Female characters in Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, to the lighthouse and the waves : a feminist approach

العناوين الأخرى

الشخصيات الأنثوية في روايات فرجينيا وولف : السيدة دالو واي، و نحو المنارة و الأمواج من منظور المنهج السنوي

مقدم أطروحة جامعية

al-Jihlani, Ahlam

مشرف أطروحة جامعية

Khuraysat, Abd al-Hafiz

أعضاء اللجنة

Jalabnah, Atif Mustafa Muflih
al-Duwayk, Badr Said
Yusuf, Tawfiq Ibrahim

الجامعة

جامعة الشرق الأوسط

الكلية

كلية الآداب و العلوم

القسم الأكاديمي

قسم اللغة الإنجليزية

دولة الجامعة

الأردن

الدرجة العلمية

ماجستير

تاريخ الدرجة العلمية

2008

الملخص الإنجليزي

This study aimed at examining and clarifying three main problems appeared in the Victorian era: (i) patriarchal policy, (ii) psychological impact and (iii) sexual abuse as described by Virginia Woolf in her three novels: Mrs.

Dalloway, To the Lighthouse and The Waves.

The population of this study included Woolf's literary works.

The sample was restricted to Woolf's novels, namely, Mrs.

Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927) and The Waves (1930).

The views of feminist approach, proposed by Guerin (1992), had been followed as a method of this study to analyze the female characters.

These views were as follows: (i) Most known societies have used and still use sex and gender although sex and gender systems differ as a structural principle in organizing their both worlds, the actual and conceptual, to the disadvantages of women.

(ii) Women's position is undermined because of the patriarchal dominance who views women as different in the society.

(iii) Feminists attempt to examine beliefs and practices from the viewpoint of the "other", treating women as marginalized subjects not objects.

(iv) Men's practices make women lose their self esteem and individuality.

Despite the subjugation, women make efforts to ensure their role and identity in the society.

Throughout applying Guerin (1992)'s views, the study explored certain findings which answered the following questions: (i) How did Virginia Woolf revolt against the Victorian era? Virginia Woolf contested the Victorian patriarchal era by focusing on women's inferiority and submission to her male society as depicted in her novels, namely, Mrs.

Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927) and The Waves (1931) .

(ii) What were the psychological, sexual and patriarchal dominant behaviors of Virginia Woolf's female characters found in the selected novels? The female characters were depicted as insignificant and trivial while they actually scarified themselves for other's needs and desires.

They drowned in pain, sadness and loneliness.

They lost self-image which ended in rising their physical collapse.

Because of their depressed psychological impact, they sought a source in order to satiate their sexual desire; their female friends were that source.

(iii)How did the views of the feminist approach of Guerin (1992) tackle such problems? The researcher referred to Guerin's (1992) views of feminist approach to analyze patriarchal, psychological and sexual images in the Victorian era.

The researcher discovered that those views emphasized woman's liberation and revolted against men's harsh practices toward a woman.

Throughout the analysis of the female characters, Woolf contested the inferior situation of women in the Victorian age.

In other positions, the female characters were showed as warriors; they were independent from their patriarchal society.

The feminist approach accounted that the patriarchal dominant society was one of the reasons for woman's sense of inferiority.

The female characters' words, speeches, feelings and interior monologues revealed their fearness, pain, sadness and loneliness because of the patriarchal dominancy.

The approach asserted that woman was forced to perform sexual intercourse against their own wish.

Throughout analyzing the women's sexual fantasies, the researcher discovered that women lost men's sentiments, compassion and intimacy which were considered the main reasons for their homosexuality.

This study can be treated as a contribution to the study of English literature and literary criticism.

التخصصات الرئيسية

اللغات والآداب المقارنة

عدد الصفحات

74

قائمة المحتويات

• APA
• MLA
• AMA

لغة النص

الإنجليزية

نوع البيانات

رسائل جامعية

رقم السجل

BIM-691954