It is widely believed that literature functions as a representative of the period in which it was conceived. More specifically, it is sort of a reminder of the moral values and principles upheld by the society of its era. Throughout the human history, many things have changed, some discovered and some evolved. But one thing has always been constant for the overwhelming majority of human history (at least what we know of it) - women were considered meek individuals, who were forced to bend towards the will of the men of their family and society. Take any civilization across the globe during the pre-historic times, they were so entirely different from each other, be it their religion, food habits, skin color and so on, but they had a single common trait. Most of these known civilizations, except a very few of them, refused to treat their women with equality and dignity.
But even centuries of oppression could not keep the women contained, and they did break their shackles. Today they are competing with men as equals in every known field. But even today when a woman reads some of the old literature, she could relate to the plight of the female characters. Because in some factions of the society, if not overtly open, but in some subtle way men and society at large, are still trying to teach a woman her place in the family and community. We have advertisements which use women as a sexual symbol rather than an intelligent human being, patriarchal culture is seen in almost every field, and abortion access and other reproductive healthcare is constantly under attack by conservative faction of the society. But the women will fight on, as they have been doing all throughout the history and this fight and evolution, will be recorded in contemporary literature. The aim of this essay is to discuss three literary works which captured this gradual evolution of women’s search of identity and the change in the collective societal attitude towards women.
Nineteenth century - The Story of an hour
The first story in our discussion is ‘“The Story of an hour” by Kate Chopin. As Jim Wohlpart notes, in this story Chopin has explored the way in which the patriarchal society has conceptualized and objectified the gender role of women, and eventually has erased all her feminine desires. (Wohlpart, ND) Written in the fading years of the nineteenth century, the story delineates how subjugation was not imposed on the women of that era through law or force, but was just forced on them through family relations. The Napoleonic code of husband controlling the life of his wife was almost an accepted way of life, for many women of that period. Some women were so used to it that they did not even realize their predicament, till some external factor intervenes. The characterization of Mrs. Mallard in this story is a testimony to how obedience, subservience and putting family ahead of themselves were expected as a duty out of women of that period.
Louise had a loving husband and she performed her role as a devoted wife to perfection. When she learns the news of her husband’s sudden demise, she feels extremely saddened, and only after a few minutes into her mourning she realizes, there is some other feeling that is mounting in her heart despite the sorrow of loss. Then she realizes, she is at last free from the shackles that was holding her, and Louise Mallard was not even able to put a name to it, when the feeling first hit her. The author says,
“What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion.” (Chopin, 1894)
Yes, her husband loved her and she acknowledges it. But in the name of love nobody has the right to dictate the way a fellow human being should lead her life. A typical woman of that period was tutored by the family and the society to be content if she has a loving and caring husband. Once she is married to such a person, she should not expect anything more out of life, and continue making sacrifices in the name of family. Only after the death of her husband could Louise live for herself. Like she rightly points out, whatever might be the intent (Kind or cruel) behind an act of domination, it is still an inhumane act. Fryer notes in her book ‘The Faces of eve’,
‘”Kate Chopin has in the end years of the nineteenth century have created a woman who is a person, the first to do so in her era”. (Fryer, 1976)
At the end when Louise discovers her husband is not actually dead, and in fact he has walked into the house in flesh, she was so overcome with shock that she dies the same instant. The inescapability and the bottled frustration of the ‘other gender’ are explicitly depicted in this story.
Twentieth century – A&P
Twentieth century was born, women gained many rights (like the right to vote), and still society had many stereotypical notions about how a proper ‘lady’ should be and should behave. In this century, when science and civilization took huge leaps, the women rights movement though did not reflect this pace, and took some time to come into prominence. The Next story of our discussion “A & P” written by John Updike, was first published in the year 1961 and coincides with 60s feminist movements. It briefly discuses the events of a day in a grocery store, where 3 women walk into a store, wearing their beach dresses. The events are narrated in the view point of Sammy, a nineteen year old clerk who works in the billing section of the store. He swoons on the girls, giving nicknames and admiring their physique, all the while making derogatory remarks about other customers on the store, calling them sheep and witch. At the end of the story the store manager Lengel, bursts into the scene and embarrasses the girls by saying, "We want you decently dressed when you come in here." (Updike, 1961) Sammy resigns his job as a protest to this treatment of the girls, but his heroic deed is unnoticed by the girls who have by then left the shop. The story ends with Sammy wondering about the uncertainty of his future.
