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Table of Contents Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 2. Doris Lessing’s Biography and Bibliography ........................................................ 3 3. Doris Lessing’s Life and Fiction: General Themes in Lessing’s Novels .............. 8 4. The Grass is Singing ................................................................................................ 11 4.1. The NarrativeStructure,Themes,andPointsofView ....................................11 4.2. FemaleProtagonists andSocialStereotypes ...................................................12 4.3. Male-femaleRelationships:MaryandDick....................................................12 4.4. RaceRelations,Superiorityvs.Inferiority ......................................................16 4.5. TheLastPhaseofMary’sLife ........................................................................22 4.6. TheIssueofIsolationandtheConceptof“SufferingFemale” ......................25 5. Children of Violence Series: Martha Quest, A Proper Marriage .......................... 29 5.1. Individualvs.CollectiveConscience ............................................................29 5.2.Male-dominanceandMartha’s EmancipationEfforts...................................29 5.3. Motherhood ...................................................................................................31 5.4. TheInstitutionofMarriage:DifferentPerspectives .....................................35 5.5. TheIssueofPoliticsandEqualityof Races .................................................39 5.6. FreedomandSearchforone’sSelf ...............................................................41 6. Comparative Analysis of Lessing’s novels The Grass is Singing, Martha Quest, and A Proper Marriage ........................................................................................... 46 6.1 FeministApproaches .......................................................................................48 6.2. Patriarchal Society ...........................................................................................49 6.3. Marriage,Family,andSocial Identity.............................................................51 6.4. InnerandOuterSelf .........................................................................................54 6.5. SexRolesandGenderHierarchies ..................................................................56 6.6. IndividualFemaleCharacters:ElementsofContrast ......................................60 6.7. OverallSummary .............................................................................................61 7. Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 64 Works Cited ................................................................................................................... 69 PrimarySources ........................................................................................................69 SecondarySources ....................................................................................................69 1. Introduction InmythesisIwouldliketodealwith psychologicalandsocialaspectsoffemale protagonistsinDorisLessing’sAfricanstories.Thethesiswill primarilycommenton humanexperiencewitha particularfocusonthe questforone’s“self”.Othersignificant issuesarethe positionofwomeninsociety,includingsocialandpolitical circumstances.Theresearchwillalsoinclude ananalysisofthehumanpsyche--more precisely,thought,behaviour,andpersonality.Thesignificanceofdreamsandvisions, theirsymbolism,andtheirrelationtorealitywill not beleftoutinthediscussion.They are,undoubtedly,animportantelementwithinthesearchforone’sselfandtheymay revealthesubconscious ofthe protagonists.Additionally,psychologicalaspects inthe analysednovelswill be linkedtotheconceptofidentity,andtoitsquest.Thethesiswill primarilycommentonvariousfeministviewswithreferences toawiderangeof approachesrelevantforthediscourse,andtomaketheargumentmoreinteresting,these approaches will besupportedbythe textualevidence providingbothimplicitand explicit insights. However,allofthiswill bediscussedwithinthecontext ofhumanand socialrelationsofthewomenheroinesinthenovelsofDoris Lessing. Theintroductionofthe thesiswill bedevotedtothe presentationofDoris Lessing,bothasanovelistandasa person,sothatthe reader mightgettoknow significantfactsaboutherlife,hernovels,andthemesthatsheisconcernedwith.The thesiswilldiscussDoris Lessing’s earlyAfricannovels: The GrassisSinging (1950), MarthaQuest (1952)1,and A Proper Marriage (1954)2.Thefocal pointofmyanalysis will bemainlyTheGrassisSinging and A Proper Marriage .Referencestothetextual evidence in MarthaQuest will largelybeomittedfrom mydiscussionbutonaccount of 1 The first part of the Children of Violence series 2 The second