Women Writers of the Late 19 th and Early 20 th Centuries

1. Women Writers of the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries Kate Chopin Mary E. Wilkins Charlotte Perkins Gilman

2. Author as Spokesperson Each of the three turn-of-the-century female writers we will study acted in some way as spokespeople for issues of their time. As you read consider: What is the author saying as a spokesperson of her time / place? How does she employ a specific style to emphasize her message? (ex. Symbolism, dialogue, naming…)

3. Kate Chopin (1850-1904) • Considered to be a forerunner of feminist authors of the 20th century • Mother of six children • Spent her married adult life in Louisiana’s high society, but was left in debt by husband’s death. • Suffered a nervous break-down a doctor friend recommended she begin recording her thoughts- led to career as a writer • Most famous for “The Story of an Hour” and novella The Awakening

4. Mary E. Wilkins (1852-1930) • From Massachusetts • Well-educated (attended Mt. Holyoke college) • Began writing as a teenager and ultimately published more than two dozen volumes of short stories. • Considered a New England regionalist and progressive feminist writer. Many of her stories explored the “social, personal, and economic pressures which silenced or devalued women.”

5. Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) • Born in CT, married with one child, suffered from depression: divorced, moved to Cali, began writing. • Treated for hysteria by S. Weir Mitchell. • Became well known for her lectures on women's topics. Believed that men and women should share the responsibility of housework, and that women should be encouraged from a very early age to be independent and work for themselves. • Suffering from inoperable cancer, she committed suicide in 1935

6. “Haven of the Home” • From the late 1820's until the early part of the 20th century, women’s sphere of the "Home" became seen as the haven from the rough world for men and children and was maintained by the smiling, demure lady of the house. • `Home' came to be associated with `women', `warmth’, `passivity'; while at the very same time, `work' became associated with `men', `hardheartedness', `excitement', `aggression', and `immorality.‘ • The necessity for a refuge from the “cruel world of work” was so highly perceived, that by 1850, the home was considered to be the mainstay of national culture.

7. Piety, Purity, Submissiveness • The cardinal virtues of the woman's sphere of domesticity became a model which the middle class extolled and hoped to provide as a role model for the teeming lower classes the mid nineteenth century. • "Piety, purity, and submissiveness" became the pillars of what became known as the "cult of true womanhood."

8. Beauty is a Full-Time Job! • by 1852, Godey's Ladies Book (a guide to being a lady) declared: • “It is a woman's business to be beautiful...beauty of some kind is so much the attribute of the sex, that a woman can hardly be said to feel herself a woman who has not...felt herself to be fair.“ • What do the following ads and images from fashion catalogue show us about the roles and perceptions of women during the time?

9. Advertising of the Time (1899)

10. More Advertising of 1899

11. Fashion!1896-1903 Tiny feet, tiny waists, big shoulders, big bums…a restrictive illusion of feminine “perfection”

12. Daring Voices Speak Out • All three authors created strong female characters who have the audacity to defy the patriarchal dominance that had pervaded American social culture since its birth. • As we’re reading think about if the story represents Tragedy or Triumph, symbolism, style, characterization and the messages for women and men of the time…