Some Observations about the Suicide of the Adulteress in the Modern Novel
Abstract
Babis Dermitzakis discusses in his article, "Some Observations about the Suicide of the Adulteress in the Modern Novel," that in three major male-authored European novels -- Madam Bovary, Anna Karenina, and Thérèse Raquin -- the protagonists are wives who commit adultery that ends in suicide. In contrast, texts by women authors of the period show no similar description and perception of adultery by women. Dermitzakis suspects that the male writers did not simply fictionalize a specific social behavior or condition; rather, they likely imported their own prejudices about female adultery -- and more generally about female sensuality -- into their writing. Biographical evidence of the three authors appears to support such a hypothesis.
Recommended Citation
Dermitzakis, Babis. "Some Observations about the Suicide of the Adulteress in the Modern Novel." CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 1.2 (1999): http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol1/iss2/2
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