Loves of a She-Devil Bachelor’S Diploma Thesis

Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Lucie Pelčáková

“I Don't Think You Are a Woman at All. I Think That What You Are Is a She-devil!" – Feminism in The Life and Loves of a She-devil Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: prof. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A.

2019

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

…………………………………………….. Author’s signature

I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my supervisor prof. Mgr. Milada Franková CSc., M.A., for her patience, time and advice and feedback that she gave to me while working on this thesis. I would also like to thank my parents and brother for their support and love. Lastly, I am extremely grateful to my boyfriend who supported me and never failed to make me laugh.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction ______1

2. Feminism ______4

2.1 Early and First Wave Feminism ______6

2.2 Second Wave Feminism ______12

3. Fay Weldon – Life ______18

3.1 Fay Weldon’s Works ______25

4. Feminism in The Live and Loves of a She-devil______27

4.1 Female Roles ______29

4.2 Male versus Female Characters ______35

4.3 Women’s Bodies ______40

4.4 Sisterhood ______46

4.5 Parenthood, Marriage and Religion ______49

5. Conclusion ______52

Works Cited ______54

6. Summary ______59

7. Resumé ______61

1. Introduction

As the title of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s essay, in which she talks about the importance of feminism, says: “we should all be feminists” (Adichie). No matter whether you are male, female or non-binary, all of us should support the feminist movement because we, as a society, have always benefited from the endeavors of feminists all around the globe. Feminism has come a long way since its beginning in the 19th century, and it has become a movement that stands for a lot more than just equality. Moreover, feminists are not only women who long for a change with a diminutive percentage of men being on their side, but rather a large variety of people – male, female and non-binary. At the same time, the negativity that surrounds feminism did not change.

Hatred towards those who support the feminist movement is still present, even though there is more information, especially thanks to the internet, about what feminism really stands for. In the past, feminism was criticized as a movement that spreads hate towards men, sees men only as the predators, and want only women to be in power in all spheres of life. Sadly, these misconceptions about feminism still prevail. There is a notion that feminists still do not like men and think that they are even better than them. What is more, there are still people who claim that “all feminists are man-hating, sexually depraved, castrating, power-hungry, etc.” (hooks, Talking 136), however, these are, by the words of bell hooks, “prevailing stereotypes” (hooks, Talking 136). As a result, these negative assumptions make it hard for feminists to be taken seriously. In addition, many feminists are afraid to call themselves feminists publicly due to these assumptions.

Without a doubt, feminism is still needed in our society. The purpose of this thesis is to provide a brief summary of the history of feminism and afterwards analyze Fay

Weldon’s novel The Life and Loves of a She-devil from the feminist perspective. This thesis will present how Weldon uses feminism to demonstrate the sexist behavior towards

women. It will also show that although the novel was written during the Second Wave feminism, there are still many elements that have not changed even after thirty-six years since the novel was published.

Fay Weldon was already an iconic feminist writer, who was not only known for her novels and other works, but also for her controversial opinions. In this particular novel, she discusses topics which were a center of a feminist debate during that time. Still, as it was already suggested, these topics are relevant even today.

This whole work is comprised of various works that deal with feminism and feminist theory. It also consists of numerous interviews with Fay Weldon, which proved to be very beneficial. There were many works which proved to be helpful, nevertheless,

Susan Alice Watkins’ Introducing Feminism was particularly beneficial for the historical background of feminism. Next to this, Finuala Dowling’s Fay Weldon’s Fiction and

Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth were some of the most crucial works used for analysis of the novel.

This thesis is divided into two parts. The first part of this thesis provides a brief overview of the development of feminism mainly in Britain and the USA since its beginning in the 19th century, throughout both feminist waves, up to what today’s feminism consists of. This part also offers a brief overview of Fay Weldon’s life and the contents of her work. This part is essential for this work since it provides the necessary background to the feminist themes that are mentioned in the analyzed novel.

The second part of the thesis consists of one chapter and five subchapters. This chapter introduces Fay Weldon’s novel The Life and Loves of a She-devil and gives a brief background to it. This chapter also mentions the influence of the novel. The five subchapters of this part focuse on different feminist themes that are included in the novel

– from female roles to female bodies, as well as parenthood. Moreover, the provided study

of the novel will be examined from the point of feminism as we know it today, since it differs from feminism that was during the time the novel was published. The last chapter of the entire thesis is a conclusion.

2. Feminism

Feminism has been in existence for a long time, however, there are still misconceptions about what feminism means and what it stands for. Hence, for the purpose of this thesis, it is needed to explain what feminism means. What is more, since this thesis is also focused on a study of a Fay Weldon’s novel from the feminist perspective, it needs to be said how the analysis will be done. Therefore, this chapter will cover the definition of feminism and the point of view from which the novel will be analyzed.

As it is with other movements, there are many definitions of feminism and they range from easy to difficult level of understanding. Perhaps the simplest and at the same time most understandable definition of feminism comes from bell hooks, who is an

American author, professor, social activist and feminist. In her book Feminism Is for

Everybody, she states that “simply put, feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression” (hooks, Feminism 1). Thus, this definition clearly explains the aims of feminism, while being easy to understand.

Yet, it could be debated that feminism is a movement that wants equality of sexes and this definition lacks the word equality as well as this aim entirely. While that is essentially true, bell hooks’ definition already explains that feminism is a fight for equality because without sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression, there will be equality between both sexes.

In addition, there certainly remain many more definitions of feminism, however, it is not possible to mention them all. While some definitions are similar to the one by hooks, there are also definition that claim to explain what feminism mean, but in reality, they mention only a few goals of feminism. Nonetheless, these definitions are adopted by a smaller percentage of feminists. To illustrate, some feminists might be in support of women’s right, such as right to vote, and equality, but they do not agree with the current

development of women coming forward with their experiences of sexual harassment after a long period of time. For example, in the USA this is often an opinion of older republican women (“What group…”). Thus, while there are many definitions of feminism, only a few of them fully say and agree with what feminism stands for.

Besides, it is indeed important to say, from which point of view the analysis of the novel will be written since there are differences between various decades of feminism.

While Fay Weldon wrote this novel during the Second Wave feminism, the study will be given from the point of view of feminism as we know it today. This means, that while current feminism contains elements that were known during the Second Wave feminism, it also includes different new elements and beliefs that were either non-existent or unpopular during the Second Wave. Thus, there might be ideas which were criticized before but are approved today and vice versa. Nevertheless, this thesis does not follow any particular feminist theory since it tries to be as objective as possible.

2.1 Early and First Wave Feminism

Certainly, there is no possibility of giving a full account of all the events that have happened since the beginning of feminism. Moreover, it is not possible to mark the exact year when the feminism started. Nevertheless, there is a possibility to approximately identify when the first feminist ideas began to emerge. This subchapter will cover the early history of feminist movement ending with the beginning of the Second Wave feminism.

It is important to mention that even before the beginning of feminism and feminist ideas, there were many individual women who could be classified as the predecessors of feminists as we know it today. As Germain Greer voices: “there have always been women who rebelled against their role in society” (292). Many women from various countries tried to prove that even though they were women, they could be as good as men, if not better. To name at least a few, the English Queen Elizabeth I., a legendary Chinese warrior

Hua Mulan or an army leader Joan of Arc. These women, all from different time periods, could be seen as feminists. Nonetheless, they did not fight for other women’s rights, nor did they want to improve other women’s social situation, but they rather wanted to improve and fight for their own good or in general for their country.

Susan Alice Watkins says that feminism begins “when women begin consciously to organize themselves on a scale large enough and effective enough to improve their situation” (4). Possibly the first ever feminist move when women gathered themselves in order to change their position was during the French Revolution. About 6,000 of the

French feminist pioneers, as they can be called, in October 1789 started to complain about the scarcity of food and marched on the Town Hall of Paris (Watkins 21). Although it is debatable whether this could be genuinely considered as the first feminist move, for these women were demanding “cheaper bread” (Watkins 21), which means that they did not

seek to change their social position, it is important that they worked together. It could be said that they were the perfect example of what women needed to do in order to change something.

Around the same time, Mary Wollstonecraft in Britain started a girls’ school together with her sisters and friend. They started this school in order to give girls education that they deserved, however, the school closed after the death of Mary’s friend

(Vickery). This could also be considered as another conscious effort of women to change their, as well as other women’s, social position. Later, Wollstonecraft joined various intellectual circles, which resulted in a publication of A Vindication of the Rights of

Women in 1792, in which she “outlined a vision of equality between the sexes. If women were afforded the same opportunities and education, she wrote, they could contribute as much to society as men” (Vickery). Wollstonecraft could be proclaimed as the first British feminist since she fought for women’s rights and their social position. What is more, she also gave birth to another former feminist, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, who was inspired by her mother that she decided to keep her surname even after the wedding to

Percy Bysshe Shelly.

The First Wave feminism started around the 19th century. Many points of the First

Wave feminism followed from the difficulties that individual women encountered

(Sanders 16), thus there were many campaigns that differed in the aims. Thereafter, many women started using their voices in order to solve their problems and change their position.

Meanwhile, in the United States, the situation was different. The first feminists were black slave women who were either freed or ran away from their cruel masters.

These women are an example of heroines who fought not only for women’s rights but also for human rights. From these heroines, the two best-known are Harriet Tubman and

Sojourner Truth. Although, retrospectively, Harriet Tubman fought for human rights by helping slaves run away through the Underground Railroad, she became the symbol of freedom for many black women. Sojourner Truth, famous for her “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech, on the contrary, mainly fought for women’s rights of her fellow black women.

