14Chirchik State Pedagogical University Current Issues of Modern Philology and Linguodidactics
Staatliche Pädagogische Universität Chirchik Aktuelle Fragen der modernen Philologie und Linguodidaktik
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WOMEN-WRITERS IN ENGLISH LITERATURE
Dilnavoz Shavkat kizi Tojiboyeva
Chirchik State Pedagogical University, Faculty of Tourism, Department of Foreign Language and literature (English), Bachelor degree student Scientific advisor: Saidfozil Akmalxonov
ABSTRACT
This paper enlightens the trials that women writer of 19th and 20th century as well as women in every field of that eras and female social roles have transformed uniquely. There for, the concept of general roles is looked at along with the limitations that women faced. The concept of gender inequality in the society in that era is briefly stated to illustrate the male dominated society that those women lived in. However, the main theme focused on how women writers speak up and able to drop their words in a book in patriarchal society. Women steadily express individualism and raise their voice against all the odds that they were facing. It is about how women got empower in writing skills during that time undeniably, by becoming professional writers. As a result women writer had a capacity to inspire other women and progress in the history of English literature. To be specific, Charlotte and Virginia wolf both have demonstrated how women writers displayed their passion in the patriarchal society of nineteenth and twentieth century, through their novels. Charlotte and Virginia wolf have stated themselves mainly with problems such as gender roles and inequality between the sexes.
Keywords: Women, literature, feminist, gender inequality, society.
Introduction
The aim of this essay is to take a closer look at selected British women writers of the 19th century and at the society that influenced their writing. It is impossible to give the exact number of women writers that published then because there were so many of them. Some are known worldwide, some only to the experts in the field of literary studies, and for many other writers any records of their life and their works simply did not survive. The rise of the female novelist began in the 18th century, but it was not until the middle of the 19th century that their writings emerged on the literary market. For Elaine Showalter, the nineteenth century was the Age of the Female Novelist (Showalter, 1977, pp.3-4). She believes that with appearance of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte and George Eliot, the question of women's aptitude for
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Chirchik State Pedagogical University Current Issues of Modern Philology and Linguodidactics
Staatliche Pädagogische Universität Chirchik Aktuelle Fragen der modernen Philologie und Linguodidaktik
^hjrchiqdavlat^edagGgika^niversiteti^^^^^^^Za
fiction had been answered (Showalter, 1977, pp.3- 4). Situation for women writers was very difficult. With almost no formal educational background and little job opportunities, they had no other choice but to immerse themselves in writing novels as their way to escape from the dominant patriarchal society. Importantly, in doing so, some of them would paradoxically appropriate another masculine genre. It has to be taken into consideration that writing, and especially the novel genre, was for many of them the only way to comment critically on some of the social ills, including women's oppression. They regarded the novel as a powerful tool to raise awareness about restrictions that affected women in the 19th century. Naturally, the messages that they wanted to convey were carried out under a veil of different literary devices. Their resistance would be manifested on the level of plot, characterization or style. Men held almost all the positions concerned with the writing, they were novelists, editors, publishers and in some aspect they felt threaten by the entrance of women in the field of literature. As Sandra M. Gilbert and G. Susan point out, "to many late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century men, women seemed to be agents of an alien world that evoked anger and anguish, while to women in those years men appeared as aggrieved defenders of an indefensible order. Thus both male and female writers increasingly represented women's unprecedented invasion of the public sphere as a battle of the sexes, a battle over a zone that could only be defined as a no man's land" (Gilbert, & Gubar.1988, p. 4). The Victorian period The Victorian period is traditionally divided into three phases: "»Early Victorian« culture, extending roughly to 1850. Throughout this time of agitation and reform, fear of social unrest and economic instability appeared in public discourse and cultural products...Between 1850 and the 1870s, »high« or »mid-Victorian« culture is the time of economic success and intellectual achievements, particularly those linked to industry, consolidated the power and status of the bourgeoisie... The »late Victorian« period inherited this contradictory mix of cultural assurance and self-doubt, but reimagined it as a battle between the outmoded values of the Victorian past and the rebellious, liberating possibilities of a more modern outlook" (Moran, 2006, pp.2-3).
