French Women Writers - What is it all about?

Now that we have reached the end of the semester, I hope that you have made some connections in your mind between the various authoresses that you have read. As you work to prepare for the Final Exam, discuss the following questions here on the blog as well as with your classmates. These questions serve merely as a springboard to the Final Exam Question.

"In this course, we have studied, in part, the ways in which French Women Writers comment on the relationship between gender and society. We have discussed the notions of gender and identity and the ways in which our authoresses works represent the effects of the individual's gender and identity on her functioning within her own society."

Therefore:

What is feminine writing?
How is gender formed?
What is the importance of gender in the formation of an identity?
What is the relationship between gender and society?
What are the challenges of the characters depicted in the works from this course?
What interconnections exist between the works that we have read and discussed?
What do the characters learn in the course of their adventures?
Do we find similar character types throughout the works that we have read?
How do the characters in these works portray the struggle of women throughout the ages?

Histoire de la femme cannibale - Maryse Condé

Pour certains, Histoire de la femme cannibale, le roman de Maryse Condé qui est sorti en 2003, est une histoire compliquée. Qu'est-ce que vous pensez de ce roman? Utilisez ce blog pour parler de vos idées et de vos impressions sur votre lecture de ce roman. Discutez des problèmes et des difficultés que vous avez vis-à-vis de ce roman.

Claire de Duras / Marguerite Duras

Vous terminez Ourika de Claire de Duras et vous commencez à lire L’Amant de Marguerite Duras. Est-ce qu'il existe des similarités entre les deux œuvres ? En quoi consistent les différences principales ? Quelle est l’importance du développement de son amour-propre (self-esteem) dans les deux romans? Discutez-en.

Blog / Reflective Journal Evaluations

As we are now approaching midterm, I would like you each to take a moment to post your assessments of both the blog and the Reflective Journals. How do you feel about each of them? What do they add to the French Women Writers course? What could be done to better them?

The State of "Woman"

So far, we have read the words/works of Marie de France, Christine de Pisan, Louise Labe, Marguerite de Navarre, Madame de Sevigne, and Madame de Lafayette. In your opinion, what is the state of "woman" in Medieval and Renaissance/Post-Renaissance France? Are there any burning issues that you think need to be or will be resolved in Enlightenment France?

"Sensible ou raisonnée"

We have already discussed the idea of Sense and Sensibility with Marguerite de Navarre and Mme de Sévigné. Let us now apply this same idea to Mme de Lafayette? Is Mme de Lafayette “sensible” or is she “raisonnée”?

"Raisonnable" or "Sensible"

After reading the first set of letters by Madame de Sévigné, please discuss the following:

In your opinion, which of our two most recent authoresses (Marguerite de Navarre and Madame de Sévigné) is more "Raisonnable" and which is more "Sensible"?