The rise of naturalism in American letters was born out of a reaction against romanticism by writers such as Theodore Dreiser, Hamlin Garland, Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Jack London, Upton Sinclair and Robert Herrick, who attempted to rid the American novel of romanticism by delving deeper into life's truths than did the realists Mark Twain, William Dean Howells and Henry James. The naturalists objected to the limited subject matter of the realists; they focused their attention on "slums, crime, illicit sexual passions, exploitation of man by man"2 and other actualities of the world. George Perkins outlined other distinctions between realism and naturalism in American literature.3 He describes nineteenth-century realism, 1870-1890, as represented by writers who created a world of truth by keeping actuality clearly in mind. The emphasis was on the following: 1. Using settings that were thoroughly familiar to the writer. 2. Emphasizing the norm of daily experience in plot construction. 3. Creating ordinary characters and studying them in depth. 4. Adhering to complete authorial objectivity. 5. Accepting their moral responsibility by reporting the world as it truly was.

This essay explores how adolescent girls in two pieces of children’s fiction are portrayed in children’s literature from the start and end of the 20th century to examine how they perform their gender in relation to expectations as informed by the Angel in the House discourse. Anne of Green Gables and the Harry Potter series were published at the start and end of the twentieth century, and both texts engage with the discourse. Using Judith Butler’s theory of Gender Performativity, this essay demonstrates that the Angel in the House discourse continues to influence expectations of how adolescent girls should behave, particularly with regards to being responsible for upholding the moral code to ensure the social standing of their family. However, they differ in regard to other aspects of the discourse, indicating that parts of the discourse appear to have lessened over the course of the 20th century.

The aim of this study is an attempt to provide examples of how women’s roles have been portrayed in Chinese film made in modern time about women in the 1920s through examination and analysis of the film Raise the Red Lantern《大红灯笼高高挂》by Zhang Yimo by using agency theory. The study delves into the portrayal of female characters' actions within traditional marriage and family dynamics as depicted in the film. Through the method of inductive thematic analysis, the research identifies categories, including rivalry, pregnancy, illicit affairs, and oppressive behaviour through punishment and violence. The study also addresses the expression of agency by female characters, identifying elements of agency within the constraints of the patriarchal system. The projective element, involving envisioning potential future events, and the practical-evaluative element, making judgments in response to changing situations, are recognized. However, the study concludes that the agency expressed by female characters primarily focuses on improving individual positions within the system rather than challenging the system itself.

Esta pesquisa tem como enfoque as personagens femininas de Graciliano Ramos em suas obras Caetés, São Bernardo, Angústia, Vidas Secas e Infância. Partindo dos conceitos de Antonio Candido sobre estrutura e função, busca-se analisar como a construção literária se relaciona com os dados sociais e históricos da época em que os livros foram escritos e/ou publicados, a década de 1930. A partir das análises feitas, desenvolve-se a ideia da importância dessas personagens que, mesmo deixadas em segundo plano, são essenciais para a construção dos textos literários. / The following research focuses on the female characters of Graciliano Ramos in his works Caetés, São Bernardo, Angústia, Vidas Secas and Infância. Thinking about the concepts of Antonio Candido on structure and function, we analyze how the literary construction relates to the social and historical life in the moment that the books were written, the decade of 1930. From the analyzes made, we realized the importance of these female characters, even when left in the background.

