International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature (IJSELL) Volume 4, Issue 6, June 2016, PP 85-95 ISSN 2347-3126 (Print) & ISSN 2347-3134 (Online) http://dx.doi.org/10.20431/2347-3134.0406012 www.arcjournals.org Exploring Women’s Identity in Selected Charles Dickens’s Works: A re-visitation from a Contemporary African Perspective Taofiki Koumakpaï Full Professor of British Literature, Department of English Studies, Faculty of Arts and Humanities (F.L.A.S.H.), University of Abomey-Calavi (U.A.C), BENIN Kossi Joiny Towa-Sello Lecturer-Researcher, Department of English Studies, Faculty of Arts and Humanities (F.L.A.S.H.), University of Abomey-Calavi (U.A.C), BENIN, BP: 236Togoudo, (Abomey-Calavi, Rép Bénin)
[email protected] Abstract: The aim of this article is to scrutinize and discuss Charles Dicken’s perception of women’s identity in British society during the Victorian period through some selected works. This unfolds through a re-visitation from a contemporary African women perspective. The ongoing study has first and foremost highlighted the impacts of industrialization on British women’s conditions. The second leg of this paper has consisted in showing how some of the fictional works authored by Charles Dickens have depicted and portrayed the social injustice prevailing in Great Britain during the period under study. Indeed, to achieve its objective, this research paper has lightly drawn on the feminist and new historicist theories while making an attempt to compare Dickens’ portrayal of women of the Victorian era to that made of contemporary African women. Keywords: Women‘s identity, new historicism, feminism, British industrialization Résumé : Le présent article explore les différentes perceptions relatives à l‟identité de la femme telles qu‟abordées par Charles Dickens dans certaines de ses œuvres datant du 19ème Siècle.