Nonetheless, there were many more women who recognized that the fight for equality between sexes as well as races was needed.

In addition, the first women’s rights convention in the United Stated was held in

1848, already during the First Wave feminism, in Seneca Falls. But it is important to say, that this convention was attended by white women only – thus they could not discuss problems that black women challenged. Therefore, it could be said that this is the year when racism within the feminist movement started to show. Moreover, this convention was in essence “a meeting attended by 300 people (including 40 men) to demand an end to all discrimination based on sex” (Sanders 23). Abolitionist movement was also highly supported during this period and many abolitionists were also feminists, but it is necessary to highlight that not all abolitionists supported the feminist movement.

Similarly, one important name needs to be mentioned – Cady Stanton. This woman “became the most important of the American feminists campaigning for modification of the divorce laws, married women’s property rights, and the vote”

(Sanders 24). As it follows from that, feminism in America was partly different because it was connected to the abolitionist movement, nevertheless, its significance is still prominent.

The First Wave feminism in Britain was filled with efforts of women who tried to change rights for themselves as well as for other women. One such woman was Caroline

Norton, who around 1839 fought for the Infant Custody Act “which permitted separated wives of ‘good character’, against whom adultery had not been proven, to have custody

of any children under seven (with the Lord Chancellor’s approval), and access to their older children” (Sanders 21). Thanks to Norton, women gained bigger right over their own children, before that children could be separated from their mothers if their father felt the need to do so. Moreover, it is important to notice that only in 1973 did the mothers gain the same legal authority over the children as the fathers (Sanders 21), which indicates that feminism was indeed useful even after the First Wave.

The decade of the 1850s was probably the most important one of the First Wave feminism. During this time, the “Langham Place” circle was founded. It was “a group of middle-class, activist women who discussed and published their views about women”

(Sanders 23). Members of this group were also authors of some of the most crucial feminist works of the period, such as Bessie Rayner Parkes with her book Remarks on the

Education of Girls, published in 1854 (Sanders 23). Later, during the 1870s–80s,

Josephine Butler “took feminism into the streets, workhouses and prison” (Watkins 62).

Butler was yet another example of an ambitious woman, who wanted the vital change.

Moreover, during the 19th century women all over the world gained support from government. Better education was also achieved by women, at least in most of the

European countries.

At the beginning of the 20th century, attitudes towards feminism started to be gradually warmer. In 1903, Emmeline Pankhurst founded Women’s Social and Political

Union (Watkins 72). She was one of the “rebels”, mainly because of her courage to do brave things in order to achieve better, as well as new, rights for women. Pankhurst and her organization founded a newspaper called Votes for Women (Simkin) and organized suffragettes’ meetings. During this period many suffragettes, who were trying to get the right to vote for women, were also arrested but it did not stop them, since they were determined to attain what they wanted. Consequently, women over thirty won the right

to vote, not only because the government was so weakened by the First World War

(Watkins 78).

When it comes to the right to vote for women, many countries all around the world, but especially in Europe, made vote for women accessible during the beginning of the 20th century. This was happening mainly thanks to the feminist movement that was urging the governments to give them this right, that is nowadays considered as basic. One of the first countries to give women the right to vote was New Zealand in 1893. Many countries soon followed, for example Germany, Finland, or Russian (Miller). A few countries in the United States enfranchised only white women, however, this was later solved with the enactment of the Nineteenth Amendment that says that the right cannot be denied on the basis of sex. Although many women started to gain better and almost equal rights to men, it was mostly white women, therefore privileged women, who were entitled to the vote during this era.

Nevertheless, after a few calm years, when the World War II started, many women in almost all countries involved in this war, began to work in factories to replace men who were sent to fight. Although World War II was cruel to many, women finally had the opportunity to show that they can replace men and that they are truly as powerful and strong as men are. Moreover, “it was World War II that can be argued as the primary trigger for the second wave feminist movement that occurred after the war” (“What was the Second…”). Thus, even more women felt that they should be given the same respect, rights and possibilities as men had. In the 1950s, many started to support the civil rights movement and subsequently, the feminist movement saw its rise again.

The second wave feminism started around the 1960s. Although there is a big gap between the peak of the First Wave feminism in 1918 when women over thirty won right to vote in the UK, and the 1960s when Second Wave feminism started, except for World

War II, there were not many significant occurrences. One of the most significant events that needs to be mentioned happened in the United Kingdom in 1928, ten years after women over thirty won the right to vote, when all citizens over 21 could vote (Miller).

Moreover, women gained the right to vote in many more countries. Subsequently, this right was gained by women of colour as well.

2.2 Second Wave Feminism

Second Wave feminism, or as it is more commonly known Women’s Liberation

Movement, is up to this day particularly important because it helped to shape the society as we know it today. Although women had already won the right to vote in many countries during the First Wave feminism, there were still plenty of aspects in which women were not equal to men. Second Wave feminists helped to change various things via their protests, organizations and other actions. This subchapter talks about the Second Wave feminism and what changes it brought. It also mentions current feminist movement.

As it was already mentioned, the tragic yet partially beneficial occurrence of

World War II helped women demonstrate their strengths and the fact that they are indeed in many aspects equal to men. It was Simone de Beauvoir in 1949 who was the first to ask the question of how women were perceived in the then society in her book The Second

Sex. She helped to show “how society fosters the idea of what a woman should do and act, where gender roles are learned and forced upon women” (“What was the Second…”).

What de Beauvoir’s work started, a great deal of writers not only asked themselves, but they also expanded this question, which certainly put a pressure on the society’s perception of women.

Furthermore, next to the writings, many women started creating various organizations whose goals were to support women, their personal goals and the feminist movement itself. To illustrate, Betty Friedan, author of successful and nowadays considered as classic book The Feminine Mystique published in 1963, founded NOW –

National Organization for Women – in 1966 (Thornham 30). This organization, which was among others one of the best known, was founded after “the failure of America’s

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to take seriously the issues of sex discrimination” (Thornham 30). This proves that women did react to incidents in the

society, especially when it concerned them. Other American women organizations included National League of Women Voters, which was incidentally in existence since the 1920s, National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC), as well as organizations created by black women for black women, such as National Black Feminist Organization (Lewis).

These organizations not only produced pressure on the government and society in general, but they also helped women to feel less alone, more united and understood.

The goals of the Women’s Liberation far succeeded the goals of the First Wave feminists. Probably one of the most well-known goals of this era was the equal work opportunities and pay for both sexes, which is, unfortunately, still goal of the feminists up to this day. Before, women had scarcely the same wage as men for the same work, they also usually did not even have the chance to get the same job as men, even if they had the same experience. Another goal was to normalize women’s pregnancies while being employed, since many women could be dismissed or denied jobs only because they became pregnant. And lastly, they tried to end sexism, which was for many women a daily occurrence. Certainly, there were many more goals which Second Wave feminists tried to achieve, however, there is no need nor the possibility to name them all.

It was already mentioned, that from the beginning of the feminist movement, many activists were from the rows of writers. Therefore, it is no surprise that one of the methods to assert their social goals was to use language. Women did not only write nonfiction works concerning the feminist movement, but also fiction works which supported the movement and promoted it. What is more, another usage of language was to “hide their [women’s] marital status” (“From Suffrage to…”), so they started using equivocal Ms. instead of Miss or Mrs, so that they would not give away whether they were married or not.

As with the First Wave feminism, the Second Wave feminism was also different in the United States and in Britain. Not only were there distinctions in what the feminists in these two countries tried to achieve, but also there were distinctions between who was part of the feminist movement. In the United States, the fight towards liberation was supported not only by white women but also by women of other races, mainly Black,

American Indian, and Asian, which tried to work together as much as possible. In Britain, race was not as discussed, even though there were many women of colour, since “the most prominent social division centred on class” (Thornham 32). It is certain, that this division between the USA and Britain was present even before, nevertheless, during the

Second Wave feminism it was even more prominent.

A big part of the Women’s Liberation Movement was focused on the so called

“sisterhood”, which was highly promoted between white and mostly black feminists.

Notwithstanding, many of the black feminists did not feel included in this “friendship”, besides, many of them do not feel included in the feminist movement even now. As

Thornham wrote, “black women were on the whole sceptical about a movement which claimed ‘sisterhood’ but in which they had to struggle for visibility” (32). White women ignored many problems, which played an important part in Women’s Liberation, while black feminists did not. These problems did not only apply to race, but also to sexual preference, class or age, thus “while the essentialist ‚we‘ or ‚sisterhood‘ of the second wave was ostensibly meant to unify the women’s movement, instead it proved to be a painful source of factionalization” (Mann, Huffman 59).

White privilege is something that is known by many people today as well, even after such a long fight for equality of races. Moreover, this white privilege is very much present within the feminist movement as well, “hierarchies are established and maintained, even under the politics of liberation” (Shrugged). This problem is also known

as the “race hierarchy” where the white people are on the top and other races at the bottom of this scheme. As it is written in the article about racism within the feminist movement:

“Treating white womanhood as normative not only serves to marginalise women of colour within the feminist movement, but positions our needs as secondary to those of white women, propagating the hierarchy of race within feminism” (Shrugged). Thus, white women have a seemingly “simpler” position not only within the feminist movement but also in the society. Also, their is heard more and thus they are able to solve troubles almost promptly and without any complications.

