Female Autonomy in Elizabeth Stoddard’s "The Morgesons"

Download or read book Female Autonomy in Elizabeth Stoddard’s "The Morgesons" written by Lioba Frings and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2017-06-20 with total page 23 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 3,0, University of Bonn, language: English, abstract: A woman’s life in nineteenth-century American society was limited to the domestic sphere, or the household as well as church, and restricted with regard to current and future duties as mothers and wives. While young girls on the one hand need to learn how to fulfill their future duties as mothers and wives, their mothers and teachers on the other hand need to pass their knowledge regarding these duties on to their daughters. Certain gender roles served as the framework for women in society, mainly shaped by the Cult of True Womanhood. Other factors that influenced the role of women were the therewith connected virtues, which a woman was supposed to embody, as well as the common and well-known definition of a ‘True Woman’. With regard to the protagonist in The Morgesons the author “simply disregards the ‘cult of true womanhood’” (Weir 430). Autonomy with regard to women was rare, or even non-existing, and normally unwished-for, especially from the perspective of men, husbands or fathers, who expected every woman to simply take care of household and descendants.