ipl-logo

Feminine In Margaret Gaskell's The New Woman

760 Words4 Pages

The ‘New Woman’ was a literary trope that emerged in the late nineteenth century out of a number of prose narratives and non-fiction essays. It was a response: an ideal of sorts, as a foil to the conventional ‘Angel In The House’ model of femininity: a result of increased opportunities for women arising in the public sector as a result of industrial growth in the 1850’s. Activist and writer, Sarah Grand coined the phrase ‘New Woman’ in her article "The New Aspect of the Woman Question" (1894) and the term was further popularized by British-American writer Henry James; it describes an overall growth in education, independence and career-orientation among women in Europe and the United States; a foregrounding for the later suffragette movement …show more content…

In Margaret we observe the union of characteristically masculine merits of action, self-reliance, authority as well as the feminine instincts of placation, qualities of virtue and selflessness, dependence and tenderness. Gaskell balances her heroine between the feminine and the masculine so as not to appear “unwomanly”, but rather subtly influence readers and call for a change in or at least bringing under public scrutiny the existing gender norms: ‘the angel in the house’, ‘the female visitor’ and ‘the refined lady’.
Gaskell describes Margaret as "Her mouth was wide; no rosebud that could open only just enough to let out a 'yes ' and 'no, ' and 'an 't please you, sir '" (1.2.4)
Gilbert and Gubar argue that nineteenth-century women’s education in femininity aimed at making them “desire to be beautiful and ‘frail’” Margaret shows disdain for the ideals, protesting that she is not “one of those poor sickly women who like to lie on rose leaves, and be fanned all day” (151). (54). Gaskell, contrasts the weak and sickly Mrs. Hale with her sturdy daughter and not only ridicules the Victorian ideal of frailty in women, but she also enhances her portrayal of Margaret’s strength and

Show More
Related

The Rectors Daughter: An Analysis Of Flora Macdonald Mayors

708 Words | 3 Pages

How is the separation of lovers and its consequences presented in the extract? This extract of Flora Macdonald Mayors ' novel, 'The rectors daughter ', develops the theme of hedonism being extingished by the misfortune of unrequited love, through the perspective of a middle aged woman of the 1920 's. Mary Jocelyn, the stories narrator, aims to persue the man of her desires, however his absence of affection is prominant in this extract when we discover his devotion to another woman. This extract is significant to the era, as newly upcoming 'flapper girls ' encouraged a future of female independence and open sexuality, but this segment leaves connotations that not all women took this lifestyle by storm, and still remained unsatisfied as a woman when unaccompanied by a husband, as shown through Mary 's characterisation in the text. Throughout the excerpt, the consequences faced by the separation of lovers is evident to leave a negative effect on the person on the receaving end.

Read More

Comparing Women In Beowulf And Raffel's

371 Words | 2 Pages

Women are an essential part of many British works. Although women are typically given the role of minor and less significant characters in British literature, they serve a greater purpose than that of which is initially perceived by the reader. Grendel’s mother in Burton Raffel’s, Beowulf, and the female creature in Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s, Frankenstein, are two noteworthy characters that are overlooked, but the roles they play and their influence are important to the storyline. Although she is monstrous and is described as having masculine features and actions, Grendel’s mother is a peaceful and loving being at the core.

Read More

Comparing William Dean Howells's Editha And Henry James Daisy Miller

607 Words | 3 Pages

They show the harsh and cruel reality of the surrounding environment that women live in without framing that reality in beautiful frame. This is obvious in William Dean Howells’s “Editha” and Henry James’s “Daisy Miller”. Both Editha and Daisy share the same characteristic of the New Woman. These two women redefine the feminine ideology of women who suffer from following the social norms of their culture. They believe that women should have freedom as well as men, and they are responsible for making decisions in their lives without under

Read More

Scientific Revolution Dbq Essay

817 Words | 4 Pages

But I, being a women, do fear they would soon cast me out of their schools.” Margaret, like other women, was fascinated with the idea of

Read More

Mary Shelly's Frankenstein: Towards A Feminist Figure Of Humanity?

1075 Words | 5 Pages

It may skew her thinking and at times be subjective. The intended audience is someone who is studying literature and interested in how women are portrayed in novels in the 19th century. The organization of the article allows anyone to be capable of reading it.

Read More

Summary Of Homosexuality In Bram Stoker's Dracula

901 Words | 4 Pages

Craft examines the usual roles of the Victorian men and women, passive women especially, requiring them to “suffer and be still”. The men of this time were higher up on the important ladder of that era. Craft believes the men are the “doers” or active ones in

Read More

Women In The Gilded Age

707 Words | 3 Pages

In the Gilded Age, women morphed from domestic slaves to emergent clerical workers; however, the long-standing stigma about what was meant to be a true woman held back progressive thinkers. Women felt this oppression through societal structure, religious beliefs, and unequal treatment under law. By definition, the true woman was one that was an angel for domestic paradise. They cooked, cleaned, took care of the children, and were at their husband's beckon call every waking moment. In the emerging progressive age, the first modern feminists, called the new women, were the upper and middle class women who extended greater influence in politics, economy, and other life far beyond the domestic sphere.