In spite of this, sisterhood was still promoted, even though most of the women saw the problems that it represented. In 1968, American radical feminist Kathie Sarachild coined the phrase “Sisterhood is Powerful” which was used in a leaflet for the New York

Radical Women’s first public action (“Sisterhood is Powerful”). In 1970, this phrase was used to name a collection of radical feminist writings whose full name is Sisterhood Is

Powerful: An Anthology of Writings from the Women's Liberation Movement

(“Sisterhood is Powerful”). Thus, sisterhood was still present, promoted and considered as a right way for feminists to unite, although it hardly represented women of colour equally.

Nowadays, many scholars and feminists are talking about the “Third Wave”, nevertheless, this era of feminism is still very much speculated about. To be precise, many activists and scholars do not even agree on the name “Third Wave feminism” but use other terms, such as contemporary feminism, postfeminism, modern feminism and so on.

Still, the development of feminism since the end of the Women’s Liberation in the 1980s has been very interesting and fulfilling. Yet, it has been within the last few years that the feminist movement started to be greatly visible and more active again. This can be

perhaps thanks to young celebrities, who are promoting feminism in their field of work, other young people, or political affairs that are shaking women’s rights.

Currently, there are two movements within the feminist movement which are receiving the most attention not only from feminists, but also from media and those, who do not support feminism. These two movements are #MeToo movement and Time’s Up.

Both movements are connected to celebrities and mainly sexual harassment in the film industry. The latter was founded by Hollywood celebrities as the at the beginning of 2018 as a response to the accusations against Harvey Weinstein. As the official website states,

Time’s Up is “an organization that insists on safe, fair and dignified work for women of all kinds” (“About TIME’S UP”).

Today, apparently the best-known organization or movement is #MeToo, which was founded in 2006 by Tarana Burke to “help survivors of sexual violence, particularly

Black women and girls, and other young women of colour from low wealth communities, find pathways to healing” (“About”). This movement went viral after Hollywood actress

Alyssa Milano shared a hashtag #MeToo as a response to accusations against already mentioned Harvey Weinstein. Moreover, the movement is very important as it supports victims of domestic violence, rape and sexual harassment to not be afraid to report an assault, which is significant since many victims are not able to live properly after such experience. Thus, both mentioned organizations are crucial for today’s feminism since both support people – no matter what their gender is – to come forward with their unpleasant experiences, therefore they are slowly eradicating the stigma that still surrounds the victims of sexual harassment.

Yet, even after so many years since the feminist movement has started, there are many problems that keep following the movement. Some of these problems have been here since the beginning – in particular racism within the movement is present up to this

day. Besides, there are many new problems which came up after the Women’s Liberation movement. Probably the most notable one is whether transgendered women should be part of the “women’s community” or whether they will never be women since they have experienced the male privilege and do not experience what women do during childhood.

This dispute was raised also by Germaine Greer (“Germaine Greer…”), one of the most iconic feminists, however, she received a lot of negative response for such comments. To conclude, these problems are still discussed and not solved at all, thus there is no possibility to make definite comments about feminism today.

3. Fay Weldon – Life

Since this thesis focuses on feminism and analysis from the feminist perspective, it is important to say at least a few words about the author of the discussed novel – Fay

Weldon. She was a well-known activist during the Second Wave of feminism.

Furthermore, she is also one of the most important British authors whose work can certainly be considered feminist. During the Second Wave of feminism, she wrote many crucial novels discussing old and new feminist perspectives and ideas – mainly because she did not agree with all the ideas presented by feminists and she wanted to include her own ideas. To illustrate, Down among the Women, Praxis, or The Life and Loves of a She- devil on which this thesis is focused, are a few novels that are concerned with feminism.

This chapter deals with life and experiences of Fay Weldon.

Fay Weldon was born, according to her autobiography Auto da Fay that was published in 2002, on 22 September 1931 in England, however, some sources, for example Dowling’s Fay Weldon’s Fiction, state that she was born two years later, that is in 1933. She grew up partly in New Zealand and partly in England, where she moved back again with her mother Margaret and sister Jane. She was a successful copywriter until 1967 when she published her first novel The Fat Woman’s Joke, which started her outstanding career as a writer. Weldon’s pieces are not only fiction works, she also wrote various books for children, numerous plays, articles or screenplays. Presently, she is still actively writing and comments on current affairs.

In childhood, Weldon was surrounded by women. Although her mother Margaret moved with Fay and her older sister Jane from Britain to New Zealand to be with their father Frank, their marriage soon fell apart, consequently a divorce followed “in which both parties admitted to infidelity” (Farndale). Thus, Weldon lived with her mother, who provided all the income for her little family, and sister Jane in New Zealand, where later

Weldon’s grandmother joined them. She came to New Zealand “supposedly to help out, but she had very little money and so became just another mouth to feed” (Burroway).

After World War II, this four-female family experienced “a Dickensian change of fortune” (Burroway). Margaret inherited some money from her almost unknown uncle, and so she was able to transfer not only herself and her daughters, but also her mother, safely back to England (Burroway).

Weldon was nearly unaware of the world outside her all-female family. During one interview she declared: “I thought the world was composed of women. I always assumed the world was female and I was astonished to discover that on the outside it was assumed to be male” (Dowling 27). She was certainly affected by this realization, which may be one of the reasons why she wanted women to have the same rights as men did.

Furthermore, she also experienced the same-sex desire, about which she writers her autobiography: “I fell in love with a girl of my age, Jean Francis” (Weldon, Auto 172), because she went to an all-girls school and did not know any boys. This suggests that she though that there were mostly women in the world, which also influenced her work.

Weldon’s mother, Margaret, was an outstanding figure at that time. Although she had suitors after the divorce, she never married again, which was considered rather strange at that time, thus became a single mother (Weldon, Auto 152). Moreover, she had two jobs – she worked as a housekeeper and a writer – providing small but steady income for her family. Although it was very difficult and the family suffered from poverty,

Margaret ensured her daughters’ intellectual enrichment, mainly through poetry, which she recite them as they went on walks (Weldon, Auto 124), which was certainly important since girls did not receive as quality education as boys did.

Margaret was an independent woman, who was the first feminist icon who surely inspired Weldon later in her life. Nevertheless, Weldon portrays her mother in her

autobiography Auto da Fay as a very serious and tough woman (Farndale). Moreover,

Weldon also said that she was “brought up at a certain time in a certain age and marriage was what girls did. A girl’s ambition was to get married and that’s all I [she] ever wanted to do” (Stephenson), which is contradictory to what her mother did. Consequently,

Margaret’s attitude towards marriage raises questions whether she did not regret her decision not to marry again or if she wanted to ensure that her daughters will not suffer as she did, thus they should marry a good and rich husband.

Nonetheless, while her mother was an incredible feminist icon, Weldon’s grandmother was the very opposite. As Minczingerova writes in her thesis about Fay

Weldon’s works: “When she [Weldon’s grandmother] was eighteen years old, having no money, support, or a promising future, she decided to get married only because she had no other choice” (9). Hence, Weldon also knew what kind of life she did not want to lead

– to be powerless and dependent on a man. There was also a difference between Fay and her sister Jane, who was always seen as a neat and obedient girl, while Fay was a “rebel”

(Minczingerova 9). As a result of this, Weldon learned that women are condemned by society if they do not fit within the its standards.

Since early adulthood, Weldon challenged various problems. During secondary education, which was in the course of this era already more accessible for women, her little family was very poor. She had to get free lunches at school as a result of being a child of the poor. She also felt like she did not belong anywhere because her family could not afford things that other families could (Weldon, Auto 185). Later, she also started to realize, thanks to her friend Ellen and her mother who told her so, that as a clever woman, she was found rather unattractive by the opposite gender, who was, as in general of clever women, rather scared of her (Weldon, Auto 212).

When she decided to apply for a university, she got accepted because of her

“boyish” name, Franklin – that her mother gave her because she “was so certain the baby would be a boy she didn't bother to think up a girl's name” (“Fay Weldon unmasked”).

However, when she filled the forms for a female hall, the university suddenly asked about her gender and when she stated that she indeed was a woman, she got rejected. As she says in her autobiography when recalling this event: “their female quota was full. It was at the time something like one woman to every five men” (Weldon, Auto 188). In the end, however, she was accepted.

It was during this time, that she started to have various relationships with men.

Soon she got pregnant and so she decided to leave the university. Because she chose to keep the child, and become a single mother, she left her family and started to live on her own (Minczingerova 10). However, she realized that as a single mother, she would not be able to obtain enough means to raise her child properly, while being all alone.

Therefore, she got married out of convenience to a man that was twenty-five years older

(Farndale).

What is more, she also had a hard time trying to find a suitable and fulfilling job.

She had many jobs, such as a ward orderly (Weldon, Auto 249), before she got to work in advertising where she finally found success. She is well-known for creating various slogans that are popular even today, for instance “Vodka makes you drunker quicker” is, as she says, “her crowning achievement” (Piepenbring). Nonetheless, later she decided to follow the path of her mother and other ancestors and she published The Fat Woman’s

Joke which started her career as a novelist.

Nowadays, Weldon is still active despite being in her late eighties. She has published more than thirty novels, many collections of short stories, and various TV and radio plays. Moreover, she also became a screenwriter and is known for writing many

pilots for TV, such as “Upstairs, Downstairs” (Weldon, Auto 184), which was a 1970s

British TV series. Weldon also comments on various events which have been happening, she is mainly known for having controversial and strong opinions.

When it comes to Weldon and her attitude toward feminism, it seems that her relationship with feminism is still evolving, though one cannot be certain whether her opinions are getting better or worse. What is more, she does not have a consistent opinion and keeps changing what she says and often pretends that she does not remember what she actually said (Dowling 25). She used to be one of the leading activists in Britain during the 1970s, however, nowadays she says that feminism has been indeed bad for women (Stephenson). Moreover, even during the 1970s her opinion on feminism kept changing and she was not afraid to say very provocative and controversial things.