It is impossible to go into details about each of the above signalled phases, because this paper would certainly exceed the required space limit. Thus, only a brief overview of some of the major topics that are important for the whole Victorian period will be represented.
Science
Indisputably, the 19th century was profoundly marked by one ground-breaking book, namely, Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species. C. Darwin's discovery not only threatened some of the traditional Christian values, but also brought fear and
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Current Issues of Modern Philology and Linguodidactics Aktuelle Fragen der modernen Philologie und Linguodidaktik Zamonaviy filologiya va lingvodidaktikaning dolzarb masalalari
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anguish to many. Influenced by the book, people started to question their religious beliefs and the truths that they had held sacred. Many of them turned to alternative sciences like phrenology and mesmerism. Science had a profound influence on literature because the plots of novels at the time began to reflect the determinism of Darwinian universe. Despite these new discoveries, the belief that women are inferior and subordinated to men remained unquestioned. There were very few women in the field of science, since they had no access to formal education and they were only allowed to listen to public speeches. Yet, together with scientific advancement, a lot of field work was needed. If they wanted to write something about geology, about nature, about traveling it was considered too exhausting and inappropriately for women to do it. It was believed that they could not climb the mountains, travel through deserts and dissect animals. It was just not done by a lady. Mary Somerville is one of the few who was famous for her work in mathematical and physical science: she was the author of the first scientific article penned by a woman for the Royal Society of London.
Education for women was one of their most desirable goals. It was believed that women were not able to learn in the way men did, that their brain was smaller than men's and that it would do damage to their health if they spent long hours studying. Some of them, if they were fortunate enough, were homeschooled, but many of them had no formal education at all. The majority of them had to watch as their brothers went to established schools, universities or spent time with a private tutor. They had to educate themselves with the books from the house library if there were any, but some of them were lucky because their families allowed them to study with their brother's tutor. Some of them went to schools for girls that only offered to teach them some "accomplishments" like music, drawing. During this period there were many fervent debates about women's education and many books were written about this topic. A surge of conduct book even became a genre and the most famous were Sarah Ellis's Exhortations to the Women, Mothers, and Daughters of England, Elizabeth Sewell's Principles of Education and Charlotte Yonge's Womankind. But things started to change in the second half of the 19th century. "In the 1860s women were allowed to take examinations given by the University of London, and in 1869 the first university college for women and the first lectures for women began at Cambridge. These developments gradually altered the shape of the arguments about woman's abilities, but they came too late to benefit the major Victorian writers" (Mermin, 1993, p. 50).
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Current Issues of Modern Philology and Linguodidactics Aktuelle Fragen der modernen Philologie und Linguodidaktik Zamonaviy filologiya va lingvodidaktikaning dolzarb masalalari
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Literature review
Literature is a reflection of the state of society, it changes with it. In the 20th century, we see many more women in all fields, including writing. Women's literature became more confident, they began to pay attention and appreciate it. In 1909 Selma Lagerlof became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. We come across her work even in childhood: it was she who wrote Niels' Wonderful Journey with Wild Geese. In 1955, in the USSR, the fairy tale was turned into a full-length cartoon "The Enchanted Boy". Speaking of women in literature, one cannot help but recall two real "record holders" - Agatha Christie and Margaret Mitchell. The word "detective" brings to mind two names, one male and one female: Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. It is difficult to imagine a more successful writer than Christie. The approximate circulation of her books is about 4 billion. The writer is in the top ten most published authors. In addition, Mrs. Christie's works are popular not only with readers, but also with theater goers: for example, The Mousetrap has been running in London continuously since 1952! About the creative process, Agatha said that she thought about all her novels while knitting with friends, and when she sat down at the desk, the book was already completely ready in her head.
