Women's Independence And Sexuality In Book The Lover
This essay is the Final project on the course Women's voices Thru Time. Students are required to read a separate book written by a female author outside the class. Then write an essay based on the book and the content of the class. The book I chose was Marguerite Duras's "The Lover" appendix. I will give the course description and some of the articles I read in class.
Thesis Statement：
Although the lover is ostensibly a shameful account of a teenage girl's life as a mistress, I think Duras emphasizes women's independence and sexuality by describing the different stages of the her psychological activities and sexual scenes.
Final Paper requirement：
The short description of the final project in this class is to read a book and write a paper on it.
The book must be at least 150 pages, written by a woman, and new to you;
Your paper will foreground an analysis of gender in some way;
Your paper will include a minimum of 3 sources, at least one of which is not a class reading;
Your paper must have a strong thesis and use specific examples (from your chosen book and/or the secondary sources) to prove your thesis;
Your paper will be 8-10 pages, not including bibliography, appendix, or any additional pages;
Your paper must be formatted according to MLA guidelines and use formal academic language.
Within those (fairly broad) guidelines, you have a considerable amount of freedom. Please note: this is not a book report. The book is a starting point, but will not be the entirety of your research.
For example: if your book is a memoir, your paper might compare and contrast the ways that the author of the book is representative of or different than the majority-- (is your author revealing something unique, or shedding light on something more universal?) and what does that say about society? you might consider privilege and access and education reform and governmental oversight. If your book is a novel: you might consider the presentation of a certain relationship (mother/child, sister, friend, romantic) through the lens of gender theory. Or how the presentation of a romantic relationship in the foreground works to emphasize or minimize the political drama in the background. Or how a lapse into the fantastic underscores the patriarchal linguistic structures. Or whatever. If your book is poetry, you might trace the recurrence and transmutation of a particular image or metaphor through the work, and present an argument about how and why it is changing or recurring or what it means to the author. Or whatever. As long as the book is the starting point, I am happy for you to take the paper in whatever direction appeals to you.
Meet with me early and often if you anticipate or encounter difficulties with this project.
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Introduction
The independence of a woman gradually increases throughout the novel especially around the narrator who at a young age is at the mercies of her parents and men in her life. As a teenager, the narrator is under the wing of her parents, and she has no say when her family returns to Paris. Though she is still a child under the law and not yet considered an adult, her family does into taking into account her sexual feelings towards the older Chinese lover. Eventually, she becomes an adult and seems to have better control of her life and has more independence. She pursues a career in writing which she enjoys and lives a relative life free of domination by other people. Her mother Marie Legrand also seems to have earned her freedom and control of the family estate upon her husband’s death CITATION Dur12 \l 1033 (Duras). Though she slowly dissipates the family wealth, she is now in charge of monumental decisions such as moving her family back to Europe. She again returns to South East Asia at her will which shows she has control over her life. Although the lover is ostensibly a shameful account of a teenage girl’s life as a mistress, I think Dura emphasizes women’s independence and sexuality by describing the different stages of her psychological activities and sexual scenes.
Summary review of the text
The novel is centered around a narrator and her life in Indochina during the French colonial rule in Southeast Asia in the 1930s. The narrator is a young French girl from a relatively well-to-do family though their family fortunes started declining fast after her father’s death. Her father was a colonial officer and her family, consisting of parents, two brothers, and herself lived in Sadec. The narrator's mother, Marie Legrand, spends the next approximate decade working as a French-language school director. Her father dies in Paris after a short illness. While a teenager aged 15, she meets a young Chinese guy who she falls in love with CITATION Dur12 \l 1033 (Duras). At the moment her family fortunes had declined significantly, and though her mother knows that the relationship is wrong, she turns a blind eye to it to access the wealth of the Chinese family. The relationship is sexual almost immediately, and the narrator acknowledges in finding satisfaction in the relationship CITATION Dur12 \l 1033 (Duras). The Chinese lover is older, and he does not mind financially supporting the family who seems in dire need of the same. The relationship lasts about 18 months before it is cut short by her family’s relocation to Paris. She is never to see her lover again. The family returns to France after the French colonial society is scandalized. Upon getting to France, she pursues a career as a writer in the warring country CITATION Dur12 \l 1033 (Duras). She later settles and starts a family and has children though her life is not particularly smooth. Her mother later returns to Indochina, and her brother dies which deeply troubles her. The story ends when the Chinese man who is now aged contacts the narrator and expresses his undying love for her.
Evolution Women’s Independence and Sexuality in the Novel
The reasons why women’s voice is suppressed in the novel are multifaceted. At a young age, the voice of a woman is mainly seen through the narrator who is a teenager. She is still a child and therefore it is understandable if her mother asserted her authority over her. However, the mother turns a blind eye to the relationship the narrator has with the Chinese lover. She turns a blind eye not in the best interest of her daughter but herself so as she can continue receiving financial support from the affluent Chinese guy. At this point, the narrator’s independence on who she can love is not genuine. It is unlikely that the mother would have supported her daughter’s relationship with a peasant’s son. Therefore, the young girl’s independence as a woman is only at the convenience of the parents, and though she is free, her parents do not act in the best interest of her daughter. We cannot rule out that the narrator’s independence to be in a relationship with the Chinese guy is in her best interest.
When it decides to move back to Europe, the narrator is forced to relocate with the rest of the family. No one took into account her emotional and psychological distress that could come from her eighteen-month-old relationship with the Chinese man. She has to come with the family back to Europe which shows little or almost no control over monumental decisions in her life CITATION Dur12 \l 1033 (Duras). Comparing her with her older brother who is sent to Europe for studies, she could at least have been allowed to choose for herself whether to remain in Asia or travel back to Europe with her family. She just agrees to the decisions made for her by her mother. The mother seems to be making decisions that are in the best interest of herself and not consulting or factoring her daughter in the same. When the relationship was suiting her, she tolerated her relationship with the Chinese, but when her stay in Asia was scuttled by the local’s resistance, she takes her daughter with her.
As she ages, she seems to be having a larger degree over her life. She studies what she like when her family moves back to Europe. When she becomes a writer, she starts a family and sired children. At this stage, the narrator seems to be in more control over her life, and there is no overarching authority which seems can potentially scuttle her plans. It seems women gain more control over their lives as they get older. It is also veiled. This is also visible from the mother who becomes head of the family upon her husband’s death.
She has control over the vast family wealth of the family, and though she did not manage it very well, her authority over it is final CITATION Dur12 \l 1033 (Duras). The older woman, the narrator’s brother, meets on the ship as they traveled back to Europe also had relative independence over her life. The lady who was older than her pursuer was married, but she s...