Perhaps the most controversial statement that Weldon ever proclaimed was in

1998 about rape, when she asserted that rape “isn't the worst thing that can happen to a woman” (Blamires). This comment caused outrage among many women, especially those who experienced this dreadful act. Moreover, she also claimed that when she was younger, she was almost raped but it “didn't shatter my [her] view of men” (Blamires).

Here Weldon tried to prove, that if women are confessing to being raped, they are glorifying it. She tried to indicate that if somebody is raped, it is not the worst thing that can happen to them because they are still alive. Nevertheless, Weldon talks from the perspective of someone who has not been raped, thus her point of view was not taken very seriously.

Weldon was also very passionate about acceptance of women as equal to men.

She fought for same job opportunities for women, besides she herself knew the hardship of women’s lower wages compared to men’s wages, thus she fought against the wage gap. However, nowadays she criticizes this move. She says that: “By going out to work

they [women] halved the male wage, so a male wage no longer supported a family. So women had to go out to work to help support the family” (Hastings). But, at the same times she claims, that “what was earned was a good thing” (Stephenson). This proves that her opinions are changing rather quickly, moreover, this also shows that Weldon is not satisfied with the progress of the feminist movement.

Moreover, Weldon recently started saying that feminism has been bad for women.

She says that nowadays men are seen as predators and women must “try harder to stop judging and start liking men” (Stephenson). She even takes this point further and claims:

Feminism probably suited one woman in three. And one woman in three would

rather stay home, look after the children and had no ambition. Healthy, educated

middle-class women persuaded everyone else that they should be feminists. It

happened because it suited new technology — women could do all that. Muscle

power, which was what men had, was no longer needed. (Stephenson)

Weldon, who has four sons and has been married three times, has this opinion because she changed her point of view and started to see things from men’s perspective, since she is very affected by her family (Stephenson). Therefore, it can be also said that Weldon is very affected by her surroundings – earlier she was affected by having a lot of women around her, nowadays she is affected by having a lot of men around.

Perhaps the latest controversy that Weldon emerged with was that transgender women can never be considered “real” women. This claim firstly came up from Germain

Greer (“Germaine Greer: Transgender…”), however, Weldon decided to develop this idea by writing a sequel to The Life and Loves of a She Devil, called Death of a She

Devil. This sequel was published in 2017. Weldon in this sequel declares that “The only way men have of fighting back against the natural superiority of women is by becoming women themselves” (Hastings). Nonetheless, her allegations are not confirmed – also,

she is writing only from her own perspective without any confirmation from transgender women. Thereafter, this novel was once again not taken seriously, and it was very criticized by many people.

3.1 Fay Weldon’s Works

For the purpose of this thesis, it is also necessary to discuss Weldon’s work, since most of her novels are considered feminist, or they at least partially deal with feminist issues. What is more, as Dowling writes in her work about Weldon’s novels “Weldon brought the full import of the [feminist] movement home to thousands of women through her highly readable style” (19). This subchapter discusses what Weldon’s novels contain and what connects them.

Weldon’s writing style is mainly influenced by her work in advertising. She is using clear and easily understandable language, so that she can precisely communicate with the reader. She is using short paragraphs and dialogues to maintain the reader’s focus. Her stories, as well as stories by other female writers from the 1970s, are drawn upon not only earlier literary works but also fairy tales, myths or folk-lore (Wheeler 253).

What is more, she is also inspired by her own experiences, as Dowling writes: “the content, style, and form of her fiction draw heavily on her experiences as daughter, mother, wife, and working woman” (29). Nevertheless, Weldon’s style keeps evolving, she is mainly expanding her themes and techniques, with each novel.

As it was mentioned many times, Weldon’s works are feminist, however, Weldon herself said, that she would not consider herself to be a feminist writer: “I am a feminist but I would not label myself a feminist writer, because that would mean that I write my novels because I am a feminist. I am a feminist and I write novels, and because I believe that feminism is the true view of the world what I write is bound to come out to be feminist” (my translation, Franková 178). What is more, she herself does not follow any specific feminist theory. Her feminism consists mainly of critique of the society which perceives women as less human than men. Nevertheless, nowadays she thinks that these roles have changed, and women are perceived as less human than men.

In her earlier works, men were always anti-heroes and women were heroines.

Male characters did not have many positive characteristics, they were often rather successful and rich, but weaker than women. She was also often criticized for the unfair treatment of men in her novels but “these complaints come most often from male reviewers uncomfortable at (or secretly outraged by) her perceived attacks on their sex”

(Dowling 43). Furthermore, until 2016 Weldon did not write a novel that would talk about mainly positively about male character. In 2016, she published Before the War where one male character is seen as the hero (Stephenson). The reason why Weldon wrote for the first time about a male hero is because as she said, her views have changed: “As society changes and men increasingly seem to be getting a hard deal, you begin to see things from their point of view” (Stephenson).

On the other hand, women are almost never criticized but rather realistically described. Weldon writes about women’s everyday life – from daily house chores such as washing up dishes, to taking care of other people. She also explores various themes and issues, mainly about relationships between women, their lives and “their bodily processes” (Wheeler 252). She also talks about motherhood, but she does not criticize women who either refuse to have or do not want to care for children.

Sisterhood plays a big part in Weldon’s works as well. As it says above, during the 1970s, sisterhood was promoted and highly popular among feminists, however, it was not ideal. Weldon noticed this imperfect relationship between women and decided, as opposed to other writers, not to idealize it but rather expose problems that surround it.

Moreover, Weldon says that from the 1950s women were able to choose their partners more freely, thus it means less rivalry between women. Nevertheless, the “ideal of sisterhood stays distant, both in today’s society and Weldon’s novels” (my translation,

Franková 178).

4. Feminism in The Live and Loves of a She-devil

The Life and Loves of a She-devil is a novel written by Fay Weldon and published in 1983. Although Weldon was already a well-established writer when publishing this book, it received extensive attention not only from Weldon’s admirers, but also from literary critics and those who had never heard of Weldon. What is more, this novel is probably the most discussed novel that she has ever written thanks to the ground-breaking ideas she presented. This chapter introduces the analysed novel and also mentions its influence.

Fay Weldon has been since her first published book, The Fat Woman’s Joke, a controversial yet loved writer. She has never been afraid to present her own ideas not only in her writings, but also in interviews, she was as unapologetic then as she is now. Her gynocentric writings are focused on “bad”, almost evil female protagonists who do not fit within the society, yet they do not follow the feminist agenda. She herself, just like her work, became loved but also despised by other feminists.

On the other hand, The Life and Loves of a She-devil became one of the most successful novels written during the Women’s Liberation. It is not only Weldon’s most analysed but also her most celebrated and popular novel that she had ever written

(Armitstead) even after thirty-six year after its publication. With this book Weldon gave the Second Wave feminists encouragement to become the antiheroines that society warned girls from early childhood not to be. On 240 pages, Weldon proved that not all women have to be innocent and angelic, but they can become she-devils and achieve things that they always dreamt of.

The novel is about Ruth Patchett, an ordinary housewife who loves her husband

Bobbo and her two children, Nicola and Andy. She is ugly and abnormally tall. In other words, she is just not attractive at all. Her husband, on the other hand, is very handsome

and so he finds many lovers – among these is also Mary Fisher. Once Bobbo calls Ruth a she-devil and leaves her, their children and pets, Ruth changes and wants revenge. She is suddenly capable of anything – any immoral thing – just to get her husband back. Thus,

Ruth’s journey for a revenge, as well as her transformation into an identical picture of

Mary Fisher, starts.

Moreover, this book inspired also two adaptations – a TV mini-series and later an

American comedy film, which “completely omits Ruth’s transformation into Mary Fisher

(Dowling 111). Although the film omits perhaps the most crucial and shocking part of the novel, the TV series is as similar to the novel as possible. Also, the TV mini-series, that has four episodes, became successful and won many awards (“The Live and Loves of…”). What is more, Weldon also said that she really enjoyed it (Dowling 111), which surely adds to the success since Weldon’s own novel was the base for this series.

Presently, the legacy of the she-devil is still living. In 2018 RGM Productions announced making of She Devil!, a stage adaptation of Weldon’s 1983 novel (“Announcing SHE

DEVIL!…”). Thus, it can be said that Weldon’s she-devil is still living and inspires women all around the world to find their inner antiheroines.

4.1 Female Roles

Just like other novels written by Fay Weldon, The Life and Loves of a She-devil is a gynocentric writing. Weldon’s novels were until 2016 exclusively about female heroines and they never included not even a chapter from the perspective of a man, which made Weldon rather distinctive from other female authors during the Second Wave

Feminism. To repeat, only in 2016 did she write a novel, called Before the War, where the hero is a man and not a woman (Stephenson). The Life and Loves of a She-devil is also written from the perspective of a woman. This time it is from the perspective of Ruth

Patchett – a mother, wife and later a she-devil. This subchapter deals with female roles that are portrayed in the novel.

As in most of Weldon’s novels, there is not only one main female character. In this particular novel, there are two female protagonists – already mentioned Ruth Patchett, and her enemy Mary Fisher. In addition, they are complete opposites, which makes the novel more interesting. Ruth is “clumsy” and “no beauty, but a good soul”

(Weldon, Life 9), at least that is how Ruth is picturing that Bobbo is describing her. On the contrary, Mary Fisher is everything Ruth is not – “small and pretty and delicately formed” (Weldon, Life 6). However, these two otherwise totally different women are connected via Bobbo – Ruth’s husband and Mary’s lover. Further, there are more female characters, but they are neither as complex, nor they have as much space as the character of Ruth and Mary.