Esta tese traz a análise das personagens arrivistas femininas das obras romanescas de Machado de Assis e Marcel Proust. São elas: Guiomar, Helena e Sofia, de A mão e a luva, Helena e Quincas Borba, respectivamente, e Odette e Madame Verdurin de À la recherche du temps perdu. Em A Mão e a luva e Helena, Machado engendra as tramas no Rio de Janeiro dos anos 1850, período estável do Segundo Reinado. A trajetória ascensional de Guiomar e Helena, em uma época de pouca mobilidade social, justifica-se pelo fato de serem personagens singulares, dotadas de grande habilidade. Aqui, o destino repara o equívoco do nascimento desprivilegiado. Quincas Borba, por outro lado, ambientado entre 1867 e 1871, apresenta uma sociedade mais dinâmica e fluida. A mudança gradativa de classes operada por Sofia e Cristiano Palha se deve ao grande senso de oportunismo nos negócios e às ações pouco escrupulosas do casal. De todo modo, as narrativas brasileiras tratam predominantemente do desejo de pertencer à burguesia rica. Em À la recherche du temps perdu, Proust mostra uma sociedade complexa e estratificada, em que a burguesia e a nobreza, a despeito da Revolução Francesa, continuam divididas em várias subcategorias na Belle Époque. Por isso, Odette e Madame Verdurin têm de cumprir muitas etapas no decorrer de quatro décadas para conquistarem seu espaço no faubourg Saint-Germain. Considerando as diferenças históricas e espaciais dos romances brasileiros e franceses, analisamos a construção das figuras femininas citadas através do cotejamento de trechos das obras. Com isso, foi-nos possível apontar pontos de aproximação como o casamento, a maternidade e a importância dos salões, vistos sob os pontos de vista das condições sócio-culturais de cada país. / This thesis provides an analysis of female social-climber characters in the novels of Machado de Assis and of Marcel Proust. They are: Guiomar, Helena, and Sofia, from A mão e a luva, Helena, and Quincas Borba, respectively; and Odette and Madame Verdurin, from À la recherche du temps perdu. In A Mão e a luva and in Helena, Machado unwinds his plot in the Rio de Janeiro of the 1850s, a stable period of the Second Reign. The upwards trajectory of Guiomar and Helena during a time of limited social mobility is justified by the fact that they are singular characters, gifted with great abilities. Here, destiny corrects the mistake of underprivileged birth. Quincas Borba, on the other hand, set between 1867 and 1871, presents a more dynamic and fluid society. The gradual changes in class accomplished by Sofia and Cristiano Palha is a result of the couples enormous sense of opportunism in business and the relative lack of scruples in their actions. Regardless, the Brazilian stories deal predominately with the desire to belong to the wealthy bourgeoisie. In À la recherche du temps perdu, Proust shows a complex and stratified society where the bourgeoisie and nobility, in spite of the French Revolution, continue to be divided into various categories of the Belle Époque. As a result, Madame Verdurin has to pass through many stages during a period of four decades to conquer her space in the faubourg of Saint-Germain. Considering the historical and spatial differences between the Brazilian and French novels, we analyze the construction of the abovementioned female characters through a comparison of excerpts from the works. In so doing, it was possible for us to show points of similarity, such as marriage and maternity and the importance of salons, viewed through the eyes of each countrys sociocultural conditions.

