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A Psychoanalytic Liberal Feminist Analysis of George Moore’s "Esther Waters"

Year 2023, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 308 - 317, 26.10.2023
https://doi.org/10.31465/eeder.1338753

Abstract

In the nineteenth-century English society, the public sphere was associated with rationality and man whereas the private sphere was identified with morality and woman. Being deprived of education and professions, women were given the roles of wife and mother. Liberal feminism emphasizes the equality of woman with man in legal and social life. In this sense, the standpoints of Mary Wollstonecraft, Harriet Taylor, and John Stuart Mill for women’s position are expressed. The analysis of the unconscious is important for examining the oppression that women were subjected to in patriarchal society. Thus the views of important psychoanalysts such as Sigmund Freud, Carl G. Jung, and Jacques Lacan are explained. This study examines women’s position in George Moore’s "Esther Waters" in terms of education and marriage with a psychoanalytic liberal feminist approach. Esther has an extramarital sex, has an illegitimate child and financially struggles for her son as a fallen woman. In this study, no matter how Esther tries to draw a libertarian and ‘New Woman’ profile, the patriarchal society in which she lives does not allow her to be liberated and she continues her life by being forced to marry.

References

  • Alkan, H. (2018). Psychoanalytic Liberal Feminist Approach to Women’s Position in George Eliot’s “Middlemarch”, Sarah Grand’s “The Heavenly Twins” and George Moore’s “Esther Waters”, Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Ankara University Graduate School of Social Sciences: Ankara.
  • Black, D. W.; Andreasen, N. C. (2014). Introductory Textbook of Psychiatry, Washington and London: American Psychiatric Publishing.
  • Booth, C. (1889). Life and Labour of the People Living in London, London: Pantheon.
  • Caine, B. (1997). English Feminism 1780-1980, New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Coon, D.; Mitterer, J. O. (2010). Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behaviour, Belmont: Wadsworth.
  • Corsini, R. J. (2002). The Dictionary of Psychology, London: Brunner Routledge.
  • Donovan, J. (1988). Feminist Theory, New York: The Continuum Publications.
  • Freud, A. (1993). The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence, London: Karnac Books.
  • Freud, S. (2010). The Ego and the Id, United States: Pacific Publishing Studio.
  • Gilman, C. P. (1966). Women and Economics, New York: Harper & Row.
  • İplikçi Özden, A. (2016). French Feministic Approach to Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s “Lady Audley’s Secret”, Ellen Price’s “East Lynne” and Anne Bronte’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall”, Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Ankara University Graduate School of Social Sciences: Ankara.
  • Jung, C. G. (1969). The Collected Works o f C. G. Jung (Vol. 8), London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
  • Jung, C. G. (1974). Memories, Dreams, Reflections, London: Collins.
  • Jung, C. G. (1977). The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
  • Lacan, J. (2004). Écrits: A Selection, trans. Fink, B., London: W.W. Norton & Company.
  • Lerner, L. (1979). Love and Marriage: Literature in its Social Context, London: Arnold.
  • Mill, J. S. (1859). On Liberty, London: Humanities.
  • Mill, J. S. (1999). The Subjection of Women (1869), Pennsylvania: A Penn State Electronic Classics Series Publication.
  • Moore, G. (2012). Esther Waters, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Palmer, J. (1910). Records and Chronicles, London: Courtauld.
  • Patmore, C. (2009). “Angel in the House”, The Secret Agent, Toronto: Broadview Press.
  • Parrott, W. G. (1991) “The Emotional Experiences of Envy and Jealousy”, The Psychology of Jealousy and Envy, ed. Salovey, P., New York and London: The Guilford Press, pp. 3-30.
  • Rich, A. (1995). Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution, New York: Norton.
  • Reed, J. R. (1975). Victorian Conventions, Ohio: Ohio University Press.
  • Schreiner, O. (1911). Women and Labour, London: Fisher Unwin.
  • Statt, D. A. (2003). A Student’s Dictionary of Psychology, East Sussex: Psychology Press.
  • Stephen, H. J. (2003). New Commentaries on the Laws of England (Vol. 2), London: Butterworths.
  • Taylor Mill, H.; Mill, J. S. (1970). Essays on Sex Equallity, ed. Rossi, A. S., Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Taylor, H. (1994). “The Enfranchisement of Women”, Sexual Equality: Writings by John Stuart Mill, Harriet Taylor Mill and Helen Taylor, ed. Robson, A. P. – Robson, J. M., Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 178-203.
  • Turan, Y. Z. (2015). An Analysis of Mother-Daughter Relationship in Doris Lessing’s “The Good Terrorist”, Kate Atkinson’s “Human Croquet” and Marina Warner’s “The Leto Bundle” Novels within the Context of Postmodern Literary Theories, Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Ankara University Graduate School of Social Sciences: Ankara.
  • Wollstonecraft, M. (1988). A Vindication of the Rights of Women, ed. Poston, C. H., New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
  • Wollstonecraft, M. (1994). Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, Oxford and New York: Woodstock Books.

