Radcliffe writings opened floodgates for her female successors to write within that tradition. David Stevens in The Gothic Tradition writes that “[s]everal of the writers associated with the development of the gothic novel were women […] and the very existence of the gothic novel may be seen as dependent on female readers and authors” (23). The “feminization of reading [and writing] practices” of gothic literature contributed
There exists a very real relationship between the Female Gothic novel of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century and the social context of women at that time. This new class of fiction is essentially treated by women as it addresses women’s experiences offered an opportunity to address “the hidden, unspeakable reality of women’s lives: not just their lives in the private inner world of the psyche, but also their social and economic lives in a real world of patriarchal institutions” (DeLamotte 165). Notwithstanding the success of male Gothicists, Gothic fiction is perceived as a female-dominated genre as Leonard Wolf writes: Despite the triumphs of Lewis and Maturin, the Gothic novel was something of a cottage industry of middle-class
Indeed, the close affinity between both genres is due to their resort to the use of the fantastic in order to defy the oppressive reality of women’s life and to violate this ‘truth.’ According to Sherman, “science fiction, like the gothic, displays an ability to displace cultural and national anxieties of the respective time, functioning as a space wherein these anxieties can be freely, if nebulously, expressed” (4). Coincide with the rise of the second wave feminism in the United States of American, the New wave science fiction women writers revise and rewrite their female precursors; “Ursula K. Le Guin’s ground-breaking study of gender’s grip on human culture in The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) and Joanna Russ’s formally experimental deconstruction of female subjectivity in The Female Man (1975)” are considered as reactionary and revolutionary works which strive to subvert “the conventions of male/female relations [… while] focus[ing] on a radical critique of these relations as based in the inequities of what Adrienne Rich first identified as ‘compulsory heterosexuality’” (Hollinger 128). Indeed, I will study the literary evolution of the Female Gothic tradition while focusing on Russ’s struggle to offer a fresh reading to utopian fiction which is a subgenre of science-fiction, while focusing the changes and metamorphoses of
Anita Nair, is one such writer who portrays realistic female characters in her works. Her strength as a writer lies in bringing alive the everyday thoughts desires and doubts Nair portrays her-female characters as a realistic nature of thoughts and ideas in her novels. This paper focuses on quest for identity and the feministic approach of female characters in Anita Nair’s second novel Ladies coupe. Key words : Post-colonial society; quest for identify; women’s emancipation. Identity is a state of mind that is granted by the interaction with the fellow beings in the society and also, by the acceptance in the society.
Feminist theory shows the ways of a gender structured life . This culture is also displayed in Crime and Punishment by Sonya and Dunya. Feminist criticism is a type of literary criticism that was well known in the 1970’s. Women would begin taking apart the classics and analyzing how the author portrayed women. The women in Crime and Punishment , especially Sonya and Dunya have a stronger state of mind and are able to handle the pressures and struggles of life better than the men in the novel.
In fact, this made me think of another story we read in this course: Michael Connelly´s “Suicide Run”, in which there is a woman police that helps the detectives to solve the crime, just as in Asimov´s story, in which it is also a female character, Kizmin Rider, the one who solves it. I believe the detective´s gender is indeed important in both stories. Nevertheless, the authors´ approach to issues that have to be with gender is different in each case. In Connelly´s story there is not a sexist approach, for as we can infer after reading it, Harry Bosch expects women to be different and better than men. Harry sees them as supportive and as not corrupted by reality, just as opposite to men.
Desirable Daughters, by the prolific writer Bharati Mukherjee, it was published in year 2000. Desirable Daughters is significant another of her magically written, compelling novels. Bharati Mukherjee was born in Calcutta in 1940. Sympathized with women, she, in her novels gave dependable representations, of the quandary of the women of the contemporary society. An essential theme of the novels of Bharati Mukherjee is racism as an important feature in oriental and occidental culture.
Literary feminism was concerned with the politics of women’s authorship and the representation of women’s condition with literature. The feminist and feminist writers have been successful in achieving the legal rights for women, yet much has to be done at the social level. Feminist writers today proudly hold their cause of ‘womanhood’ through their writings. The Indian literature field is bold to represent feminism in the hands of well known writers. Who have transformed from theoretical theme to historic and cultural realities, levels of consciousness, women’s outlook and actions.
On par with Western novelists, Indian women writers have made a bench mark in creating an island of their own in voicing their views and perceptions about the pathetic plight of women in India. Ofcourse, Shshi Desh Pande is not exceptional because, in all her works feminism surfaces as a dominating theme one way or the other. The present paper mirrors her reflections for assertion of identity and crave for emancipation of women from the shackles of traditions and customs. So to say, in her novel, Roots and Shadows, the writer highlits the agony and suffering of the protagonist, Indu in male-dominated society. In The Dark Holds No Terrors, she touches upon male egoism and inferiority complex resulting in sexual sadism, as well the harrowing
Menkel-Meadow suggests females in the legal profession have increased the protection of women’s rights to privacy and equality, made advances in counteracting the argument of consensus in rape cases and led to the recognition of sexual harassment, achieving a greater awareness of women’s issues and rights. Females in the legal profession are increasingly engaging with typical legal issues such as labour law and