A figura da mulher ocupa significativo papel nas novelas de cavalaria do Ciclo Bretão. Emergindo como um elemento que traz liga às narrativas do lendário artúrico, constitui-se adjuvante essencial e multifacetada na construção dos episódios, numa interação constante com o masculino representado, principalmente, pelos cavaleiros. O Medievo traz à tona uma imagem matizada do feminino: a mulher socialmente vista sob clivagens diversas é refletida na literatura de cavalaria, conforme se pode verificar em A Demanda do Santo Graal. A presença feminina é importantíssima na narrativa, sobretudo na sua tensa relação com a cavalaria, agora ligada ao elemento religioso - monastizada, celibatária e ascética. O objetivo precípuo de nossos estudos é investigar de que maneira a fôrma sociocultural medieva, na qual foi moldada A Demanda do Santo Graal, se relaciona com seu substrato: as narrativas provindas da cosmovisão inerente ao imaginário céltico. Desta feita, nosso viés analítico verticaliza-se no elemento feminino presente na obra. Mais especificamente, toma-se por escopo a imagem de personagens que refletem a ideologia clerical moralístico-didatizante do século XIII, mas, sobretudo, resgata-se a imagem de personagens imbuídas de singular dualidade; ambigüidade esta que é marca não só do medievo paradoxal concernente ao feminino, mas também de personas literárias concebidas entre dois mundos, dois pólos ideológicos distintos. Em outros termos, fala-se de personagens que são seres ficcionais bifrontes: personagens localizadas entre as herdades e as identidades. Foram tomados como corpora de pesquisa os episódios em que estas damas polidimensionais aparecem e se tornam adjuvantes na ação literária, seja para cooperar, confundir ou prejudicar os cavaleiros que empreendem a sagrada, inefável e venturosa busca do Santo Cálix que dará fim às aventuras do Reino de Logres / The figure of woman takes leading role in the novels of chivalry Cycle Breton. Emerging as an element that links the narratives of the legendary Arturo, it constitutes a vital and multifaceted adjuvant in the construction of the episodes in an ongoing interaction with the male represented mainly by knights. The Medieval brings up a nuanced picture of the female: the woman socially viewed under various divisions is reflected in the literature of chivalry, as it can be seen in The Quest for the Holy Grail. The female presence is important in the narrative, especially in its tense relationship with the chivalry, now linked to the religious element monasticated, ascetic and celibaterian. The main objective of our study is to investigate how the sociocultural medieval mold, in which was shaped The Quest for the Holy Grail relates to its substrate, the narratives originated of the worldview inherent in the Celtic imagination, thus our analytical bias uprights in the female element in this work. More specifically, it becomes a scope which the image of characters reflects the ideology of clerical didactic and moralistic of the thirteenth century. However it redeens the image of characters imbued with singular duality; that ambiguity which is not only a mark of the medieval paradoxical concerning the female, but also of literary characters designed between two worlds, two distinct ideological poles. In other words, it is about personas who are "bifront fictional beings". Characters located between the inheritances and identities. The research bases were the episodes in which these polidimensionals ladies appear and become adjuvants in literary action, either to cooperate, confuse or impair the knights who undertake the sacred, ineffable and "fortunate" quest for the Holy Chalice which will end the adventures of the Kingdom of Logres

