The Strong-Arming of Desire: A Reconsideration of Nancy Armstrong's Desire and Domestic Fiction (original) (raw)

Taking Responsibility in Desire and Domestic Fiction

Nancy Armstrong famously identifies middle-class white Victorian women writers not just as passive victims of ideology but as possessors of relative privilege in relation to power. Even more radically, she identifies herself as possessing analogous forms of power as a woman writer and a feminist critic.

Challenging Feminist Literary Criticism's Misreading of Specific American Novels from the First Half of the Twentieth Century

2015

This paper responds to specific questions raised in the author’s previous research on five American novels from the first half of the twentieth century which concern sexuality, abortion, and male-female relationships: Pearl Doles Bell’s Gloria Gray, Love Pirate (1914); Floyd Dell’s Janet March (1923); Vina Delmar’s Bad Girl (1928); Christopher Morley’s Kitty Foyle (1939); and Nancy Hale’s The Prodigal Women (1942). The paper concludes that interpretations of the characters’ religious, moral, and sexual lives from a standard feminist perspective are insufficient to account for the works’ larger didactic purposes. Moreover, the paper asserts that an application of the more comprehensive Judeo-Christian approach to sexuality and related topics would assist twenty-first century readers to appreciate the works.

Women and Patriarchy in the Literature of Kate O'Brien - Research Paper

To be born male or female had different political, social and economic consequences for an individuals life in nineteenth century Ireland. The opportunities of the daughter of an aristocratic family in the middle ages and those of a woman living in the slums of late nineteenth century Dublin, were light years apart in many ways, but each woman's life and her opportunity were influenced by her sex and, as a consequence, were different to those of her brother, father or husband. 1 This research paper will examine the attitudes towards gender roles in nineteenth century Ireland and how this expressed in the literature of Kate O'Brien 2 . Chapter one will focus on O'Brien's first novel Without My Cloak which became a best seller and won her the first Hawthornden and James Tait Black memorial prizes. 3 By examining the lives of O'Brien's key female characters it will become clear how the ideology of separate spheres combined with codes and expectations of a patriarchal society effected the lives of these women in various ways. Later on in chapter one we will see evidence from various journals and diaries which belonged to women in nineteenth century Ireland that confirm that these rigid codes and boundaries which restricted women truly were a reality in Ireland and not just true of O'Brien's fictional characters. Chapter two will focus on The Ante-Room, a sequel to Without My Cloak, first published in 1934. Again, by focusing on the main female characters in The Ante-Room, chapter two aims to unveils how these women were confined and restricted due to the dominant patriarchal society. The use of primary sources such as diaries and journals in chapter two also will reinforce this reality.

The Feminist Reader: Essays in Gender and the Politics of Literary Criticism

1989

Preface - Acknowledgements - Introduction: The Story So Far C.Belsey & J.Moore - Women and Literary History D.Spender - The True Story of How I Became My Own Person R.Coward - Disturbing Nurses and the Kindness of Sharks T.Morrison - Queer Desire in The Well of Loneliness L.Pouchard - The Difference of View M.Jacobus - Representing Women: Re-presenting the Past G.Beer - Sorties: Out and Out: Attacks/Ways Out/Forays H.Cixous - Feminist, Female, Feminine T.Moi - Women and Madness: the Critical Phallacy S.Felman - Promises: the Fictional Philosophy in Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Woman J.Moore - Three Women's Texts and a Critique of Imperialism C.Spivak - Cross-dressing, Gender and Representation: Elvis Presley M.Garber - Feminism and the Postmodern: Theory's Romance D.Elam - Women's Time J.Kristeva - The Looking Glass, from the Other Side L.Irigaray - Summaries and Notes - Glossary - Suggestions for Further Reading - Notes on Contributors - Index