Characteristics Of Femininity In British Literature

Women in the nineteenth century lived in a time characterized by gender inequality. At the beginning of the century, women could not vote, could not be sued, were extremely limited over personal property after marriage, and were expected to remain obedient to their husbands and fathers.( women’s suffrage movement 1) In most situations, the men would have to go to work and bring home the money, and the women would have no choice but to stay home, clean the

As the United States was continuing recovering from the Civil War and embracing the expansion of the West, industrialization, immigration and the growth of cities, women’s roles in America were changing by the transformation of this new society. During the period of 1865-1912, women found themselves challenging to break the political structure, power holders, cultural practices and beliefs in their “male” dominated world.

In Sylvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar, Esther Greenwood seems incapable of healthy relationships with other women. She is trapped in a patriarchal society with rigid expectations of womanhood. The cost of transgressing social norms is isolation, institutionalization and a lost identity as woman. The struggle for an individual identity under this regime is enough to drive a person to the verge of suicide. Given the oppressive system under which she must operate, Esther Greenwood's problems with women stem from her conflict between individuality and conformity.

Sylvia Plath was a troubled writer to say the least, not only did she endure the loss of her father a young age but she later on “attempted suicide at her home and was hospitalized, where she underwent psychiatric treatment” for her depression (Dunn). Writing primarily as a poet, she only ever wrote a single novel, The Bell Jar. This fictional autobiography “[chronicles] the circumstances of her mental collapse and subsequent suicide attempt” but from the viewpoint of the fictional protagonist, Esther Greenwood, who suffers the same loss and challenges as Plath (Allen 890). Due to the novel’s strong resemblance to Plath’s own history it was published under the pseudonym “Victoria Lucas”. In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath expresses the

The article, The Cult of Womanhood: 1820 - 1860 written by Barbara Welter discusses the philosophy towards women in America during the mid 19th century. A set of demands and expectations based upon four principles: piety, purity, submission and domesticity were placed on women as well as certain behavioral expectations left 19th century women feeling guilty. It also left women feeling this way during the industrialization period as well as having a huge presence of incompatibility with society. Welter shares her viewpoint that the Cult of Womanhood was an attempt to preserve pre modern values in the industrial age. Men held a dominant place in society and continued to prevent new opportunities for women to explore. Narrow minded

Frederick Lewis Allen, in his famous chronicle of the 1920s Only Yesterday, contended that women’s “growing independence” had accelerated a “revolution in manners and morals” in American society (95). The 1920s did bring significant changes to the lives of American women. World War I, industrialization, suffrage, urbanization, and birth control increased women’s economic, political, and sexual freedom. However, with these advances came pressure to conform to powerful but contradictory archetypes. Women were expected to be both flapper and wife, sex object and mother. Furthermore, Hollywood and the emerging “science” of advertising increasingly tied conceptions of femininity to

Author Barbara Welter in her article, The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860 discusses what one may argue is true womanhood and why it is necessary for woman of society. There are multiple ways that one may look at Welter’s text, the first, being within the time frame that it was written, and what it says about society at the time the text was written. The other, is out of context and discussing it as a whole within the feminist movement.

During the early 1800's women were stuck in the Cult of Domesticity. Women had been issued roles as the moral keepers for societies as well as the nonworking house-wives for families. Also, women were considered unequal to their male companions legally and socially. However, women’s efforts during the 1800’s were effective in challenging traditional intellectual, social, economical, and political attitudes about a women’s place in society.

Thesis: A “true women” in the 19th Century was one who was domestic, religious, and chaste. These were virtues established by men but enforced and taught by other women. Women were also told that they were inferior to men and they should accept it and be grateful that someone just loved them.

The nineteenth century is popularly known for its traditional view of gender roles, especially regarding women. The term “True Woman” refers to what society at that time thought to be the ideal woman, carrying qualities of “modesty, submissiveness, physical weakness, limited education, and complete devotion to husband and home” (White, 2009, p. 1). Women were restrained in terms of sexuality, dress, language, and economic decisions. In Amy Gilman Srebnick’s The Mysterious Death of Mary Rogers, Mary rebels against these standards by being a single women that is also sexually active, however, her actions are what seemingly lead to her demise. Similarly, Fanny Fern’s Ruth Hall also goes against gender norms. In her case, she earns her own economic independence through her writing and lives a more unconventional life as a mother, but faces repercussions from her family. Through the novels Ruth Hall and The Mysterious Death of Mary Rogers, the main female characters revolt against being “True Women” through their daily actions and behaviors, however they’re each punished with consequences for trying to deviate from society’s path.

The role of women in literature has changed drastically throughout history. Both novels “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin and “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath, tell the story of two women slowly slipping into a mental breakdown due to societal expectations. Many evident and important similarities exist in the lives of Esther and Edna as they attempt to break away from the expectations of society posed upon them. Mental illness ensues both of these women as they attempt to rebel many of the societal expectations that are expected of women. “The bell Jar” and “The Awakening” demonstrate the negative effects of imposing traditional gender roles upon women.

The Bell Jar is a partly fictionalized autobiographical account of author Sylvia Plath’s life. Plath, personified as Esther Greenwood details the inequality and expectations of a young woman in 1950s American society on her journey to find purpose. The Bell Jar holds many similarities to J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, both detailing the difficulties of growing up and all that comes along with it, with The Bell Jar specifically exploring a more feminine side of adolescence. Themes of women's rights in The Bell Jar are documented in depth by Plath throughout the novel holding relevance to the context of the novel’s setting as well as the current day state of women's rights.

In most early British literature a woman is often presented as only one thing: an object. They can be objects of desire, objects of beauty, or merely objects to be owned, but it is rare that a woman is anything more than that. It is even more uncommon to find a female character in literature that is presented as an equal to the men around her. In William Congreve's The Way of the World he plays on the similarities of both his female and male characters to establish just how much of an issue gender really is because though their actions might be similar, the consequences are not.

Perhaps the most famous work of Sylvia Plath’s is The Bell Jar -- a book that follows the mental deterioration of a nineteen-year-old girl named Esther through the narration of Esther herself. Although Sylvia Plath hated life in general and committed suicide at the age of 32 after her husband left her, the myriad autobiographical elements, metaphors, and motifs that appear throughout her works produce a beautifully vivid representation of people, the world, and life itself (“Sylvia Plath”).

Independence and freedom are some of the greatest qualities for which many races, nationalities, and genders have been able to thank America for. It took several centuries for our country to be at the forefront of equality, while most nations have only recently started to develop this type of thinking in their culture. However, America was not always this way. At the beginning of the 20th century, women held very few roles within society. With the husbands traditionally being the sole income earners during this time, the wives were left with the expectation to stay at home, raise the children and keep the house in order. As a result, women had an insufficient amount of time and focused little if any amount of such time on themselves, while the husbands did not help with any of the “women’s work.” With high expectations and undoubtedly little reward for their hard work at home, women often found themselves feeling trapped and forced to lead an unfulfilling lifestyle. Yearning for a sense of self, there were luxuries which these women were not allowed to indulge in, as they were not allowed a sense of freedom apart from their husbands. Furthermore, these wives and mothers would fantasize about a time where they could and would be free, to indulge and take part in niceties, even if it was only to go buy a pair of silk stockings. For over two hundred years in America, women did not have a place in literature, both as major characters and as writers. Kate