Les études sur les personnages féminins stendhaliens et mériméens sont certainement nombreuses. Toutefois, notre travail envisage une nouvelle approche qui a pour objectif de mettre en évidence les rapports que Stendhal et Mérimée entretiennent avec les théories qui prédominent dès le XVIIIe siècle. Nous nous référons en particulier à la théorie des quatre tempéraments et la théorie des climats et leur influence sur la création des figures féminines, protagonistes des histoires qui constituent le corpus des Chroniques italiennes et des nouvelles de Mérimée, c’est-à-dire La Vénus d’Ille, Colomba et Carmen. Notre propos est de découvrir un nouvel aspect de la problématique féminine en analysant le type humain de la femme du Midi étudié sous la perspective de l’influence des théories susmentionnées. Nous avons également mis en relation la forme littéraire adoptée par les deux écrivains (la nouvelle, le petit roman) avec les sujets qu’ils abordent et l’effet qu’ils veulent produire sur le lecteur. En quoi, en effet, la forme brève qu'ils choisissent contribue-t-elle à l'effet de violence que la représentation du Sud est supposée produire ? Le récit court sert, à l'évidence, l'efficacité d'un propos à la fois esthétique, ethnologique et éthique. L’étude s’articule en trois temps. Dans un premier temps, nous nous intéressons à l’évolution de la théorie des tempéraments et la théorie des climats, ensuite, au contexte historique et culturel de la période à cheval entre le XVIIIe et XIXe siècles qui influence aussi la création littéraire de Stendhal et de Mérimée. Dans un deuxième temps, nous nous occupons de la poétique stendhalienne et mériméenne par rapport aux récits courts. Enfin, nous analysons les figures féminines par rapport aux études préliminaires que nous avons faites dans les parties précédentes. / Studies about female characters in Stendhal’s and Mérimée’s works are in no doubt numerous. However, the aim of our work is to highlight the relationship between these authors and the theories that prevailed from the eighteenth century onwards. We refer in particular to both the four temperaments theory and the climate the theory and their influence on the creation of female characters, protagonists in the stories we chose for our corpus: the Chroniques italiennes of Stendhal and the shorts stories La Vénus d’Ille, Colomba and Carmen of Mérimée. Our purpose is to unveil a new aspect of the female problematic by analysing Southern Europe woman human type observed from the perspective of the influence of the above-mentioned theories. We also linked the form chosen by the two writers (short story, little novel) with the themes they address and the effect they want to produce on the reader. To which extent is the short story type contributing to the effect of violence supposed to be produced by the depiction of the South? Short stories serve the efficiency of a purpose at the same time aesthetic, ethnological and ethical. This study consists of three parts. First of all, we examine the the evolution of both four temperaments theory and climate theory, as well as the eighteenth, beginning of the nineteenth century historical and cultural background which also influences Stendhal and Mérimée literary creation. Secondly, we reflect upon Stendhal’s and Mérimée’s poetics in relation to short stories. Finally, we analyse the female characters in relation to the preliminary studies previously mentioned. / Gli studi sui personaggi femminili di Stendhal e Mérimée sono sicuramenti numerosi. Ciò nonostante, il nostro lavoro prevede un nuovo approccio che ha come obiettivo di mettere in evidenza l’influenza che le correnti di pensiero, che predominano a partire dal diciottesimo secolo, hanno sulla produzione letterario di Stendhal e Mérimée. In particolare, ci riferiamo alla teoria dei quattro temperamenti e alla teoria dei climi rispetto alla creazione dei personaggi femminili, protagonisti delle storie che costituiscono il corpus delle Cronache italiane e delle novelle di Mérimée, ossia La Venere d’Ille, Colomba et Carmen. Il nostro scopo è quello di mettere in luce un nuovo aspetto della problematica femminile, analizzando il tipo umano della donna meridionale studiato sotto la prospettiva delle teorie sopra menzionate. Abbiamo anche messo in relazione la forma letteraria adottata dai due scrittori (la novella, il piccolo romanzo) con l’argomento che trattano e l’effetto che vogliono produrre sul lettore. Concretamente, in che modo la forma breve che scelgono contribuisce all’effetto di violenza che la rappresentazione del Sud è presupposta produrre? La novella serve a rendere efficace un pensiero estetico, etnologico et etico. Lo studio si divide in tre parti. In un primo momento, ci interessiamo all’evoluzione della teoria dei temperamenti e alla teoria dei climi, in seguito, al contesto storico-culturale del periodo a cavallo tra diciottesimo e diciannovesimo secolo che influenza anche la creazione letteraria di Stendhal et Mérimée. In un secondo momento, ci occupiamo della poetica di Stendhal et Mérimée rispetto alla novella. Infine, analizziamo i personaggi femminili in rapporto agli studi preliminari effettuati nelle parti precedenti della nostra tesi.

This study is based on the main female African characters in Une si longue lettre written in 1979 by Mariama Bâ and Assèze l’Africaine written in 1994 by Calixthe Beyala. Both novels describe the African society and the obstacles that exist for women in this society where men dominate. This study presents the transformation of Ramatoulaye that is a traditional and passive woman but she becomes modern. In addition, it presents the transformation of young Aïssatou that becomes an independent and strong woman, in these two novels. These two women are facing similar forms of discriminations and oppression in the African society and they are struggling against injustice in various ways. The aim of this analysis is to investigate how the image of the African women and the feminism in Africa show and develop through the main characters, Ramatoulaye and Aïssatou. The conclusion reveal that the image of the African women has considerably changed over the years in a positive way and that Femininity is a cultural construction and not a natural construction. The conclusion further reveal that even today a woman is not independent, but is still considered "the Other" in relation to the man.

