FEMENISM

To begin with, I would like to begin by saying that the concept of feminism has a wide meaning. Some sources as “Wikipedia” even describe Feminism as “a diverse collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies, largely motivated by or concerning the experiences of women. Most feminists are especially concerned with social, political, and economic inequality between men and women; some have argued that gendered and sexed identities, such as "man" and "woman," are socially constructed. Feminists differ over the sources of inequality, how to attain equality, and the extent to which gender and sexual identities should be questioned and critiqued. Thus, as with any ideology, political movement or philosophy, there is no single, universal form of feminism that represents all feminists”[1].

Feminism as a philosophy and movement in the modern sense is often dated to The Enlightenment with such thinkers as Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and the Marquis de Condorcet championing women's education.[2]

To help me to focus this wide movement on some of the authors that I have analyse throughout this course, I would like to mention Sylvia Plath as one of the most remarkable figures of the feminism. Plath had learned to find joy in her women-centered world, and the care of her children and friendships with other women were increasingly important. But she could not tolerate male irresponsibility[3]. Sylvia’s depression and the problems with her husband made her to express all her mental instability through poems not only addressed to women but that probably contained much women’s psychology.

The novel “Bell Jar” written by Victoria Lucas and the various collections of Sylvia’s poems that appeared during the next twenty years, secured for Plath the position of one of the most important women writers in the States. The mixture of comedic self-deprecation and forceful anger made her work a foreshadowing of the feminist writing that appeared in the later 1960s and the 1970s[4].

Despite this fact, in my opinion Plath’s poetry has consolidated as a very good poetry in the twentieth century because of its accessibility to any reader and to any time. Her poetry can be read in any historical context because it deals with the most common topics.

On the other hand, another important figure of the feminism of the novel is Virginia Woolf . She contributed clearly to the form of the novel, also distinguished feminist essayist[5]. Woolf is considered one of the greatest innovators in the English language. In her works she experimented with stream-of-consciousness, the underlying psychological as well as emotional motives of characters, and the various possibilities of fractured narrative and chronology[6].

Virginia Woolf’s most important works as “Orlando” or “Mrs. Dalloway” become a clear example of how she uses the introspection and the question of the identity (the self) in a very intelligent way. In Mrs. Dalloway she expresses the feelings of a woman who is suffering a personal experience in a very personal way. Every single moment is explained by the author from Mrs. Dalloway’s personal perspective. Thus, this feminist vision of the society of that time was a revolutionary work that despite it was critisiced, established Virginia Woolf among the greatest of 20^th century writers.

As a conclusion, I would like to finish by saying that I have chosen these two women to analyse because both Sylvia Plath in poetry and Virginia Woolf in novel, are extraordinary authors and I enjoyed very much their works.

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[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism#Origins

[3] http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/plath/twoviews.htm

[4] http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/plath/twoviews.htm

[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf