A feminist reading of Doris Lessing’s ‘To Room Nineteen’ and ‘Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ by Robert Louis Stevenson using ideas discussed in ‘The Second Sex’ by Simone de Beauvoir

She was staring at his chest, blindly, not knowing what to think, not thinking at all. He lifter her chin, gently. “Look at me Faye.” She did, but his face was a blur. “Faye, we’re in this together—you and I. Don’t you see that? It’s not just your problem, it’s ours.” In “A Sorrowful Woman”, I found the husband’s nurturing ways most appealing. He completely rearranged his life to make sure that his wife was as comfortable as possible. The passage that most signifies this is found on page 41. With great care he rearranged his life. He got up hours early, did the shopping, cooked the breakfast, took the boy to nursery school. “We will manage,” he said, “until you’re better, however long that is.” He did his work, collected the boy from the school, came home and made the supper, washed the dishes, got the child to bed. He managed everything. One evening, just as she was on the verge of swallowing her draught, there was a timid knock on her door. The little boy came in wearing his pajamas. “Daddy has fallen asleep on my bed and I can’t get in. There’s not room.” In “A Sorrowful Woman” what I found most unappealing was that even though the husband clearly loved her, instead of getting her the help she clearly needed, he let her sickness overcome her.

One thing that is instantly noticeable about Susan is that she is becoming curious of the world and depressed as she grows older. “Why this way? Why not another way? Who said so and why

Susan said toward the end of the story that she knows something important now and not to wish for anything unless you know precisely what you’re going to get and how. I think what she learnt was that if you wish for something and it comes true, it may seem great at the time but nothing lasts forever and to be careful because it can hurt worse after it leaves.

She was educated, independent and was holding on to a position that had been traditionally set aside to young men. In Philadelphia, Susan was sent there to attend a boarding school. She had decided to teach at a female academy boarding school that was in upstate New York from the age of 15 to around thirty years of age. When she got comfortable in her Rochester home in New York, it was here that she

John could have obtained council from someone less personally involved in her case, but the only help he sought was for the condition of the house and the baby. He obtained a nanny to watch over the children while he was away at work each day: "It is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby." He also had his sister Jennie take care of the house. "She is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper." There is one instance, however, when he does talk of taking her to an expert for assistance, "John says if I don 't pick up faster he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall." Nevertheless she took that as a threat since Dr. Mitchell was even more domineering than her husband and his brother. Perhaps, if she had been allowed to come and go and do as she pleased her depression might have lifted, "I think sometimes that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me." It seems to her that just being able to tell someone how she really feels would have eased her depression, but her husband would not hear of it because of the embarrassing consequences it could bring to the family name. Thus, John has made her a prisoner in their marriage where her opinions are pushed aside, and her self-worthiness questioned.

Susan's defense team hired a psychiatrist to conduct a psychiatric evaluation of her. She was diagnosed as having dependent personality disorder. He described her as a person who "feels she can't do anything on her own". "She constantly needs affection and becomes terrified that she'll be left alone" She was only depressed when she was alone. The psychiatrist studied her family history and concluded that based

Even the most casual reader can note the fact that there are very few female characters present in Robert Louis Stevenson's 19th century novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Those that are found within the work hardly constitute as substantial ones none of the women have more than a few lines of dialogue and appear within the tale for longer than a chapter or two. A bevy of critics have pointed out the fact that such an egregious omission is hardly coincidental in fact, more than a few have cited the fact that this piece of literature functions as a protest regarding the degree of women's liberation that the New Woman possessed near the turn of the 20th century in Victorian England (Reed 2). When considered through this feminist lens, it becomes easily discernible to the prudent reader that Stevenson portrayed no female characters in a positive light and simply used them to reinforce negative aspects of femininity, which he believed were rapidly changing for the worse.

Susanna also has help from her companions, who are also patients at McLean. With the help of: Georgina, a pathological liar and Susanna’s roommate; Daisy, a sexually abused girl with an eating disorder; and Polly, a burn victim with mental wounds deeper than physical, they provide Susanna with a deeper perspective on what real problems are outside of her head. Daisy, Georgina, and Polly also provide Susanna with the kind of friendship Susanna needs to take on her destructive thinking. Of course her companions are not the only aids Susanna encounters while on her Hero’s Journey, she also wouldn’t be able to complete it without the help of a mentor. For Susanna that mentor is Valerie, a nurse at McLean, who steers Susanna on the right path to better herself and that isn’t afraid to tell Susanna the truth, [...] She said things like “Cut that out” and “You're a bore”. She said what she meant, just as we did” (Kaysen 84). Valerie mentors Susanna into the right path in order for her to leave McLean as a healthy

Connie has this longing for attention that she doesn't receive in her own home, so to compensate for the lack thereof, she unconsciously feels the need to go out with her friends and different boys constantly to maintain the type of affection that she needs and wants: “But all the boys fell back and dissolved into a single face that was not even a face, but an idea, a feeling, mixed up with the urgent insistent pounding of the music” (406). So when Connie finds herself home

Susan stood up for what she believed in and carried this throughout her life. She gave, speeches, arranged meetings, put up posters, and distributed leaflets. She encountered hostile mobs, and things thrown at her while trying to make her purpose. A lot of people were against on her movements but she kept pushing through it all. She was laughed at and made fun of, but instead it seemed to encourage her.

Susan encountered a ton of hostile mobs, armed threats, and other things were thrown at her yet she kept doing what she was doing.

“Later that night when Thomas roller over and lurched into her, she would open her eyes and think of the place that was hers” this proves the point that she cannot even express herself sexually because she does not feel as if she has control in the situation.  Her mind wanders elsewhere, in a place where she is her own master, instead of what is reality. Additionally, the main character’s husband shows some selfish tendencies in the fact that he may not notice his wife’s discontentment with his affection.  However, this may also present the lack of communication between man and wife and therefore may cause a sense of isolation from her husband.

I found Susan very interesting in the play. At the beginning she is always concerned with impressing the guys, rolling her skirt to appear more attractive. Peter

Feminism, if anything, has appeared majorly in the literature spectrum through all decades and forms. Feminism is the political, cultural, or economic movement aimed at establishing equality and protection for all women. No matter the time period or place feminism has always been a popular literary topic that has made a few works quite notorious, including Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen. Both works contain the scenarios in which the main characters are taken advantage of due to the apparent feminist society.

Lastly, “femininity” refers to behavioural activities or interests that are assigned to the female sex, such as cleaning and cooking (Beauvoir, 617). Although many critics have read her text and become confused due to her stylistic choice to fuse her voice with the voices of famous men, it can be said that the text ultimately leads the reader to begin to question what society sees as a woman (Zerilli, 1-2). Despite Beauvoir’s The Second Sex appearing to recognize the oppression of women throughout the world without giving an actual solution, I will argue that Beauvoir’s evaluation of each “natural” aspect of female oppression allows readers to recognize that the only thing holding themselves back as a woman is society’s unnatural definition of their body, relation to men, and personal freedoms. Of course, when it comes to one's freedom, it is difficult to obtain when your body feels like a