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Reclaiming virginity, liberating desire : a study of three women's novels
Bibliography: p. 145-151.
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of English Language and Literature
2016
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| _version_ | 1867613305772703744 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Cattich, Sandra Mary |
| author_browse | Cattich, Sandra Mary |
| author_facet | Cattich, Sandra Mary |
| author_sort | Cattich, Sandra Mary |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Bibliography: p. 145-151. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/22107 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:34:00.978Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publishDateRange | 2016 |
| publishDateSort | 2016 |
| publisher | Department of English Language and Literature |
| publisherStr | Department of English Language and Literature |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/22107 Reclaiming virginity, liberating desire : a study of three women's novels Cattich, Sandra Mary English Language and Literature Bibliography: p. 145-151. In my study of Brontë's Jane Eyre and Rhys's Voyage in the Dark and Wide Sargasso Sea, I adopt a reading of Luce Irigaray's concept of virginity to explore these writer's search for an identity beyond that defined by patriarchy. Traditionally, virginity is informed by a series of dichotomies (for example, man/woman, active/passive, day/night, etc.) associated with silence and stasis, which I term static virginity. In her project of resymbolisation, Irigaray reconceives this definition in terms of a utopic goal that will provide women with the mobility or incentive to represent and articulate themselves in their own terms, which I distinguish as dynamic virginity. This paradigm allows me to interpret the dual roles that the female characters of these novels assume, on the one hand miming a discourse which implicates while it alienates them, and on the other hand struggling to articulate an authentic 'voice' beyond the confines of patriarchy. The discovery of an autoerotic awareness linked to the motherdaughter relationship, introduces virginity as a legacy of spiritual embodiment enjoyed by all women at all stages of their lives. The autoerotic becomes a means of distinguishing, representing, and therefore liberating feminine desire from its current predicate position within language. In the novels I study this process can be traced in metaphorical transformations which allow these women writers to simultaneously redeem their sexual identities from a negative patriarchal definition and speak from a dignified collective. 2016-10-10T14:55:20Z 2016-10-10T14:55:20Z 1998 Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22107 eng application/pdf Department of English Language and Literature Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | English Language and Literature Cattich, Sandra Mary Reclaiming virginity, liberating desire : a study of three women's novels |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Reclaiming virginity, liberating desire : a study of three women's novels |
| title_full | Reclaiming virginity, liberating desire : a study of three women's novels |
| title_fullStr | Reclaiming virginity, liberating desire : a study of three women's novels |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reclaiming virginity, liberating desire : a study of three women's novels |
| title_short | Reclaiming virginity, liberating desire : a study of three women's novels |
| title_sort | reclaiming virginity liberating desire a study of three women s novels |
| topic | English Language and Literature |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22107 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cattichsandramary reclaimingvirginityliberatingdesireastudyofthreewomensnovels |