The story has an engaging story line, which unflinchingly travels towards its foreshadowed ending, but it also tells a great deal about the stereotypes surrounding the way a woman should lead her life. Sammy’s opinion about girls is explicitly clear from his comments on them. He says, “You really think it’s a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar? (Updike, 1961) He thinks girls are just beautiful faces with no intelligence whatsoever. Wheeler, in his book ‘John Updike's short story 'A & P' - An Analysis’, states that though Sammy displays sexist attitudes by leering at the girls, his coming of age and maturity at the end of the story, is one of the main strengths of the plot. (Wheeler, 2011)
Sammy, though initially portrayed as a sexist, in the end is represented as the unexpected hero. Though his interest in Queenie’s body never wanes, he also admires her courage, which in a way he tries to emulate while standing up for the girls, when Lengel chastises them. Lengel is the figurative representation of the society which requires girls to dress in a specified manner. In this story A&P acts as a microsm of the populace as a whole. When Sammy says, “A couple of customers begin to knock against each other, like scared pigs in a chute” (Updike, 1961), he indicates how people are scared of a conflict and scared to embrace a deviation from the general rules and notions. By portraying Sammy to be having an attitude change towards women, the author urges the society to do the same.
Twenty first century - The Girl with Bangs
For many centuries various authors have explored the psychology, search for identity and social stature of the female gender. But till recently, there have not been many works, by both male and female writers, about Lesbianism. Lesbian literatures are a rarity even in this century and our discussion travels to a story which discusses the homosexual attitude of a woman. “The Girl with Bangs” by Zadie Smith, is one such story, which deals with same sex relationship among women. Published in the year 2001, it narrates a story of a love affair which happens in a college campus in the 90s. The narrator, a girl, is attracted to another girl called Charlotte Greaves, who already has a boy friend named Maurice. When Maurice leaves for Thailand on for a job as a newscaster, narrator makes her move and befriends Charlotte. She tries to woo her Charlotte, with all the antics a boy would do to get a girl. Her emotional predicament is aptly captured by the following lines of the story.
“Boys are just boys after all, but sometimes girls really seem to be the turn of a pale wrist, or the sudden jut of a hip, or a clutch of very dark hair falling across a freckled forehead.” (Smith, 2001)
In the end Maurice returns and finds Charlotte with the narrator and asks her “You’re sleeping with her?” (Smith, 2011) for which charlotte replies affirmatively. The narrator also learns that Charlotte is having an affair with another unnamed male character. This inflicts a lot of pain to the narrator and Maurice takes Charlotte with him to Thailand. In the end, the narrator overcomes her disappointment and decides that this is the best thing for everyone concerned.
Though the story is not one of the widely acclaimed works of Smith, it is notable for its unique theme. When the first lesbian literature was published in the year 1928 (The Well of Loneliness), a British court ruled it to be obscene. In the same way, Lady Chatterley's Lover, was banned in the US for having lesbian content. According to Hall, the author of ‘the Well of Loneliness’, “she has put her pen at the service of some of the most persecuted and misunderstood people in the world,” (Bindel, The Guardian, 2008). The earlier lesbian works had a silent appeal of “allow us to be what we are”. Times have changed and lesbianism has been more easily embraced today than in those years and ‘the girl with bangs’ is a testimony to it. Today lesbian literature is accepted and is a part of mainstream publication, thanks to authors such as Zadie Smith.
Conclusion
All through the ages, literature has been a mirror that reflects the collective attitudes of the society, inclusive of its outlook of a particular gender. In modern day literature, female characters are not as submissive as a Juliet, nor are they the champions of chastity like a Britormat. But, the modern day characters are not completely devoid of the traits of the yesteryear characters. They are still expected to put family ahead of themselves and adhere to certain values, but they do so more independently and out of their own will. We cannot proudly state that today’s society has got rid of the entire gender related stereotypes. They are just less obvious today than in the past. For decades together, women were incarcerated in their gender roles and were forced to remain confined in their private domestic sphere. In most part of the human history women were defined by men, as there were very few women literary figures in the early centuries, and frankly women were considered nothing more than conveniences. Modernism has had a decisive effect on the society and the last couple of centuries have done some justice to women which were long overdue. Both in literature and in the real world the evolution of gender roles have been slow. Even today the feminine myth is as strong as ever and this myth continues to influence the portrayal of the female gender in literature.
Works Cited:
- Bindel, Julie. (August 8, 2008) A literature of our own. The guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/aug/08/gayrights.gender
- Chopin, Kate. (1894) A Story Of an Hour. Pinball Publishing, 2011. Print
- Fryer, Judith. (1976) The Faces of Eve: Women in Nineteenth Century American Novel. New York: Oxford UP. Print
- Smith, Zadie. (2001) The Girl with Bangs. Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Issue 6.Print.
- Updike, John. (1961) A&P. The New Yorker. Print.
- Wheeler, David. (2011) John Updike's short story 'A & P' - An Analysis: How can we account for the story's continued appeal? GRIN Verlag. Print. Pg. 2
- Wolhart, Jim Dr. (ND) Patriarchal Society and the Erasure of the Feminine Self in Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”. Florida Gulf Coast University. Retrieved from
<http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/courses/chopin.htm>.
