New Woman
Encyclopedia
The New Woman was a feminist
ideal that emerged in the late 19th century. The New Woman pushed the limits set by male-dominated
society, especially as modeled in the plays of Norwegian Henrik Ibsen
(1828–1906). "The New Woman sprang fully armed from Ibsen's brain," according to a joke by Max Beerbohm
(1872–1956). New Women were active in the Suffragette
movement and were disappointed by the emergence of the frivolous flapper
in the 1920s.
Belinda
(1801) and Elizabeth Barrett's
Aurora Leigh
(1856), which explored a woman's plight between conventional marriage and radical possibility that a woman could become an independent artist. In drama, the late nineteenth century saw such "New Woman" plays as Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House
(1879) and Hedda Gabler
(1890), Henry Arthur Jones's
play The Case of Rebellious Susan (1894) and George Bernard Shaw's
controversial Mrs. Warren's Profession
(1893) and Candida
(1898).
In fiction, New Woman writers were Olive Schreiner
, Annie Sophie Cory
(Victoria Cross), Sarah Grand
, Mona Caird
, George Egerton
, Ella D'Arcy
and Ella Hepworth Dixon
. Some examples of New Woman literature are Victoria Cross's Anna Lombard
(1901), Dixon's The Story of a Modern Woman
and H. G. Wells's
Ann Veronica
(1909).
Kate Chopin's
The Awakening (1899) also deserves mention, especially within the context of narratives derived from Flaubert's Madame Bovary
(1856) both of which chronicle a woman's doomed search for independence and self realization through sexual experimentation.
The emergence of the fashion-oriented and party-going flapper
in the 1920s marks the end of the new woman era.
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
ideal that emerged in the late 19th century. The New Woman pushed the limits set by male-dominated
Androcentrism
Androcentrism is the practice, conscious or otherwise, of placing male human beings or the masculine point of view at the center of one's view of the world and its culture and history...
society, especially as modeled in the plays of Norwegian Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
(1828–1906). "The New Woman sprang fully armed from Ibsen's brain," according to a joke by Max Beerbohm
Max Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian "Max" Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist best known today for his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson.-Early life:...
(1872–1956). New Women were active in the Suffragette
Suffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
movement and were disappointed by the emergence of the frivolous flapper
Flapper
Flapper in the 1920s was a term applied to a "new breed" of young Western women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior...
in the 1920s.
Literature
Literary discussions of the expanding potential for women in English society date back at least to Maria Edgeworth'sMaria Edgeworth
Maria Edgeworth was a prolific Anglo-Irish writer of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and was a significant figure in the evolution of the novel in Europe...
Belinda
Belinda (Edgeworth novel)
Belinda is an 1801 novel by the Irish writer Maria Edgeworth. It was first published in three volumes by Joseph Johnson of London in 1801, and was later reprinted by Pandora Press in 1986...
(1801) and Elizabeth Barrett's
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. Her poetry was widely popular in both England and the United States during her lifetime. A collection of her last poems was published by her husband, Robert Browning, shortly after her death.-Early life:Members...
Aurora Leigh
Aurora Leigh
Aurora Leigh is an eponymous epic novel/poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The poem is written in blank verse and encompasses nine books . It is a first person narration, from the point of view of Aurora; its other heroine, Marian Erle, is an abused self-taught child of itinerant parents...
(1856), which explored a woman's plight between conventional marriage and radical possibility that a woman could become an independent artist. In drama, the late nineteenth century saw such "New Woman" plays as Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House
A Doll's House
A Doll's House is a three-act play in prose by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premièred at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having been published earlier that month....
(1879) and Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...
(1890), Henry Arthur Jones's
Henry Arthur Jones
Henry Arthur Jones was an English dramatist.-Biography:Jones was born at Granborough, Buckinghamshire to Silvanus Jones, a farmer. He began to earn his living early, his spare time being given to literary pursuits...
play The Case of Rebellious Susan (1894) and George Bernard Shaw's
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
controversial Mrs. Warren's Profession
Mrs. Warren's Profession
Mrs Warren's Profession is a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1893. The story centers on the relationship between Mrs Kitty Warren, a brothel owner, described by the author as "on the whole, a genial and fairly presentable old blackguard of a woman" and her daughter, Vivie...
(1893) and Candida
Candida (play)
Candida, a comedy by playwright George Bernard Shaw, was first published in 1898, as part of his Plays Pleasant. The central characters are clergyman James Morell, his wife Candida and a youthful poet, Eugene Marchbanks, who tries to win Candida's affections. The play questions Victorian notions...
(1898).
In fiction, New Woman writers were Olive Schreiner
Olive Schreiner
Olive Schreiner was a South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. She is best remembered today for her novel The Story of an African Farm which has been highly acclaimed ever since its first publication in 1883 for the bold manner in which it dealt with some of the burning issues...
, Annie Sophie Cory
Annie Sophie Cory
Annie Sophie Cory was the author of popular, racy, exotic novels under the pseudonyms Victoria Cross, Vivian Cory and V.C. Griffin.-Life:...
(Victoria Cross), Sarah Grand
Sarah Grand
Sarah Grand was a British feminist writer active from 1873 to 1922. Her work revolved around the New Woman ideal.- Early Life and Influences of Frances Elizabeth Bellenden Clarke:...
, Mona Caird
Mona Caird
Mona Caird was a Scottish novelist and essayist whose feminist views sparked controversy in the late 19th century...
, George Egerton
George Egerton
Mary Chavelita Dunne Bright , better known by her pen name George Egerton, was a "New Woman" writer and feminist. Widely considered to be one of the most important of the "New Woman" writers of the nineteenth century fin de siecle, she was a friend of George Bernard Shaw, Ellen Terry and J. M...
