The Evolution of the Role of Women in British and American Literature

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“Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.
To begin with American Literature shows an...

... middle of paper ...

...eriod is extremely rare and unheard of. Lady Macbeth shows great characteristics of an evolving woman, which has shaped todays views on how women are perceived. Lady Macbeth shows that she is self-reliant by stating that quote. Lady Macbeth delivers a famous speech called unsex me here. In her speech she asks the spirits to get rid of the female “weakness” and strengthen her with a “manly strength by saying, “Come, you spirits/That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,/And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full/Of direst cruelty./ Make thick my blood./Stop up the access and passage to remorse,” (Shakespeare I.iv.30-34)

Works Cited

Fitzgerald, Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible (Penguin Classics). London: Penguin Classics, 2003.
McEwan, Ian. The Cement Garden. New York: Vintage Books, 1994. Print.

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