Question
Read the following quote from Wharton's short story "April Showers":
Theodora found herself in the wood beyond the schoolhouse. She was kneeling on the ground, brushing aside the dead leaves and pressing her lips to the little bursting green things that pushed up eager tips through last year's decay. It was spring--spring! Everything was crowding toward the light, and in her own heart hundreds of germinating hopes had burst into sudden leaf. She wondered if the thrust of those little green fingers hurt the surface of the earth as her springing raptures hurt--yes, actually hurt!--her hot, constricted breast!
What aspect of feminism is Wharton pointing out in this passage?
Women are more sensitive to nature, birth, and death than men are.
Women have a connection with the earth that men do not have.
Women are more prone to silly emotions and unrealistic expectations than men.
Women have dreams and ambitions that are just as strong as men's.
Theodora found herself in the wood beyond the schoolhouse. She was kneeling on the ground, brushing aside the dead leaves and pressing her lips to the little bursting green things that pushed up eager tips through last year's decay. It was spring--spring! Everything was crowding toward the light, and in her own heart hundreds of germinating hopes had burst into sudden leaf. She wondered if the thrust of those little green fingers hurt the surface of the earth as her springing raptures hurt--yes, actually hurt!--her hot, constricted breast!
What aspect of feminism is Wharton pointing out in this passage?
Women are more sensitive to nature, birth, and death than men are.
Women have a connection with the earth that men do not have.
Women are more prone to silly emotions and unrealistic expectations than men.
Women have dreams and ambitions that are just as strong as men's.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
In this passage from Wharton's "April Showers," the most appropriate aspect of feminism that Wharton is pointing out is that **women have dreams and ambitions that are just as strong as men's.** The imagery of spring and the bursting of green life symbolize new hopes and aspirations within Theodora, suggesting that women experience powerful, transformative emotions that parallel the natural world around them. The comparison between the physical growth of nature and her own burgeoning hopes emphasizes the depth of her desires and ambitions, indicating that women's inner lives are just as rich and complex as those of men.