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Florida interanational university wst 3120 final take home exam

Florida interanational university wst 3120 final take home exam

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WST 3120

Final Take Home Exam

The primary theoretical text that will be discussed throughout this paper will be

“Infection in the Sentence: The Woman Writer and the Anxiety of Authorship” (Gilbert & Gubar

1991). In this text the authors discuss the woman as a writer, and where her place may be in a

world of literature that is male dominated. There are a couple of arguments that stand out and

will further provide framework for the discussion of the novels Woman at Point Zero by Nawal

el Saadawi and Halfbreed by Maria Campbell. Harold Bloom was described to have used

Freudian psychology. Using the “Oedipus Complex” as an analogy to explain the connection of a

poet to his precursor, Bloom called this “Anxiety of influence”. A poet’s precursor serves as a

looming father figure with the poet being the son who must transcend above all expectations of

him in order to prove his legitimacy. The “Anxiety of Influence” describes the poet’s anxiety to

create and create even better than his forefather. This view was seen as sexist but provided

serious implication for what it meant for women who are attempting to make their mark in

literature. Gilbert and Gubar, note that women in literature cannot apply the same concept of the

“Oedipus Complex”. There is no true precursor to the woman writer. And if there is, there is no

clear indication of what that precursor’s gender would be. A woman writer faces a specific brand

of anxiety that surpasses the simple relationship of foremother or father but is instead faced with

the fear of her own demise. This can be called the “Anxiety of Authorship”, a woman feels as

though she cannot truly create due to likelihood of being antagonized by men. The authors go on

to say “She [women] wages a battle not against her male precursors reading of the world but

their reading of her”. This quote sums up the idea that woman who write do not write for a

general audience but more so an audience of men who will criticize her. In her attempts to create,

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she faces the real threat of jumping hurdles to prove that she too, is legitimate (Gilbert & Gubar

1991). These highlighted themes appear in the novels read throughout the course.

The main character Firdaus in a Woman at Point Zero, claims that “to be a criminal one

must be a man” (Saadawi 109). This novel illustrates, through the story of Firdaus, the frustration

faced by women who seek to be free of the patriarchy but find themselves hitting various

barriers. Of course, there are a few factors apart from being a woman that Firdaus is faced with

which include: economic status and the country she lives in which is Egypt. There are social

expectations that do not necessarily apply to the western woman which Gilbert and Gubar seem

to be bias towards. Firdaus knew that “women did not become heads of state…”, for example.

Yet, she continued to fantasize about finishing her education and starting a career. In order to be

successful and respected as men were, she had to create a separation between herself and other

females, “…but I felt that I was not like other women, nor like other girls around me who kept

talking about love, or about men” (Saadawi 25). Firdaus comes to realize quickly that her

dreams came second to what a woman was expected to do. In Egypt and other African countries

girls are married typically in exchange for a dowry, since they eventually become a financial

burden to the family (Nour 2006). In the case of Firdaus she was getting too old and the

likelihood of the dowry decreasing goes up. Her uncle decided to marry her to a much older man

which is not uncommon is such a pairing. Faced with abuse, Firdaus took it upon herself to

escape, only to land into what appeared to be a safe relationship with Bayoumi. Despite it turning

out to be abusive as well, through this relationship Firdaus truly sets on a quest for her sense of

independence. Perhaps, a pivotal moment in the text would be when Bayoumi asks Firdaus, if

she liked “oranges or tangerines” (Saadawi 50). It had not occurred to her that she had a choice.

When she is told by Sharifa, that “A man does not know a woman’s value…She is the one who

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WST 3120 Final Take Home Exam The primary theoretical text that will be discussed throughout this paper will be “Infection in the Sentence: The Woman Writer and the Anxiety of Authorship” (Gilbert & Gubar 1991). In this text the authors discuss the woman as a writer, and where her place may be in a world of literature that is male dominated. There are a couple of arguments that stand out and will further provide framework for the discussion of the novels Woman at Point Zero by Nawal el Saadawi and Halfbreed by Maria Campbell. Harold Bloom was described to have used Freudian psychology. Using the “Oedipus Complex” as an analogy to explain the connection of a poet to his precursor, Bloom called this “Anxiety of influence”. A poet’s precursor serves as a looming father figure with the poet being the son who must transcend above all expectations of him in order to prove his legitimacy. The “Anxiety of Influence” describes the poet’s anxiety to create and create even better than his forefather. This view was seen as sexist but provided serious implication for what it meant for women who are attempting to make their mark in literature. Gilbert and Gubar, note that women in literature cannot apply the same concept of the “Oedipus Complex”. There is no true precursor to the woman writer. And if there is, there is no clear indication of what that precursor’s gender would be. A woman writer faces a specific brand of anxiety that surpasses the simple relationsh ...
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