The New Woman in embryo: Masculine women in Victorian Novels (original) (raw)
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A panoramic view of ‘the New Woman’ in Victorian literature
RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi
The great social and cultural changes in the Victorian period had a great impact on gender roles. In both public and private sphere, the divisions in gender roles started to disappear with the emergence of a type of woman willing to be active in every area of life. Along with more frequent appearance and growing numbers of women in the work force through the late nineteenth century Elaine Showalter’s notion of “sexual anarchy” and its different forms were invigorated. How the social status of women started to change along with industrialization by the end of the nineteenth-century was also reflected upon Victorian literature. For instance, in Mrs Warren’s Profession the protagonist Vivie represents the new woman type who is ambitious to get education and to participate in work life as a self-sufficient woman in Victorian drama. When compared with the traditional woman type, she is more free-minded, independent and career-oriented. In D. H. Lawrence’ The Rainbow, Ursula, is another s...
The Idea of “New Woman” in the Novels of English Victorian Age Writers
Naukovì zapiski Nacìonalʹnogo unìversitetu «Ostrozʹka akademìâ». Serìâ «Fìlologìâ», 2019
The article deals with the problem of striving of main women characters for the changes in their social role and status in the novels of English writers of the Victorian age. The analysis is based on modern investigations of the problem, done by English critics, scholars and scientists. It is stated, that the social status and the position of women in the 19 th century was not equal to men's. Nevertheless, a new trend was growing in the society. The term "New woman" symbolized a new personality, who, unlike her predecessors, had different understanding of woman's place in the society. It is also grounded, that a lot of English novelists of the time devoted their works to the depiction of such women and their protest against the traditional norms and social injustice. The research reveals that the theme is best reflected in the novels of Emily and Charlotte Brontë, Thomas Hardy, George Eliot. It is also pointed out, that the novels of the writers were analyzed from the feminism viewpoint, which differs much from the traditional approach. Such approach gives the possibility to look upon the value of the novels in the perspective of their impact on the further development of women's fight for their rights and position in the society.
Portrait of Women in Victorian Novels
International Journal of Language and Literary Studies
This article examines the representation of three female characters in three Victorian novels. These three novels are Bleak house, Ruth, and Lady Audley’s Secret. This work is, in fact, a study of how women were viewed in Victorian novels which actually depicted the Victorian society. The society of that time was male-dominated that tried to rule over women unfairly and made them as submissive as possible in order to handle them easily according to their selfish tastes. If women in Victorian society followed the expectations of men thoroughly, they were called angel-in-the-house; if not, they were labeled with negative labels like fallen-woman or mad-woman. This article tries to go through the characters of Esther Summerson, Ruth, and Lady Audley who appeared in the three aforementioned novels respectively in order to prove that the Victorian Society, which was represented in the novels of that period, was a harshly male-dominated society that ruled over women with bitter patriarchy.
CELEBRATING WOMANHOOD IN 19TH CENTURY ENGLISH LITERATURE
The role of women in the society is constantly questioned, and for centuries, women have struggled to find their place in a world that is predominantly male-oriented. Literature provides a window to the lives, thoughts, and actions of women during certain period of times in a fictitious form. In most of the English novels, the female characters appear as more heroic figures than their male counterparts. This paper focuses on the novels of 19th century England. For the discussion, it choses Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility, Jane Eyre in Jane Eyre, Lucie Mannette in a A Tale of Two Cities and Tess D’Urberville in Tess of the D’Urbervilles, as they belong to the group of the most powerful women characters who possess all the heroic qualities like courage, virtue, honesty and strong sense of individuality. The paper argues that they are not only successful in playing their traditional roles as daughters, wives or mothers, but also successful as individuals, retaining their identity under extreme pressure of patriarchic society.
An Overview of Feminism in the Victorian Period
This paper examines the concept of the “New-Woman” in Victorian literature in all genres written by men and women.The “New-Woman” was also referred to at this time as the “Woman Question”.In this paper the “New- Woman”, the “ Woman Question” and feminism are interchangeable. This write-up handles four issues: the problem faced by the Victorian woman, events, legislation and publications crucial to Victorian feminism, Queen Victorian and feminism and lastly the Victorian writer and the “Woman Question”.The Victorian writer wrote essays, novels, plays and poems.Using the feminist critical theory, the paper argues that the predominant theme in Victorian literature was the presentation of the “New- Woman”.The paper reveals that the “Woman Question” was so preoccupying that no writer could avoid it during the Victorian period and that feminism really or essentially started during the Victorian period when women were given or got remarkable improvements in their lives.
