<p>The predominant focus on the male protagonist in the <em>Bildungsroman</em> genre has provoked feminist critics to offer a re-definition of the genre, claiming that the female protagonist's development differs in significant ways from the traditionally expected course of development (i.e. male). A feminist comparison between <em>A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man</em> and <em>Martha Quest</em> found, unexpectedly, that the female protagonist follows the traditional <em>Bildungsroman</em> trajectory in several respects, whereas the male protagonist deviates from it. <em>A Portrait</em> emphasizes the themes of childhood, formal education and religion, while in <em>Martha Quest</em> the themes of family relations, informal education, sexuality and marriage are treated at length. <em>Martha Quest </em>as an example of a female <em>Bildungsroman</em> deals specifically with the issues of role models, gender roles and gender inequality, which neither the traditional <em>Bildungsroman</em> nor <em>A Portrait </em>does.</p><p> </p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:hig-6525 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Brändström, Camilla |
| Publisher | University of Gävle, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, text |
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