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RUIN AS RESURRECTION: AN INTERSECTIONAL FEMINIST READING OF THE FALLEN WOMAN IN VICTORIAN LITERATURE Javier, Wenona Bea
International Journal of Humanity Studies (IJHS) Vol 9, No 1 (2025): September 2025
Publisher : Sanata Dharma University

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.24071/ijhs.v9i1.12913

Abstract

In so-called civilized societies, women who defy traditional norms or engage in “immoral” behavior are harshly judged and excluded. This dynamic is evident in Thomas Hardy’s The Ruined Maid, Augusta Webster’s A Castaway, and Émile Zola’s Nana, where female characters are portrayed as morally transgressive and socially irredeemable, reinforcing rigid binaries between virtue and vice. Applying Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality (1989), this paper explores how class, gender, societal expectations, and sexual politics converge to shape these women’s identities and societal reception. Findings reveal that the “fallen” women in the Victorian literary works resist confinement through economic agency, self-awareness, and even spectacle. Rather than passive victims, they emerge as complex figures whose lives defy singular interpretation. This study critiques the moralistic frameworks of Victorian literature while foregrounding intersectionality as a critical method for dismantling dominant narratives that persist in shaping modern gender norms. Ultimately, it calls for more liberating readings of women’s transgressions across time.
Marriage, Motherhood, and Self-Blame: Analyzing the Tragic Heroine’s Spiritual Suicide in Jude the Obscure Javier, Wenona Bea
Journal of Language and Literature Vol 24, No 1 (2024): April
Publisher : Universitas Sanata Dharma

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.24071/joll.v24i1.6656

Abstract

The societal phenomenon of self-blame disproportionately impacts women who encounter tragedies as wives and mothers. This is demonstrated in Jude the Obscure (1896) by Thomas Hardy, one of the most controversial pieces in Victorian literature. With the use of textual analysis and the application of feminist theory concentrating on Clarissa Pinkola Estes' idea of the female psychic slumber in her book Women Who Run With the Wolves (1995), this paper inspects Hardy's character of the enigmatic Sue Bridehead, aiming to unearth the underlying causes of her spiritual suicide after the three children’s death. Estes’ notion of spiritual demise indicates a woman’s submission to conventionality after encountering tragedy, especially during marriage and motherhood. As a nonconformist within a traditional societal framework, Sue’s transformation from Part III to VI of the book stands out as she shifts from being a free spirit to a conventional wife after encountering tribulations. Her spiritual suicide stems from three interrelated factors: Regret for her children’s short life; culpability; and her idea that it is God’s way of punishing her for her nonconformist beliefs. This convergence weaves together a memorable picture of a woman's spiritual self-destruction amidst traumatic events and the expectations of a conventional society that women should submit to their husbands and renounce whatever unorthodox beliefs they have.