part of the Children of Violence series 1 thefactthat itis thefirst partofthe ChildrenofViolence seriesIconsider itavaluable sourceofdiscourses that mightsupportrelevantargumentsthatcomeuplater,inthe secondpart oftheseries--i.e. A Proper Marriage .Comparisonsofthefemalecharacters indifferentsocial environmentswill beelaboratedoninthe individualchapters thatwill followtheintroduction.Whatismore,thethesis willdiscuss awiderangeofinfluences affectingthecharacters’ lives,includingnotonlysocialandpoliticalissues butalsothe issuesofgenderandracerelations.Themainprotagoniststo bediscussedinthe thesis will beMaryTurner( TheGrassisSinging )andMarthaQuest( ChildrenofViolence series).Theywill beanalysedwithregardtotheirsocial,human,andpolitical experience. Thethesiswill concentrate primarilyontheinterconnectionbetweenthe individualandcollectiveidentitywiththe roleofsocietyas aconnectingelement. Becauseofthisfact,not onlythemainfemale protagonistsofthenovels butalsothose characterswhoexerciseinfluenceonthemwill bereferredtoandanalysedinthe thesis. Apartfromthat,genderissuesessentialforthedevelopmentofthefemale protagonists will bedealtwith.Hence,feministapproaches,supportedbyrelevanttheoretical materials,arethefundamental pointof myresearch. Furthermore,thethesis willcommentonparticularsocialandracialissuesthat are brought upinthenovelsunder investigation.Nevertheless,theissuesthemselvesare notmeanttobethemainpointsofanalysisofthe thesis.Inanycase,theywill be taken intoconsiderationandsubsequentlylinkedtothecharacters’ psychological development.Thesefactswillalsocontributetotheanalysis oftheindividualfemale protagonistsandtheywillfinallymakeuptheconclusionofthethesis.Racerelations, whicharealsoassociatedwithhumanandsocial relations,arethefocal pointtobe discussedespeciallyinLessing’snovel TheGrassisSinging. 2 2. Doris Lessing’s Biography and Bibliography “Anyhumananywhere will blossominahundredunexpectedtalentsandcapacities simplybybeinggiventheopportunitytodoso.” (DorisLessing) DorisLessing,aBritishauthorofmodernfiction,was bornon22October1919in Persia.In1925,shemovedwithher parents,whowereofBritishorigin,toafarmin SouthernRhodesia 3,whereshespent herchildhood.Sheis,withoutanydoubt,ranked amongthe mostfamous post-warEnglishnovelists.In2007shewasawardedthe Nobel Prizeforliterature,as theoldest personwhohaseverwonthis prize (she was87years old).Inthe 1940sLessingjoinedtheCommunistParty,whichinfluencedher political thinkingalot.Nonetheless,her politicalideashavechangeddirectionsmanytimesin thecourseofherlife.Lessing’s earlynovelsare primarilyconcernedwiththeAfrican 3 Today’s Zimbabwe. 3 settingandracerelationsinAfrica.Apartfromthat,her earlyfictionmight be consideredautobiographical,as it reflectsherownexperience formSouthernRhodesia. AssoonasshemovedtoLondon,herfirstnovel TheGrassisSinging (1950)was publishedandimmediatelygainedsuccess.ThestoryissetinAfricaandittracesthe tragiclifeofafarmer’swife,MaryTurner,andcommentsonthedisintegrationofthe coherenceofher“self”,asaresultoftheoppressiveforcescomingfromtheoutside.It actually“tracesherdecayintodeath,”asTaylor pointsout(25).Themainfocusofthis novelisMary’s psychologicaldevelopmentand,inparticular,consequencesofthe oppressivesocietyandtherepressedself.Notonlydoesthenovelspeakagainst colonialisminAfrica butitalsoreferstosexualconflicts.However,itmight bea bit surprisingthatdespiteLessing’s searchforracialequality,she portraysMaryTurner as arepresentativeofracismofthelocalwhite community.Generallyspeaking,Lessing’s writingcoversmanystylesandapproaches,rangingfromfeminismandMarxisttheory tocommunism.Inadditiontothat,sheisalsoparticularlyconcernedwithpsychology, politics,andsociologyandshealwayscomesupwithnewspiritual themesand perspectivesinherwriting. OneofLessing’snovels ofwidecomprehensionisthe ChildrenofViolence series.It is,infact,a“studyoftheindividualconscience inits relationswiththe collective,” asThropeclaims(8).Inotherwords,thenoveldepicts“conflict between theselfandsociety(Pickering18).Ittraces thedevelopmentofthemainprotagonist, MarthaQuest,ina colonialAfricansocietyofthe1930sand1940sandit alsoreflects someautobiographicalaspects that might be paralleledtoLessing’s privatelife.Martha Quest,aswellasLessing,getsmarriedtwicethroughouttheseries.Inthe secondpart of theseries, A Proper Marriage ,Marthaisalsoinvolvedwithleft-wingpoliticalactivities anditenableshertobecomea partof the“collective”,whichalsorefers toLessing’s 4 politicalactivity.Whatismore,Lessingpresents bothoutsideandinside perspectivesto readers--the former beingconcernedwithasociallifeandhumanrelations,andthe latter reflectsaself-analysis.The“violence”,asthetitle itselfsuggests,impliessocial pressuresmanifestedespeciallyinmale-femaleloverelationshipsandrelated
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