Throughout the novel, Weldon is playing with roles of the women, as well as with the well-known female stereotypes and even exaggerates these stereotypes to prove the points she wants to make. What is more, “thanks to this exaggeration, the transformations of the heroines in the end is even more impressive” (Minczingerová 14). In this novel, she is using mainly two stereotypes. The first one being of an envious, evil wife – which

is depicted through the character of Ruth. The second is of a dependent, innocent lover, or an angle – depicted through the character of Mary. Both stereotypes are common among our patriarchal society, what is more, in this novel, they develop and transform with shocking results. What is more, these stereotypes also show how men perceive women because “there are ‘good’ women – for whom he [man] feels fondness and respect; and there are ‘bad’ women who arouse him sexually; in literature these projections of the man’s feelings become the stereotypes of the virtuous woman … and the sensuous woman” (Wolff 208). Moreover, this perception of women by men is not only literary stereotype but also stereotype in real life.

The latter stereotype is more visible in the novel and it is also more common in the reality as well. As it is written in a novel, Mary Fisher is “sleeping with men while pretending that she doesn’t” (Weldon, Life 6). This suggests that she pretending to be an innocent woman that is delicate and is just so sweet and beautiful – which Mary certainly is. What is more, Mary is not only innocent and beautiful, just like angels are, but she is also very submissive; she is also described as having “a gentle and pliable nature”

(Weldon, Life 5), which also suggests that she is easily manipulated and therefore she is capable of doing anything. This is portrayed in the novel when Bobbo is accused of forging money and Mary does whatever she can to help him – she “hires the most expensive lawyers in the world” (Weldon, Life 132) and later she even loses all her possessions just to save Bobbo. This stereotype is very common even nowadays, it is known to many women that men love women who are innocent.

In addition, Mary Fisher wants to be loved so she needs to be submissive – at least that is what the novel tells. But it can be argued from the common knowledge that it is fundamentally true in reality as well. Obedience plays a big role in the stereotype of an angel. Weldon writes: “She [Mary] desires his [Bobbo’s] good pinion: she will do

anything to have it, even look after his children, her mother, grow old before her time.

His good opinion means a good night in bed” (Life 96). This confirms that Mary, or the stereotype she represents, is dependent on a person – in this case on a man – and wants to please this person just to get their love and attention. Yet, these stereotypes often destroy themselves, as it was also in case of Mary, who lost all her possessions and in the end was diagnosed with cancer which was also fatal. Through this shocking ending,

Weldon points out that these stereotypes are often connected with self-destruction and sacrifice. Nevertheless, she also makes this stereotype more extreme to show how misguided these stereotypes can be.

Weldon is also mentioning the role of young women. These women portray role of mothers who seek work “either from choice or through necessity” (Weldon, Life 119).

This was true for many women during the Women’s Liberation. Women had to find work to support their families because their husband either had a low income or abandoned his family. Moreover, during the Women’s Liberation, maternity leave, as well as child care, was only just starting to be more common (Goodman), as oppose to today. Through this

Weldon is pointing out that women are not only mothers and wives but also breadwinners, therefore they have more roles in family, and in society, than men. What is more, many women are even today forced to seek jobs instead of being at home with they children.

Although some women choose to work instead of being at home, there are still women who does not have a choice and has to work because of more or less the same reasons as it was during the Second Wave feminism.

Furthermore, Weldon also reacts to the unpleasant truth of women being denied or being dismissed from work either because of being pregnant or having young children.

Via Vesta Rose Employment Agency, Weldon is pointing out a solution that could be beneficial for mothers. So, this represents that women’s role is often seen as mothers and

not as careerists. Although this problem was addressed mainly during the Women’s

Liberation, nowadays many employers also dismiss women because of the same reasons.

This indicates, that women are often put into roles of mothers and they are forced to become housewives instead of being able to work just like men.

Similarly, young women were often taught to not have ambitions and rather become mothers or wives. This problem is only partially raised when Ruth talks about

Mary Fisher and says that Mary “has earned all her money herself” (Weldon, Life 5). This suggests that not many women could have careers, or they could earn money themselves

– since most of them were supposed to become mothers. Even though this was particularly true before the 21st century, it is true in some extend also today. As Adichie said in her

2012 TEDx talk: “We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller, we say to girls: ‘You can have ambition, but not too much.’, ‘You should aim to be successful, but not too successful, otherwise you would threaten the man’” (12:21-12:36).

Although this problem is not as common as it was, there are still many countries that do not even offer a proper education for girls, which means that girls are unable to have good jobs and therefore they cannot fulfil their dreams concerning careers. Thus, there is still a lot of pressure put on girls about their roles in the society.

As it was already mentioned many times in this subchapter, during the Women’s

Liberation, many women were expected to become obedient housewives. Ruth met this fate and she became an example of an obedient and loving housewife. However, these roles were complicated. As it happened to many “plain and virtuous” (Weldon, Life 47) housewives, Ruth’s husband committed adultery. Here, Weldon proves that many women suffer while maintaining their role of loving housewives. They must be obedient and loyal to their partners, while creating happy and cosy environment at home. Thus, “a wife’s only worthwhile achievement is to make her husband happy – it is understood that he

may have other more important things to do than make her happy” (Greer 274).

Thankfully, nowadays these problems are not as regular, and women are able to rather easily terminate their relationships without many complications or consequences.

In this novel, Weldon is writing about an ordinary woman, who finally increased her courage to change her fate and get what she deserves. Yet, Ruth is the exception since most of the women in the novel, as well as in the era of the Second Wave feminism, are housewives or misfits. Both housewives and misfits share similar destiny, they are mostly alone. As Greer writes about housewives: “The unfortunate wife-mother finds herself anti-social in other ways as well. The home is her province, and she is lonely there (225).

Thus, Weldon also shows that female roles often mean that women are alone and lead anti-social lifestyle that is designated for family. Nevertheless, Ruth is an antiheroine, a prototype of a woman that is rebellious and not afraid to show her true colours. Thereafter, the character of Ruth is supposed to show that women can be more than just a housewives or mothers – they can create revolution, as they actually did, and show that they are capable of much more than men think.

The stereotype of evil and envious wife has to be discussed. Although this stereotype is not uncommon, Weldon put into this stereotype also something more. She showed women that they can become antiheroines and fight for themselves in order to achieve what they want. Nevertheless, this stereotype is usually connected with jealous wife, who wants her partner back, and who is can do anything just to take him away from his mistress. Although this aspect of “doing anything for love” is similar to the stereotype of an angel, it is not sexualized or liked, because this stereotype is not desirable. So, these stereotypes are often seen as hysterical and malicious, while in reality they are only a reaction to something unpleasant – such as husband having an affair. Ruth was such a stereotype herself, yet she did not become hysterical, she became a she-devil, therefore

she was able to do literally anything for love and for revenge. This extremism that is created by Weldon, is supposed to show that such stereotypes are unjust because they are a mockery of loyal wives whose only desire is to get their partners back.

Moreover, the role of Ruth in this novel is, as it was said, to show that women should not be afraid to come out of their shells and become who they truly are. They should not be tied by society’s standards but rather become free. This is essentially very important because it was not common. Moreover, although Ruth underwent a drastic cosmetic surgery, Weldon also says that women should not be afraid to become what they desire, to be the woman they always wanted to be. As Greer says:

It takes a great deal of courage and independence to decide to design your own image instead of the one that society rewards, but it gets easier as you go along. Of course, a woman who decides to go her own way will find that her conditioning in ineradicable, but at least she can recognize its operation and choose to counteract it. (146)

This shows that women who decide to take fate into their own hands become free and they suddenly without the restrictions and norms of the society.

4.2 Male versus Female Characters

It is no surprise that there are differences between male and female characters, yet

Weldon takes these distinctions and makes them even more visible and extreme to show that there is a discrimination between the two sexes. Although there are fewer male characters than female characters, she still manages to perfectly point out these mostly sexist distinctions. What is more, these differences are not only in literature, but they can be applied to life as well. In this subchapter, male versus female characters will be discussed while providing the examples from the novel. The purpose of this subchapter is to show the differences between male and female characters in this novel.

Male characters in this novel are not complex, as it usually is with male characters in Weldon’s novels, still, they greatly portray men’s attitude towards women. They are sexist, think only about themselves and their well-being, and they want to be successful.

However, it is important to point out, that there are some male stereotypes that Weldon uses, therefore it cannot be said that all men behave like this. While that is true, these stereotypes are not going to be discussed in this part.

Men are usually valued and considered as something more than women are. In spite of this, it is men who are usually the centre of women’s life. In this case, Bobbo is a centre for both Ruth and Mary. Nevertheless, this is nothing new, since “in literature when women compete, it is always for the attentions of a man” (Wolff 206). Still, this is essentially true not only in literature, but also in reality. That is perhaps the first difference that deduced from this novel. For women, it is usually men that are the centre of their life, while for men it is usually success or money.

It is well-known that Freud identifies the masculine with activity and the feminine with the passivity. Yet, these differences feel sexists and suggest that women as well as femininity are passive and submissive, while men as well as masculinity assert power.

