Abstract
This paper investigates how Doris Lessing portrays gender in The Grass is Singing and The Golden Notebook, which are amongst the major novels she has published. The study examines how Lessing has strived to lift the traditional and patriarchal norms that render the woman subordinate to her male counterpart, rendering her almost mentally broken. Lessing has placed the woman at the forefront where she plays major roles to improve on her status and her society as a whole. She has gone further to represent the woman as an assertive being seeking recognition and visibility in her society. Drawing on feminist theory and postcolonial criticism, the paper demonstrates how Lessing deconstructs gender hierarchy while advocating for collaborative rather than competitive relations between men and women.
Keywords: Doris Lessing, The Grass is Singing, The Golden Notebook, feminism, gender, postcolonialism, emancipation, patriarchy
Introduction
This paper attempts to investigate how Doris Lessing portrays gender in The Grass is Singing and The Golden Notebook which are amongst the major novels that she has published so far. We intend to examine how this writer has strived to lift the traditional and patriarchal norms that render the woman subordinate to her male counterpart rendering her almost mentally broken.
Gender is basically the biological difference in sex that is male and female. But it should be underscored that gender in literature, goes beyond this biological difference. It stretches to other societal activities that affect it. Hence, gender in literature dwells more on how Society perceives the sexes. It rather focuses on the domination of women by men to the advantage of men. Consequently, female domination does not come from biological difference as such but it comes from the patriarchal and hierarchical division of labour in which women are reduced to domestic duties.
The relegation of the women to the background cannot be attributed to the biological difference. It should rather be blamed on societal discourses. Bill Aschroft et al quoting Spivak note that “women in many societies have been relegated to the position of other, marginalized and, in a metaphorical sense, colonized, forced to pursue guerrilla warfare against imperial domination from positions deeply imbedded in, yet fundamentally alienated from that imperium” 174.
The Process of Metamorphosis
This section of the paper is focused on female self definition in spite of the position they have been pushed to by patriarchy. This is done to reinstate the marginalized in the face of the dominant. Lessing has succeeded in doing this through her major female characters. She has placed them in positions where they will not only be seen but heard, where they will not be passive but be an active participant in decision taking.
In The Grass is Singing, what Mary fears, is the repetition of her mother’s life but she falls in the same situation by getting married to Dick Turner. Claire Sprague (1987) confirms this by saying: “The authorial voice tells the reader that Mary’s nameless mother had a life ‘so unhappy because of economic pressure that she had literally pined to death’ (45). When her mother dies, Mary abandons her pathetic and alcoholic father” (24).
The men in her life are neither free nor powerful. They are marginal and defeated. The father who attracted and repelled her and whom she blames for all the problems of her childhood is described as a cipher in his own home. So too is Dick, who annoys Mary by calling her “boss”. Moses on the other hand exhibits a different kind of powerlessness. He may have emotional power over Mary, but he has virtually no socio-economic and political power. Mary enjoys authority. She even enjoys order, predictability and impersonality more than she enjoys power. Her cleaning, sewing, painting and chicken rising are acts which help in a way to give her economic independence.
Women in The Golden Notebook
Lessing has tried to rekindle the women’s movement in The Golden Notebook. Elizabeth Maslin notes: The Golden Notebook became, almost as soon as it was published, a flagship for the reawakening of women’s movement and it has continued to be claimed as a classic feminist text (20). Here, Lessing has succeeded in giving a voice to the women socially, economically and politically.
When Molly sees that marriage is not giving her the happiness she thought of, she divorces her husband in spite of the fact that they have a son. She discloses to Anna Wulf that marriage is not just a question of giving birth to children. She confirms this point thus “the point is, neither of us was prepared to get married simply to give our children father. So now, we must take the consequences.”(32)
Anna Wulf and Ella have equally tried to show to the males that they too have their own respect and they endeavour to stick to it. This is contrary to the period when the women were just at the receiving end. They have proven to be very resistant to the temptation of the males. Even though Anna and her comrades live a bohemian life-style, they do not just fall prey to the sexual desires of the men.
Conclusion
This paper has attempted to show that in spite of the values that tradition, The Holy Bible and colonial ideologies have put in place to subvert the position of the woman especially the African woman, things have changed and it is a continuous process. The world is like a dancing mask evolving and mentalities are also changing. Empowering the woman within this context, goes to subvert the western notion of the third world woman. What should rather be celebrated and encouraged, should be collaborative feminism.
Works Cited
- Aschroft, Bill et al. Theory and Practice in Postcolonial Literatures. London and NewYork: Routledge, 1989.
- Lessing, Doris. The Grass is Singing. London, Michael Joseph, 1950.
- ------- The Golden Notebook. London; Michael Joseph, 1962.
- Hooks, Bell. An’t I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism. Boston: South End press, 1981.
- Loomba, Ania. Colonialism / Postcolonialism. Canada Routledge, 1998.
- Lowe, Maria and Ruth Henbband (eds.) Women’s Nature: Rationalisation of Inequality. New York: pergamon Press, 1984.
- Maslen, Elizabeth. Doris Lessing. Plymouth: North cote House Publishers Ltd; 1994.
- Menninger, Karl M.D. Love Against Hate. New York: Harcout Brace and company.
- Culler, Jonathan. Literary Theory. Oxford: Oxford up, 1997.
- Mbangwana et al (eds). Language, Literature and Identity. Gottingen: Cuvillier verlag, 2006.