The Odd Women Analysis

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Martyrdom as a means of Emancipation: A Comparative analysis of Grant Allen’s The Woman Who Did and George Gissing’s The Odd Women
“Of course. We need martyrs. And yet I doubt whether the martyrdom would be very long, or very trying, to intellectual people. A woman of brains who boldly acted upon her conviction would have no lack of congenial society. The best people are getting more liberal that they care to confess to each other. Wait until someone puts the matter to the test and you will see”. (Gissing 327)
This statement by Mrs. Cosgrove in Gissing’s The Odd Women makes one consider the issue of martyrdom which Gissing tried to portray in his novel, and question why martyrdom was so necessary, or whether it was necessary at all, or was it even possible to emancipate humankind through martyrdom. This paper, therefore, seeks to analyze the ethic of martyrdom that George Gissing tried to present in his novel in comparison to Grant Allen’s The Woman Who Did where the protagonist, Herminia Barton “had made up her mind beforehand for the crown of martyrdom, the one possible guerdon this planet can bestow upon really noble and disinterested action. And she never shrank from any necessary pang, incidental to the prophets and martyr’s existence.” (Allen ch.7)
The preoccupation with martyrdom in case of Allen’s heroine, therefore, shows how she had already made up her mind to suffer which will actually free her from the pangs of meaningless existence, and promote her ideal which she wished to endorse from the very beginning. It is quite apt to quote Eli Alshech in this respect, who in his essay, “Egoistic Martyrdom and Hamᾱs’ Success in the 2005 Municipal Elections…” states that “historical and sociological studies have shown that mos...

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...e can do which projects her as a true martyr. Hence, for her, it is not a loss, but a victory, a moral triumph. The fact that Allen ends his novel with Herminia’s death illustrates the pitch moments of her suffering, which is the ultimate embodiment of her moral success inspite of Dolly’s abrogation of the ethic of martyrdom. Herminia projects the suffering of an unwed mother, stigmatized by the society, as well as that of a struggling author, which parallels Allen’s struggle as an author.
Both Gissing and Allen, through the deaths of their respective protagonists represent the universal suffering, which is the suffering of a martyr. Whether naturally or through transition, Herminia, Rhoda and Monica, thus prove to be the martyrs for humanity through their suffering and sacrifice, and through their dedication to their cause, leading to the emancipation of womankind.

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