Intro to women's writing
17
Women’s Literature Post-Civil War 1870-1910
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Transcript of Intro to women's writing
Women’s LiteraturePost-Civil War1870-1910
WHAT DO THESE 3 WOMEN HAVE IN COMMON?
Women writers in the late 19th century made wavesJust like Lady Gaga, Michelle Obama, and Snooki…
The end of the Civil War, the country’s rapid expansion, and growth of industry were reflected by new voices – WOMEN’S VOICES.
According to a popular book of etiquette in 1880…“The power of a woman is in her refinement, gentleness, and elegance; it is she who makes etiquette and it is she who preserves the order and decency of society.”What does this quotation suggest about women’s
place in society in the late 1800s?
According to the quotation, it is women who keep society decent, and they do so by being refined, gentle, and elegant. The quotation suggests that women were expected to take a generally passive role, not to display active leadership.
Women who asserted and expressed themselves were told that their behavior was unnatural. Women with this sort of “unnatural behavior” were considered as “hysterical.”
A NEW ROLE FOR WOMEN• The movement to give women the right to vote was reemerging after the Civil War. • Women were growing impatient, not just for the vote, but to have a larger voice in every aspect of public life, from politics to literature.
A NEW ROLE FOR WOMEN• One important factor in the growth of the women’s movement was the spread of university education among women.• Newspaper headlines warned against the dangers of a woman’s higher education.
“Are We Destroying Woman’s Beauty?”Headline from 1896 New York Journal
BREAKTHROUGH WOMEN WRITERSKate ChopinCharlotte Perkins GilmanEdith Wharton
BREAKTHROUGH WOMEN WRITERSLITTLE FEMALE WEAPONSThe women of the 19th Century faced overwhelming obstacles; however, they fought back.When the weapon was a pen, the impact could be revolutionary.
BREAKTHROUGH WOMEN WRITERSKate Chopin• Wrote fiction that articulates the frustrations of generations of women confined to a sort of extended childhood by the men in their lives. • Her 1899 risqué novel, The Awakening, portrayed woman’s hidden passions.
– Story of a housewife’s sexual and artistic awakening, complete with an adulterous affair and suicide as a last , desperate act of freedom. – Reviewers claimed the novel was immoral.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman• Fleeing a repressive marriage, Gilman moved from the East Coast to California, where she wrote and spoke out on behalf of women’s rights and against male domination. • Most famous short story is “The Yellow Wallpaper”
– About a women writer who, as treatment for her “nervous condition,” is forbidden to write.
BREAKTHROUGH WOMEN WRITERS
Edith Wharton• Used her writing to criticize the stifling small-mindedness of upper-class society.• Made her own escape by running off to Paris, only to have her marriage fall apart.
BREAKTHROUGH WOMEN WRITERS
Quotes by Edith Wharton• "Half the trouble in life is caused by pretending there isn't any."• “After all, one knows one's weak points so well, that it's rather bewildering to have the
critics overlook them and invent others.”• “Beware of monotony; it’s the mother of all deadly sins.”• “I don’t know if I should care for a man who made life easy; I should want someone who
made life interesting. • “If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time.”• “If she was faintly aware of fresh difficulties ahead, she was sure of her ability to meet
them: it was characteristic of her to feel that the only problems she could not solve were those with which she was familiar.”
• “No insect hangs its nest on threads as frail as those which will sustain the weight of human vanity.”
• “She was not accustomed to taste the joys of solitude except in company.”• “The air of ideas is the only air worth breathing.”• “The only way not to think about money is to have a great deal of it.”• “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”• “True originality consists not in a new manner but in a new vision.”
Edith Wharton Assignment
INSTRUCTIONS: Review the list of quotes by Edith Wharton. Choose one and write an analysis paragraph.
1. The first sentence should include the following: “Edith Wharton once said...."
2. The second sentence should be a funnel sentence and state your opinion on whether or not the statement is logical, true, or accurate.
3. The remainder of the paragraph should include an interpretation of the quote, examples either proving it or disproving it, and additional commentary.