George Moore’un "Esther Waters" Eserinin Psikanalitik Liberal Feminist Bir Analizi

Year 2023, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 308 - 317, 26.10.2023
https://doi.org/10.31465/eeder.1338753

Abstract

On dokuzuncu yüzyıl İngiliz toplumunda kamusal alan akılcılık ve erkekle; özel alan ise ahlâk ve kadınla tanımlanırdı. Eğitimden ve mesleklerden mahrum bırakılan kadınlara eş ve anne rolleri tanınırdı. Liberal feminizm, kadının hukuk ve sosyal yaşamda erkeklerle eşitliğini vurgular. Bu bağlamda Mary Wollstonecraft, Harriet Taylor ve John Stuart Mill’in kadınların konumu ile ilgili görüşleri vurgulanır. Bilinçaltının analizi, ataerkil toplumda kadınların maruz kaldığı baskıyı incelemek açısından önemlidir. Bu nedenle Sigmund Freud, Carl G. Jung ve Jacques Lacan gibi önemli psikanalistlerin bakış açıları açıklanır. Bu çalışma, George Moore’un "Esther Waters" eserinde kadının konumunu eğitim ve evlilik konuları açısından psikanalitik liberal feminist yaklaşımıyla inceler. Esther evlilik dışı cinsel münasebet sonucu çocuk sahibi olur ve düşmüş bir kadın olarak oğlu için ekonomik sıkıntılarla mücadele eder. Bu çalışmada Esther her ne kadar özgürlükçü ve ‘Yeni Kadın’ imajı sergilemeye çabalasa da, içinde yaşadığı ataerkil toplum onun özgürleşmesine izin vermez ve evliliğe zorlanarak yaşamına devam eder.

