Without the work of individuals voicing their opinions and sharing their stories, women’s rights would still be nonexistent. Women all around the world delivered messages through literature to nonviolently protest and work for the women rights movements. Some popular authors include Jane Lead, Anne Bradstreet, Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Emily Dickinson who expressed themselves in ways comparable and exceeding men during the 15th centuries to the 20th century. Women’s roles varied throughout the different centuries building up to our current day.
Literature allowed women to express themselves and share their stories. For example, prior to the 15th century and Margery Kempe’s work, Marie de France and Julian of Norwich represent women’s literature through their descriptive story’s and narratives. Marie de France describes the struggle with selfish love and battling our inner beast or weaknesses in her work called “Bisclavret. ” Julian of Norwich inspired many Christians with her shared visions and descriptions of Jesus as mother (Gilbert & Gubar, 2007). These authors helped shape literature for future centuries.
Prior to the 19th and 20th century, we have authors such as Jane Lead, Abigail Adams, and Mary Wollstonecraft seeking and gaining education as well as self-expression found in their literature. The educational background allows the foundation for future women to expand their knowledge and create a “greater female voice and experience in literature” (found in week two lecture two). The importance of work that has come before the specific time periods allows readers to see how the current period they are reading about progressed.
After the 20th century, literature turns to the contemporary world. Without all the works mentioned prior to this, we would not have” developed international peace movements as well as the development of the civil rights, conservation, feminist, and gay rights movements” (Gilbert & Gubar, 2007). This period had/has radical extremes and rapid change and “in the years from 1940 to the present almost all the traditional categories through which the Western mind had understood reality have been questioned or annihilated”(Gilbert & Gubar, 2007).
The roles and rights for women in the 15th century told by Margery Kempe are different from the descriptions of Maria Edgeworth’s 19th century roles and Alice James 20th century duties. Although there are differences in the time periods described by these three women, there are also similarities that women were expected to do in society and as social duties. The roles of women during the 15th century were limited due to their lack of education and skills needed for roles outside of their home.
Margery Kempe is an example of the typical women during this time period, married with many children and unable to own property. She discusses how the Lord created a different lifestyle for her. Kempe wrote one of the first autobiography in English with 99 chapters all together discussing her life as a housewife and “creature how focused on worldly things until she was drawn to the love of Jesus Christ”(The Book of Margery Kempe). The chapters provide an idea of what her life and sins consisted of during her life.
Chapter 3 is called [on female celibacy], chapter four [Her Temptation to Adultery], chapter 11 [A Settlement with her Husband] chapter 18 [A meeting with Julian], chapter 28 [Pilgrimage], chapter 52 [charges of heresy], and chapter 76 [Nursing her Husband] (Gilbert & Gubar, 2007). Her role in life was to be married and provide for her family as a housewife. This was a common feature during the 15th century. Margery Kempe built a foundation for other women to support and work off of to create better lives for women in the future generations. Overtime, women worked for each other to create a better lifestyle.
Maria Edgeworth works during the 19th century already display the improvement of education for women. Edgeworth was educated throughout her life time at Derby and another school in London, she also grew up around her “eccentric, inventor, and educator of Anglo-Irish descent” father (Gilbert & Gubar, 2007). This opened her world to better opportunities for her writing career. In her work, Edgeworth focused on “moral issues pertaining to family ties, domestic responsibilities, and social duties” and the more “atypical subjects of a slave rebellion” (Gilbert & Gubar, 2007).
Edgeworth’s work hits the social and racial issues during the 19th century. Slavery ended during the 19th century, but this did not stop from the racial conflicts. Edgeworth wrote in ways creating emotional pieces for her readers resulting in her being one of the most successful novelist of her time. Edgeworth represents not only the improvement of female writing, but also the strength of black women writers who changed the world through their literature. The 19th century was a powerful time for women in making great leaps from the 15th century.
Alice James’ journals allowed the world to see how women were truly cared for and treated during the 20th century. Prior to her illness which created her journals, she was brought up with four brothers who were educated, but she was not because her father did not believe women should be educated (Gilbert & Gubar, 2007). This highlights the struggle women still dealt with during the 20th century. Alice James created a “feminist icon” of herself because of her journals and “her struggle for selfexpression within the repressive Victorian notion of femininity” (about us).
The focus of her journals were the battles she faced within her body and her will to bring meaning to her life. The journals were published after her death and displayed the “dilemmas facing a woman of sensitivity and intelligence in a patriarchal society. (about us). Progression during the 20th century in women literature was crucial to create the rights women have currently. Writers like Alice James inspired others to make a stand and work for better lives. The impact authors have even after their deaths can be the change the world needs.
The three different time periods and the works of the authors during these time periods compare and contrast the roles and rights of women. During the 15th century women were expected to marry and produce children. The theological ideas were very common during this period, which is displayed in a lot the female writers. When women married the husbands controlled the relationship. Owning property was more common for men than women. During the 19th century women were still expected to play the housewife roles.
Like the property law in the 15th century, it was still similar in the 19th century. Women’s property rights were dependent on the marital status. If women owned property it was usually inherited from fathers. During the 20th century women earned their equality and inclusion. This created a movement for women especially in literature. The steps women took in literature impacted the change for women’s rights and roles to this day. The change from the 15th century to the 20th century still have similarities that women had to deal with that never progressed.
Literature allowed women to express themselves and share their stories. Writers like Marie de France, Maria Edgeworth, and Alice James allow readers to see into their lives and get a better understanding of life during their time periods. Although there are differences in the time periods described by these three women, there are also similarities that women were expected to do in society and as social duties. Reading about authors from a range of time periods allows readers to see how the current period they are reading about progressed.
