Mary Anne Evans, otherwise known as George Elliot, was a prominent Victorian novelist. As a woman, she wrote under a pseudonym to avoid prejudice against her work by society’s male biased gender stance. A political player, many of her works highlighted current political issues, and unlike many of her fellow authors, she focused on the lower working class, instead of the upper aristocracy, and let her characters identify Agnostically, which was very abnormal for her time. Mary Anne Evans was a self-made success, who highlighted social issues, ad thrived against adversity in a male dominated world.
Mary Ann Evans, who wrote under the penname George Elliot, was born on the twenty-second of November, 1819, in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. A prominent Victorian novelist, she wrote many major works such as: The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Middlemarch (1872), and Daniel Deronda (1876). Mary Ann Evans was the third child of Robert Evans (1773–1849) and Christiana Evans (1788–1836)...
During the Victorian Era, society had idealized expectations that all members of their culture were supposedly striving to accomplish. These conditions were partially a result of the development of middle class practices during the “industrial revolution… [which moved] men outside the home… [into] the harsh business and industrial world, [while] women were left in the relatively unvarying and sheltered environments of their homes” (Brannon 161). This division of genders created the ‘Doctrine of Two Spheres’ where men were active in the public Sphere of Influence, and women were limited to the domestic private Sphere of Influence. Both genders endured considerable pressure to conform to the idealized status of becoming either a masculine ‘English Gentleman’ or a feminine ‘True Woman’. The characteristics required women to be “passive, dependent, pure, refined, and delicate; [while] men were active, independent, coarse …strong [and intelligent]” (Brannon 162). Many children's novels utilized these gendere...
Woolstoncraft, Mary. A Vindication of The Rights of Woman. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 3rd Ed. Volume D. Ed. Martin Puchner. New York: Norton, 2013. 134-136. Print.
James clearly resists historical interpretation which would fill in the blanks with knowledge on social groups. Yet, through analysis of the Governess and Mile’s relationship by placing their narration and dialogue in a socio-historic context the battle is revealed between desires and demands. Awareness of Victorian sexual commencement allows readers to trace the development of the two characters transformations from pupil and teacher to lover and mistress.
On March 25, 1925 one of the greatest American short story writers was brought into the world. An only child, Mary Flannery O’Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia to Regina Cline and Edward O’Connor. O’Connor was very close to her father and when she was sixteen he was diagnosed with disseminated lupus, a disease that was untreatable at that time. She was devastated when he died soon after being diagnosed.
Fisher, Jerilyn, and Ellen S. Silber. Women In Literature : Reading Through The Lens Of Gender..
Mary Mahoney was born free on May 7th 1845 in Durchester, Massachussetts after her parents moved from the slave state of North Carolina. She was the eldest of three children, and began showing interest in a nursing career as a teenager. She began working as an untrained practical nurse but soon found that she needed to make more money and began working at the New England Hospital for Women and Children at the age of 18 as a maid, cook, laundress and occasionally as a nurse 's assistant.
Charlotte Bront’s Jane Eyre entails a social criticism of the oppressive social ideas and practices of nineteenth-century Victorian society. The presentation of male and female relationships emphasizes men’s dominance and perceived superiority over women. Jane Eyre is a reflection of Bront’s own observation on gender roles of the Victorian era, from the vantage point of her position as governess, much like Jane’s. Margaret Atwood’s novel was written during a period of conservative revival in the West partly fueled by a strong, well-organized movement of religious conservatives who criticized ‘the excesses of the sexual revolution.’ Where Bront’s Jane Eyre is a clear depiction of the subjugation of women by men in nineteenth-century Western culture, Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale explores the consequences of a reversal of women’s rights by men.
In the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries, the idea of patriarchy ruled the many societies all over the world. Particularly in Britain, its “overarching patriarchal model” (Marsh) had “reserved power and privilege for men” (Marsh). Also during this time period feminist literature began to arise and was invaded by, “the complex social, ethical, and economic roots of sexual politics… as testimony to gender bias and the double standard” (“Sexual Politics and Feminist Literature”). In Jane Austen’s writing, readers have been aware of her constant themes of female independence and gender equality. However, many have criticized the author for the fact that many of her “individualistic” female characters have ended up
Thus, the historical background of Mary Barton is as much, if not more important than its strictly novelistic aspects. Manchester becomes a symbol of the outrageous conditions endured by the laborers, instead of a real city in itself. It is always grimy, oppressive, and ugly, just like the lives of its inhabitants.
Thaden, Barbara. The Maternal Voice in Victorian Fiction: Rewriting the Patriarchal Family. New York: Garland, 1997.
Mary Wollstonecraft was a self-educated, radical philosopher who wrote about liberation, and empowering women. She had a powerful voice on her views of the rights of women to get good education and career opportunities. She pioneered the debate for women’s rights inspiring many of the 19th and the 20th century’s writers and philosophers to fight for women’s rights, as well. She did not only criticize men for not giving women their rights, she also put a blame on women for being voiceless and subservient. Her life and, the surrounding events of her time, accompanied by the strong will of her, had surely affected the way she chose to live her life, and to form her own philosophies.
Mary Wollstonecraft effected the lives of many women. One significant woman that Mary Wollstonecraft had an effect on was Margaret Fuller. Margaret’s father, Timothy Fuller, had a need for an intellectual companion. Because he did not have a son as his first born, he gave Margaret an education intended only for males of the time. He was also an advocate for women’s rights, playing a major role in the development of Margaret’s feminist views she possessed later on in life.2 He used Wollstonecraft’s novel as a guide for Margaret’s education and instilled in Margaret that there are no limits to the female mind. Mr. Fuller pushed Margaret’s education to the limits, teaching her subjects intended for both women and men alike. He educated her about history and literature, topics thought good for a woman and useful when becoming a wife as well as teaching her top...
(5) Aeron Haynie, Imperialism and the Construction of Femininity in Mid-Victorian Fiction(Gainesville: University of Florida, Ph.D. dissertation, 1994).
...a classic British author who observed and wrote on society in the late 1700s. Her comedic dramas focused on women and their journey through society even though her own remained stagnant.
Agatha Christie was born on September 15, 1890 in Torquay, Devon, England as Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller (“Agatha Christie”, Biography). Her parents were Fredrick Miller and Clarissa Boehmer. She was the youngest of three whose names were Margarite also known as “Mage”, Louis, and Montant also known as “Monty” (Morgan 2). Her parents were a prominent middle-class family and her mother taught Christie at home. Her mother was very passionate about her being able to write which Agatha Christie was already showing great talent before the age of sixteen. However, she did not start to publish her work until later.