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The Last September Elizabeth Bowen Analysis

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Discuss how gender is represented in at least two of the novels of your course
In this essay the novels chosen to discuss the above question are Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Elizabeth Bowen’s The Last September and Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla. Each of the named novels were written during the Victorian period, a period whereby there was mass political and social turmoil. As well as this, it was a time where the English rejected new ideologies and concepts that may disrupt the fabric of society. As a result of this, the way in which gender is represented conforms to the society that the characters lived in during this era. In this essay one will particularly look at the gender role of women, as one of the main concerns was the place and role of women during the …show more content…

Unlike the other novels, this novel is written during a period of the Irish War of Independence. During this turmoil, they house many guests but at the same time realise their world and society around them is slowly crumbling. They’re almost backed into a corner, unable to fully support the British whose aristocracy they’ve co-opted or the Irish that they identify with more. It is mainly dominated by two character Lois Farquar and Myra, Lady Naylor. “In a gender divided society, it is the older woman who provides clues for her young heroines as how to live”. In contrast to the other novels, this is a portrayal of a young woman coming of age through a stark period. This can be construed as a bildungsroman novel, unlike the two mentioned, this novel is concerned with the development of a girl into womanhood who is not sure of her place in society. Lois Farquar can be seen as a symbol of progression of Anglo-Irish women and the decline in class. Unlike Lois, Lady Naylor is a decisive woman but also stubborn, whose views are conservative of her

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