Enclosed Women
Enclosed Women: On the Use of Enclosure Imagery by 19th-Century Female Authors to Expose Societal Oppression
Hannah Carlson
The theme of enclosure is not uncommon in the literary writings of nineteenth-century female authors. Scholars have suggested that it was used as a way to portray the figurative imprisonment these women felt in their own lives. Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, in their groundbreaking work The Madwoman in the Attic, comment on the use of ―obsessive imagery of confinement‖ and how it ―reveals the ways in which female artists feel trapped and sickened both by suffocating alternatives and the culture that created them‖ (64). The dominating force of patriarchy and the societal restrictions of the time prevented women from being free to fully express their opinions. Instead, women used their talents as writers to create scenes in their works that evoked images of enclosure. These images are manifested through the depictions of the female protagonist in a physically and mentally enclosed space, specifically through descriptions of the home where she is centrally located. Writing that expresses the author‘s feelings can be seen as therapeutic for the individual as well as a statement about society. It can be argued that due to the consistent repetition of the theme of enclosure in its various forms, women writers consciously included images of confinement in their works as an accessible way to express how they felt about the world around them to the general public. This hypothesis is supported by their personal fight for the equality of women in their civic roles. They were fighting to be heard and regarded as independent thinkers. It is important to recognize this phenomenon as it gives a personal and realistic glimpse into an important era in women‘s social history. The nineteenth century is a significant literary period for examining literature written by female authors, if only because of the significant changes occurring in societies. Women
Hannah Carlson
The theme of enclosure is not uncommon in the literary writings of nineteenth-century female authors. Scholars have suggested that it was used as a way to portray the figurative imprisonment these women felt in their own lives. Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, in their groundbreaking work The Madwoman in the Attic, comment on the use of ―obsessive imagery of confinement‖ and how it ―reveals the ways in which female artists feel trapped and sickened both by suffocating alternatives and the culture that created them‖ (64). The dominating force of patriarchy and the societal restrictions of the time prevented women from being free to fully express their opinions. Instead, women used their talents as writers to create scenes in their works that evoked images of enclosure. These images are manifested through the depictions of the female protagonist in a physically and mentally enclosed space, specifically through descriptions of the home where she is centrally located. Writing that expresses the author‘s feelings can be seen as therapeutic for the individual as well as a statement about society. It can be argued that due to the consistent repetition of the theme of enclosure in its various forms, women writers consciously included images of confinement in their works as an accessible way to express how they felt about the world around them to the general public. This hypothesis is supported by their personal fight for the equality of women in their civic roles. They were fighting to be heard and regarded as independent thinkers. It is important to recognize this phenomenon as it gives a personal and realistic glimpse into an important era in women‘s social history. The nineteenth century is a significant literary period for examining literature written by female authors, if only because of the significant changes occurring in societies. Women
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