Nineteenth Century Novels

Paper Summary:

This paper examines several novels written by famous 19th century authors and explains how these novels not only reflect that dependency and domination of women of that era, but also reflect the authors' attempts to bring this to the attention of their readers. The paper uses authors George Elliot and Mary Elizabeth Braddon as examples of feminist writers whose work focused on the inner desire of women to be free, both sexually and emotionally.

From the Paper:

"Nineteenth century was a time of conventional domesticity for women and even though a fight for emancipation of women was on, gender roles were still defined by tradition. Women were regarded as the weaker sex and were dominated by men in all spheres of life. Nineteenth century novels thus portrayed women as the weaker, dependent sex but this was done not to reinforce the traditional gender roles but to challenge them and to create awareness among women regarding their emotional dependency on men. Even some feminist writers including George Eliot portrayed women as weak and fragile souls who looked up to men for emotional and financial support. Her main reason for doing this was to question the social norms that had turned women into such meek souls."

More papers on Nineteenth Century Novels:

• Book Review # 104681 : "Bronte and Chopin's Nineteenth Century Women"
• Analytical Essay # 6851 : "Middlemarch: Marriage in the Early Nineteenth Century"
• Analytical Essay # 64941 : "Mother Figures in 19th Century English Literature"

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