Charlotte Bronte
More work prospects available for women were the effects of female's awareness of the significance of economic independence. Therefore, independent heroines could be seen in Charlotte Bronte's literary work in Victorian age Jane in Jane Eyre, the tactful main female protagonist is the symbol of women independence. Jane will not surrender to her chase for knowledge and love in womanhood as could be seen from her determination in childhood. Jane is not contented with the feeling of captivity: "Then I longed for a power of vision which might overpass that limit; which might reach the busy world, towns, regions full of life I desired more of practical experience more of intercourse with my kind"(Bronte 1977:140). All Jane wants is freedom. According to Showalter, Jane's running away from Rochester is her self-preservation. She tells herself, "I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unstained I am, the more I will respect myself" (Bronte 1977:344). For her, action is continually the way to individuality. All a woman wanted was her place as a woman in the literary world. However, even though the Victorians led the way to give the liberation of women, they barely reject the domestic marriage in Bronte's fiction. Women were still affected by the belief that marriage is the last goal for women. Jane ends up by marrying after being independent and free for a time, and that she gives up the task of a tutor and enjoys
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Chirchik State Pedagogical University Current Issues of Modern Philology and Linguodidactics
Staatliche Pädagogische Universität Chirchik Aktuelle Fragen der modernen Philologie und Linguodidaktik
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the moral satisfaction. Jane shows that Victorian married women in working-class were still lesser.
Virginia Wolf
On the other hand, Virginia Woolf (1945) stated in A Room of One's Own, that women must be economically independent to develop their professions. She mainly points out the problems that woman as professional writers have met. She says "the imaginary heroine, the talented Shakespeare's sister, is neglected and rejected by the society. If she has the room of her own, her creativity would be valued". In, Woolf portrays Lily, a female painter, who enthusiastically wants to show her ability to Charles Tansey, who claims that women cannot paint and write. She symbolizes the women of independence and female's wish of surpassing the gender boundary.
Conclusion
The society in which women authors in the 19th century lived was in a constant flux. New towns were emerging, people moved from the country to the cities looking for new jobs; factories and networks of railways were building all around the country. The immense British Empire was expanding because of new colonies. Religion was questioned because of the new discoveries in science and Darwinian thesis. Education was in the men's area but schools started to open for girls who previously had only access to books through circulating library or maybe library in their own homes. Although they were educated the job market for them was almost unexistant (unless they wanted to work in a factory). The only other options they had were either to be a governess or a writer. But the 19th century literary world was dominated by men. Before the Victorian period, woman's roles in art were very different. She was either man's muse, his inspiration, or she helped in his composing but only a few women dared to write. The first great literary works by Victorian women were Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights in prose fiction, Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese and Aurora Leigh in verse. Upon the publication of their works, first era for women writers was born. Writing was considered unworthy of women, and only if she had a good reason for it (if she was the sole breadwinner in the family) it wasn't frowned upon. They wrote about various topics, mostly in the form of a three decker novel and in different genres like the governess, detective, sentimental, religious, divorce, children's literature, New Woman etc. The courage that took women novelists to write, to publish, to publicly admit the authorship of their works was something that today most of women cannot imagine. Though many of them today are judged according to the stance they took on the issue of womanhood, it would be unjust to put them only into categories of
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radicals or conservatives. Their writing, their struggle, their courage, their opposition opened doors for new generations of women writers.
References
1. Ayres, B. (Ed.) (2003). Silent Voices: Forgotten Novels by Victorian Women Writers. Westport. CT: Praeger.
2. Chapman, A. (1999).Phantasies of matriarchy in Victorian children's literature. In: N.D. Thompson
3. (Ed.), Victorian Women Writers and the Woman Question (pp. 60-80). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
4. Gilbert, S., & Gubar S.M. (1988).No Man's land. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
5. Humpherys, A. (1999). Breaking apart:the early Victorian divorce novel. In: N.D. Thompson (Ed.), Victorian Women Writers and the Woman Question (pp. 42-60). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
6. Mermin, D. (1993).Godiva's Ride. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
7. Moran, M. (2006).Victorian literature and culture. London: Continuum.
8. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/26608/ pg26608.txt
9. Showalter, E. (1977). A Literature of Their Own: British women novelists from Bronte to Lessing. Princeton,
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