Controversy with Women and the Novel :: Free Essay Writer

Women and the Novel Novels on novelsshelves on shelves arise, of various merit, as of various size But good and bad, promiscuous as they f wholly, A greedy host advance, and swallow all Like Egypts reptile race, they assemblage their way, Nor rank nor age, nor place, their progress stay, They throng the gaudy mansions of the great they greet the worthless pan in his humbler state nor in the proudest dome or meanest hovel, rotter human blood and flesh resist a novel (Ware) During the eighteenth century a new genre of edition came into existence novels. Novels were contrastive from earlier prosefiction as they abandoned traditional structure (Kerber 236). Novels allowed readers to experience other peoples lives. Characters became real people with real names who led lives much kindred those of their readers (Kerber 236). As books became more readily accessible novels became increasingly popular oddly with women. This is where the problems b egan. A womans responsibility (according to the patriarch society) was to the hometo examine her children to be good Christians and to be servile to her husband in all things. Some people began to feel that reading distracted women from their duties. This is illustrated in the succeeding(a) poem. And see They mount the toilet of the fair, and seek and find an easy court there. Domestick drudery can scarce advance its claims in competition with hook grumbling the brother or the husband goes and thus discovers, that romantick scenes are not the thing for ladies in their teens. Balls parties mean-times, are alike forgot Poor Byron lies unread, and Walter Scott cares, duties, pleasures without notice come back And everything neglected, but the glass (Ware) There was a real fear that reading novels would disrupt the womans duties by giving them false ideas of career and particularly made women unsuited for and unhappy with the domestic roles for which society doom them (Nienkamp xiv).