This distinction, however, is also marked by Weldon in the novel when she writes: “The men nod and laugh: the women tremble and smile and drop dishes“ (Weldon, Life 8). This also suggests that men are more dominant than women, which is certainly not true because many women show more signs of dominance – not only in sexual relationships but also in jobs and so on. Nevertheless, this novel also confirms that this assumption is not true

– especially the ending of the novel when Ruth “broke” Bobbo:

Sometimes I let Bobbo sleep with me. Or I take my lovers in front of him. What

agreeable turmoil that causes in the household! … I cause Bobbo as much misery

as he ever caused me, and more. I try not to, but somehow it is not a matter of

male of female, after all; it never was, merely of power. I have all, and he has

none. As I was, he is now. (Weldon, Life 240)

As Weldon writes here, being dominant or having a power in not only female or male, power and dominance belongs to all genders. Thus, she tries to prove that women are not weaker or more submissive because of their gender, and that they can assert power as well.

Division of power is also highly visible in households. Women’s Liberation started in the 1960s during the peak of suburban families and women being portrayed as perfect housewives and mothers. This concept, however, was promoted even after the

Women’s Liberation continued. These seemingly perfect families, nonetheless, experienced many problems, for example infidelity. Although “good women love their husbands” (Weldon, Life 14), it is usually the husband who does not return this love – as it also happened in this novel. Moreover, there is a problem of husbands being attracted to the wives since “a man cannot be expected to be faithful to a wonderful mother and a good wife – such concepts lack the compulsion of the erotic” (Weldon, Life 9), which also indicates that wives and mothers lack sexuality. Thus, there are differences between

sexual activity of men and women. While men that are having multiple relationships are considered normal and approved of, women who have multiple relationships are called whores and they are judged. Weldon is showing that these differences are absurd and that women can be as sexual as men – as it is seen through Ruth.

In the workspace, the distinction between male and female power also exists. In this novel, it is Bobbo who is a successful accountant and whose careers is steadily growing. Because of this, he uses his power to seduce women, for example Mary Fisher or Elsie Flower, one of the clients of the Vesta Rose Agency. Moreover, there is a difference between male and female jobs: “The work [secretary and book-keeping] was not popular with men, who prefer to dictate letters and spend money rather than account for it” (Weldon, Life 115). This shows that in the past, it was men who were more powerful and abused this power. Nowadays, many women are more successful than men and they also have much more power than they used to have, this happens also thanks to the Second Wave feminism because without it, women would not have the possibility to have great education and thus great careers.

Moreover, there is a difference between how men perceive successful women. In one part of the novel, Ruth meets Geoffrey who is clearly jealous of his wife’s success:

“she … had taken a job of her own, all but out-earning him, and depriving him of his sense of purpose, his reward, for the life he led – that is, the thought that he supported her” (Weldon, Life 79). Through this Weldon is pointing out that women are usually expected to become less successful than men and they are taught always come second and let the men be on the first place. Yet, this problem is still clearly visible in our society and many feminists, such as Adichie, are asking “Why should a woman’s success be a threat to a man?” (Adichie, 12:49-12:51) suggesting that there is nothing wrong with women being more successful than men.

Nevertheless, there is also discrimination that is portrayed between male and female characters. Although male characters in Weldon’s novels are authorized to be unfaithful to their partners, female characters are not. What is more, Mary Fisher, one of the female characters, is suspected of having an affair with her young servant, by Bobbo, a male character. This discrimination is also described by Ruth herself when she starts her revenge by having an affair with Carver, an older disabled man. She tells him that she is breaking the first rule, that being a discrimination (Weldon, Life 53). This suggests that there is a discrimination between men and women when it comes to being unfaithful or having an extramarital relationship.

Another contrast between male and female character is about the perception of aging and their body image. It is common, that women are afraid of aging and many of them consult professionals in order to change their looks to look younger, while men are not concerned about ageing and are often considered more attractive when they are older.

This is also indicated in the novel when Ruth is consulting dentist who says: “Women don’t have lots of time … unlike men” (Weldon, Life 113). This shows that while women are concerned about ageing and are often judged because of their age, men are neither concerned nor judged. This distinction is particularly interesting because it can be also applied to getting pregnant. Women have a set time when they can bear a child, while men are fertile for almost their entire lives.

Another topic that Weldon raises in this novel is masculinity, especially toxic masculinity. This can be observed in the character of the judge Bissop, whose behaviour towards women shows sadistic elements. Moreover, he transfers this toxic masculinity onto his own children – “if they [his children] did anything to annoy him he would scoop up whatever was nearest – sand, earth, salt – and stuff their mouths with it” (Weldon, Life

135). This shows that he is forcing his own children to be disciplined by showing them

that being a hard man is a right was to be. In general, he is trying to learn them that “boys do not cry”, however, it is known that boys and men can cry and there is nothing wrong with that. This masculinity is also discussed by Adichie:

We do a great disservice to boys in how we raise them. We stifle the humanity of

boys. We define masculinity in a very narrow way. Masculinity is a hard, small

cage, and we put boys inside this cage. We teach boys to be afraid of fear, of

weakness, of vulnerability. We teach them to mask their true selves, because they

have to be, in Nigerian-speak—a hard man. (10:40-11:08)

This shows that boys are often in contact with toxic masculinity since the early age, they are taught to become strong and not to show any emotions. By writing about this, Weldon suggests that feminism is needed in these parts as well, feminism needs to teach parents

– especially fathers – that boys can be soft and gentle and it will not make them less of a man.

4.3 Women’s Bodies

As it always happened in the course of our history, female bodies are usually highly discussed, and it seems that women never have a full control over their bodies.

Nevertheless, the beauty and obsession with it came into existence around the 1830s

(Wolf 15) and since then this obsession has been an ongoing battle for many women, especially because of the pressure that is put on beauty. One can notice that Weldon, throughout the whole novel, keeps mentioning female bodies and either their flaws or strengths. That is because during the Second Wave feminism, women’s bodies and their weight, appearance and so on, were even more of a common topic – not only among feminists, but among other people as well. Besides, feminism wants to end sexism and hypersexualization, which has been highly visible in our society. In this manner, Weldon is writing about female bodies to show that they are exposed to criticism and sexism. In this part, a closer look is paid to Weldon’s discussion of female bodies.

Firstly, Weldon starts with a comparison of two female bodies, one is “small and pretty and delicately formed” (Life 6) and the other is large, ugly and “six foot two inches tall, which is fine for a man but not for a woman” (Life 9). Here, through the comparison of two completely different bodies, she is pointing out that only little and thin women are valuable and desired. It also indicates that beauty has become women’s most important and valuable trait and that women, who do not have the first mentioned body type, are not attractive. As Naomi Wolf claims in her book The Beauty Myth: “By the 1980s beauty had come to play in women’s status-seeking the same role as money plays in that of men: a defensive proof to aggressive competitors of womanhood or manhood” (30). Hence,

Weldon is comparing two different bodies to prove that being beautiful and desirable is the obsession of women. Moreover, through the character of Ruth, she also indicates that

even women, who might not be considered pretty by society’s new standards, can achieve spectacular things.

Moreover, Weldon also does not hide the fact that many women are exposed to criticism of their bodies since childhood. When Ruth, who is not attractive enough, thinks about her own childhood, she says: “My mother was pretty enough, and ashamed of me”

(Weldon, Life 11). Later, she also talks about her half-sisters, who were “delicate, fine- boned things” (Weldon, Life 11). Once again, Weldon is compering two different female bodies, and she is suggesting that Ruth, just like many other women, was intimated that she is not pretty enough since childhood and was certainly compared to her two half- sisters. What is more, Ruth was called “little ugly duckling” (Weldon, Life 11) by her own mother, which certainly hurt Ruth’s feelings and confidence. Thus, Weldon criticizing that girls are exposed to the society’s beauty standards since young age and they are mocked for not being pretty or skinny enough. This was also proved by two studies done in Britain in 2017. The first study, published by Girlguiding, revealed that

“children as young as seven believe they are valued more for their appearance than for their achievements or character” (Devon). The second one, revealed that “a quarter of girls exhibit symptoms of depression by the age of 14” (Devon), which is often a result of pressure put on girls.

Similarly, even later in life, many women are judged based on their appearance.

Beautiful women are often considered unintelligent and naïve, as it is known from various jokes about beautiful blond women, who are, based on their looks, stupid. Moreover, many women, who are attractive, confirmed on a Reddit threat that they are not taken seriously at work and they are thought to be stupid (Young). In this novel, it is Mary

Fisher, a beautiful writer of romances, who is not considered a “serious writer” (Weldon,

Life 102) by Bobbo as well as by Ruth because romance is not hard to write – as it is

proved by Ruth at the end of the novel. Mary cannot create something respectable and serious because of her beautiful body, thus she is stereotyped as unintelligent. Bobbo also treats her with disrespect and lies to her, yet Mary understands that Bobbo is unfaithful to her, just like he was unfaithful to Ruth with Mary herself before. This proves that although Mary is beautiful, she is also clever – which is contradictory to what many people think about beautiful women.

On the contrary, Ruth is not beautiful nor delicate, but a strong and intelligent woman, who also has four moles on her face from which hair grows. Based on this she is considered arrogant since “women who allowed hairs to grow from face moles had a self- righteous nature” (Weldon, Life 84). Yet, before Ruth became she-devil, she was insecure housewife who only wanted her husband’s love and faithfulness, she was not arrogant at all. She is also unattractive because she is clever – which is certainly inspired by Weldon’s own experiences as it is written in the chapter about Weldon’s life. Further, this was also proved by a study, carried out by Polish economics, which proved that men are indeed intimidated by intelligent women (Burriss). Thus, Weldon challenge how women’s appearance influences other people judgement of women.

