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The Second Sex’: the Female Body and Mind in 20Th and 21St Century Women’S Writing Hewitt, Kirsty Louise (2019) ‘The second sex’: the female body and mind in 20th and 21st century women’s writing. MLitt(R) thesis. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/74335/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] ‘The Second Sex’: The Female Body and Mind in 20th and 21st Century Women’s Writing Kirsty Louise Hewitt BA, MA Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of MLitt English Literature School of Critical Studies College of Arts University of Glasgow June 2019 1! Abstract ‘Presence in the world vigorously implies the positing of a body that is both a thing of the world and a point of view on this world’ - Simone de Beauvoir 1 This thesis will use works by two Modernist and two contemporary authors - Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield, and Jeanette Winterson and Ali Smith respectively - to test Simone de Beauvoir’s hypothesis. Each chapter will focus upon one of these au- thors, and will explore representations of the interior and exterior worlds of female characters to see whether these elements can ever be separated, and what the implica- tions of this would be. I will also examine gender, sexuality, femininity, and the differ- ing ways in which a body can be presented, as well as the multiplicity of self. The texts used in this thesis are Orlando, To the Lighthouse, and Between the Acts by Woolf; ‘Pre- lude’, ‘Bliss’, and ‘Pictures’ by Mansfield; Lighthousekeeping and Written on the Body by Winterson; and ‘The ex-wife’ and ‘The human claim’ by Smith, both of which were published in Public Library and Other Stories. 1 Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex (published as Le deuxième sexe: Les faits et les mythes (volume 1) and L’experience venue (Paris: Gallimard, 1949) (repr. London: Vintage, 2009; repr. London: Vintage, 2011) (trans. Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevalier) (2nd edn.)), p. 24 2! Table of Contents 1. Introduction 5 1.1 Thesis Aims 5 1.2 Embodiment: A History 9 1.3 Literary Lineage and Justifications 13 1.4 Summary 22 2. Chapter One: Simone de Beauvoir 27 2.1 Justifications 27 2.2 Context of The Second Sex 31 2.3 The Relevance of Simone de Beauvoir in the 21st Century 42 2.4 Reception and Critiques of The Second Sex 49 2.5 The Body and Embodiment 55 2.6 The Second Sex: Translations 57 2.7 Conclusion 64 3. Chapter Two: Virginia Woolf 66 3.1 Orlando 68 3.2 To the Lighthouse 78 3.3 Between the Acts 84 3.3.1 The Animal Body 94 3.3.2 The Pastoral Body 105 3.3.3 Narrative Voice 107 3.4 Conclusion 108 4. Chapter Three: Katherine Mansfield 112 4.1 ‘Prelude’ 114 4.1.1 Kezia 130 4.2 ‘Bliss’ 136 4.3 ‘Pictures’ 140 4.4 Conclusion 143 5. Chapter Four: Jeanette Winterson 145 5.1 Lighthousekeeping 147 5.2 Written on the Body 151 5.2.1 Gender and Sexuality 159 5.2.2 The Animal Body 174 5.3 Conclusion 181 6. Chapter Five: Ali Smith 183 6.1 Smith and Shorts 186 6.2 Gender and Identity 187 6.3 Katherine Mansfield as Character: ‘The ex-wife’ 191 3! 6.4 ‘The human claim’ 197 6.5 Multiplicity of Self 211 6.6 Conclusion 214 7. Conclusion 218 7.1 Contribution to Research 227 7.2 Recommendations and Suggestions for Expansion 228 8. Bibliography 232 Key: - An asterisk at the beginning of a paragraph denotes that it has been separated from the paragraph before it. 4! Introduction Thesis Aims This thesis will use works by two modernist and two contemporary authors - Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield, and Jeanette Winterson and Ali Smith respectively - to test Simone de Beauvoir’s above statement. I have taken the decision to split my thesis into four separate chapters, which interlink in terms of the themes and authors dis- cussed. The chosen structure of chapters within this thesis is distinct, and each focuses upon a single author in turn. Throughout, I will discuss the implications of Beauvoir’s above quotation, and explore whether representations of select female characters de- picted in selected books by Woolf, Mansfield, Smith, and Winterson exist as ‘both a thing of the world, and a point of view on this world’. Each chapter will be devoted to ex- ploring the interior and corporeal bodies of selected female characters, ultimately test- ing whether Beauvoir’s quotation runs true in these works of