Women In Nawal El Saadawi's Woman At Point Zero

Nawal El Saadawi’s novel Woman at Point Zero is a story set in Egypt in the 1970s, full of many different and yet similar characters. However, with all of the characters in this novel, the women are portrayed in a very specific way; they tend to be characterized as dependent, and less capable. They are also the main recipients of much of the violence included within this text. This will be shown through the main character, Firdaus, and another woman, Sharifa. The environment and context of Woman at Point Zero had a profound effect on the women in this story, affecting their behavior; however, El Saadawi had her reasons for writing this way. Woman at Point Zero is written from the perspective of one woman: Firdaus. Not far into the
Sharifa is a successful prostitute, and also could be called a pimp. Firdaus feels a strange sense of serenity meeting Sharifa: “I felt myself lying on its bed at one moment, swallowed deep down inside, and a moment later carried gently upwards, floating higher and higher back to the surface,” (52). This feeling was felt nowhere else in the novel, but only upon meeting a female that was not subservient from the beginning. Firdaus becomes a “young novice in Sharifa’s hands” (54). This is important to Firdaus’ development as a character, as Sharifa seems untouchable, and Firdaus has never met a female of this stature: “Nobody can touch me without paying a very high price” (55). However, this does not last long. With one comment made by Fawzy, a male client, Sharifa’s dominance and trust is gone: “Sharifa’s fooling you, and making money out of you, while all you get out of it is pain” (58). Following this, Fawzy and Sharifa have a confrontation that ultimately results in her beating and rape. Sharifa attempted to hold her own in this situation, stating, “If you hit me Fawzy, I will hit back” (59). However, it is shown again that the strength of the male in question will always come out over the female’s, no matter how much they