Object

Title: The feminine condition: women and madness in Katherine Mansfield`s "Prelude"

Contributor:

Gołębiowska, Urszula - red. nauk. ; Kubasiewicz, Mirosława - red. nauk.

Group publication title:

Scripta Humana, 14

Abstract:

This article discusses the representation of women and mental illness in Katherine Mansfield`s short story, "Prelude". The theme of madness and psychology in feminist literary criticism has been an active field of contemporary research. Critics such as Phyllis Chesler, Elaine Showalter, and Jane Ussher view some forms of madness as traditionally gendered, feminine conditions in which women become mad due to their oppressive realities. ; Additionally, Louis Arnorsson Sass links madness to Modernism by examining its adoption as a symbol of rebellion. Although a recent volume of the Katherine Mansfield Studies Series, "Katherine Mansfield and Psychology", paid special attention to the influence of mental illness in Mansfield`s oeuvre, there is still much to be studied. ; Thus, this paper analyzes the ways in which Mansfield, as a Modernist writer, incorporates the themes of women`s madness and rebellion in "Prelude". To do so, this work focuses on the figures of Linda and Kezia Burnell. Although the diagnosis of fictional figures is untenable, indications of psychological suffering in the context of the Burnell women`s social and historical environment are undeniable. ; The narrative techniques Mansfield employs in describing their mental states serve to highlight implications of madness and the reasons behind their mental instability: their oppressed status and cross-generational desire for freedom. The examination of instances of hallucination, animization, apophany, symbology and other symptoms leads to the conclusion that for Linda and Kezia Burnell the only means of escape or rebellion is through madness.

Publisher:

Zielona Góra: Oficyna Wydawnicza Uniwersytetu Zielonogórskiego

Format:

application/pdf

Resource Identifier:

oai:zbc.uz.zgora.pl:78253

Pages:

45-58

Source:

Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Zielonogórskiego: Seria Scripta Humana, tom 14

Language:

eng

Rights:

Biblioteka Uniwersytetu Zielonogórskiego

Object collections:

Last modified:

Feb 21, 2024

In our library since:

Feb 21, 2024

Number of object content hits:

39

All available object's versions:

https://zbc.uz.zgora.pl/repozytorium/publication/87577

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