The scandalous women of Edna O'Brien: Forces against female authenticity.
Item
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Title
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The scandalous women of Edna O'Brien: Forces against female authenticity.
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Identifier
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AAI9908309
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identifier
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9908309
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Creator
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Donlon, Rita.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Edmund Epstein
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Date
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1998
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Literature, English | Literature, Modern | Women's Studies
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Abstract
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This thesis considers how various forces in society have worked against female authenticity. These forces which include, Myth, Christianity, and Nationalism have led to the emergence of the disenfranchised female characters portrayed in the fiction of Edna O'Brien.;Many women writers were incensed at the fact that Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing (1991), while a valiant effort to unite the literature of both Irelands, included few women writers. The reluctance to take women writers, and women, seriously is more complicated than a mere show of male chauvinism. This is part of an old story that is cultural, political and religious in nature. In the case of Edna O'Brien, whose work has long been considered controversial in Ireland, this study examines how these forces influence the protagonist-victims in O'Brien's work. It reveals how these women, who seem to personify paralysis and loss, have emerged from a history of repression that arrived with Christianity, and was exacerbated by Jansenism and Victorian prudishness.;This thesis examines ancient Celtic myths to prove that female archetypes were not the shrinking violet Irish colleens and Madonna martyrs depicted in much of Irish literature, but robust earthy women like Queen Maeve of Connaught, Deirdre, the Earth Goddess Macha, and the Great Mother Goddess. The study documents how many of the gods and goddesses were later appropriated by Christianity, and changed to suit the needs of the new religious philosophy.;Another force operating on O'Brien's characters is that of the Nationalists. After hundreds of years of conflict with the British, and in an effort to restore Irish culture and instill renewed Irish pride, Irish Nationalists wanted a symbol that would stand for Ireland and Irish women. This symbolic female had to be chaste, virtuous, brave and loyal. Roisin Dubh or Dark Rosaleen, Kathleen Ni Houlihan and the Old woman of Beare became well known symbols of Ireland. Women were forced to carry the burden of this idealized status. Women who embraced the symbols as authentic representations of women, forfeited true female autonomy, and became a contributing force against members of their own sex. O'Brien's "scandalous women" reflect the consequences of these forces.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
