands up to the "upper class" by denying them access to her person, which could be interpreted by showing how all the lower class has to do is stand up for themselves and they can be freed from the tyranny of the upper class.

Psychoanalytic:
When I interpret this story through a psychoanalytic lens, I view the workers attraction to the woman as Id, and it shows how hard it is for anybody, even some of the most controlled people to control their Id. The woman though resists her Id and goes for her ego by doing what she thinks is right for her. Tom's superego shines through when the woman denies him because he is sad that he was rejected (which reflects ego) but also he now has to deal with the communal embarrassment of be rejected, hence the superego.

Feminist:
If I view this story through a feminist's lens I interpret it as the men representing how men where oppressive towards women throughout history and the woman representing how females were outnumbered throughout history. The woman can represent the struggle for women's rights and when she denied Tom she represented the wins women have had overcoming oppression by men. Also the workers can be showing how men held positions of power for most of history (hence why they have technical "empowerment" over the woman.)

Hannah Kohute

9/27/2012 10:21:31 am

Reader Respose Theory: A reader response critic would insert himself/herself in the story based on their own personal experiences. They would interpret the meaning of the story based on what they have endured in their own life and what their personal beliefs are.The events in the story would be connected to events that happened in that person's life.
Marxist: A marxist critic might interpret the meaning of this story based on the two classes, upper class and lower class. The men represent the lower, working class, while the woman represents the upper class. A marxist critic would try to identify each class and their experiences based on which class they represent.
Psychoanalytic: A psychoanalytic critic would view the story as elements of the human mind. They would try to see which character best represents the different parts of the mind. Harry would represent the ego, Stanley the super-ego, and Tom the id.
Feminist: A feminist critic would examine how the woman is treated and mistreated by the men in the story. She would look at how the men treated her as an object, not an equal.Though the men treated her as inferior to them, the woman did not change her behavior because of them, and a feminist would admire this.

Frances R

9/27/2012 10:59:15 am

Reader Response:
There is no way to describe exactly how a reader response critic would interpret this story. This is because the critic would probably try and insert themselves into this story based on personal experiences with similar situations. All responses would be different.
Marxist:
A marxist critic would probably think of this story viewing each worker as a different class. Harry representing the upper class, Tom representing the middle class, and Stanley representing the lower class. Each worker has their own way of acting toward the women and I think that is an attempt to display each class in the story.
Psychoanalytic:
A psychoanalytic critic might view this story as each worker being part of the mind. Harry represents the ego showing respect and authority. Stanley representing the superego, and being loud and sometimes disrespectful. Tom would represent the id, with your subconscious telling you to show respect and not annoy the woman.
Feminism:
This type of critic would look at how the men and woman interacted with each other. The critic would probably find it rude and disrespectful the way Stanley acted toward the girl. However, I think the critic would appreciate Tom's attempt to be kind to the woman, and Harry trying to make sure they were always respectful toward her.

Philisha Abrahim

9/27/2012 11:16:02 am

Readers' Response: When I read the story, I thought that all four of the characters represented a piece of ourselves. The lady represented temptation, Stanley represented anger, Tom represented longing and naivtity and Harry represented friendliness.This story showed me how we have so many different subsections of our personalities and how they all conflict with one another especially when triggered by outside variables(the sun). It shows that its not only the outside that affects us but the inside as well.
Marxist: I think a Marxists critic would look at this story and identify the two classes as male and female. This means that the lady, no matter how minor her actions were, had a huge affect on the men in the story. Her actions could have either a good or bad effect on the men, but they were still rendered subjects to what she did. The lady was the upper class in the story.
Feminist: A feminist critic would look at this and might think that the women was always subject to unfair behavior. Even though she did nothing to provoke the men, they continued to intensify their emotions towards her whether its lust or anger.
Physcoanalytic: A physcoanalsyis would look at this problem and think that the sun is the unconcious. This is because it drove the men, especially Stanley, to intensify and act on their emotions. The superego would be Stanley and the lady since their feelings were shown and made clear. Tom and Harry would be the ego since their feelings were not as revealed.

Priya B.

