THE PARADOX OF FREE WOMEN IN DORIS LESSING'S “THE GOLDEN NOTEBOOK”

Year 2021, , 454 - 471, 24.06.2021

Emine Akkülah Doğan

https://doi.org/10.33171/dtcfjournal.2021.61.1.18

Abstract

Although Doris Lessing's “The Golden Notebook” is regarded as a feminist novel by many
scholars, it is also mostly criticised due to the overt male domination upon various female
characters. Moving away from the feminist purpose by focusing on the experiences and
struggles of these different women characters, Lessing emphasises the significance of
peeling off all the socially constructed labels and recognising the distinctive true identity
particular to each woman. Following this focus, the author also creates an analogy
between the content and the form of the novel by reflecting the chaos in the mind of the
women characters to the chaotic form which is divided into parts. Hereby, it can be aptly
argued that by building a chaotic atmosphere around the women characters who deem
themselves free, Lessing problematises the concept of free women in this particular novel.
This paper sets out to analyse how Lessing illustrates the paradox of free women in “The
Golden Notebook” through the chaotic content and form.

Keywords

Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook, Free Women, Male Domination, Feminism

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