SIEVIETES INDIVIDUĀLISMS UN LAULĪBA EDĪTES M. HALLAS UN IVANDES KAIJAS ROMĀNOS. (Latvian)

Woman's Individualism and Marriage in Edith M. Hull's and Ivande Kaija's Novels. (English)

The article explores the views on marriage, women's rights to individualism, as well as aspects on extramarital sexual relationships in the novel 'The Sheik' (1919) written by the British writer Edith Maude Hull and in the novel 'The Original Sin' (1913) written by the Latvian writer Ivande Kaija. At the turn of the 20th century there was a lively discussion about the role of a woman in the society and family and both writers engaged in this debate. The women's rights to individualism, e.g. freedom of opinion, freedom of building their own life and choosing when and whether to get married in the middle of 19th century were theoretically described by the philosopher John Stuart Mill. The author of the article concludes that in the novels written by E. M. Hull and I. Kaija at the beginning of the 20th century women's rights to individualism and happiness are not revealed as obvious, even though the right to marry for love is not doubted. Although the main female characters of both novels are striving for achieving their own goals, initially they need to win their inner battles and to resist the urge to give up their individualism for their beloved ones. In addition, they need to fight with the prejudice of the society and men in particular. The analyzed novels are revolutionary - they emphasize female sexuality and, apart from that, women's involvement in sexual relationships is not associated only with marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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