Women in literature

Controversy which has surrounded David Herbert Lawrence arises out
of misunderstanding of what he was actually saying. Lawrence's depiction
of sexual scenes and particularly his vocabulary in presenting
these scenes have misled many critics into believing that he was a
feminist. Early criticism (1911-1940's) indicates that Lawrence portrays
the modern liberated woman favorably. From the beginning of the
1950's to the early 1970's, critics agreed that Lawrence respected and
understood women. Recent criticism (latter part of 1970's to date)
finds to some extent a tone of cynicism toward women. However, the
idea that Lawrence understands and respects women still prevails.
Analysis of Lawrence's novels suggests that his heroines are not consistently
modern or liberated. These women may be introduced as liberated
and intellectual, but in the end they submit to the power of man.
Lawrence's motif is the conflict between male and female, which results
in male dominance and female submission.

The plays of J.M. Synge reflect his theory of the central life
force, particularly as it is embodied by the women in the plays. It
is essentially the elan vital of Henri Bergson. On the Aran Islands
Synge observed the intuitive strength of women which he portrayed
later in the plays. Implicit are the elements of a folk spirit common
in the work of both Synge and Bergson. A reading of the plays with
the emphasis on Playboy of the Western World and Deirdre of the
Sorrows reveals a creative vitality which is both Bergsonian and
mythic, and which pivots on the choices made by the women toward a
spiritual unity with nature.

W. B. Yeats conceived a progression of Masks which
he placed upon women he knew and presented as images in
his poetry. Between the mystical Rose and Dancer images
of his early and late work occur three Masks of flesh and-
blood women--the Muse-goddess, the Duchess of Urbino,
and the Audacious Old Woman. In relation to each of these,
Yeats assumes a Mask of his own--the Poet-lover, the
Courtier, several Old Men--and establishes a ritual
relationship by which he dramatizes the opposing tensions
he believed to exist between men and women . These tensions
lie in oppositions of will, intellect, and creative genius.
Yeats's ideal--ultimately unrealized--was to achieve
complement, co-creation, and, finally, perfect union in
the male-female relationship.

Analysis of the characterization of young women in
Howells' eleven novels published in the 1880s reveals that
although his political, economic, and social views grew
more liberal during the decade, his attitude toward women
remained conventional and conservative, He portrayed the
young American girl in a variety of activities: courtship,
marriage, foreign travel, social events, and professional
employment; but he always assumed that her most suitable
and proper role was that of a submissive wife.

Feminist critics have primarily concentrated on the character of Zenobia, Nathaniel Hawthorne's premier feminist in The Blithedale Romance, to unravel Hawthorne's stance on the emergent sexual politics of the time. This thesis not only examines the importance of Zenobia but also analyzes the significance of Hawthorne's allusions to gender and sexuality constructs in terms of his other characters: Coverdale, Hollingsworth, Priscilla, Westervelt, and Moodie. In addition, I argue that Hawthorne's purpose is to experiment with societal constructs of gender and sexuality among his central characters, a literary experiment that inadvertently subverts his ostensible traditional, patriarchal perspective. In essence, my reading aims to reorientate the conventional presuppositions and gender conventions that have dominated Hawthorne criticism for the past 150 years.

Cassandra of Troy acts as a symbol of the repressed women in Western society, yet she has also become the figure that reawakens the female literary voice in modern times. Christa Wolf's Cassandra: A Novel and Four Essays is the prime example of this literary movement: the female point of view emerges from a patriarchal myth that originally silenced her. Other examples of the re-emerging voice are Christa Wolf's retelling of Medea, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Kassandra in The Firebrand, and Octavia Butler's prophetic Lauren Oya Olamina (a reflection of an African female goddess's power) in the Parable of the Sower series.

Morgan le Fay and the Lady of the Lake are the two most critical representatives of supernatural female power in Arthurian legend. Yet despite their common origins from a single figure in Celtic myth, these women were split into two distinct characters as the legend was progressively revised. Malory finalizes this split by forcing Morgan and Nymue into direct opposition. The events and characteristics that he did not include from his French sources combined with the actions and descriptions that he invented for the two sorceresses reveal his vision of these women and his intolerance for their contradictory nature. Malory's attitude toward supernatural female power, perhaps the reigning attitude of his time, could only reconcile accommodate this magic if it occurred in a dichotomy: such power must either be good or evil. The archetypes constructed in Malory's Morgan le Fay and his Lady of the Lake persist in popular culture even today.

This thesis explores gender, disability and literature in the Global South through an examination of the writings of two physically disabled contemporary women writers from Nepal, BIshnu Kumari Waiwa and Jhamak Ghimire. I show how these renowned contemporary writers challenge stigmas of the disabled body by deconstructiong the "ideology of ability" through their poetry, fiction, and autobiographical narratives. Religious and cultural values disable women's autonomy in general, and create even greater disadvantages for women who are physically disabled. Challenging these cultural stigmas, Waiwa and Ghimire celebrate sexuality and disability as sources of creativity, agency, and identity in narratives that deconstruct cultural or social models of sexuality, motherhood, and beauty. In this thesis feminist disability and feminist theory guide an analysis of Waiwa and Ghimire's writing to advance our understanding of gender, culture, disability and literature in the Global South.

Trapped in the hurricane of a changing cultural landscape, the young women of Kakawangwa, Florida must choose to clutch tradition or side with the times. Pearl and Jasmine are two sisters who come of age after being raised by a single mother in a religious household. Whitney, born a hermaphrodite, must determine her gender and sexuality, despite being married to her husband, Joe. Celeste, a college dropout, returns home to Kakawangwa in disgrace. Blackie, who lives life without inhibition, must cope with the consequences of the choices she makes. Filled with language that is pithy, abrupt, direct, and melodious, The History of Kakawangwa is a narrative that reveals these women as they reconcile the world to themselves.

There remain two recurring criticisms of John Updike's fiction. The first comes from feminist critics who condemn his negative portrayal of women, accusing his fiction of denigrating women. The second comes from late twentieth century critics who accuse him of avoiding political and historical discussions in his fiction. However, it is my contention that Updike is willing to address both of these concerns, and I arrive at such an argument by carefully analyzing his collection of short stories compiled in Too Far To Go: The Maples Stories. Within these stories, Updike's female characters illustrate the shifting gender paradigms over the course of the fifties, sixties, and seventies amidst the middle-class, suburban American milieu. Updike's women act as agents of history providing testament to the shifting gender paradigms and historical, cultural, political, and social milestones of a maturing country and its growing pains.