On Thu, 27 Nov 1997, Geoffrey D. Sperl wrote:
> that you're expected to do research as well. You might be best off
> examining what Atwood saw as the trends we were headed in during the
> mid-eighties and then comparing all three...once you've done that, the
> thesis will follow (during my undergraduate and graduate years, I never
> wrote a thesis first...it always came during or at the end of the paper
> writing process).
>
> - Geoffrey
>
> --
Forget the mid-eighties. It's just a blip on the screen. Look at
American history, especially the strain of religious fundamentalism and
what, in each time it's arisen, what it has actually taught about women's
status and how women have responded. The novel I suggested as prequel to
it was written in rreaction to the age ELMER GANTRY described.
And it's not always been as obvious as repression -oppression
-revolt. Women have answered attempts to confine them to their spere in a
good many ways. One common one is to establish total dominion over the
home. Someone I knew who weas reared Mormon said that once inside the
door, the mother was total boss. Another, used throughout Victorian times,
was to do social reform as an extension of their motherly & wifely role.
Dickens made a huge mockery of it with one of his characters who was (as a
current book accused modern liberals of!) slobbering over starving
children in distant lands, while ignoring the needs of those on her
doorstep. But check out other eras as well.
Patricia (Pat) Mathews
mathews @unm.edu
"With a 14.4 modem it's not netsurfing.It's webcrawling."
"Wanted, one ghost. Experience and good character required. Ability to ing
tenor an advantage. Apply Paris Opera before New Years, 1882."
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