Du Plessis, Sandra Elizabeth (1997) Exploding the Lie: 'Angelic Womanhood' in Selected Works by Harriet Martineau, Anne Bronte, Charlotte Bronte and George Eliot. Masters thesis, University of South Africa.
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Abstract
In the nineteenth-century many enlightened women writers began to move further and further from the Victorian stereotype of the angelic woman. So deeply embedded was this concept in the minds of humanity in general, that allocated male/female roles and patterns of behaviour became entrenched in the very fabric of Victorian society. Few thought to question the injustice of a system that promoted female subservience to such an extent that the mother wife earned herself the title of 'The Angel in the House' - a catchphrase derived from Coventry Patmore's poem of 1854 (Anstruther 1992:7). (1) However, the Victorian woman, growing increasingly disgruntled with her 'relative' status (Ellis, in Foster 1985:6), began to reject the artificial identity which had been imposed upon her by a culture of patriarchal domination. Determined to discover her own individual selfhood, this enlightened individual encountered much antagonism, not only from authoritarian males who were eager to maintain the status quo, but also from those women who were content with their servile roles. Spearheading this revolution towards female emancipation were many courageous women writers of the day. Their novels either subtly or overtly fought for breathing space for their female contemporaries. These writings, together with the more practical reforms endorsed by the feminist movement are indicative of 'the desire for a wider outlook that was rising in the minds of all women' atthat time (Acland, in Lerner 1978:187)
| Item Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | P Language and Literature > PE English P Language and Literature > PR English literature |
| Divisions: | Africana Comparative |
| Depositing User: | Mr Jude Abhulimen |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Jul 2016 10:36 |
| Last Modified: | 23 May 2018 08:36 |
| URI: | http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/1262 |
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