Feminism in Fiction and Non-Fiction, by Susan Shapiro Barash

This flight has been created by Susan Shapiro Barash, an author who has published ten books on nonfiction topics in women’s issues, including "A Passion For More", about women and cheating and "Tripping the Prom Queen", about women and jealousy. Barash teaches gender studies at Marymount Manhattan College.


1. “The Awakening”, by Kate Chopin, 1899

Edna Pontellier is a young woman who has a pleasant enough existence in New Orleans despite her unhappy marriage and dreams of being free. This nineteenth century story of lust, longing, lovers and a break with her traditional role of mother and wife, is about one woman's search for her own identity. What Edna comes to learn is that although she is 'awakening' to her own desires, she will never be accepted or respected for this choice. And so, having shaken things up, she has fallen from grace and her independence comes at a steep price in a society that pigeon holes women. Edna is keenly aware of her predicament and takes personal action, despite how poorly received and disenfranchised she is as a result.

2. “Revolution from Within”, by Gloria Steinem, 1992

Written by famed contemporary feminist Gloria Steinem, the book looks to relationships, literature and nature as a way to honor the female self. In this self-help book Steinem’s basic premise is that women must trust themselves.

3. “Madame Bovary”, by Gustave Flaubert, 1857

Emma Bovary is a victim of a poor marriage to a boring husband and she escapes her life by reading romance novels and buying into the progaganda. She then runs through her husband's money by shopping and has extramarital affairs to divert herself. Yet never does Emma become introspective as she forges on to lessen her boredom, running into debt and signing on for unhappy liasons with poorly chosen lovers. Emma's demise is a reminder that unless one has a heightened awareness of her own needs and a strong sense of self, regardless of what means one chooses to act out, poor judgment ensues and there is little profit. Interestingly, Flaubert (a male author) never accounts for Emma's actions in terms of emotions.

Commentary: While these three very different books each deal with a woman's sense of self-discovery and self esteem, it is “Revolution from Within", a late-twentieth-century work of nonfiction, that is the most insightful for the modern women. Steinem's book is a personal odyssey that explains the societal predicament of women versus their inner longings and in this way is connected to the two novels. "Madame Bovary" is the most disturbing of the three titles, because Emma Bovary is not only doomed to fail, but doesn't choose to break free as does Edna Pontellier in her singular journey or Gloria Steinem's search for self esteem and '...mutual support and connectedness'. The readers should note that "Madame Bovary" is written by a man while both "The Awakening" and "Revolution from Within" are written by women.