Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

12-1996

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Modern Foreign Languages

Major Professor

Patrick Brady

Committee Members

Karen Levy, John Romesier, Carolyn Hodges

Abstract

Although all three write in French, Andree Chedid, Lucette Desvignes, and Nathalie Sarraute are authors who come from Egypt, France, and Russia respectively. A reading of their novels reveals common themes, such as that of the status of woman which is evoked in the following novels: Le sommeil délivré of Chedid, Vent debout oi Desvignes, and Enfance of Sarraute. This theme is elaborated through the depiction of the relationship of the protagonist with her husband, with her mother, and with her father. The most striking attribute shared by the heroines of the novels is sickness: they suffer from ailments both physical and psychological. I shall explore the source of these ailments, and show how every pathological behavior is a consequence of the unsatisfactory life conditions imposed on these women. The woman is usually aware of her ailment, and attempts to find a solution to her unhappy condition. When she adopts a solution that springs from the traditional social organization of gender, this solution is bound to fail, but when the woman embraces new solutions that stem from her own capabilities and desires, a new, hopeful, and adequate order emerges. The novels reflect different cultures and traditions, but in every society woman faces inflexible, pre-assigned and constraining roles: in the West as well as in the East, the woman needs to overcome the obstacles that hinder her development, as each of our authors talus pains to demonstrate.

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