Comparative analysis of the concept of feminine identity in the Marjan Basiri's Bot-e- Doregard and Silvia Plot's the bell jar.

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Member of the Research center of Islam and Iran Culture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman

2 Department of English Studies- Favultybof Literature- Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman_ Kerman_ Iran

10.30465/copl.2021.6151

Abstract

Abstract
The world of literature reflects social changes and the psychological effects consequent upon these changes. The notion of identity is one such effect. Shaped by the society, culture, politics and ideology, identity- as a theme- finds its way into literary works. The present study uses content analysis and text mining to do a library –based research of the theme of feminine identity in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Marjan Basiri’s The Itinerant Idol. The major character of each novel is a modern women who lives in a patriarch society and experiences a crisis of identity which results in her depression, madness and final suicide. The results of the study show that the clash of tradition and modernity has caused a crisis in meaning and identity, especially for women. Women are isolated from the mechanism of the society, placed as if in the bell jars of history. This isolation has made women react in different ways and through different social and cultural movements to the injustices which keep recurring in various forms. These worries and concerns are also reflected in the world of fiction. The Itinerant Idol and The Bell Jar reflect such worries: women try to free themselves from the shackles of the identity imposed on them by repressive social orders. The major characters of the two novels try to redefine themselves in search of their identity.
Keywords: Identity; Patriarchy; The Bell Jar; The Itinerant Idol; Sylvia Plat; Marjan Basiri.

Keywords

References

 
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