Prior to the 1960’s feminist movement, women’s literature was not seen in the same light as it was then. According to Elaine Showalter who talks about the history of women literature having 3 parts that contributed the growth of feminism. The first part she talks about is Androgynist Poetics which states that the creative mind is sexless another is The Female Aesthetic which believed that only a female could properly interpret a woman’s text. Showwalter said that “some feminists and women writers could feel excluded by the surreality of the Female Aesthetic and its stress on the biological forms of female experience” (Lee). The third part was Gynocritics, which tried to “revise Freudian structures and... emphasized a Pre-Oedipal phase wherein the daughter's bond to her mother inscribes the key factor in gender identity” (Lee).
In this essay, I will find out about how The Awakening, a Chopin’s novel, was controversial when it was published and has become a classic nowadays, the themes and controversies in her novel, the artistry and autonomy of Edna, her usage in contrast, nature imagery and cyclical plotting in The Awakening. Being one of the foundation texts in American realism and the feminist movement, “The Awakening” faced sharp criticism because some critics thought ‘its protagonist as an immoral woman”, “the Awakening receive have led to a common misconception concerning the effect of its critical reception” (Green). At that time, Chopin was keep away from society and her novel was banned by many libraries. This fact happened in several decades, until 1990. Then, The Awakening novel was allowed to print and popularize to everyone.
For women, equality was not something easily achieved. Through long years, feminine activists have suffered devastating setbacks, and accomplished significant milestones as well. Monumental efforts to actualize such milestones were made by writer and activist Betty Friedan. Most prominent during the Second Wave of the feminist movement, during the 1960s and lasting through the 1980s, she is accredited with inspiring women across the country and writing one of the most powerful books of the twentieth century (“Betty”). Betty Friedan is the most influential female writer prior to 1980 due to the social changes brought about through her writing, most significantly The Feminine Mystique, and political activism for women’s fulfillment and civil rights.
The attitudes displayed towards women in the 19th Century were those of male superiority, and female subservience and fragility. It was widely accepted that a woman’s place was in the home. However, there were also a number of women who craved independence and attitudes were gradually beginning to change as this century closed and the 1900s began. These attitudes are what I will be exploring in this essay. As a woman in the Victorian era, it was the accepted reasoning that marriage was the career choice you made.
Thereby Rhys creates a character which a modern audience can relate to and sympathise with, drawn from her own personal experiences. The idea of having a protagonist that audiences can relate to is stimulated from ‘Jane Eyre,’ where Brontë created an unconventional female protagonist whom a 19th century female audience could relate to or aspire to be like. One of the earliest critical responses to Brontë’s novel was from G.H. Lewes (a mid Victorian literary critic) who said, ‘the grand secret of Jane Eyre’s success was its reality. From out the depths of a sorrowing experience, here was a voice speaking to thousands.’ Lewes recognises Brontë has written a novel valued on realism, creating a voice that speaks to the disappointments and triumphs of its readers.
Motherhood and marriage is seen to be a key factor in the society of which The Bell Jar is set ,and is portrayed as one of the things that supresses female identity when Esther is asked to be “Mrs Buddy Willard” as if she is owned by Buddy and not her own person. Even though Top Girls is set in 1980’s England while Margret Thatcher is Prime Minister, it shows direct correlations to the ideas shown in The Bell Jar. Just as the bell jar itself portrays motherhood and marriage to be a hindrance to Careers In the form of Dodo Conway, Top Girls protagonist Marlene symbolises the other option women have in the choice between a career and a family. Marlene, unlike her sister Joyce, is shown to have given up her child for the chance to pursue a career as if having both is impossible; a lot like Jaycee is in The Bell Jar. This essay will argue that In both texts motherhood and marriage is shown to be a hindrance to both women’s careers and their female identity.
A Vindication of the Rights of Women Essay A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft is one of the earliest works of feminist ideals. In the text, Wollstonecraft deeply responds and criticizes many influential political theoreticians from the 18th century who did not believe that women should have the same basic rights as men. Her arguments vary from how women should contribute to society to how women should be treated in a relationship. All of her viewpoints not only played a crucial role in the feminist movement of her time, but also helped pave the way for modern feminist movements. One of the main points that Wollstonecraft touches upon in A Vindication of the Rights of Women is the issue regarding women and education.
We can briefly say that feminist international relation scholars generally argue that the way many conventional international relation scholars approach the study of world politics discloses gendered thinking. In this approach,two concepts also are explained which is related to feminism theory of international relations. This concepts are the Feminism and the Feminist Theory.Feminism is about the oppression of women by men. In Western countries where women have equal legal and political rights, oppression may seem an exaggrated claim. However, women did not gain the vote until in the twentieth century; when John Stuart Mill championed female suffarage in 1869 he did not hestitate to like situation of women to taht of slaves.
Gender Representation in the Gothic Situation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights Mohammad Reza Khedri M.A. Student of English Language and Literature, Islamic Azad University, Boroujerd Branch. Abstract: One of the most important goals of female writers is to show themselves as equal to men in the patriarchal societies. Some of those writers took the Genre of Gothic which shows men as active, smart, powerful and passionate in contrary to passive, weak and emotionless women. Emily Brontë by her poetic genius style achieved this success in her Gothic novel, Wuthering Heights.
Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” represents a stereotypical women’s role and so called “life” in the nineteenth century. The sample text involves a mother ranting to her daughter about what her responsibilities in life are and what it takes to be a proper woman instead of a “slut”. This literary work is a great example when perceiving the nineteenth century woman by establishing a set image and role that each women should follow in order to be accepted in society. The feminist criticism allows one to analyze the text to co-inside with this theory because it “seeks to restify sexist discrimination and inequalities.”(25) We can see that this female writer incorporated personal experience and historical context when writing this literary piece. There are distinct economic, political and professional realities displayed in the text.