Reclaiming virginity, liberating desire : a study of three women's novels

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dc.contributor.authorCattich, Sandra Maryen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-10-10T14:55:20Z
dc.date.available2016-10-10T14:55:20Z
dc.date.issued1998en_ZA
dc.descriptionBibliography: p. 145-151.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractIn my study of Brontë's Jane Eyre and Rhys's Voyage in the Dark and Wide Sargasso Sea, I adopt a reading of Luce Irigaray's concept of virginity to explore these writer's search for an identity beyond that defined by patriarchy. Traditionally, virginity is informed by a series of dichotomies (for example, man/woman, active/passive, day/night, etc.) associated with silence and stasis, which I term static virginity. In her project of resymbolisation, Irigaray reconceives this definition in terms of a utopic goal that will provide women with the mobility or incentive to represent and articulate themselves in their own terms, which I distinguish as dynamic virginity. This paradigm allows me to interpret the dual roles that the female characters of these novels assume, on the one hand miming a discourse which implicates while it alienates them, and on the other hand struggling to articulate an authentic 'voice' beyond the confines of patriarchy. The discovery of an autoerotic awareness linked to the motherdaughter relationship, introduces virginity as a legacy of spiritual embodiment enjoyed by all women at all stages of their lives. The autoerotic becomes a means of distinguishing, representing, and therefore liberating feminine desire from its current predicate position within language. In the novels I study this process can be traced in metaphorical transformations which allow these women writers to simultaneously redeem their sexual identities from a negative patriarchal definition and speak from a dignified collective.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationCattich, S. M. (1998). <i>Reclaiming virginity, liberating desire : a study of three women's novels</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22107en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationCattich, Sandra Mary. <i>"Reclaiming virginity, liberating desire : a study of three women's novels."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22107en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationCattich, S. 1998. Reclaiming virginity, liberating desire : a study of three women's novels. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Cattich, Sandra Mary AB - In my study of Brontë's Jane Eyre and Rhys's Voyage in the Dark and Wide Sargasso Sea, I adopt a reading of Luce Irigaray's concept of virginity to explore these writer's search for an identity beyond that defined by patriarchy. Traditionally, virginity is informed by a series of dichotomies (for example, man/woman, active/passive, day/night, etc.) associated with silence and stasis, which I term static virginity. In her project of resymbolisation, Irigaray reconceives this definition in terms of a utopic goal that will provide women with the mobility or incentive to represent and articulate themselves in their own terms, which I distinguish as dynamic virginity. This paradigm allows me to interpret the dual roles that the female characters of these novels assume, on the one hand miming a discourse which implicates while it alienates them, and on the other hand struggling to articulate an authentic 'voice' beyond the confines of patriarchy. The discovery of an autoerotic awareness linked to the motherdaughter relationship, introduces virginity as a legacy of spiritual embodiment enjoyed by all women at all stages of their lives. The autoerotic becomes a means of distinguishing, representing, and therefore liberating feminine desire from its current predicate position within language. In the novels I study this process can be traced in metaphorical transformations which allow these women writers to simultaneously redeem their sexual identities from a negative patriarchal definition and speak from a dignified collective. DA - 1998 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1998 T1 - Reclaiming virginity, liberating desire : a study of three women's novels TI - Reclaiming virginity, liberating desire : a study of three women's novels UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22107 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/22107
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationCattich SM. Reclaiming virginity, liberating desire : a study of three women's novels. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature, 1998 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22107en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of English Language and Literatureen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherEnglish Language and Literatureen_ZA
dc.titleReclaiming virginity, liberating desire : a study of three women's novelsen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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