Grego, AlessandraRussell, ShannonCampbell, Katharine Malinda2024-05-292024-05-292022Campbell, Katharine Malinda. "The Identities and Anxieties of Nineteenth-Century Women Writers: An Analysis of George Eliot’s “Silly Novels by Lady Novelists,” Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh, and Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre". BA Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2022.https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14490/45Thesis (B.A. in English Literature, Minor in Creative Writing)--John Cabot University, Spring 2022.The cultural turbulence of the Nineteenth-Century along with the increase and prevalence of literature written by women, gave rise to a complex discourse concerning women in the public domain. The amalgamation of the “Woman Question,” the nature of criticism, and prejudice towards the practice of female authorship engendered within the class of women writers both anxieties and an awareness of the singularity of their position. This shared cognizance within the set of woman writers developed three distinct effects: the widespread use of pseudonyms and anonymity; the fictional representation of the capable female author and artist in the literature of women; and finally, the seeking of a distinctive, sophisticated feminine literary voice and tradition. Using George Eliot’s essay “Silly Novels by Lady Novelists,” sections of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s epic poem Aurora Leigh, and Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre, this thesis argues that as women sought recognition of their talent in the midst of conflicting social conditions, they discovered truths about the essence of female literature and the identity of the woman writer. These truths include the importance of reconciling love and art, or femininity and career; the necessity of accepting one’s womanhood and not imitating men; and the idea that the perfect literary tradition is the meeting of ostensibly “masculine” and “feminine” qualities in literature. The latter point is perhaps one of the most important queries answered in this thesis; Nineteenth-Century women were beginning to understand that men and women have the same skills, deserve the same respect, and do not in actuality write within the confines of a “manly” or “womanly” style.v, 83 pagesenAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/George Eliot, 1819-1880Silly novels by lady novelists (George Eliot)Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1806-1861Aurora Leigh (Elizabeth Barrett Browning)Charlotte Brontë, 1816-1855Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë)Women and literatureMentally ill womenFictionLove storiesThesis