Sexuality in the Victorian Era in Sarah Raul´s In the Next Room

1542 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Parallels between the Victorian Era and

Women of today are not the women of yesterday. Women have undergone a theatrical transformation which makes them bold, independent, and free-spirited beings. A voice that was once suppressed no longer can be tamed; this is illustrated through the rise of both male and female playwrights who continue to reinvent the role of women as more than “man’s other”. In her book, “Modern Drama by Women, 1880s-1930s: An International Anthology,” author Katherine Kelly references a quote by scholar Carrie Chapman Catt, that beautifully frames the transformative state women have undergone. According to Chapman: “Women are organizing, speaking, working … [and] it is now a crucial time, when our Western help may give impetus and permanence to the movement of Eastern women, and when delay may mean a much longer continued oppression of women” (Kelly, 1). In light of this, gender identities and stereotypes that previously mandated how women should: act, look, talk, and even socially interact with others are unmasked. This is depicted through, Sarah Raul’s, In the Next Room, which exemplifies the ideology of a “new women” through the characterization of Catherine Givings— a woman who learns how to reject societies definition of what it means to be a woman in relation to her sexual identity. Henceforth, throughout this essay I will examine sexuality within the context of the Victorian Era as it paralleled with In the Next Room; furthermore, I will analyze how Raul breaks down gender roles and gender representations through the techniques of characterization and staging.
Sexuality and Victorian Women
During the Victorian Era, women were shunned from exploring the facets of their sexuality; furthermore, their sole existence revolved around the submis...

... middle of paper ...

...ted the living room from Dr. Givings operative room through the notion of sexual equality where sex was an enjoyable act for both the male and female. Furthermore, Raul subverts common representations of men and women when partaking in sexual activity, by staging the male as naked and the female as partially clothed. The reversal of gender representation is reinforced through the language of Catherine—since she is presented as the more dominant sphere. As the play closes the stage directions reads “he lies on his back and makes an angel in the snow. She lies on top of him …” Hence, it is perceived that Catherine is on top of Dr. Givings controlling the commencement of their love. The plays ends with Catherine saying: “oh God. Oh, God, Oh, God, and for the first time she experiences erotic, passionate, and sensual sex—For the first time she discovers her sexuality.

Show More
Related

  • City Of Dredful Delight Chapter Summary

    599 Words  | 2 Pages

    Each chapter contains numerous sources which complement the aforementioned themes, to create a new study on cultural history in general but women specifically. Her approach is reminiscent of Foucault, with a poststructural outlook on social definitions and similar ideas on sexuality and agency. Power cannot be absolute and is difficult to control, however Victorian men and women were able to grasp command of the sexual narrative. She includes the inequalities of class and gender, incorporating socioeconomic rhetic into the

    Read More

  • Eros Live in New York

    2904 Words  | 6 Pages

    At the beginning of the 1900s, there was a “sexual revolution” in New York City. During this time, sexual acts and desires were not hidden, but instead they were openl...

    Read More

  • Trifles and A Dollhouse

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the plays, the reader can visualize how men dismiss women as trivial and treat them like property, even though the lifestyles they are living in are very much in contrast. The playwrights, each in their own way, are addressing the issues that have negatively impacted the identity of women in society.

    Read More

  • Victorian Sexuality in Stoker’s Dracula, LeFanu’s Carmilla, and Polidori’s Vampyre

    1689 Words  | 4 Pages

    To “be a lady” in Victorian times, women had to repress their “instincts,” meaning that they must not have sex. Lead by the “cult of true womanhood,” which dictated piety, purity and submissiveness in women, females were directed to become almost asexual. Women went into sexuality thinking that it was something not to be talked about, that women were not supposed to have a libido, and that the act of sexual intercourse was not something that they should enjoy.

    Read More

  • Comparing A Raisin In The Sun And Ibsen's A Doll House

    1255 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women and men are not equal. Never have been, and it is hard to believe that they ever will be. Sexism permeates the lives of women from the day they are born. Women are either trying to fit into the “Act Like a Lady” box, they are actively resisting the same box, or sometimes both. The experience of fitting in the box and resisting the box can be observed in two plays: Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” and Henrick Ibsen’s “A Doll House”. In Hansberry’s play, initially, Beneatha seems uncontrolled and independent, but by the end she is controlled and dependent; whereas, in Ibsen’s play Nora seems controlled and dependent at the beginning of the play, but by the end she is independent and free.

    Read More

  • Disorderly Women : Gender And Labor

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    Accordingly, I decided the purposes behind women 's resistance neither renamed sexual introduction parts nor overcame money related dependence. I recalled why their yearning for the trappings of progression could darken into a self-compelling consumerism. I evaluated how a conviction arrangement of feeling could end in sexual danger or a married woman 's troublesome twofold day. None of that, regardless, ought to cloud an era 's legacy. I comprehend prerequisites for a standard of female open work, another style of sexual expressiveness, the area of women into open space and political fights previously cornered by men all these pushed against ordinary restrictions even as they made new susceptibilities.

