Expression of Desires In Arabic Women’s Novels

Expression of Desires In Arabic Women’s Novels

Picking an original and engaging topic that is able to span all five of the very different authors’ novels we examined this semester proved to be a difficult task. Though there are certainly similarities between each book and overlying themes that connect them, ultimately I didn’t want to get tied down into the shifty and unsafe territory of placing novels together solely because one, they are all written by women; or two, they all emerge out of the Arabic world. However, there are certainly broad themes present in all of the novels, and I chose to focus on how women express, or can’t express their desires and wants, and how the ability to do so leads to agency and freedom in one’s own life.

A woman’s desires, sexual and otherwise, seems surprisingly suppressed or not allowed in each novel. When it does emerge, it seems that too often one’s own desire is replaced with the need to be desirable for men, and so these women’s wants are placed aside in favor of the male protagonists’ wishes. I want to explore this topic in each novel, taking a look at when a woman is able to express desire, when it must give way and take second place to a man’s wants, and how, ultimately, it seems to free the women who chose to make their own path according to their wants, dreams, and goals. As we finish the semester and conclude our discussions on Arabic women, I think it’s important to note that though at times these women have agency in their lives, quite often, despite different upbringings, social/political/economic status, regions of habitation, and direct contact with Western influence, they are ultimately unable to take total control of their own lives. Obviously there are varying degrees to which this is applicable, and certainly some of the women are stronger than others, but overall, I think a very key message that all of these female authors are sending out is that women’s struggle for freedom and equality is still a battle that is being fought-- all over the world for sure, but certainly in the Middle East.

Pillars of Salt, perhaps the novel with the strongest female character, is the one novel where desire is seen and nothing stops Maha from expressing her wants, both sexually and when it concerns her husband, son, and father.