The representation of women in the novels of Gregorios Xenopoulos

Hadjitheodorou, Maria (2010). The representation of women in the novels of Gregorios Xenopoulos. University of Birmingham. M.Phil.

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Abstract

The present study aims to explore the position of women and their role in the domestic and public realm as presented by the Greek prose writer Gregorios Xenopoulos (1867-1951). The study will be divided into two chapters. In the first chapter, after having discussed the social context of the last quarter of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century, I will examine and analyze women’s position in Greek society as presented in Xenopoulos’s novels, with special emphasis on the impact of the feminist movement on marriage and motherhood, education and work. Also, there will be a comparison of the Athenian and Zakynthian novels. In the second chapter, I intend to analyze the presentation of the physical appearance of female characters regarding facial and other physical characteristics, looking also at dress and hairstyles. I will then comment on the way their behavioural patterns are presented and finally, there will be a general, rather brief, survey of the most popular female types encountered in Xenopoulos’s novels. This exploration will lead to the conclusion that, although Xenopoulos was writing at a time when women had a secondary role in society, by being his major characters, they are given the importance and respect they deserve to have in society. Thus he can be considered one of the few male supporters of the feminist movement that emerged during the first decade of the twentieth century and one of the first among the minority to applaud women’s efforts to achieve emancipation.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Masters by Research > M.Phil.)

Award Type:

Masters by Research > M.Phil.

Supervisor(s):