Representations of Women in Literature by Male and Female Writers Introduction Until relatively recently, the most published writers were male,… [605524]

Sperchez Bianca Ioana
SLCI MA, 2nd Year

Representations of Women in Literature by Male and Female Writers

Introduction

Until relatively recently, the most published writers were male, therefore the majority of the
portra yals of women in literature were from the perspective of men. But since women became
published writers too, they have made a significant contribution to literature, and they have
showed their views on women through their literary creations.
The popular be lief of literary critics is that, given the fact that men and women have different
experiences in life, their writing differs as well. The critics even believe that men cannot write
accurately from the female point of view or present female ideals due to t he fact that they did not
experienced life from a woman’s point of view. The representation of women in literature differs
not only due to the writer’s gender, but also from the point of view of his or her culture and
nationality.
From my point of view and given my experience in the culture I grew up in and by observing
other cultures too, due to the ease of access to information nowadays, the most common
stereotype of the woman in most cultures is that she leads a subjugated, subservient life and she
is de fined only in relation with men. Even the fact that women writers only became to be
published under their real name, and not under a male pseudonyms as they used to when they
first began to write for a larger public , proves the fact that women were regarde d as being the
ones who only had to deal with the domestic life and take care of their famil ies and husband s,
while men where the ones who were the successful ones in a family, they had to be the ones who
provided financially for the family and who could b e successful in a business.

Representations of Women in Literature over Time

Further, I will discuss how the image on the women in society and literature has changed over
time. I begin by discussing the influence of the Judaeo -Christian teaching, where mother figures
were always highly regarded. Even the Old Testament contains images of powerful women,
whether they were negative examples, as Delilah or Jezebel, or positive examples, as Deborah or
Esther. In the New Testament wo men are given considerable prominence as well. For example,
Paul commanded men to ‘love their wives as their own bodies’ (Euphesians 5:28 TNIV), ‘just as
Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her’.
The emphasis was changed when St Augustine of H ippo (354 -430 AD) shared his opinion,
writing that fallen sexuality was the key component of original sin. Until the middle Ages, it was
commonly accepted that Eve was the one guilty for the disobedience that led to the fall of
humanity, and the Greek thin king replaced Jewish in Christian thinking, considering the fact that
the notion that the soul was good but the body was evil was highly perpetuated. There is one of
the few recorded female writers in medieval times, Margery Kempe, who is regarded as mysti c
nowadays, who aspired to celibacy even within marriage.
In medieval times, the views on women were polarized, they were seen either as saints capable
of rejecting their sexuality completely, either as the embodiments of temptation.
Women received an ele vated status in the courtly love, but only few women had the status of
‘lady’, and those who did, where considered morally ambiguous. For example, the romances of
Lancelot and Guinevere, or Tristam and Isolde were based rather on adulterous relationships a nd
they resulted in personal or social tragedy.
Even if in his works, Chaucer featured women characters, like in The Boke of the Dutchess and
Troilus and Criseyde , there are only three women described in the pilgrimage of The Canteburry
Tales, namely the W ife of Bath, The Prioress, and ‘another nun’ who accompanies her but is
hardly mentioned again. The first two principal women reflect the only two ways in which
women could achieve independence in those times, in the Church or in a trade. Even if in
Chaucer’s novel, the Wife of Bath seems to have grown wealthy due to the fact that she married

