Women in literature.

Among nineteenth-century American writers, Kate Chopin presented a new American heroine in the character of Edna Pontellier. She would not merely be a passive recipient reacting to the pressures of a male dominated society. She would actively take control of her own destiny. Chopin created her heroine in an environment that did not tolerate deviance from accepted stereotypes; therefore, many of Chopin's stories either received negative criticism or were rejected for publication because of subject matter. Chopin was sensitive to her critics; however, she was also committed to representing realistic women in their struggles for selfhood. In addition, Chopin created these repeating female characters to chronicle their quests for self-fulfillment. Conflicts, resulting from assertive action, stirred a rebellion inside the heroine and resulted in decisions that shocked and angered a society which was not prepared to accept such strong characters as Edna. Similar to her heroine, Kate Chopin concurrently experienced the dilemmas and ultimate growth that is involved in self-actualization. Kate Chopin was forced to decide how to express herself in a society which was not yet ready to hear her message.

Agatha Christie's writing career of more than fifty years
gave her room to develop certain themes in social history.
One of the most interesting of these is her presentation of
women. Christie's two major types are older, unmarried
women and young, high-spirited girls. Within those two
types, Christie deals with the good, the evil, the eccentric,
and the ineffectual. Her characterizations also
include l ess important types, but those tvvo major kinds
of woman dominate her detective novels. Miss Marple in
particular is an important character and incorporates many
of the strong virtues with which Christie imbues her women.

William Faulkner created, through his use of varied
stylistic devices, a female essence: a characterization
that embodies an earth mother or reproductive female, an
earth goddess or erotic female, and several characteristics
common to both. When taken as a whole, such characteristics--
fecundity, innocence, adaptability, and apparent stasis in
time and space--epitomize Faulkner's female essence.