CEPOS, 2017
Abstract Many authors began to write about the sufferings and endurances of women in the Victorian Age. More and more novels focused heavily on traditional, typical Victorian female characters and their interactions. As to the movement for the emancipation of woman from the unjust burdens and disabilities to which the five authors made it a subject to reveal the benign qualities of woman, Hardy, Thackeray, Gaskell, Trollope and George Eliot also focused the condition of woman, besides Charles Dickens and the Brontë sisters – with a remarkable account of the social institutions of Victorian London. This does not mean that those novelists held feminist ideas, they simply he wanted to give woman her feminine privileges and rights. This study aims to explore most important Victorian writers who wrote about woman to seek the accuracy of Victorian views towards women. Charles Dickens was a pioneer in dealing with the kind of woman that was identified in that era. We also include Thomas Hardy and Charlotte Brontë who had different ideas in this point
Perdones Cañas, Rebeca. Women Empowerment through Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights
Women Empowerment through Emily Brontë's "Wuthering Heights", 2019
a biannual , peer-reviewed, full-text, and open-access Graduate Student Journal of the Universidad Complutense Madrid that publishes interdisciplinary research on literary studies, critical theory, applied linguistics and semiotics, and educational issues. The journal also publishes original contributions in artistic creation in order to promote these works. Volume 7 Issue 2 (December 2019) Article 5 Rebeca Perdones Cañas "Women Empowerment through Emily Brontë"s Wuthering Heights" Recommended Citation Perdones Cañas, Rebeca. "Women Empowerment through Emily Brontë"s Wuthering Heights" Abstract: In this paper I analyse how Emily Brontë challenges in her novel Wuthering Heights the female stereotypes to which women of the Victorian Era were submitted. In order to accomplish this analysis, I take into account the social aspects in which women had to meet expectations. For the purpose of finding answers to this issue, I have organised this study into different parts that show the pressure to which women of the Victorian age were subjected. Firstly, I start analysing the age in which this novel takes place and how the situation of women in that time was. Secondly, I continue describing one of the most important social aspects that kept women submitted in that age: marriage. I analyse the clout that it had in Victorian society and how it was a social imposition and nobody had a different choice. Thirdly, I focus on women education and how it was something almost forbidden for them and a way to control and submit them. Fourthly, my study comes to the most important issue which is the female stereotypes challenged by the characters of Wuthering Heights. Then, I explore superficially how the defiance of these stereotypes lead to tragic consequences in the case of the main female characters. Finally, I conclude that Emily defies the imposed gender roles and female stereotypes of the Victorian Era through her work although it was not a simple task.
An Overview of Feminism in the Victorian Period [1832-1901]
This paper examines the concept of the “New-Woman” in Victorian literature in all genres written by men and women.The “New-Woman” was also referred to at this time as the “Woman Question”.In this paper the “New- Woman”, the “ Woman Question” and feminism are interchangeable. This write-up handles four issues: the problem faced by the Victorian woman, events, legislation and publications crucial to Victorian feminism, Queen Victorian and feminism and lastly the Victorian writer and the “Woman Question”.The Victorian writer wrote essays, novels, plays and poems.Using the feminist critical theory, the paper argues that the predominant theme in Victorian literature was the presentation of the “New- Woman”.The paper reveals that the “Woman Question” was so preoccupying that no writer could avoid it during the Victorian period and that feminism really or essentially started during the Victorian period when women were given or got remarkable improvements in their lives.
The Sources of Feminism in the Works of Victorian Writers
2020
THE SOURCES OF FEMINIS M IN THE WORKS OF VICTORIAN WRITERS Verovkina O. Ye., Nesteruk S. M. 1. Women's fight for independence and new tendencies in Victorian literature To begin with, it should be pointed out, that before studying the subject of our research, it is necessary to make an investigation of the period and society, in which its people lived, their way of life, traditions and laws in order to pave the way for a study of the Victorian writers' works. So, in this chapter the historical, social and economic backgrounds of the Victorian age will be reviewed, so that to analyze the ways in which these might have influenced the content of literary works of this time. According to Blackwell the reign of Queen Victoria, after whom the period between 1837 to 1901 has been referred to the Victorian Era, was a landmark period in the history of Great Britain 1. This era was marked by country's acquiring new social functions, which were caused by new industrial conditions and rapid population growth. As for personal development, it was built on self-discipline and self-confidence, supported by Wesleyan and Evangelical movements 2 .
Mother Against Daughter and Daughter Against Mother: Hostile Femininity In the Neo-Victorian Novel
Illuminating the Dark Side. Evil, Women and the Feminine. Andrea Ruthven & Gabriela Mádlo, eds. Oxford: Inder-Disciplinary Press., 2010
The idea that in the patriarchal world men overpower and limit women’s freedom is so obvious that has become a cliché. However, a closer look at the mother-daughter relationship, following the seminal works of such feminists like Adrienne Rich, Phyllis Chessler and Luce Irigaray, enables us to change the focus from male-female power struggle to the one within female genealogy, where mothers become not just the victims, but also the wardens of the patriarchal prison and perpetrators of the ‘punishment,’ thus leading the daughters either to ‘matrophobia’ or engulfment by the mother. The three neo-Victorian novels on which the paper will be focused represent three examples of deeply ambiguous and often hostile relationships between mothers and daughters. Firstly, in her novel Affinity Sarah Waters presents the world of a Victorian lady visitor in Millbank prison, who seems to be imprisoned by hostile and menacing femininity motherhood, and whose matrophobia makes her an easy target of Selina Dawes’ manipulation. Secondly, in Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace, Grace’s mother is herself a stereotypical victim of gender roles and patriarchal oppression, becoming an anti-model for her daughter and preparing a foundation for a real mother-figure in Grace’s life, Mary Whitley. In this case, Grace becomes engulfed by her second ‘mother.’ Thirdly, Michel Faber’s The Crimson Petal and the White presents an example of an abusive mother-daughter relationship and the resulting ‘matrophobia’ of the main character. All of these mother figures are shown from a perspective of their impact on the main characters’ female identity as well as their own attitude to other women later in life. In its conclusion, the paper will touch upon the issue of neo-Victorian novel as a genre which as its aim has the preservation of female genealogy.