A figura da mulher ocupa significativo papel nas novelas de cavalaria do Ciclo Bretão. Emergindo como um elemento que traz liga às narrativas do lendário artúrico, constitui-se adjuvante essencial e multifacetada na construção dos episódios, numa interação constante com o masculino representado, principalmente, pelos cavaleiros. O Medievo traz à tona uma imagem matizada do feminino: a mulher socialmente vista sob clivagens diversas é refletida na literatura de cavalaria, conforme se pode verificar em A Demanda do Santo Graal. A presença feminina é importantíssima na narrativa, sobretudo na sua tensa relação com a cavalaria, agora ligada ao elemento religioso - monastizada, celibatária e ascética. O objetivo precípuo de nossos estudos é investigar de que maneira a fôrma sociocultural medieva, na qual foi moldada A Demanda do Santo Graal, se relaciona com seu substrato: as narrativas provindas da cosmovisão inerente ao imaginário céltico. Desta feita, nosso viés analítico verticaliza-se no elemento feminino presente na obra. Mais especificamente, toma-se por escopo a imagem de personagens que refletem a ideologia clerical moralístico-didatizante do século XIII, mas, sobretudo, resgata-se a imagem de personagens imbuídas de singular dualidade; ambigüidade esta que é marca não só do medievo paradoxal concernente ao feminino, mas também de personas literárias concebidas entre dois mundos, dois pólos ideológicos distintos. Em outros termos, fala-se de personagens que são seres ficcionais bifrontes: personagens localizadas entre as herdades e as identidades. Foram tomados como corpora de pesquisa os episódios em que estas damas polidimensionais aparecem e se tornam adjuvantes na ação literária, seja para cooperar, confundir ou prejudicar os cavaleiros que empreendem a sagrada, inefável e venturosa busca do Santo Cálix que dará fim às aventuras do Reino de Logres / The figure of woman takes leading role in the novels of chivalry Cycle Breton. Emerging as an element that links the narratives of the legendary Arturo, it constitutes a vital and multifaceted adjuvant in the construction of the episodes in an ongoing interaction with the male represented mainly by knights. The Medieval brings up a nuanced picture of the female: the woman socially viewed under various divisions is reflected in the literature of chivalry, as it can be seen in The Quest for the Holy Grail. The female presence is important in the narrative, especially in its tense relationship with the chivalry, now linked to the religious element monasticated, ascetic and celibaterian. The main objective of our study is to investigate how the sociocultural medieval mold, in which was shaped The Quest for the Holy Grail relates to its substrate, the narratives originated of the worldview inherent in the Celtic imagination, thus our analytical bias uprights in the female element in this work. More specifically, it becomes a scope which the image of characters reflects the ideology of clerical didactic and moralistic of the thirteenth century. However it redeens the image of characters imbued with singular duality; that ambiguity which is not only a mark of the medieval paradoxical concerning the female, but also of literary characters designed between two worlds, two distinct ideological poles. In other words, it is about personas who are "bifront fictional beings". Characters located between the inheritances and identities. The research bases were the episodes in which these polidimensionals ladies appear and become adjuvants in literary action, either to cooperate, confuse or impair the knights who undertake the sacred, ineffable and "fortunate" quest for the Holy Chalice which will end the adventures of the Kingdom of Logres

Esta pesquisa tem como enfoque as personagens femininas de Graciliano Ramos em suas obras Caetés, São Bernardo, Angústia, Vidas Secas e Infância. Partindo dos conceitos de Antonio Candido sobre estrutura e função, busca-se analisar como a construção literária se relaciona com os dados sociais e históricos da época em que os livros foram escritos e/ou publicados, a década de 1930. A partir das análises feitas, desenvolve-se a ideia da importância dessas personagens que, mesmo deixadas em segundo plano, são essenciais para a construção dos textos literários. / The following research focuses on the female characters of Graciliano Ramos in his works Caetés, São Bernardo, Angústia, Vidas Secas and Infância. Thinking about the concepts of Antonio Candido on structure and function, we analyze how the literary construction relates to the social and historical life in the moment that the books were written, the decade of 1930. From the analyzes made, we realized the importance of these female characters, even when left in the background.