How Woman Defined Literature
in the Late 19th and Early 20th Century
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries women in literature had a huge impact on the time period. Women writers and characters were often defined to certain roles and stereotypes in society. During this period, women began to become more assertive and open through writing as they challenged these gender roles and gave new perspective on women experiences. Writers such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Kate Chopin, and their characters are celebrated in today’s society for their bold voices and their influence that was often pushed back in writing and society. It is important to understand the women in literature from this period and define what the influence means. Defining women’s personal struggles through literature and how their lives were governed.
One way to define the influence of women in literature during the time of these centuries is by examining how their writing challenged and grew past norms in literature. Literature during this period was mostly dominated by males who ranged their female characters limitedly. Writers such as Kate Chopin, Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman pushed these barriers. These women wrote texts that created more awareness for women’s rights both socially and politicly relating to women’s experiences in marriage, work, and autonomy.
For example, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening demonstrates the roles that were imposed on women and how restrictive they were. In both marriage and motherhood, the main character, Edna Pontellier, examines the expectations that were put on women during this time in the late 19th century. She rejected the idea of not being herself and said, “but whatever came, she had resolved never again to belong to another than herself.” Chopin used this protagonist to demonstrate a female character that sought out their own fulfillment outside of typical society. Her character showed a different narrative to the conventional female character that was often confined to women’s role, and it reflected the feminism growing in this movement.
Another crucial aspect of defining women’s influence in literature is the role they play in advocating for change. The women’s suffrage movement was gaining attention and women authors began to use writing in order to advocate for the rights of women. Not only the rights of women were addressed but other social issues such as labor rights, racial and gender equality, and economic reform. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s work would often relay political messages in the form of literature.
Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper is an example of the way society views women with mental health issues. As the tale is demonstrating a women’s psychological issues, it also represents the medical and societal treatment of women. The story demonstrates how women’s voices were often ignored and dismissed. Their entire autonomy was undermined, most often by men as they held more power socially. The narrator describes her husband’s disregard for her issues and says, “But these nervous troubles are dreadfully depressing. John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him.” As the narrator continue to delve into a deep madness, it is clear that Gilman is showing how dangerous it can be for society to cast women aside.
Women writers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries reimagined the way women were portrayed in literature. Often before this era, women were constantly represented as objects of male’s desire without any real impact to stories. They were most often only described as daughters, wives, or mothers regarding their relationship towards men in their lives. Women writers challenge this dynamic of women being passive objects towards men as it is diminishing. Complex, determined female characters began to rise in literature as women felt the need to give female characters their own narratives.
Another female writer, Edith Wharton, had a similar take on female characters and giving them their own personal story. She typically explored how women in upper-class communities lived their lives in cities such as New York. In her work, The Age of Innocence, examines the rigid social system and the choices her female characters made regarding these systems. She doesn’t just examine women’s confinements in these expectations but men as well, even though it may seem they have privileges in their financial and social lives. Wharton writes, “The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!” Highlighting the struggle that is between an individual and the group of people around them. This can define women’s marginalization as a male dominated society can prevent women from using their own voices and being heard.
Women writers during this time were working hard not for entertainment purposes but to advocate for women’s rights and stand against societal expectations. Their influence was defined by the subjects they wrote on such as the social and political changes they pushed. These changes included redefining gender roles, societal expectations, and social bias.
Females in literature were part of a broad movement during the late 19th and early 20 centuries for women’s rights and even racial equality. Even today their work is still very influential in literature and social rights, as we still deal with inequalities and sexism today. By challenging these boundaries of who and what women are supposed to be, we are able to make great progress. As we define the influence of women in literature we acknowledge their part in shaping literature, marginalization, cultural representation, and gender inequality that future generations can build upon.
References
Bloom H. Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. Bloom’s Literary Criticism, an Infobase Learning Co.; 2011. https://primo.rowan.edu/permalink/01ROWU_INST/mgcbt1/alma9921442163405201
Gilman CP. The Yellow Wall Paper. Small, Maynard & company; 1899. https://primo.rowan.edu/permalink/01ROWU_INST/mgcbt1/alma9921604597105201
Wharton E. The Age of Innocence. New Edition. William Collins; 2010. https://primo.rowan.edu/permalink/01ROWU_INST/mgcbt1/alma992153842370520
Counterintuitive Fall 2024 
I’ve asked a similar question in reaction to your Causal argument, Andarnaurram: What exactly do those liberated authors and liberated characters DO that you could share, please?
For example, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening
the main character, Edna Pontellier, examines the expectations that were put on women during this time
She rejected the idea of not being herself
female characters sought their own fulfillment outside of typical society
she showed a different narrative
and reflected the feminism growing in this movement.
So, what does any of that LOOK LIKE?
Next paragraph. Where’s the evidence?
Another crucial aspect of defining women’s influence in literature is the role they play in advocating for change. The women’s suffrage movement was gaining attention and women authors began to use writing in order to advocate for the rights of women. Not only the rights of women were addressed but other social issues such as labor rights, racial and gender equality, and economic reform. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s work would often relay political messages in the form of literature.
Next paragraph. Where’s the evidence?
Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper is an example of the way society views women with mental health issues. As the tale is demonstrating a women’s psychological issues, it also represents the medical and societal treatment of women. The story demonstrates how women’s voices were often ignored and dismissed. Their entire autonomy was undermined, most often by men as they held more power socially. The narrator describes her husband’s disregard for her issues and says, “But these nervous troubles are dreadfully depressing. John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him.” As the narrator continue to delve into a deep madness, it is clear that Gilman is showing how dangerous it can be for society to cast women aside.
—Obviously in that last paragraph, there’s no active revolution, but it’s probably a rare book willing to actual SPEAK OUT about the long-suffering wives of demanding men.