literature, or whether these elements can be separated. The ideas of literary relevance which are so prevalent in The Second Sex can be found in each of my chosen texts. I will look variously at gen- der, sexuality, femininity, and the differing ways in which a body can be viewed through- out my chosen primary texts. The continual focus of this thesis will be Beauvoir’s statement, and consequently, I will be looking at the body as a physical object, as well as the variety of ‘point[s] of view’ which are demonstrated in my chosen texts. I will constantly keep in mind the idea of ‘both’ of these things coexisting in each particular character I focus upon, and will consequently examine and argue whether the body and mind can be portrayed as separate things, or whether they are largely reliant upon one another. 5! Whilst Beauvoir’s quotation does not relate to one particular sex, it was important to limit what I was looking at within this thesis. If I had included books by male authors as well as female, and discussed male characters alongside female ones, the scope would arguably have been too broad, and I would not have been able to give each sepa- rate work the attention which it deserves in such a discussion. As The Second Sex con- siders female experience, a female focused project thus seemed fitting. I will focus solely upon female characters, written by female authors, in order to explore female experience. I identify female as those characters who are clearly biologically gendered, as well as those who identify as female. I have also identified a genderless character whom I will discuss in depth, the protagonist of Winterson’s Written on the Body. The gender fluidity of Woolf’s Orlando will also be discussed. I shall analyse the work of these authors, exploring the ways in which they pro- mote female material embodiment. I will concentrate upon identifying and exploring instances in which the physical body and point of view are shown as both acting simulta- neously with one another, as in Beauvoir’s quotation, as well as ways in which they are separated, however briefly, and thus go against her statement. I have chosen to explore the material body and materiality of the body, as per Beauvoir’s statement, and the many ways in which this is presented. I will also be exploring the differences and over- lap between ‘point of view’ and the mind, or interior world. All of these terms demon- strate the interconnectivity of one’s inner, hidden life, and will be used interchangeably throughout this thesis. They have different connotations, of course, but ‘point of view’ and perspective are manifested in one’s mind, and thus I feel that the decision to use all three terms can be substantiated. I wish to examine, if Beauvoir’s hypothesis is true, how literature and literary lan- guage confront this. Do my selected texts portray the quite complex relation between the mind and the body, and if so, how is this expressed? 6! Bound up with my exploration of the female-gendered mind and perspective is, as per Beauvoir’s quotation, the exterior body. I will discuss ways in which the tangible body is presented in my chosen texts, and how, if at all, it relates to the mind of a given female character. Interiority is arguably more truthful, given that the exterior expres- sion of feelings can be obscured or hidden by the performer. The mind and perspective are intrinsically linked to the exterior body, although I am fully expecting there to be instances in the literary texts which I am discussing which go against this, providing a different exposure entirely to what might be expected. I will provide evidence of the ways in which the female body and point of view cooperate, or not, in my chosen texts. The books which I have chosen to discuss are Orlando (1928), To the Lighthouse (1927), and Between the Acts (1941) by Woolf; ‘Prelude’ (1918), ‘Pictures (1917), and ‘Bliss’ (1918) by Mansfield; Lighthousekeeping (2004) and Written on the Body (1992) by Winterson; and ‘The ex-wife’ and ‘The human claim’ by Smith, both of which were pub- lished in The Public Library and Other Stories in 2015. I will examine the ways in which my contemporary authors echo and extend the work of my chosen modernists, as well as the effects of autofiction, and the notions of selfhood, the reclamation of self, trans- formation, ‘Other’ness, and dream states.
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