Problems of women writers

Discussion 1 (overall)

Nowadays it is completely normal for a woman to choose whether she wants to be a role model
housewife or perhaps a successful business woman completely oriented on her career;
however, that was not the case during the Victorian Era in Industrial Britain. A woman had only
one role, and that was to stay at home, take care of her family and maintain a comfortable
atmosphere in the home for her husband to relax and rest after a strenuous day of earning
money in business ventures. It was the Victorian ideology of “separate spheres” according to
which women belong to the “domestic sphere” and men to the “public sphere,” and that those
two were never to be confused. Such a set of established non-written rules in nineteenth-
century society brought rigid gender roles that oppressed women, confined them to the
domestic activities, and prevented them from being equal to men in all aspects of life. This
discriminating ideology stirred feminist attitudes, and caused women to start demanding their
rights, whether legal, political or social. Until then, women were treated as their husband’s
property: “the husband and wife are one person in law: that is, the very being or legal existence
of the woman is suspended during her marriage, or at least is incorporated or consolidated into
that of her husband, under whose wing, protection and cover, she performs everything”
(Blackstone 430). Due to such restrictive rights, moreover, due to the lack of existential rights
that grant freedom in every sense, women were limited in expressing dissatisfaction with the
prescribed gender roles. They sought for a way to make their voices heard and they found it in
the literature. Literature became a medium that best conveyed the unexplored, complex lives of
women in the nineteenth-century society.

Sarah Grand, a writer and public speaker, introduced into the fiction a new term, the “New
Woman,” which was used to describe a woman that rejected the role of a stereotypical
Victorian woman and joined the stream of a new, empowered, more masculine woman. The
character of the New Woman became the main protagonist of every literary work written by a
woman. She criticized discriminating Victorian stereotypes about gender roles and the position
of women in society, and exposed to the readers all her inner desires and thoughts, including
her sexuality and need for independence. In their novels, female authors finally mirrored the
real situation of the oppressive society, and exposed to the public the desires and attitudes most
women felt and thought, but did not have the courage to express them aloud. The themes of
independence and female sexuality presented through the constitution of marriage and love
became extremely appealing and entertaining to the all readers who demanded more and more
novels every day. The huge demand of the public gave rise to the vast production of novels
written by women that made female authors extremely popular and best-selling authors that
exceeded all expectations.

However, as the production of novels written by women increased, male authors felt
threatened because they feared that the women will “rob men of their markets, steal their
subject matter, and snatch away their young lady readers” (“Women’s Literature in the 19th
Century: British Women Writers”). Every piece of fiction written by women was instantly
criticized and belittled by patronizing male reviewers who believed that skillful writing was a
trait possessed only by men. They saw female fiction as a personal diary of an over-emotional
woman who is subjective and lost in her own thoughts.

Furthermore, predominantly negative assessments of female fiction compelled female authors

to use male pseudonyms or write anonymously to avoid critical degradation based on their sex.
Charlotte Brontë used the pseudonym of Currer Bell when she published her novel Jane Eyre,
thus avoiding focus on her femininity instead on the literary value of the book. However, Jane
Eyre’s huge popularity prompted readers to wonder who the actual author is. They were
delighted with the novel when it was published, but after the identification of the author, the
public reception and criticism of the book changed negatively. In her book A Literature of Their
Own: British Women Novelists from Bronte to Lessing, prominent literary critic and feminist,
Elaine Showalter, wrote that “the presentation of female sexuality and human passion disturbed
and amazed readers. If Currer Bell was a woman, they could not imagine what sort of woman
she might be”.

From these observations, we can see that female fiction in the nineteenth-century was looked
upon as trivial and artless. It was a general opinion that female authors were devoid of innate
ability to produce highly valued literary works of art. Fortunately, women were indeed
persuasive in exposing complex political and social issues, as well as traps of domestic life and
marriage through the literature, thus producing some of the best literary works of art, and most
importantly, inciting society to make unavoidable changes towards the equality of the sexes.

Discussion 2 (WOMEN WRITERS)

Nineteenth century society, known as the Victorian period, regarded men as the superior sex
and women as inferior. The reason being, that men were believed to be stronger than women,
both physically and mentally. Therefore, it was considered to be unhealthy for women to
participate in any activities that would strain them physically or mentally. As a result, women’s
activities were restricted and therefore their opportunities in society were restricted as well.
The concept of separate spheres was invented to help women understand that their place in
society was to occupy the domestic sphere, while men could participate in the public sphere.
Thus, women grew up believing that their sole purpose in life was to become a wife and a
mother.

However, there were many women that challenged these beliefs, and among them were
women writers. They faced numerous obstacles when they stepped out of their spheres by
becoming professional writers. Critics and men such as John Stuart Mill declared that women
could never be innovators and therefore they would always fall into the category of imitators. In
general, women were commonly thought to lack certain characteristics that made a good
writer.