9/27/2012 11:16:26 am

Reader Response:
A Reader Response critic would interpret this story or any story using their own experiences. The readers would connect this story to events similar to events that have occurred in their own life. Since Reader Response is based on the reader's own experiences, everyone's interpretation of the story would be different.
Marxist:
A Marxist would view this story in relation to different economical classes. Harry, the eldest man represents the Upper Class, Tom the youngest represents the middle class and Stanley, newlywed man, represents the lower class. These three men show how each "class" would act towards a woman demonstrating a way of representing the classes.
Psychoanalytic Critic:
A psychoanalytic critic would view this story in the three parts of the mind. Id, Ego and Superego are the three men, Harry, Stanley. Also, the critic would look for the conscious and unconscious actions made by these characters.
Feminist:
A feminist critic would look towards how the men and the woman acted towards one another. He/she would probably find Stanley's actions disrespectful towards the woman. Although, the critic would appreciate the attempted respect of Tom and Harry to the woman. Also a feminist would also see how the woman didn't change her attitude when she was confronted by the men and they would appreciate that.

Matilda Fooskas

9/27/2012 11:23:46 am

Reader Response: A reader response critic would associate the events in the story with them self. He/she would try to relate to the actions of the workers and the woman on the roof. His/her past experiences would shape the story.
Marxist: A Marxist critic would separate the characters into two different classes. The workers would be considered the lower class because they must work hard all day, and the woman on the roof would be considered the upper class because she simply lies on the roof all day. A Marxist critic would see that the upper class (the woman on the roof) refuses to communicate with the lower class (the workers) and seems to think they are beneath her.
Psychoanalysis: A psychoanalysis critic would view each character as a part of the mind. Each worker represents the superego, ego or id. Stanley would represent the superego, Harry would represent the ego and Tom would represent the id.
Feminism: A feminist critic would look for ways the women in the story were either oppressed or empowered. They would see that Stanley was harassing the woman on the roof and observe that he believed it was his right that she acknowledges him. In addition, they would notice that the woman ignored the taunting and ignored Tom as feminine empowerment and self-assurance.

Andrew Pennoni

9/27/2012 11:36:26 am

Reader Response: There is no exact way that a reader response critic would interpret the story. They would all interpret it differently based on personal experience. The interpretation depends on the reader them self.

Marxist: A Marxist critic would probably view two classes in the story. The men would be representing the lower class and the woman would be representing the upper class. He would see the woman ignoring the men as evidence that she is the upper class.

Psychoanalytic: A psychoanalytic critic would see how the men's psyche effected their actions. He would pay attention to the men's different superegos. He would also pay attention to the different IDs.

Feminist: A feminist critic would see the men as ignorant and immature. She would probably be mad at Stanley because he is married. She would also feel bad for the woman that these men are taunting her.

Emma Belanger

9/27/2012 11:42:40 am

Reader Response: There are an infinite amount of ways that a RR critic could interpret the story, because each individual would put themselves in the story. They would associate their own experiences with the events in the story, and would use their beliefs to help them interpret the story. There is no right or wrong answer if a reader uses the RR theory because each individual makes a different connection with the story based on their past.
Marxist: A marxist critic would interpret the story as a representation of two different classes. If I look through a marxist's lens, I would probably think that the woman was the upper class, and the workers were the lower class. This is because the woman doesn't want to speak or acknowledge the lower class (the workers), but the lower class wants the upper class to notice them.
Psychoanalysis: A psychoanalytic critic would examine how the three different workers thought of the woman, and why these thoughts would cause them to react the way they did. They would also interpret how Tom's dreams caused him to believe that the woman was actually like that in real life. A psychoanalytic critic could also think about how the id, ego, and superego were present in the workers.
Feminism: I think a feminist critic would be angered by how the men treated the woman. They would think that the workers believed that just because she was a woman and they were men, if they whistled after her, she had to acknowledge them. A feminist would also think that how the woman reacted to the men's shouts was the correct thing to do.