, Ella D'Arcy
Ella D'Arcy
Ella D'Arcy was a short fiction writer in the late 19th and early 20th century.D'Arcy was born in London in 1857; the precise date is unknown. One of nine children, she was educated in London and the Channel Islands...
and Ella Hepworth Dixon
Ella Hepworth Dixon
Ella Hepworth Dixon was a British author during the late Victorian period.Her best known work is the New Woman novel The Story of a Modern Woman. This novel was published in 1894.-Life:Ella Hepworth Dixon was born in London in 1855...
. Some examples of New Woman literature are Victoria Cross's Anna Lombard
Anna Lombard
Anna Lombard is a New Woman novel by Annie Sophie Cory writing as Victoria Cross. First published in 1901, it is based on the idea that it takes a New Man as well to form a perfect union of the sexes.-Plot summary:...
(1901), Dixon's The Story of a Modern Woman
The Story of a Modern Woman
The Story of a Modern Woman is a novel written by English author Ella Hepworth Dixon. The novel was first published in 1894 and is an example of the "New Woman" genre of late-Victorian England...
and H. G. Wells's
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
Ann Veronica
Ann Veronica
Ann Veronica is a novel by H.G. Wells first published in 1909. The book deals with contemporary political issues, concentrating specifically on feminist issues...
(1909).
Kate Chopin's
Kate Chopin
Kate Chopin, born Katherine O'Flaherty , was an American author of short stories and novels. She is now considered by some to have been a forerunner of feminist authors of the 20th century....
The Awakening (1899) also deserves mention, especially within the context of narratives derived from Flaubert's Madame Bovary
Madame Bovary
Madame Bovary is Gustave Flaubert's first published novel and is considered his masterpiece. The story focuses on a doctor's wife, Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life...
(1856) both of which chronicle a woman's doomed search for independence and self realization through sexual experimentation.
The emergence of the fashion-oriented and party-going flapper
Flapper
Flapper in the 1920s was a term applied to a "new breed" of young Western women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior...
in the 1920s marks the end of the new woman era.
Quotation
[…] The finest achievement of the new woman has been personal libertyLibertyLiberty is a moral and political principle, or Right, that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions...
. This is the foundation of civilizationCivilizationCivilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
; and as long as any one class is watched suspiciously, even fondly guarded, and protected, so long will that class not only be weak, and treacherous, individually, but parasitic, and a collective danger to the community. Who has not heard wives commended for wheedling their husbands out of money, or joked because they are hopelessly extravagant? As long as caprice and scheming are considered feminine virtueVirtueVirtue is moral excellence. A virtue is a positive trait or quality subjectively deemed to be morally excellent and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being....
s, as long as man is the only wage-earner, doling out sums of money, or scattering lavishly, so long will women be degraded, even if they are perfectly contented, and men are willing to labor to keep them in idleness!
Although individual women from pre-historic times have accomplished much, as a class they have been set aside to minister to men's comfort. But when once the higher has been tried, civilization repudiates the lower. Men have come to see that no advance can be made with one half-humanity set apart merely for the functions of sex; that childChildBiologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
ren are quite liable to inherit from the mother, and should have opportunities to inherit the accumulated ability and culture and character that is produced only by intellectual and civil activity. The world has tried to move with men for dynamos, and "clinging" women impeding every step of progress, in arts, science, industry, professions, they have been a thousand years behind men because forced into seclusion. They have been over-sexed. They have naturally not been impressed with their duties to society, in its myriad needs, or with their own value as individuals.
The new woman, in the sense of the best woman, the flower of all the womanhood of past ages, has come to stay — if civilization is to endure. The sufferings of the past have but strengthened her, maternity has deepened her, education is broadening her — and she now knows that she must perfect herself if she would perfect the race, and leave her imprint upon immortality, through her offspring or her works.
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- Winnifred Harper CooleyWinnifred Harper CooleyWinnifred Harper Cooley was a U.S. author and lecturer. Born in Terre Haute, Indiana, she was the daughter of Ida Husted Harper. In her 1904 publication, The New Womanhood, she advocated the feminist ideal of the New Woman. She also wrote I Knew Them When ...! published in 1940.-External links:**...
: The New Womanhood (New York, 1904) 31f.
- Winnifred Harper Cooley
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Further reading
- A New Woman Reader, ed. Carolyn Christensen Nelson (Broadview Press: 2000) (ISBN 1-55111-295-7) (contains the text of Sydney GrundySydney GrundySydney Grundy was an English dramatist. Most of his works were adaptations of European plays, and many became successful enough to tour throughout the English-speaking world...
's 18941894 in literatureThe year 1894 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Robert Frost sells his first poem, "My Butterfly", to The New York Independent for fifteen dollars.*Hermann Hesse begins his apprenticeship at a factory in Calw....
satirical comedy actually entitled The New Woman) - Martha H. Patterson: Beyond the Gibson Girl: Reimagining the American New Woman, 1895-1915 (University of Illinois Press: 2005) (ISBN 0-252-03017-6)
- Sheila RowbothamSheila RowbothamSheila Rowbotham is a British socialist feminist theorist and writer.-Early life:Rowbotham was born in Leeds, the daughter of a salesman for an engineering company and an office clerk From an early age, she was deeply interested in history...
: A Century of Women. The History of Women in Britain and the United States (Penguin Books: 1999) (ISBN 0-14-027902-4), Chapters 1-3. - Patterson, Martha H. The American New Woman Revisited. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2008.