Women of the 19th Century

Well, we've finally made it here once again! After careful deliberation, I have decided to focus on the women of some of the texts that we've read. Here's what I am thinking and why.

Texts to be discussed:
-Margaret Fuller's "The Great Debate" (Transcendentalism)
-Freeman's "The Revolt of Mother" (Local Color and Regionalism)
-Jewett's "A White Heron" (Local Color and Regionalism)
-Henry James' Daisy Miller (Realism)
-Hawthorne's "The Birthmark" (Dark Romanticism)

Tentative thesis:
"Some women represented in the fictional works listed above are defined by the societal roles placed on the female sex, and are often victims of the stories because of this reality. However, the few women who represent independent thinking convey a positive message of individuality that actually encourages the women of the present society to embrace their womanhood, presenting a call to action for equality. Through the examples of these fictional women, female readers are encouraged to claim and fight for their individual identity, and coupled with women's non-fictional works such as Fuller's Essay "The Great Debate," the movement of women's suffrage was inevitable. Present day society would not be the same had texts like these not paved the way, illustrating that it was in fact possible for women to break the mold that had previously confined them."

Why I chose these works:

I chose Daisy Miller because at the time, she was considered the stereotype of American women. Her biggest concern was not her studies or a possible career, it was partying and fooling around until eventually a marriage to an upstanding gentleman presented itself. Because of the lack of convention and avenues for women to rise above preconditioned roles, the purpose of a woman's life was pretty much exemplified through Daisy's character. It was because she didn't have other options that she chose to act the way that she did- she was bored with her life, and all she cared about was looking pretty and flirting. Her tragic end in death only makes an example of her, showing that women who are confined by the stereotypes placed by men will search for happiness elsewhere, and that elsewhere just might include unconventional methods of man-hunting. She never got the chance to explore her options and discover who she really was.

I chose "The Birthmark" for similar reasons, only this story is more of a display of a husband's control over his wife. Georgiana had never been so mortified by her birthmark until she got married and her husband admitted his repulsion of it. Her feelings were so manipulated by him that it didn't even take much effort on his part to convince her to allow him to try and remove it. She is completely his property, and doesn't feel valued in her natural state- her identity is completely enveloped in being Aylmer's wife. Her fate ends in a tragic death also.

Things turn around a little bit for the the women in "The Revolt of Mother" and "A White Heron," as both women are able to make decisions for themselves that lead to freedom. In Freeman's text, Mother finally breaks free after 40 years of servitude to her family and of course, husband. She and her children might have been apprehensive or nervous about taking that final step and moving everything they owned to the barn, but Sarah stood her ground and didn't show any sign of weakness in her decision. Father completely gave in and didn't protest to her desires, and she was able to grasp everything she'd ever wanted in those 40 years- a new home.

In Jewett's "A White Heron," Sylvia encountered a specific moment in her youth in which she was able to make a choice that would change her life forever. She played host for a while, and yes she was indeed captivated by this new gentleman hunter, but in the end she was able to make her own moral decision about whether or not to tell him about the location of the white heron. She makes a choice that will later lead to other choices in her life, this incident was merely an avenue that would open thousands of doors down the road for her. Sylvia experienced a physical or intellectual awakening, which sadly some of the women in earlier texts never had the opportunity to have themselves. Though it was against common ideology for a woman to think solely for their own purposes, Sylvia embarks on a journey of self discovery here in this story.

The last text I would like to incorporate in my studies is Fuller's article "The Great Debate," simply because it was an extremely influential text of the time that addresses the very issues that the aforementioned texts present. She discusses women's constant dependence on men and how society has set it up specifically for women to be this way, and argues that marriage itself has presented this flaw in heterosexual relationships. She is clearly on the forefront or women's suffrage, and is in fact one of the first women to in fact pave the way for this entire movement. She argues that women are equally intelligent and capable of leading their own lives, which her own life exemplifies. I am going to end my paper discussing how each female character is either flawed because of a lack of independence from men or how they have benefited from this way of thinking, because her work is the only non-fiction work that we read addressing this topic, written with a beyond clear call to action that other texts might have hinted at, but non directly addressed.

So that's my proposal. Any other thoughts or ideas would be appreciated, as well as possible sources to support my work. Thank you!