"L?Amant"

Book Review # 68324

Literature > French
Women Studies > Feminism

"L?Amant"

A discussion on whether the book "L'Amant" by Marguerite Duras can be considered feminist or anti-feminist.

1,495 words () | 3 sources | APA | 2005 France

Paper Summary:

Marguerite Duras has been hailed as one of France's pre-eminent women writers and her work is generally very well received by feminists. Her autobiographical novel "L'Amant" was an international bestseller, and a winner of the Prix Goncourt. It talks about pleasure, death and her desire to write, against the exotic backdrop of thirties Saigon. In examining the main characters and the style in which the book is written this paper aims to uncover whether or not "L'Amant" can be classed as feminist writing.

From the Paper:

Our first description of the author is not one of a typical beauty; she is sad, creased, wrinkled and cracked. When we next meet her as a young girl she is wearing her brother's belt and a man's hat, she is also skinny with unruly hair. She is not a young girl conforming to patriarchal ideals of beauty; she is in fact quite masculine. This masculinity does not stop at her clothes, she conforms to the masculine stereotype in other ways; in the active role she plays in lovemaking, and in her ambition. Her masculinity is even more pronounced when taken in comparison with the apparent femininity of her lover, the rich Chinese man."