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Subject: search.filters.subject.Feminism in literature

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    Constructions of power : feminist sub-texts in the novels of Charlotte Bronte and Daphne du Maurier : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1997) Beets, Jacqueline
    This exploration of the novels of Charlotte Brontë and Daphne du Maurier reveals a number of similarities in each author's investigations of feminist concerns. Centring upon a discussion of cultural values in the texts of both authors, this thesis suggests that nineteenth and twentieth century female writers use similar literary devices to incorporate feminist sub-texts beneath the surface of outwardly conventional romantic novels. Certain significant themes and images appear in both Brontë's and du Maurier's works: the burned stately home, the Gothic atmosphere, the characterisation of an abused and abusive first-person male narrator, and marginalised female characters who are drawn towards a more empowered yet also culturally marginalised male protector/punisher- figure. In du Maurier's work in particular, these themes and images are recreated throughout successive novels in an apparently compulsive manner, suggesting a vital psychological working-through of material to which the author holds an attitude of ambivalence. My discussion gives extra weight to du Maurier, not only because the volume and time-span of her work exceeds that of Brontë (twelve of her seventeen novels are here discussed in depth and the remaining five briefly placed in context) but also because limited academic interest has hitherto been shown in du Maurier's works (with the possible exception of Rebecca), as opposed to the existing wealth of Brontë scholarship. It is my belief that du Maurier's work as a whole is of interest to academic study for its inherent psychological realism, contemporary concern with gender-related topics, and strong sense of literary inheritance; this thesis initiates an exploration of these issues.
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    Fiona Kidman, writer : a feminist critique of New Zealand society : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English Literature at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2012) Leclercq, Anna Elizabeth
    Two perspectives are pervasive in Fiona Kidman’s writing: the reconstruction of historical female voices, through fictional narrative; the recording of contemporary female voices, through autobiographical commentary and through fictional characterisations. This thesis engages with examples of Kidman’s work which show Kidman’s literary project to be the shaping of a New Zealand Pakeha cultural identity from a feminist perspective. In other words, Kidman constructs a patriarchal plot in order to demonstrate and expose the historical and contemporary inequalities of women’s position within New Zealand society. Their fictionalisations are influenced significantly by relationship intimacy, but their intention lies deeper. For those who wish to explore below the emotional surface of Kidman’s stories, there lies a social metanarrative, a journey of discovery for the reader. Each characterisation is part of an arranged message which Kidman challenges us to decipher. Kidman’s constructed narrative is manipulative and manipulated; put together in order to explore and explain the workings of the female psyche under stress; how the female psyche responds to the pressures of living within a patriarchal society; those ways in which the female psyche acts and reacts when seeking to buck the prevailing system, and how the system responds to this. Although not apparent when read piecemeal, Kidman’s body of work has an identifiable sense of unity, amounting to a social critique of an epoch.