A Psychoanalytic Liberal Feminist Analysis of George Moore’s "Esther Waters"

Year 2023, , 308 - 317, 26.10.2023

Halit Alkan

https://doi.org/10.31465/eeder.1338753

Abstract

In the nineteenth-century English society, the public sphere was associated with rationality and man whereas the private sphere was identified with morality and woman. Being deprived of education and professions, women were given the roles of wife and mother. Liberal feminism emphasizes the equality of woman with man in legal and social life. In this sense, the standpoints of Mary Wollstonecraft, Harriet Taylor, and John Stuart Mill for women’s position are expressed. The analysis of the unconscious is important for examining the oppression that women were subjected to in patriarchal society. Thus the views of important psychoanalysts such as Sigmund Freud, Carl G. Jung, and Jacques Lacan are explained. This study examines women’s position in George Moore’s "Esther Waters" in terms of education and marriage with a psychoanalytic liberal feminist approach. Esther has an extramarital sex, has an illegitimate child and financially struggles for her son as a fallen woman. In this study, no matter how Esther tries to draw a libertarian and ‘New Woman’ profile, the patriarchal society in which she lives does not allow her to be liberated and she continues her life by being forced to marry.

Keywords

Woman question, Psychoanalysis, Liberal feminism, George Moore, Esther Waters

George Moore’un "Esther Waters" Eserinin Psikanalitik Liberal Feminist Bir Analizi

Abstract

On dokuzuncu yüzyıl İngiliz toplumunda kamusal alan akılcılık ve erkekle; özel alan ise ahlâk ve kadınla tanımlanırdı. Eğitimden ve mesleklerden mahrum bırakılan kadınlara eş ve anne rolleri tanınırdı. Liberal feminizm, kadının hukuk ve sosyal yaşamda erkeklerle eşitliğini vurgular. Bu bağlamda Mary Wollstonecraft, Harriet Taylor ve John Stuart Mill’in kadınların konumu ile ilgili görüşleri vurgulanır. Bilinçaltının analizi, ataerkil toplumda kadınların maruz kaldığı baskıyı incelemek açısından önemlidir. Bu nedenle Sigmund Freud, Carl G. Jung ve Jacques Lacan gibi önemli psikanalistlerin bakış açıları açıklanır. Bu çalışma, George Moore’un "Esther Waters" eserinde kadının konumunu eğitim ve evlilik konuları açısından psikanalitik liberal feminist yaklaşımıyla inceler. Esther evlilik dışı cinsel münasebet sonucu çocuk sahibi olur ve düşmüş bir kadın olarak oğlu için ekonomik sıkıntılarla mücadele eder. Bu çalışmada Esther her ne kadar özgürlükçü ve ‘Yeni Kadın’ imajı sergilemeye çabalasa da, içinde yaşadığı ataerkil toplum onun özgürleşmesine izin vermez ve evliliğe zorlanarak yaşamına devam eder.

Keywords

Kadın sorunsalı, Psikanaliz, Liberal feminizm, George Moore, Esther Waters

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