Alex Maillet

9/27/2012 12:06:39 pm

Reader Response would say that the meaning of this story is based on what the reader thinks about the story. You could interpret this story alot of different ways. I interpreted it as the men are angry because this woman will not notice them.
Marxism Literary Critic would notice about this story that everyone thinks they are equal and of the same class except for the woman sunning herself on the roof. For example, Mrs. Pritchet who is married to a pilot has the three workers in for tea for an hour even though they are probably all dirty and sweaty. The woman watering the plants is nice to them too.
Psychoanalysis Literary Theory would look at this story and notice how much sexual feeling this woman on the roof stirs up among the men, mostly Tom and Stanley. Stanley feels she is ignorring him and he feels like he deserves her attention. Tom falls in love with her before he has even spoken a word to her. Harry who is older and married realizes that something bad is going to happen on the last day and he packs up their tools and makes them leave work early.
Feminism Literary Criticism would notice that the woman on the roof did not do anything wrong. But the men are calling her names, swearing at her and whistling at her to get her attention. They are harrassing her so much that she moves to a different part of the roof and hides from them. She has a right to sun tan and be up on her roof and not be bothered by them.

Dean M.

9/27/2012 12:22:22 pm

Marxist: A marxist critic looks for separate social classes and in this story, they would see two of them. They would see the woman as the upper class because she has enough money to not have to work. They would see the workers as the lower class because they are forced to work through to hot weather.
Reader Response: Reader response theory heavily relies on how each individual reader interprets the story. This makes it hard to say what a reader response critic would say because there could be many answers. If there was one answer though it would be that the critic would base the story on events that happened in their life.
Feminist: A feminist critic would probably first think that the way the workers are treating the woman is not right. However they would also make note of how the men and the woman interacted with each other. They would also notice that workers hypothesized right away that it was the woman's husband telling her what to do.
Psychoanalysis: I think that a psychoanalytic critic would first try to pinpoint what characters or other things in the story represent the conscious and unconscious mind. They would think that Stanley is the superego, Harry is the ego and Tom is the id. They would use the separate character traits to figure this out.

Julianne D link

9/27/2012 12:31:10 pm

Reader Response: There is no one way a reader response critic would interpret the story. Each person would associate this story based on personal experience. They would put themselves in the place of the characters.

Marxist: A Marxist critic would look at this story in different classes. The woman would be the upper class and the men would be the lower class. This because all the woman did was lie around while the men were working all day.

Psychoanalysis: A psychoanalytic critic would focus on the minds of the characters. They would think about the causes of the characters actions. They would also determine which character was the superego, ego, and the id.

Feminism: A feminist critic would focus on the woman character and how she was treated. They would think that the way the workers acknowledged her was rude and annoying. They would think that the woman handled the situation well.

Katie P

9/27/2012 12:49:46 pm

Reader response: Looking at the story as a reader response critic I believe one's response depends on their experience. Because no two people live the same life, everyone has different opinions. To enter the story I would put my self in each persons situation.

Feminist: A feminist would view this story with loads of criticism. The feminist would see the inequality with women and men in the story. The men have total dominance in the story, something a feminist would look down on.

Psychoanalytic Critic: A psychoanalytic critic would spot how Stanley shows himself. They could see that he is full of himself and he believes in inequality of the sexes. He could holding a belief in equality down in his unconsciousness, but he is projecting himself as a male dominator.

Marxist: One would see the immediate separation of the males and females in the text. The men are represented in a higher class, with more power. While the women are represented with less power in a lower class. In this society men have more power than women.

Maura Gibbs

9/27/2012 01:11:13 pm

Reader Responce: For a reader responce critic, I think that there is no certain way that they could read the book. What they read depends on their own personal experience. I think they would put themselves into the story and make it their own.
Marxist: I think that a marxist critic would look at this story and see two different class. The might see an upper class and a lower class. I think the women would represent the upper class because they dont work hard and they dont bother the workers. The men workers would represent the lower class because they work really hard and are nit recognized.
Psycoanalysis: A psycoanalyctic critic would look at this story through the minds of the characters. They would look at the three workers and their minds. Also, would determine superego, ego, and id.
Femanist: A feminist critic would look at this story and right away think that it is not fair. They would see the way the men have complete control. They would also see the way that the men treated the women in this story.

