Proiecția femeii ca personaj în literatura universală
The projection of the woman and a character in universal literature
Author(s): Florina LezeriucSubject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Romanian Literature, Theory of Literature, Sociology of Literature
Published by: Editura Pro Universitaria
Keywords: femininity; archetype; mythical; psychological; character; personality;
Summary/Abstract: Along the times, literary characters have evolved, experienced diverse changes, either in the structure, or in rapport with the social, artistic, and historical context of the times: if in the antique tragedy the character was idealized, result of a communion of the hero, human being, with a deity, in classicism the character becomes a personality, defined through a constant and dominant characteristic, usually balance, so that later on the fight and spirit of revolt to define an exceptional character faced with exceptional situations, as it happens during the romantic period. But starting from realism, literary characters gain wider importance, from a factual character to a psychological one, as realism aims at probing the inner life of the character, and moreover the psychological metamorphosis, a change that we discover in the new novel, in the modern one, which focuses on the character through the comparison interior-exterior, focusing on the way in which external facts are reflected in the conscientiousness of the character. Female characters who illustrate perennial moral, ethical and aesthetic values, beyond the margins of the cultural and historical times in which they were born, are projected in the Greek epics Iliad and Odyssey, attributed to the legendary Homer. Helen, who falls in love with Paris, Priam’s son, is a landmark of feminine beauty, luring him in a consuming love, even if she is the wife of Menelao. The conflict illustrates a war lasting ten years, caused by this woman, an ideal of feminine beauty, grace and kindness, dedicated exclusively to the object of her passion, sacrificing everything: status, prestige, comfort of a warm monotonous existence, being part of a couple who intensely lives the passion nurtured by itself. As the ontogeny repeats the phylogeny, the same way Romanian literature repeats in its evolution, the evolutionary stages of universal literature, obviously with the peculiarities and the specificity that individualizes it. Romanian literature has developed relatively late, having its roots in the religious writings in general. But, as in the case of universal literature, the feminine character is a main focus for the founders of Romanian literature since the beginnings.
Journal: Crossing Boundaries in Culture and Communication
- Issue Year: 10/2019
- Issue No: 2
- Page Range: 167-173
- Page Count: 7
- Language: Romanian