Interestingly, Weldon also mentions mirrors, which are used as a tool to see reflection of one’s face and body. As is it known, mirrors are mainly used by women to see how they look. During the scene where Ruth joins a commune of separatist feminists, we find out that the Wimmin (another name for the separatist feminists) did not like mirrors because they did not reflect their feelings but their looks. Later during this part of the book Weldon writes: “Mirrors can only reflect the body, not the soul, not the woman- spirit” (Life 209), which proposes that women are often expected to look in the mirror in order to know whether they look beautiful and presentable – since that is what is expected from them. Yet, what they see is only their “exterior” and what really matters is what is

inside of them – their soul and spirit, as Weldon writes. In summary, mirrors enslave women to look in them, to see if they are beautiful all the time. This might be also inspired by Weldon’s mother, who said: “mirrors should be used as a tool for the brushing of teeth, not an instrument of self-esteem” (Weldon, “What I see”). In other words, as it is suggested here by Weldon, women are expected to look beautiful all the time, yet the real beauty is inside.

Throughout the entire novel, Ruth’s body and its transformation are certainly the central themes. It seems that Ruth was unaware of the possibilities that her own body was capable of since all she ever knew was being a mother and wife. She even says that she is “trapped in my [her] body” (Weldon, Life 7), suggesting that she does not like herself and she does not have any control over her own body. Yet, once Bobbo says that she is not “a woman at all” (Weldon, Life 42) but she is a she-devil, Ruth realizes her own possibilities and what she is truly capable of. In brief, Bobbo gave Ruth power when he told her, that she is bad at everything and she does not have any value. This is also suggested by Wolf:

But because “beauty” lives so deep in the psyche, where sexuality mingles with

self-esteem, and since it has been usefully defined as something that is continually

bestowed from the outside and can always be taken away, to tell a woman she is

ugly can make her feel ugly, act ugly, and, as far as her experience is concerned,

be ugly, in the place where feeling beautiful keeps her whole. (36)

For this reason, it can be said that women, who are so obsessed with beauty and being attractive, often realize their strengths when they are told that they are not beautiful.

Thanks to Weldon, many women realized that being an antihero or a she-devil does not necessarily mean a bad thing, but it could mean that a woman is strong and confident.

In addition to control over one’s body, Ruth also mentions that after wedding with

Bobbo, he took control over her own body when he “insisted that Ruth should wear a coil” (Weldon, Life 31). Although prevention against pregnancy is responsibility of both partners, here one can notice, that Bobbo indicated that it is only Ruth’s responsibility, thus he gained control over her body. What is more, the topic of control over women’s bodies is highly discussed even today, since laws against abortion and contraception are still being debated in many countries. To be exact, nowadays, abortion is altogether – with no exception – illegal in twenty-six countries around the world, and in thirty-seven countries is legal only if mother’s life is in danger (“Countries where…”). This shows that even after more than twenty years since the end of Women’s Liberation, women still do not have full control over their own bodies and that men, who are usually in power, can dictate what women should do with their bodies.

The turning point of the whole novel is when Ruth undergoes a long-time cosmetic surgery, which changes her entire body into the perfect image of Mary Fisher. Surely, this is the most controversial event in the whole novel. It caused a lot of outrage since Weldon was clearly supporting cosmetic surgery. In 1995, she also wrote an article in which she not only defended cosmetic surgery, but also claimed that she herself had a facelift

(Dowling 112), for which she was once again harshly criticized since this opinion went against feminist movement. Perhaps one of the most influential opponents against cosmetic surgery is above mentioned Naomi Wolf, who asserts in The Beauty Myth:

Cosmetic surgery is not “cosmetic,” and human flesh is not “plastic.” Even the

names trivialize what it is. It’s not like ironing wrinkles in fabric, or tuning up a

car, or altering outmoded clothes, the current metaphors. Trivialization and

infantilization pervade the surgeons’ language when they speak to women: “a

nip,” a “tummy tuck.” … Surgery changes one forever, the mind as well as the

body. If we don’t start to speak of it as serious, the millennium of the man-made

woman will be upon us, and we will have had no choice. (257)

Although Wolf’s point about cosmetic surgery is certainly important, there are many women nowadays, who think that cosmetic surgery is acceptable. It is believed that it is each woman’s decision and women should have control over their bodies and should be able to do whatever they want if they do not harm anybody else. Thus, Weldon rightly asserts that women can control their bodies and they have the right to change themselves.

In spite of this, Weldon also decided to add an opinion of a woman – to be precise, an opinion by Dr. Black’s wife Mrs. Black – who does not agree with cosmetic surgery.

When she sees Ruth after a series of successful operations, she thoughts that Ruth looks like “an impossible male fantasy made flesh” (Weldon, Life 224). Later, she even goes on to say that Ruth is “an insult to womanhood” (Weldon, Life 224). This proves, that

Mrs. Black was against cosmetic surgery, that changes a woman to somebody completely different. Moreover, one cannot be certain whether Weldon wanted to include an opinion of opponent to cosmetic surgery or she wanted to point out rivalry and jealousy between women, since Mrs. Black mostly reacts to Ruth’s attitude and flirting with men only because she is suddenly attractive. Therefore, Mrs. Black’s comments cannot fully represent the attitude to the cosmetic surgery.

4.4 Sisterhood

As it was already recalled, sisterhood and solidarity represented a great part of the Women’s Liberation and it continues to play a great role in today’s feminist movement as well. It was important for creating a successful movement, as hooks also says: “To build a mass-based feminist movement women needed to organize” (hooks,

Feminism 8). In spite of this, the relationship between women was often very problematic – particularly during the Second Wave. Weldon herself observed that this supposedly great bond between women was not ideal and she used her voice and writings to prove it. In this novel, just like in other novels written by Weldon, sisterhood is indeed portrayed, yet it once again is not ideal.

From the beginning of the novel, it can be noticed that Ruth Patchett and Mary

Fisher are enemies because of Bobbo, as Ruth says: “I love my husband and I hate Mary

Fisher” (Weldon, Life 6). Of course, it is understandable why Ruth says that, still, it can be used to demonstrate rivalry and often very unfriendly relationships between women

– which are, beside other things, often caused by of men. Through this Weldon exposes sisterhood as an unfulfilled article of feminist movement, which needs to be fulfilled otherwise feminism cannot be successful. What is more, it can be also used as a criticism of the upbringing of girls, as Adichie says in her TEDx talk: “We raise girls to see each other as competitors not for jobs or accomplishments, which I think can be a good thing, but for the attention of men” (15:59-16:06).

Similarly, many times in the novel, Ruth and her girlfriends she met at various times mention sisterhood and its importance. Nurse Hopkins, Ruth’s co-worker and friend from the Lucas Hill Hospital, says that “women like us [Ruth and Nurse

Hopkins] must learn to stick together” (Weldon, Life 117). This is essentially true about all female friendships – primarily when these women share something similar, such as

their appearance, as it was in this case. As bell hooks says: “Longing for community, connection, a sense of shared purpose, many women found support networks in feminist organizations” (Feminist 28), which proves that sisterhood and female community helped women to be more united. Though, it did not need to be only feminist organizations but also strong and independent women.

Indeed, the feminist community is also mentioned in the novel, to be exact it was

“a commune of separatist feminists” (Weldon, Life 199). Separatist feminists lived away from men or institutions, they had no roles and they worked together as it was also described in the novel. Ruth was accepted to this community simply because “she was female and had suffered for it, and that was enough” (Weldon, Life 199). This once again confirms that sisterhood was once of the most important things for feminists since sisterhood enabled women to have a family without marriage or pregnancy. Thus, feminist organizations and communities also served as a family for many women who did not want to be married and have children. Yet, Ruth, as well as Weldon, do not agree with these extreme communities which forsake men and live only by themselves.

Thus, this, once again seemingly ideal, sisterhood can be still questioned.

Notwithstanding, Ruth breaks the bond of sisterhood when she leaves Vicky, a pregnant mother of two little children, to work at Father Ferguson’s place. In this scene,

Vicky asks Ruth “And What about sisterhood? … You’re always saying women should stick together. Now look at you!” (Weldon, Life 177), at which Ruth just shrugs her shoulders. This shows that “women acquire power through association with one another, and lose it through association with men” (Dowling 48). Weldon was right when she decided to put this scene in the novel, since many women experience loss of their girlfriends, hence breaking the sisterhood. In addition, Dowling also says that “the

betrayal of women by other women is a consequence of a female tendency to derive a sense of identity from relationships with men rather than with one’s own sex” (40).

Yet, Weldon also demonstrates that the female community and sisterhood generally is not approved and supported by every single woman. In one scene Ruth says: “It’s every woman for herself. I shall never cry again” (Weldon, Life 82), which suggests that sometimes women are fighting only for themselves and they are not helping each other, as opposed to sisterhood, in which women should support each other. Moreover, it is also interesting that Weldon used “woman” in this idiom instead of “man” which is the correct form of this idiom, which implies that she wanted to emphasize the feeling around sisterhood by some women.

4.5 Parenthood, Marriage and Religion

Next to the already mentions topics, Weldon also discusses parenthood, marriage and religion, though the novel does not mention these topics as much as the ones that were already described. Nonetheless, all of these topics were debated during the Second

Wave feminism and they still play an interesting part in the feminism today. This subchapter discusses these topics and tries to show Weldon’s stance on them.

Generally, parenthood is an interesting topic for many feminists, since many people think that every woman should have a child, yet not all women desire to have one.

Weldon, as attentive observer, noticed these opinions and decided to talk about them in this novel. Nevertheless, “Weldon refuses to come down against women who relinquish maternal responsibility” (Dowling 35).