Jenny Rowan

9/27/2012 01:11:37 pm

Reader Response critic's would interpret this short story, by evaluating the meaning and experience while reading. As there is no correct way to view the short story, the critics would explore new ways to view the short story based on their own personal experiences and backgrounds. Finally, Reader Response Critics would place themselves in the situation in the short story, and attempt to create a sense of a theme in the writing.
Marxist critic's would interpret this short story, by distinguishing the classes shown. Though the woman is praised and admired by the workers, she is considered the lower class, due to the disrespect and attention drawn to her for just tanning on a roof.The three male workers, Stanley, Harry, and Tom are considered the upper class for they feel they have the authority to treat the woman however they want by howling, whistling, staring, and making her feel uncomfortable. Even though the workers have to work in the heat every day, they bring themselves into the lower class, because of how they treat the woman.
Feminist critic's would interpret this short story, by discovering the unequal respect and rights towards woman. These critics would analyze the disrespect the workers express towards the lady, the interaction between the workers and the woman, and point out the insulting whistling and howling. Also, they would point out that those men should not be able to stop the woman form presenting herself how she did.
Psychoanalysis critics would interpret this short story by pointing out the unconscious motives acted by the workers. Stanley acted as the superego, Tom as the id, and Harry balancing both the superego and the id, acted as the ego. The psychoanalysis critic's would search for symbols of unconscious acts performed by the workers, and realize how the unconscious actions influenced how the workers treated the woman.

Grace Cooney

9/27/2012 08:39:37 pm

Reader response critics would interpret the story differently based on their own personal expiriences. They would associate themselves with different characters in the story depending on who they are. They would insert themselves into the story, so all reader response critics would have a different interpretation.
A Marxist critic would look for the two classes in their interpretation of the story. They would notice that the workers represent the lower class because they have to work all day in the hot sun to support themselves. However, they would see that the woman on the roof represents the upper class because she spends all day relaxing and acts as if she is too good for them.
A psychoanalytic critic would look for the unconscious motives that drove the characters to react the way they did to the events in the story. They would examine the way each of the three men dealt with conflict. They would observe how Stanley confronted the woman directly, Harry avoided the problem, and Tom took a more descreet approach.
Finally, a feminist critc would imidiately see the inequality between men and women in the story. They would take note of the rude way in which the three men treated the woman. They would think it was unfair how the men expected the woman to acknowledge them when they rudely whistled and jeered.

Will Haury

9/27/2012 11:26:56 pm

i think a reader response critic would try and interpret the story in their own way. they would think about any experiences they have had that were similar to the experiences of the men on the roof, or of the woman on the roof. they would try and really put themselves into the story and experience it from their own point of view, or associate themselves with Tom, Harry, or Stanley, instead of reading it as just a story. a marxist would interpret the story while thinking about the two classes represented by the men and the woman. they would think of the men as the lower class who are working for a living up on the roof. they would think about the woman as the upper class who uses the roof as a luxury, and finds herself higher than the men, which angers them. a feminist would interpret it in favor of the woman. they would view the story as an example of harrassment by the men, instead of being the womans fault for being publicly nude. they would feel no pity for the men as they got rejected simply because they were treating the woman as if she was lower than them, which is the opposite of a feminist view.

Will Haury

9/27/2012 11:30:18 pm

i think a psychoanalytic critic would interpret it in the view of the conscious and unconscious of the characters. They would think about how the men are mostly acting on their id, and the animalistic behavior that is brought out when they see the woman lying on the roof.

Kim H

9/28/2012 01:06:47 pm

Reader response: A reader response critic would rely on their personal lives and thoughts to comprehend the story. Their responses are usually based on past experience compared to the events occurring in the story being told.
Feminist Critic: A feminist critic will interpret the female parts of the story and see that the woman on the roof had not done anything wrong, yet it was the men who were being rude. The men whistled and yelled at her just for tanning on her roof.
Psychoanalysis critic: A psychoanalysis critic will try to understand every single character as a different part of the mind (ego, superego, id). They will also try to discover the conscious and unconscious parts of each character. Also, they will try to understand how each one acts toward the woman on the roof.
Marxist critic: A Marxist critic will interpret by viewing each class of the characters, the upper and lower. The upper class in this story would be the woman on the roof who doesn't have to do anything all day. However, the lower class would the men who work on the roof.

Blog 3: A Woman on a Roof

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