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2 Quotation 3 See also 4 Further reading 5 External link 6 Other uses |
The New Woman was a feminist ideal which emerged in the final decades of the 19th century in Europe and North America as a reaction to the role ascribed to women in the Victorian era. Advocates of the New Woman ideal were found among novelists, playwrights, journalists, pamphleteers, political thinkers and suffragettes. Men who favoured the new cause gathered, for example, in the Fabian Society. The supporters' common aim was to encourage women to liberate themselves from male domination, manage their own lives, and leave behind anything that might restrict their pursuit of happiness and their self-realization. Heavily opposed by conservativess, the New Woman movement started to fade away in the course of the First World War when, due to a shortage of "manpower", many women took on jobs and when, shortly after the war, universal suffrage was achieved.
Certain characteristics were seen as pertinent to the new ideal. By general consent, a "New Woman" was supposed
Definition
Not all proponents of the New Woman went equally far in their demands. For example, while it was generally acknowledged that the Victorian moral code and in particular double standards of morality must be abandoned, the concept of free love was by no means universally advocated.
In fiction, H. G. Wells's Ann Veronica (1909) ("this poisonous book", according to The Spectator) is one of the classic New Woman novels, whereas Grant Allen's The Woman Who Did (1895) was a controversial contribution. In drama, Henry Arthur Jones's play The Case of Rebellious Susan (1894) deserves mentioning in this context.
Quotation
See also
Further reading
External link
Other uses