There is no doubt that the visibility of women writers has been much less than that of men, despite having originated great works of literature, and that this decreases as we go back in the years.
If we situate ourselves in the 19th century, we can find a justification in the norms that governed the society of the time and the role that it reserved for women.
At the time, women suffered discrimination in all areas. Regarding political rights, women could not vote or run for public office; They were limited economically by not being able to have properties in their name, nor to request credits, they also had greater restrictions in the area of education, there was a lower presence of girls in school, which affected illiteracy among them and access to higher education it was forbidden. Although compulsory schooling for girls was imposed in the middle of the century, the contents destined for them followed a totally different line that emphasized domestic utility and the tasks of sex.
There were those who, as in the case of the Frenchman Sylvain Marechal, drafted a law that prohibited women from learning to read, going so far as to formulate “reason wants women who persist in writing books not to be allowed to have children.” This type of ideas served to maintain a hierarchical system in which women were subordinated to men with a complete differentiation of social roles, which allocated to women the domestic sphere and the care of the children and the husband.
Many female writers had no choice but to educate themselves in a self-taught way, reading what they could, and authors like Emilia Pardo Bazan demanded more instruction for the female sex. While in Europe women writers, following an emancipatory current, reject in different ways the function that society reserves for them, in the Spanish panorama they strove to demonstrate that a woman is perfectly capable of writing without neglecting the tasks that were assigned to her for being women. The European writers used their own experience to criticize some aspects of society, while the Spanish ones used to use writing to vent about topics such as death, making dedications…
Writing was not an easy task for women, because whoever wanted to do it had to follow established patterns and it was very difficult for their merits to be recognized, many men feared that actions like these would take away the rights and privileges that until now had corresponded to them..
That is why most women, especially in Spain, defended the traditional values of the Christian family and the role of women, to justify being able to write or those who used pseudonyms or other resources such as irony to mislead and avoid society attacks.
Jane Austen (1775-1817)
Austen closes the 18th century and opens the 19th, one of the classic authors of English novels and one of the most important in universal literature due to the use of irony, comedy and the complex psychological construction of her characters and the enormous sensitivity placed on them. in his works.
His best-known work “Pride and Prejudice” (1813) was written in the period of the industrial revolution in England, political conflicts in Europe, the rise of the bourgeoisie and the spread of colonialism, and focuses on the romantic history of Elisabeth, a girl ahead of her time and strong convictions, and Mr. Darcey, an apparently arrogant man, who forge a relationship dominated by prejudice, pride and attraction.
“Sense and Sensibility” (1811), “Mansfield Park” (1814), “Emma” (1815) or “Persuasion” (1818) are other of his novels.
Mary shelley (1797-1851)
Mary Shelley is the mother of science fiction literature and a reference both for the genre and for women’s literature and literature in general. She is responsible for giving life to one of the most iconic characters of all time in her work ” Frankenstein ” (1818) outlined during a game of horror stories in Lord Byron’s villa in Geneva.
The figure of the mother profoundly influenced the decisions of Mary Shelley, the philosopher and writer Mary Woolstonecraft is considered a landmark of feminism, with her defense of women in works such as “Vindication of the rights of women” (1792). When she began a relationship with a married man, the also writer Percy Shelley, she was disowned by society, the English author began a nomadic life that took her through France, Switzerland, Italy and back to Great Britain, where she suffered the traumatic experience the death of her children and her husband.
After Percy’s death, Mary Shelley dedicated herself to her literature, originating works such as “Mathilda” (1819), “The Last Man” (1826) and “Lodore” (1835). In them, she maintains a traditional position regarding the role of women in society, highlighting her affective and compassionate characteristics.
Cecilia Bohl de Faber (1796-1877)
Cecilia Bohl de Faber, born in Switzerland and nationalized in Spain, is the woman behind Fernan Caballero, the pseudonym she used to bring her literary production to the public. Her work can be framed within the costumbrista current, through which she defended traditional values, the monarchy and Catholicism.
The daughter of the introducer of romanticism in Spain, Juan Nicolas Böhl de Faber, assumes a new model of femininity in which women acquired an active role in Catholic and national regeneration.
Among his published works are “La Familia de Alvareda” (1849), “La hija del sol” (1851) “Clemencia” (1852) “Tears” (1853), being “La gaviota” (1849) his best known work, centered on the story of a girl, who with a beautiful voice, becomes a successful singer, and who falls in love with a bullfighter.
Aurora Dupin (1804-1876)
George Sand is the pseudonym used by Aurore Dupin, one of the most important French writers of the century, who produced a large number of novels, plays, short stories, literary and political criticism.
Lupine rejected the social impositions of the time, got divorced and moved with his children to Paris, wore masculine clothes and smoked cigars to access different places. He related to personalities such as the writers Jules Verne, Victor Hugo, Balzac and Flaubert; the composer Franz Liszt or the painter Delacroix.
Among his most successful books are “Leila” (1833), “El compañero de Francia” (1840), “Consuelo” (1842) or ” Indiana ” (1832) which focuses on the life of the woman who gives the title to the novel, with a frustrated marriage that throws her into an adulterous relationship with a man who cheats on her.
His works dealt with controversial topics such as infidelity, gender inequality or class differences.
Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte
The Bronte sisters are a jewel of English literature, they belonged to a family of six siblings, who had to face tuberculosis, a disease from which the two older sisters died. The three of them invented worlds that they captured through writing.
Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre” (1847) is one of the most successful works and a classic of British literature, as is “Wuthering Heights” (1847) written by Emily. Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” (1848), inspired by her brother’s alcoholism, received less acceptance for dealing with a subject “unsuitable for a woman”.