a series of old rich men, she also r epresents the women whose silks gave them financial
independence. The Tale of the Wife brings out the idea that women shou ld have maistrie over
men, namely wisdom, strength, force, authority and mastery, and some might see her as a
champion of female rights.
By the 16th century, other stereotypes of women appeared in literature, which were fostered by
the courtly love tradit ion and by the emergence of the sonnet and Arcadian idylls. The most
sonnets had as female characters idealized women which bear little resemblance to real women.
A note of cynicism could be noticed by the time of Shakespeare. For example, in Sonnet 130 h e
wrote ‘my mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun…’ and he therefore changed the image of the
mistress with a more unpleasant one.
In the plays written by Shakespeare and Webster, women were played by young men and often
they had little to say as the ro les of women had fewer dialogues. For example, in Romeo and
Juliet , Romeo speaks much more than Juliet . In the later plays of Shakespeare, however, the
heroines have plenty to say themselves. Most women are seen as wives or daughters, but the
nieces seem t o be more articulate, and there is also one dominant mother in his plays, Volumina
in Coriolanus .
The female characters of Webster, namely the Duchess of Malfi and Vittoria Corombona are
among the first who were overtly sexual, rather than just the objects of another’s desire.
In the literature of the 17th century there is a wide range of female representation but the common
stereotypes were still prevalent. For example, mistresses appear as being coy in the poems of
writers such as Donne, Herrick and Marvell.
The portrayal of Eve in Paradise Lost by Milton was largely discussed, because he could often
sound misogynistic, but there are close r readings in which there is more complexity in his
treatment of the first woman. It is said that Milton’s Eve had a dignity that reflected his deeply
held Christian values, although by modern standards her representation might be imperfect.
In this same era, the work of Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress, had an immense influence. Part Two
of this work is about Christiana, the wife of the original pilgrim, who has her own moral
strength, even though she has male protection for much of her pilgrimage.

There are al so two female writers who at that time were overlooked, but who are taken more
seriously now, namely Emilia Lanier and Aphra Behn.
In the second half of the 17th century, women started to be allowed on stage in England. The
witty, intelligent heroines of the 18th century comedies of manners follow a tradition extending
from Wycherley and Congreve through to Goldsmith and Sheridan. This tradition also drew on
the stereotypes of the Italian Commedia dell'arte , such as the witty servant girl, the bawdy
wench, the dutiful daughter, the disobedient daughter and the unattainable angel – stereotypes
which have survived to this day in some Hollywood presentations.
The predominant literary form of the 18th century became the prose narrative, namely the novel,
in whi ch the portrayal of women was more nuanced. Initially, women were depicted in novels as
viewed by men , therefore the typical heroines were either paragons of virtue or vice. But soon,
women novelists followed Defoe, Richardson and Fielding, who cleared the path for the novel.
Fanny Burney, Ann Radcliffe and Jane Austen presented life and society from a woman’s
perspective. Jane Austen, for example, represented in her novels powerful and independent
women, who did not need a man by their side and who knew wh at they wanted in life.
In Dickens’ novels, women were seen as stereotypes: the harridans, the silly little wives, the
femme fatales . However, i n his late novel Our Mutual Friend , the female charcter Lizzie
Hexham is a rounded, psychologically believable character.
In the novels of the Brontë sisters, women become more independent than ever . For example, in
Jane Eyre , Charlotte Brontë represents a woman who takes control of her own destiny in a
manner that none of the Jane Austen’s heroines do.
Further, over the last 150 years, male and female novelists have explored the psychology and
social roles of women in increasing depth. Thomas Hardy, D H Lawrence, E M Forster and
Virginia Woolf have all made significant cont ributions to the perception of women in literature,
particularly in challenging traditional perceptions about the ‘purity' of women.
Flaubert's Madame Bovary and Tolstoy's Anna Karenina contain almost archetypal characters,
and dramatists such as Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov and Brecht have presented memorable female
characters.

Women writers, such as Virginia Woolf, Iris Murdoch and Doris Lessing, stand with male
writers of the 20th century as significant literary figures.
More recently, the feminist movem ent has produced a more conscious depiction of the roles of
women. Angela Carter's reworking of traditional fairy tales and Margaret Attwood's Handmaid's
Tale are key texts in this respect .

Conclusions
Since the time of the first writings to the present, women’s roles and portrayals in literature
reflect the changes occurring historically for them . The representation s of women in literature
depend also on the literary movements , but the gender of the wri ter has an important influence
on these representations as well. Over time, women have had major and supporting roles, they
have been protagonists as well as antagonists, and have supplied various supporting characters
throughout history. The image of wome n in literature has changed over the centuries, and is in a
continuous development in the present as well.