    Read More

  • Superstitions In The Victorian Era

    849 Words  | 2 Pages

    Life in the Victorian era may be particularly unconventional and exotic to some individuals of today’s society. Bram Stoker, author of the well-known Gothic horror book, Dracula, displays what life was like back then. “For much of this century the term Victorian, which literally describes things and events (roughly) in the reign of Queen Victoria, conveyed connotations of ‘prudish,’ ‘repressed,’ and ‘old fashioned’” (“Victorian England:”). The Victorian era extended from 1837 to 1901.Compared to today especially, people at that time were highly puritanical. They were not able to speak of or even mention topics such as sex. “Without a doubt, it was an extraordinarily complex age, that has sometimes been called the Second English Renaissance.

    Read More

  • Expected Behavior in The Coquette and The Female Marine

    1905 Words  | 4 Pages

    Butler, Judith. Ed. Case, Sue-Ellen. "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution." Performing Feminisms: Feminist Critical Theory and Theatre. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990.

    Read More

  • Sex And Sexuality In The 17th Century

    121 Words  | 1 Pages

    Sexuality is a subject that has changed over times, the idea of sexuality and sex shifted from one view to another as people began to enforce different views in society. At the beginning of the 17th century there was little need for secrecy about sexuality and sexual practices as the idea was an open topic that could be discussed freely in society. Adult humour was not kept from children and ideas were open to all (Foucault and Hurley, 2008). However this times in society changed due to the power of the Victorian bourgeoisie. Sex and sexuality became confined and moved into the privacy of the home. People no longer spoke freely about it and secrecy became key (Foucault and Hurley, 2008).

    Read More

  • Sleeping Beauty: Feminist Critics

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...present powerful characters, while females represent unimportant characters. Unaware of the influence of society’s perception of the importance of sexes, literature and culture go unchanged. Although fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty produce charming entertainment for children, their remains a didactic message that lays hidden beneath the surface; teaching future generations to be submissive to the inequalities of their gender. Feminist critic the works of former literature, highlighting sexual discriminations, and broadcasting their own versions of former works, that paints a composite image of women’s oppression (Feminist Theory and Criticism). Women of the twenty-first century serge forward investigating, and highlighting the inequalities of their race in effort to organize a better social life for women of the future (Feminist Theory and Criticism).

    Read More

  • History of Sexuality

    2304 Words  | 5 Pages

    Married Love was an unprecedented book, which inadvertently redefined female sexuality. Often regarded as the precursor of sex-manuals, Married Love launched Stopes’ enormously successful career as a writer. Published in 1918, Married Love reviewed the intertwining relationship of marriage, sex and contraception, which in Stopes’ view were the fundamental components of a fulfilling and rewarding marriage. Like all discourse, Married Love is heavily embedded within a distinct historical and cultural context. Darwinian theory and the development of eugenics had a phenomenal impact on Stopes. Recognising the equal sexual desire of women would make Married Love greatly influential in the shaping of modern perceptions into female sexuality. Examining the social ethos of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Married Love was a pioneering book for its time. The significant transformation of gender roles during the interwar years in combination with the progressing field of sexology, Stopes’ work would be another stepping stone to the democratisation of sexuality.

    Read More

  • Repression In Dracula

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    sexuality. The Victorian culture had very rigid roles for women, and their reputation was almost

    Read More

  • Gender Identity And Alternative Sexualities In Twelfth Night, By William Shakespeare

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    This paper will look at the different conceptions highlighted by Bulman in his article through the use of different methods used by the actors in the play. Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare captures the different conceptions of gender identity and different sexualities within the Elizabethan period.

    Read More

  • Gender, Language and Silence in "The Tragedy of Mariam"

    2312 Words  | 5 Pages

    `Plays and Poetry by early modern women are primarily concerned with negotiating a position from which women could speak. A concern for ideas of gender, language and silence is, therefore, central, though its expression is sometimes open, sometimes covert.' Discuss with reference to Aemilia Lanyer and / or Elizabeth Cary.

    Read More

  • The Awakening: Sexuality in Nineteenth Century Literature

    1169 Words  | 3 Pages

    Everyday the North American media sends millions of sexually provocative images through the airwaves and onto television screens. According to a recent study, an overwhelming 56% of all television programs contain sexual content (Vieth, 2). Our society has become so immune to the representation of sex that, for the most part, it goes unnoticed. Although concerns regarding sexuality still remain, society's tolerance level has changed dramatically over time. The history of attitudes toward sex and sexuality is a cultural process that can be seen through the literature of an era. The Awakening was the first piece of American fiction to blatantly attack the nineteenth century notion that marriage, emotional intimacy and sexual intimacy were inextricably bound together. Chopin's novel was advanced in theme over other nineteenth century works. Her piece more closely reflects the modern novel. Chopin gives her readers the story of a married woman, Edna Pontellier, as she explores her sexuality and need for emotional intimacy outside her marriage. Edna's need for extramarital relationships challenged the nineteenth century ideas of femininity and propriety.

    Read More

More about Sexuality in the Victorian Era in Sarah Raul´s In the Next Room

Open Document