In the nineteenth century, men dominated the world of literature. Even so, it is often referred to
as the age of the female novelist (Showalter 3). The reason being, that it is characterized by
great women writers such as Jane Austen, George Eliot, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Elizabeth
Gaskell, Mary Shelley and the Brontë sisters. These women are just some examples of women
writers that were able to contribute to the literary scene in the nineteenth century, which had
previously been dominated by men and in many ways still was. Women writers faced many
obstacles when trying to write novels, since girls were restricted from reading various types of
literature. As a result, the range of novels offered to men or boys were far more than that
offered to girls. For example, novels offered to boys and not to girls were adventure novels with
strong spirited heroes. Those novels were not considered to be healthy or advisable for girls to
read. In fact, it was believed that it could cause resentment and dissatisfaction in girls, for they
might want to enter the public sphere and experience an adventure of their own. This went as
far as being considered threatening to society, for it relied on girls knowing what role they
played. Both of the sexes were supposed to act out their roles as laid out by society and if they
were to stray from that path, it could cause disarray. Although it did not seem likely that men
would rebel against “the stereotypical roles marked out for them”, there was “considerably less
complacency about feminine acquiescence in the limited sphere open to their sex” (Rowbotham
8). Accordingly, the novels that were written for girls had stories that were meant to rationalize
the position of women in society and they were written in a way that helped them realize the
role that they were supposed to follow. If a girl showed passion or behaved badly, she was
considered to be heinous. However, if a boy behaved badly, he was just exhibiting his masculine
traits.

These novels came to be known as didactic fiction, novels that reinforced gender-roles, instead
of trying to empower girls. Thus, didactic fiction was “fuelled by the wish to control as far as
possible, if not stifle, independent feminine desires”. A good example of author who wrote
didactic fiction was Christina Rossetti. Many of her works, such as Speaking Likeness that was
published in 1874, serve as a warning that a girl can only reach salvation and virtuousness
through “the death of desire”. Another example is that of Maria Edgeworth. Her purpose was
not to write in a way that promoted equality between sexes. Instead she implemented her
novels with moral guidelines and strong views on how girls should behave, as well as what they
ought to strive for. Her novels include Belinda, published in 1801, and the Patronage, published
in 1814.

This created a difficulty for women writers, for they were supposed to follow certain rules when
writing novels and there were limits to what was considered socially acceptable. Nevertheless,
there were writers, such as the Brontë sisters, Elizabeth Gaskell and George Eliot that
deliberately went against these rules. They did that through their heroines, by showing the
society that women could be passionate and strong. Moreover, they showed how women were
trapped in the domestic sphere, when in fact, they should be able to participate in the public
sphere. In a way, these female authors themselves challenged the norm by entering the public
sphere when they decided to become writers. However, if a woman wanted to be a writer, she
had to understand that her priority was to be a woman and that was always supposed to be her
main profession. Therefore, her career as a writer would always come second to that, even
though men could make it their first and foremost career. Therefore, “self-sacrifice, not self-
sufficiency was the mark of professionalism for women”.
Hence, women often used a male pseudonym to escape the limits that were placed on them;
such was the case for George Eliot and the Brontë sisters. Anne Brontë went under the name
Acton Bell and her novels were published by T.C. Newby, a minor publisher. Emily Brontë used
the same publisher and Wuthering Heights was published under the pseudonym Ellis Bell.
Furthermore, Smith, Elder, and Co. published Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre, under the
pseudonym Currer Bell. The reason for publishing under pseudonyms was so that they could
cross over the boundaries that had been laid on women writers. Furthermore, they wanted to
be valued and ranked on the same level as men. Since women writers were always compared to
other women writers and they were judged for being women, usually because of the stereotype
that women were inferior and not as intellectual as men. Indeed, women were patronized by
male critics and this was extremely common in the nineteenth century. For instance, George
Eliot was afraid to make her gender known when she noticed that the tone of the criticism
changed when the discovery was made that Currer Bell was in fact a woman. The reason being,
that she was worried that she would have to go through a similar experience, and this turned
out to be the case when she faced a similar fate as Charlotte Brontë and was judged differently
for the sole reason of being a woman.

Bronte sisters’ works

In Charlotte’s novel, Jane Eyre is a passionate woman that is not afraid to express her honest
opinions. Jane showed women that it was acceptable to be passionate and that women could
stand up for themselves and claim their right to equality. Furthermore, Charlotte was not afraid
to express these opinions herself, as can be seen in her letters. Similarly, Emily’s heroine
Catherine is able to express her emotions and she does not look at herself as inferior to men. In
addition, Emily serves as an example of a female writer who showed society that women writers
did not lack in originality and that they could indeed produce work that was both powerful and
passionate. Furthermore, through her novel, she draws the readers’ attention to women’s legal
rights and challenges the marriage as an institution. Equally important is Anne’s portrayal of
women’s sufferings through their lack of legal rights. Furthermore, she stresses the importance
of women being able to receive the same education as the opposite sex.

Room of one’s own(jane austen, George eliot, aphra behn)

Vindication