writingwomen

Final Blogs

I just realized I forgot to blog about Delarivier Manley and Eliza Haywood so here are my thoughts on both authors:

Delarivier Manley

I enjoyed the overall message from The Adventures of Rivella although I was at times a bit confused as to what was going on and who was speaking. I wish that I had noticed the Key to Rivella that is in the back of the book because that would have greatly lessened the confusion. I always read with a pen and found myself underlining quite a few quotes many of which I commented on in class. I found that the very first page in this proto-novel (Sorry Vanessa I know you think it’s a novel) set a feminist tone because it states: “I have often heard her say, if she had been a man, she had been without fault” (Manley, 47). Another really good part in the proto-novel talks about how a woman’s reputation can be easily damaged but never repaired “She read her a learned lecture upon the ill-nature of the world, that would never restore a woman’s reputation, how innocent soever she really were, if appearances proved to be against her” (Manley, 62). This line really speaks to the overall position of women that has come up again and again throughout the course and that is that women are held to a different standard than men.

Eliza Haywood

I have to agree with what Courtney said in class and that is that you really have to learn how to read literature from the 17th and 18th century. I really enjoyed reading Fantomina after we discussed it in class because, I had a basic summary of what was going to happen so it kept me on track if the language became a bit confusing. One thing that I found in Fantomina that I do not think that we touched on in class is how it seems like Beauplaisir rapes Fantomina. Although she still pursues him perhaps it was not a rape but it definitely read like a rape. I came across a good journal article on EBSCO that discusses Haywood’s fiction if anyone is searching for secondary material still for their take-homes check out EBSco host. Anyway the point is that between the article and what we talked about in class I have really come to appreciate Haywood’s writing. I thought that the way she depicted Miss Forward’s experience being raped and the unhappy marriage that Miss Thoughtless feels trapped in spoke clearly to the position of women and related to everything we have studied in the course.

My Overall Thoughts on the Course

I must admit at the beginning of the semester I had some doubts as to whether or not I should take this course. However I am really glad that I chose to take it. The group of women writers focused on in this course are crucial to the liberation of other women writers. Before this course I had knowledge of only Mary Wollstonecraft. By learning about the struggle though all these different types of writing such as: letters, poetry, novels, speeches etc., I have learned to appreciate to an even further extent my position as a woman in life. It is because of women like these that I can have an opinion without consequence, (although that was not the case for Dixie Chick Natalie Maines when she spoke out about President Bush) , I can choose to marry whoever I wish and I can write about and become educated on any subject I desire. I am proud to call myself a feminist and I now have better knowledge to refer to when speaking out on the issue of women. When you asked us about influential writers at the first of the year I could only name two or three women, now I can name many that rightfully deserve to be part of that canon.

Posted by webasst at April 13, 2004 10:49 PM | TrackBack