Firstly, there is a distinction between Ruth, who is a mother of two children, and

Mary, who is childless. In the novel, Ruth is not condemned because she is a mother, which is what is expected of women. On the contrary, Mary is “hardly a woman at all, because she never had a baby” (Weldon, Life 161). By the means of this distinction,

Weldon is pointing out that women are expected to have children and they are judged if they do not have children. This is still in problem in today’s society as well, since many people – especially women’s families – urge women to have children. Nevertheless, feminism tries to teach people that not all women were created to have children, and that women’s purpose in life does not equal being a mother.

Similarly, women are expected to be mothers till the end of their lives. Weldon is showing, however, that sometimes mothers do not love their children and they do not feel the “maternal bond” that is between mother and a child. She put two characters in this novel that show that not all women were created to become mothers. The first character is Bobbo’s mother Brenda, who, next to certainly being a feminist and believing that

women have hardship with men, does not feel a motherly love to her child. Via this,

Weldon points out that being a mother does not mean unconditionally loving your child and that there are women, who do not feel love towards their children. Also, Weldon claims that “parenthood could not go on forever” (Life 28), which is especially important since it is believe that parents, especially mothers, should declare their love and support for children until the end of their lives. The idea of motherhood not being for every woman is also confirmed by Dowling, who claims that “the idea that motherhood does not come naturally or without regret recurs in Weldon’s fiction” (35).

Moreover, Ruth decided to leave her children with their father. This was and still is uncommon since it is usually father who leaves the family – as it also was showed in the beginning of the novel. Even Bobbo cannot believe that Ruth will leave her children

– it is important to highlight the word her that Bobbo used, even though it was their children and they both were responsible for them – and he says to Ruth that she can’t just leave her children (Weldon, Life 74), to which simply says that she can. Weldon tries to point out that although both men and female are responsible for creation and care of children, men usually simply walk away from this responsibility and blame the woman for having a child.

The blame put on women for either getting pregnant or having a child that is not healthy is pretty much still present. In the novel, it is Garcia who blames his partner Joan for producing “an imperfect baby” (Weldon, Life 196). This blame puts a lot of pressure on women, who have to not only use various contraceptive methods, but they also have to be careful during the pregnancy. Simply, as Weldon says, “being a mother now is all time and emotion-consuming” (Stephenson). Moreover, in her 2016 interview Weldon also said: “There’s always been pressure on mothers, but now the pressure is phenomenal to do the right thing” (Stephenson), which nicely sums up today’s view on motherhood.

Marriage is mainly mentioned between Ruth and Bobbo, who had to get married because Ruth became pregnant. After they got married, Bobbo not only gained control over Ruth’s body, he also said that they will have “an open marriage” (Weldon, Life 31), which meant that they have to live to the full and not see marriage as a boundary. Yet,

Ruth, who was already pregnant, could not live her live to the full because she was bound by motherhood. Nonetheless, this supports Dowling’s impression of Weldon seeing marriage as a starting point (Dowling 33). For this reason, it is usually a woman who is bound by marriage and motherhood – even though, as it was said, the father of a child is accountable as well. Therefore, Weldon wanted to show that feminism is needed in this sphere because of this discrimination.

Religion is only briefly mentioned, yet it is visible that religion – usually no matter what kind – condemns women and does not consider them equal to men. Too, feminists are criticized by the church and in the novel, they are compared to the Devil (Weldon,

Life 184). Still, the Roman Catholic church requires obedience and loyalty of wife to her husband, yet this obedience and loyalty is not required back. This shows that religion is often unjust toward women. Although it is not known about which religion Weldon talks, when she says that “both [Ruth’s mother and her new husband] belonged to a wonderful new religion which required total obedience from the wife to the husband” (Life 29), it simply sounds like the already mentioned Christianity. Thus, it can be said that religion, and in this case especially Christianity, does not treat women equality to men and therefore, feminism is needed to end this sexist perception of women by the church.

5. Conclusion

This analyzed novel has been popular throughout all thirty-six years since it has been around. Moreover, the she-devil inspired not only TV, film or theatre, it also inspired many women at home to become antiheroines and stay true to themselves. It is essentially still in the consciousness of each woman who has ever heard about a she-devil.

The analysis of this novel from the feminist perspective proved that Weldon is using feminism to challenge gender stereotypes. She also points out what are the differences between men and women. What is more, she does not include what was on the feminist agenda, but she is sharing her own opinions and believes – such as that sisterhood is not ideal or that cosmetic surgery should not be condemned by women.

Through the usage of feminism, she proves that women are often oppressed, or even enslaved, by men and society’s standards and that many women are not capable of living their lives freely. Moreover, Weldon states that women can achieve greater things than just being mothers and wives.

Surprisingly, many of the topics that Weldon develops in this novel, can be also applied to today’s society. This shows that feminism, though often being rejected by both men and women, is still topical and needs to be supported in order to achieve equality.

What is more, not only are the topics of equality between sexes topical, Weldon is also mentioning sisterhood, which has never been ideal, although it was highly romanticized.

While many feminists know about this problem, they ignore the fact that sisterhood is still being problematic.

In addition, feminism is still developing. After more than two centuries since its proper start, feminism is still facing problems not only in the society but also within itself.

There are many topics that are still not addressed – such as transgender women being part of the sisterhood, or racial issues within the movement.

Yet, most of the problems that feminism is facing comes from the lack of knowledge. Therefore, it is important to teach others – men, women, church, and so on – that feminism is not a man-hating movement, but that it is a movement that supports women’s rights and want equality in every aspect of life. This was also what Weldon’s novel tries to prove.

Lastly, the theory of feminism is still not explored enough. There is still room for development for both, the movement itself and those who support it. Although the movement is trying to be empathetic, most of its supporters are not open-minded enough and condemn other supporters, which can be seen as rivalry.

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6. Summary

This bachelor thesis focuses on feminism in Fay Weldon’s novel The Life and

Loves of the She-devil that was published in 1983. The aim of this thesis is to discuss feminist ideas that are presented in the novel, while also providing a brief background to the history of feminism and Fay Weldon’s life. What is more, this thesis is also trying to demonstrate how Weldon challenges sexism while using feminist ideas. This is achieved by using various quotations from the book, with a support from other works.

In addition, this thesis is written from the perspective of today’s feminism, which is important to mention, because today’s feminism differs in some aspects from the

Second Wave feminism during which this novel was written.

This thesis is divided into two parts. The first part consists of two main chapters.

The first chapter deals with the definition of feminism while also providing a short background to the development of feminism. It mainly discusses the First Wave and the

Second Wave of feminism whilst also mentioning the latest developments of today’s feminism.

The second chapter in this part is discussing Fay Weldon’s life and her experiences since childhood until her adulthood, that are affecting her writing. It also includes a subchapter in which Weldon’s work is described – especially the writing techniques she is using and the most popular topics that are in her novels.

The second part is composed of one chapter with five subchapters. Here, the novel is introduced. Moreover, the chapter also includes what influence did the novel had on other entertainment. The five subchapters mainly talk about feminism in the novel, it mentions how Weldon challenges stereotypes and what are her opinions on marriage or sisterhood.

Lastly, the conclusion of the thesis affirms that Weldon is using various articles from feminist movement to show that women are subjected to sexism and criticism daily.

The fact that this novel is still topical although it was written more than thirty years ago, shows that feminism is still needed in our society and that there is still inequality and mainly sexism that firstly needs to be annihilated before full equality of both sexes can be established.

7. Resumé

Tato bakalářská práce se zaměřuje na feminismus v románu Život a lásky jedné

ďáblice, který byl napsaný Fay Weldon a vydaný v roce 1983. Cílem této práce je prodiskutovat feministické ideje, které jsou prezentovány v románu, zatímco také poskytnout krátké pozadí k historii feminismu a životu Fay Weldon. Navíc, tato práce se také snaží ukázat, jak Weldon zpochybňuje sexismus užitím feminismu. Toto je dokázáno použitím různých citací z knihy a za pomocí jiných děl. Navíc, tato práce je napsána z pohledu dnešního feminismu, což je důležité zmínit, jelikož dnešní feminismus se liší od feminismu, jež byl za druhé vlny, během které byl tento román napsán.

Tato práce je rozdělena do dvou částí. První část se skládá ze dvou kapitol. První kapitola se zabývá definicí feminismu a také krátkým pozadí k vývoji feminismu.

Především se hovoří o první a druhé vlně feminismu, zatímco také zmiňuje nejnovější vývoj dnešního feminismu.

Druhá kapitola této části debatuje o životě Fay Weldon a jejích zkušenostech od dětství až do dospělosti, které ovlivnily její dílo. Tato kapitola také obsahuje podkapitolu, která popisuje Weldonino dílo – především psací metody, které používá, a nejpopulárnější témata, která jsou v jejích románech.

Druhá část se skládá z jedné kapitoly a pěti podkapitol. Zde je především představen román. Navíc, tato kapitola také zahrnuje, jaký dopad měl román. Pět podkapitol hovoří zejména o feminismu v románu, zmiňuje se také o tom, jak Weldon zpochybňuje stereotypy a jaké jsou její názory, na příklad na manželství anebo sesterství.

Na závěr, konec práce potvrzuje, že Weldon používá různé poznatky z feministického hnutí, aby dokázala, že ženy jsou dennodenně vystaveny sexismu a

kritice. To, že tato kniha je stále aktuální, i když byla napsána před více třiceti lety, dokazuje, že feminismus je stále nutný v naší společnosti, a že nerovnoprávnost, a především sexismus, musí být nejprve zničeny, aby byla dosáhnuta rovnoprávnost obou pohlaví.