A Feminist Analysis of Lyman Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables and Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden
- Authors: Becker, Bonnie
- Date: 2013-01
- Subjects: Fiction , Children , Orphans
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23214 , vital:55905
- Description: The primary aim of this project is to provide a close contextual and textual analysis of the selected children’s classics: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Anne of Green Gables and The Secret Garden using the feminist literary theory. From this perspective I have shown how the selected works of Lyman Frank Baum, Lucy Maud Montgomery and Frances Hodgson Burnett’s writing have contributed to women’s stereotypical roles within society and perpetuated their subjugated position. I have also conducted an examination of the extent to which the female protagonists attempt to emancipate themselves from gender oppression. A comparative study of the selected children’s texts has not yet been conducted and therefore this project serves as a significant contribution to this field of study. An exploration of the historical background of the authors and children’s literature is conducted to provide an overview into the inner workings of the writers’ lives and the historical significance of children’s literature as a genre. The theoretical framework of feminist literary theory is used in the analysis of the selected texts. The connection between feminist literary theory and children’s literature is highlighted and provides further understanding of the purpose of this study. The history of feminism as both a movement and a contemporary literary criticism is explored. Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex is used when analysing the texts’ characters and how they are based on society’s stereotypical gender roles. Luce Irigaray’s Speculum of the Other Woman and This Sex Which is Not One is examined to aid in an exploration of psychological female oppression through feminine and masculine discourse evident in the creation of the novels’ female and male characters. Hélène Cixous’ “The Laugh of the Medusa” and The Newly Born Woman is interrogated according to the stereotypical ideology surrounding the terms masculinity and femininity and how these terms are interpreted in the selected works. Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble and Undoing Gender are additionally explored to assist in the understanding of the concept of gender performativity and through the lens of Butler’s interpolation of gender the move towards the emancipation of women is seen in the selected children’s texts. The close textual feminist analysis focuses on the female protagonists: Dorothy, Anne and Mary as well as the secondary female characters: the wicked witches, Aunt Em, the Queen of the Field-Mice, the princess made from china, Glinda’s female soldiers from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; Marilla Cuthbert, Rachel Lynde and Diana Barry from Anne of Green Gables and Martha, Mrs Sowerby and Mrs Craven from The Secret Garden. The portrayal of the secondary male characters are additionally explored according to feminist literary theory: The Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Lion and the wizard Oz from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; Matthew Cuthbert and Gilbert Blythe from Anne of the Green Gables’ and Mr Craven, Colin Craven and Dickon Sowerby from The Secret Garden. The comparison of these children’s classics by Baum, Montgomery and Burnett provides insight into the selected works of all three writers, through the lens offered by feminist literary theory. Through the interrogation of these representative female protagonists found in early children’s literature, an understanding of not only the subordination of women, as evident in literature during this era, is illustrated but also the comprehension that women’s liberation was foreshadowed in these early children’s novels. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2013
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013-01
- Authors: Becker, Bonnie
- Date: 2013-01
- Subjects: Fiction , Children , Orphans
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23214 , vital:55905
- Description: The primary aim of this project is to provide a close contextual and textual analysis of the selected children’s classics: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Anne of Green Gables and The Secret Garden using the feminist literary theory. From this perspective I have shown how the selected works of Lyman Frank Baum, Lucy Maud Montgomery and Frances Hodgson Burnett’s writing have contributed to women’s stereotypical roles within society and perpetuated their subjugated position. I have also conducted an examination of the extent to which the female protagonists attempt to emancipate themselves from gender oppression. A comparative study of the selected children’s texts has not yet been conducted and therefore this project serves as a significant contribution to this field of study. An exploration of the historical background of the authors and children’s literature is conducted to provide an overview into the inner workings of the writers’ lives and the historical significance of children’s literature as a genre. The theoretical framework of feminist literary theory is used in the analysis of the selected texts. The connection between feminist literary theory and children’s literature is highlighted and provides further understanding of the purpose of this study. The history of feminism as both a movement and a contemporary literary criticism is explored. Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex is used when analysing the texts’ characters and how they are based on society’s stereotypical gender roles. Luce Irigaray’s Speculum of the Other Woman and This Sex Which is Not One is examined to aid in an exploration of psychological female oppression through feminine and masculine discourse evident in the creation of the novels’ female and male characters. Hélène Cixous’ “The Laugh of the Medusa” and The Newly Born Woman is interrogated according to the stereotypical ideology surrounding the terms masculinity and femininity and how these terms are interpreted in the selected works. Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble and Undoing Gender are additionally explored to assist in the understanding of the concept of gender performativity and through the lens of Butler’s interpolation of gender the move towards the emancipation of women is seen in the selected children’s texts. The close textual feminist analysis focuses on the female protagonists: Dorothy, Anne and Mary as well as the secondary female characters: the wicked witches, Aunt Em, the Queen of the Field-Mice, the princess made from china, Glinda’s female soldiers from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; Marilla Cuthbert, Rachel Lynde and Diana Barry from Anne of Green Gables and Martha, Mrs Sowerby and Mrs Craven from The Secret Garden. The portrayal of the secondary male characters are additionally explored according to feminist literary theory: The Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Lion and the wizard Oz from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; Matthew Cuthbert and Gilbert Blythe from Anne of the Green Gables’ and Mr Craven, Colin Craven and Dickon Sowerby from The Secret Garden. The comparison of these children’s classics by Baum, Montgomery and Burnett provides insight into the selected works of all three writers, through the lens offered by feminist literary theory. Through the interrogation of these representative female protagonists found in early children’s literature, an understanding of not only the subordination of women, as evident in literature during this era, is illustrated but also the comprehension that women’s liberation was foreshadowed in these early children’s novels. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2013
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013-01
Perspectives of communities on use of alcohol among children in rural areas
- Noganta, Nandi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7115-3261
- Authors: Noganta, Nandi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7115-3261
- Date: 2013-01
- Subjects: Alcohol Use , Substance Abuse , Children
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23192 , vital:55893
- Description: Globalisation raises hopes that communities will become self reliant through development success and thus become an integrated whole (Offiong 2001). But the creation of global village leads to fragmentation of communities, a loss of norms and local values. This study focuses on communities of the Eastern Cape Province, exploring the nature of and extent to which children use alcohol as a consequence of cultural rituals. The researcher aims to develop a culturally sensitive psycho-social approach to address alcohol use among children. The purpose of the research was to investigate the extent to which certain cultural practices contribute towards alcohol use among children in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape Province. Thus exploring the nature and extent to which children use alcohol as a consequence of cultural rituals and to explore whether families and communities are aware of the impact of alcohol use by children in the community. The research was qualitative in nature and through semi-structured interview schedules the researcher was able to gain insight in the area of substance use amongst children in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape Province. Community members, learners from schools, educators and probation officers formed part of the research sample. The research findings suggest that community members are aware that the traditional rituals that are carried out in the rural areas have been contributing to the issue of children using alcohol. However, the community members feel challenged as they become conflicted by their traditional rituals and this impacts upon children using alcohol. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2013
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013-01
- Authors: Noganta, Nandi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7115-3261
- Date: 2013-01
- Subjects: Alcohol Use , Substance Abuse , Children
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23192 , vital:55893
- Description: Globalisation raises hopes that communities will become self reliant through development success and thus become an integrated whole (Offiong 2001). But the creation of global village leads to fragmentation of communities, a loss of norms and local values. This study focuses on communities of the Eastern Cape Province, exploring the nature of and extent to which children use alcohol as a consequence of cultural rituals. The researcher aims to develop a culturally sensitive psycho-social approach to address alcohol use among children. The purpose of the research was to investigate the extent to which certain cultural practices contribute towards alcohol use among children in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape Province. Thus exploring the nature and extent to which children use alcohol as a consequence of cultural rituals and to explore whether families and communities are aware of the impact of alcohol use by children in the community. The research was qualitative in nature and through semi-structured interview schedules the researcher was able to gain insight in the area of substance use amongst children in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape Province. Community members, learners from schools, educators and probation officers formed part of the research sample. The research findings suggest that community members are aware that the traditional rituals that are carried out in the rural areas have been contributing to the issue of children using alcohol. However, the community members feel challenged as they become conflicted by their traditional rituals and this impacts upon children using alcohol. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2013
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013-01
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