The Women’s Room (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Marilyn Edwards
- First Published: 1977
- Type of Plot: Social criticism
- Time of Work: The 1950’s and the 1960’s
- Setting: A New Jersey suburb and Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Principal Characters: Mira, Norm, Adele, Samantha, Martha, Val, Clarissa, Isolde, Kyla, Ben
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Social realism, Bildungsroman
- Subjects: 1950’s, Values, 1960’s, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., Self-discovery, Suffering, United States or Americans, Homosexuality or homosexuals, Love or romance, Sex or sexuality, Gender roles, Marriage, Friendship, Fear, Feminism, Lesbianism or lesbians, Women’s issues, Oppression, New Jersey, Women, Divorce, Lifestyles, Colleges or universities, Suburban life, Homemakers
- Locales: Cambridge, MA, New Jersey
The Novel
The Women’s Room follows Mira through her repressive childhood and marriage, through her devastating divorce, and finally through her years as an English graduate student as she, for the first time, acquires control over her own life. As a child, Mira is restricted by her parents’ attempts to mold her into a young lady. Her mother declares that legs should be crossed only at the ankles and that girls do not engage in rough play. Even though Mira is young, she imagines that the edicts are “strangling her, stifling her.”
As a college student,...
[The entire page is 2266 words long]
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