Feminist Literature, Essay Example

Feminism is a comparatively new trend in art and social expression, but it is possible to note its appearance in the literature of the verge of the 18^th and 19^th centuries in the works of women who finally reconsidered their role in the society and initiated the fight for equality. It is worth mentioning that not all works won the wide recognition at once because feminism ideas were more than weird about a century ago. As Tyson (117) assumes the main characteristic traits of feminist literature, the writings usually criticize men or invite the reader to do this. Nonetheless, the works examined in the present paper are about the ways women fight the conventional attitude and perception of the weak sex in their lives, with some of them succeeding and others failing to win.

The work of Wilkins is the most optimistic of the analyzed ones: the main character is an enduring, wise woman who at first humbly accepts her inferior role in the society. Her obedience is clear in the words she addresses to her daughter teaching her to understand the patriarchal rules governing their community:

“You ‘ain’t found out yet we’re women-folks, Nanny Penn,” said she. “You ‘ain’t seen enough of men-folks yet to. One of these days you’ll find it out, an’ then you’ll know that we know only what men-folks think we do, so far as any use of it goes, an’ how we’d ought to reckon men-folks in with Providence an’ not complain of what they do any more than we do of the weather.” (Wilkins 554).

However, even being an obedient wife, Sarah plans an undertaking to show the way their family suffers from negligence, and moves to the barn with children, placing a cow to their house. The effect is astounding – Adorinam understands the depth of his ignorance and toughness and agrees to change everything the way his wife wants. This is a happy story with a happy end, which cannot be said about “The Yellow Wallpaper” where the heroine of Gilman is driven insane by the pursuit of freedom and the yellow wallpaper, the deliberate torture her husband exposed her to just at his wish. The woman suffers from hallucinations and struggles up to the end – she remains the symbol of relentless struggle for the sake of freedom at any expense, which is evident in the final scene. The woman creeps over her husband because she has no other way to get out of the nightmarish room; John faints at the site of the torn wallpaper, but the woman does not care about anything but freedom, and her creeping over the body is highly symbolic, meaning no stops and no excuses for the patriarchal power of men (Gilman).

The work The Awakening of  Chopin shows another side of fighting for equality and justice – her main character Edna Pantellier is caught in the cage of misunderstanding and disapproval from the side of her husband and the community, though her “awakening” from obedience to obsolete, ridiculous conventions is already a profound progress. The woman becomes the victim of her own enlightenment as she fails to find support and to satisfy her aspirations. She always compares her life to a dream:

“The years that are gone seem like dreams—if one might go on sleeping and dreaming—but to wake up and find—oh! well! Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one’s life.” (Chopin 292).

Nonetheless, her awakening turns out to be a tragedy for her – Edna does not realize her plans, she is not understood even by the beloved man, Robert, who leaves her at the moment of crisis. For this reason Edna’s internal conflict with herself and external conflict with the society leaves her not much choice. Her suicide is the symbol of feminist numbness at the end of the 18^th century – the society was still not ready to accept the idea that a woman could be something more than a maid, a mother and a cleaner. Notwithstanding the overwhelming pessimism of the majority of early feminist works, it is still possible to say that they laid a foundation for a strong movement that revealed itself later, so the sad ends were realistic for that period of time.

Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. H. S. Stone & Company, 1899.

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins, and Elaine Hedges. The Yellow Wallpaper. Feminist Press, 1996.

Tyson, Lois. Critical theory today: a user-friendly guide. (2^nd ed.). CRC Press, 2006.

Wilkins, E. Mary. “The Revolt of Mother”. Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 81 (Sept. 1890): 553-561.