Feminist Interpretations
Light and dark female rivals, Helen and Queen Meriamun, both cause men’s deaths; Odysseus is “beguiled” by the snake of Meriamun, as was Eve, and the Argive Helen dwells with death, yet she is “beauty’s self.” These characters represent abstractions, rather than individuals. The hero is the ideal to which the reader is meant to aspire, but Haggard and Lane fuse together in their depiction of the fierce Meriamun. Meriamun is an embodiment of the independent New Woman they strongly disliked, however they cannot help their attachment to the character.
Read more about this topic: The World's Desire
Famous quotes containing the word feminist:
“With a generous endowment of motherhood provided by legislation, with all laws against voluntary motherhood and education in its methods repealed, with the feminist ideal of education accepted in home and school, and with all special barriers removed in every field of human activity, there is no reason why woman should not become almost a human thing. It will be time enough then to consider whether she has a soul.”
—Crystal Eastman (1881–1928)