References

  • Alkan, H. (2018). Psychoanalytic Liberal Feminist Approach to Women’s Position in George Eliot’s “Middlemarch”, Sarah Grand’s “The Heavenly Twins” and George Moore’s “Esther Waters”, Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Ankara University Graduate School of Social Sciences: Ankara.
  • Black, D. W.; Andreasen, N. C. (2014). Introductory Textbook of Psychiatry, Washington and London: American Psychiatric Publishing.
  • Booth, C. (1889). Life and Labour of the People Living in London, London: Pantheon.
  • Caine, B. (1997). English Feminism 1780-1980, New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Coon, D.; Mitterer, J. O. (2010). Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behaviour, Belmont: Wadsworth.
  • Corsini, R. J. (2002). The Dictionary of Psychology, London: Brunner Routledge.
  • Donovan, J. (1988). Feminist Theory, New York: The Continuum Publications.
  • Freud, A. (1993). The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence, London: Karnac Books.
  • Freud, S. (2010). The Ego and the Id, United States: Pacific Publishing Studio.
  • Gilman, C. P. (1966). Women and Economics, New York: Harper & Row.
  • İplikçi Özden, A. (2016). French Feministic Approach to Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s “Lady Audley’s Secret”, Ellen Price’s “East Lynne” and Anne Bronte’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall”, Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Ankara University Graduate School of Social Sciences: Ankara.
  • Jung, C. G. (1969). The Collected Works o f C. G. Jung (Vol. 8), London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
  • Jung, C. G. (1974). Memories, Dreams, Reflections, London: Collins.
  • Jung, C. G. (1977). The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
  • Lacan, J. (2004). Écrits: A Selection, trans. Fink, B., London: W.W. Norton & Company.
  • Lerner, L. (1979). Love and Marriage: Literature in its Social Context, London: Arnold.
  • Mill, J. S. (1859). On Liberty, London: Humanities.
  • Mill, J. S. (1999). The Subjection of Women (1869), Pennsylvania: A Penn State Electronic Classics Series Publication.
  • Moore, G. (2012). Esther Waters, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Palmer, J. (1910). Records and Chronicles, London: Courtauld.
  • Patmore, C. (2009). “Angel in the House”, The Secret Agent, Toronto: Broadview Press.
  • Parrott, W. G. (1991) “The Emotional Experiences of Envy and Jealousy”, The Psychology of Jealousy and Envy, ed. Salovey, P., New York and London: The Guilford Press, pp. 3-30.
  • Rich, A. (1995). Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution, New York: Norton.
  • Reed, J. R. (1975). Victorian Conventions, Ohio: Ohio University Press.
  • Schreiner, O. (1911). Women and Labour, London: Fisher Unwin.
  • Statt, D. A. (2003). A Student’s Dictionary of Psychology, East Sussex: Psychology Press.
  • Stephen, H. J. (2003). New Commentaries on the Laws of England (Vol. 2), London: Butterworths.
  • Taylor Mill, H.; Mill, J. S. (1970). Essays on Sex Equallity, ed. Rossi, A. S., Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Taylor, H. (1994). “The Enfranchisement of Women”, Sexual Equality: Writings by John Stuart Mill, Harriet Taylor Mill and Helen Taylor, ed. Robson, A. P. – Robson, J. M., Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 178-203.
  • Turan, Y. Z. (2015). An Analysis of Mother-Daughter Relationship in Doris Lessing’s “The Good Terrorist”, Kate Atkinson’s “Human Croquet” and Marina Warner’s “The Leto Bundle” Novels within the Context of Postmodern Literary Theories, Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Ankara University Graduate School of Social Sciences: Ankara.
  • Wollstonecraft, M. (1988). A Vindication of the Rights of Women, ed. Poston, C. H., New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
  • Wollstonecraft, M. (1994). Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, Oxford and New York: Woodstock Books.
There are 32 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Literary Studies (Other)
Journal Section ARAŞTIRMA MAKALELERİ
Authors

Halit Alkan 0000-0002-7170-6196

Publication Date October 26, 2023
Submission Date August 7, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2023 Volume: 7 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Alkan, H. (2023). A Psychoanalytic Liberal Feminist Analysis of George Moore’s "Esther Waters". Edebi Eleştiri Dergisi, 7(2), 308-317. https://doi.org/10.31465/eeder.1338753
AMA Alkan H. A Psychoanalytic Liberal Feminist Analysis of George Moore’s "Esther Waters". EEDER. October 2023;7(2):308-317. doi:10.31465/eeder.1338753
Chicago Alkan, Halit. “A Psychoanalytic Liberal Feminist Analysis of George Moore’s ‘Esther Waters’”. Edebi Eleştiri Dergisi 7, no. 2 (October 2023): 308-17. https://doi.org/10.31465/eeder.1338753.
EndNote Alkan H (October 1, 2023) A Psychoanalytic Liberal Feminist Analysis of George Moore’s "Esther Waters". Edebi Eleştiri Dergisi 7 2 308–317.
IEEE H. Alkan, “A Psychoanalytic Liberal Feminist Analysis of George Moore’s ‘Esther Waters’”, EEDER, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 308–317, 2023, doi: 10.31465/eeder.1338753.
ISNAD Alkan, Halit. “A Psychoanalytic Liberal Feminist Analysis of George Moore’s ‘Esther Waters’”. Edebi Eleştiri Dergisi 7/2 (October 2023), 308-317. https://doi.org/10.31465/eeder.1338753.
JAMA Alkan H. A Psychoanalytic Liberal Feminist Analysis of George Moore’s "Esther Waters". EEDER. 2023;7:308–317.
MLA Alkan, Halit. “A Psychoanalytic Liberal Feminist Analysis of George Moore’s ‘Esther Waters’”. Edebi Eleştiri Dergisi, vol. 7, no. 2, 2023, pp. 308-17, doi:10.31465/eeder.1338753.
Vancouver Alkan H. A Psychoanalytic Liberal Feminist Analysis of George Moore’s "Esther Waters". EEDER. 2023;7(2):308-17.

Journal of Literary Criticism is a refereed journal published in the scope of literature.