Read More

Sexism In The 1920s Essay

475 Words | 2 Pages

The 1920s were an era of exciting social reforms and deep cultural struggles. During this decade, time became progressive for women in America. Women were allowed to experience freedom on a more personal level. This didn’t hold back all the sexism that caused quite the controversy. Women from rural parts of the country started moving to the urban areas in search of jobs.

Read More

Women In The Progressive Era

500 Words | 2 Pages

Women in the Progressive Era began with little to no rights at all. They didn't have any other role in society especially for poor white women except to stay at home and do what their husbands tell them to do. Over time women began to give themselves an identity, and rights through feminism, icons, and taking action. They began to make a change and make a bang culturally. Jane Adams on of the first most prominent female activists created this idea of "the new woman," during the Progressive Era.

Read More

Corruption In The 1920's

972 Words | 4 Pages

According to "American-Historama.org", "The 'New Women' of the 1920s had been given the right to vote.... could attend college, get a job or career..... clamoring to learn how to drive" This shows how the introduction of the "New Women" were influential because before the 1920s, women were housewives and had little education. However, on August 18, 1920, women were finally given the right to vote. This means that their issues such as alcohol, child labor would now be addressed. In addition, many of the "New Women" fought for equal education and job opportunities. Although women did not get exactly what they want, they would lead the way for many other women of different eras to help get equal opportunities for both genders.

Read More

Barbara Leah Harman

679 Words | 3 Pages

Barbara Leah Harman is the writer behind an analysis on Gaskell’s work that investigates the portrayal of women’s public life in Victorian England. This concept is analysed as it relates to both the historical record as well as the literary record in accordance with several works including North and South. As Harman writes in the beginning of the abstract of her thesis, “In Victorian England, female publicity seems nearly always to have been bad publicity” (Harman 1). Later on in her thesis, Harman develops this point by writing “[Gaskell] investigates both ends of the public/private spectrum: it explores the significance of female public appearance...”. One can identify that the main point that Harman is trying to prove in her essay is this: Participation in public life compromises the clarity of a woman’s position as neutral or disinterested analyst and observer, someone to whom man can turn when he seeks to be guided by “abstract principles of right and wrong.”

Read More

Examples Of Patriarchal Oppression In Jane Eyre

1638 Words | 7 Pages

Her refusal to submit to her social destiny shocked many Victorian readers when the novel was first released and this refusal to accept the forms, customs, and standards of society made it one of the first rebellious feminism novels of its time (Gilbert and Gubar). This essay will discuss the relationships Jane formed with the men she encountered throughout the novel and will attempt to identify moments of patriarchal oppression within the story. The first act of patriarchal oppression Jane experiences is quiet early on it the novel, during her childhood years spent at Gateshead. It is here where she must endure to live

Read More

Men And Women In Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband

1285 Words | 6 Pages

The New Woman represented independent women who were generally unmarried and strove towards social and economic emancipation. They lay emphasis on criticising society’s assertion that marriage is the only end to which all women should strive to. Mrs Cheveley reflects the New Woman as she fearlessly enters London society unaccompanied and prepared to partake in politics, more particularly the blackmail of Sir Robert Chiltern. This kind of venture is singular for a woman at the time where their roles were relegated to catering to the needs of their husbands and their children, not rivalling men in the intellectual realm or threatening the stability of spousal love as Mrs Cheveley did. However despite the singularity of her courageous venture outside the delineated role of a women it is more stigmatised as opposed to the

Read More

Analysis Of Margret Atwood's Short Story 'Lusus Naturae'

854 Words | 4 Pages

As many other literary texts such as Jane Eyre or Gone with the Wind are more straight forward with their exhibit of views on women, this short story requires a more in depth, close reading to illustrate

Read More

Women In The Victorian Society In Tess Of The D Urbervilles

1162 Words | 5 Pages

Rosemarie Morgan thinks that continuous censure, criticism and frustration is precisely what increased his sympathy towards women who were coerced to conform to the men 's world (Morgan, 2006, p.15). This chapter of the paper makes an attempt to discuss the importance and the influence that the society with its prejudices had on the portrayal of women in the novel, with special focus on the protagonist Tess of the d 'Urbervilles. Social influences and prejudices include the oppression that Tess receives from her family, the church 's denial of a proper burial for her baby, and the society 's judgments on being a mother of an illegitimate child. The second one is gender restraints, illustrated through male

Read More

More about Feminine In Margaret Gaskell's The New Woman

Related Topics

Open Document