Women in 19^th Century Literature

            What makes the 19^th century so important is that from the 14^th through 18^th centuries there was the Renaissance period and then the Age of Enlightenment where there was a marked turn from superstition and dogmatic religious beliefs.  This was the age of reason where humanism began to supplant religion and the scientific method began to erode superstition.  This is evidenced in the philosophy, art and literature.  And one would think that there would be a transition from a male-centric worldview to a human-centric view.  However, in the 19^th century literature, the imagery of women was still very negative and beneath that of a man.  This is evident in Baudelaire’s “A Carcass” and Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Dog.”  Both authors use the female form to personify the misery of life and love.

A great many poets portray the idea of love in the feminine form and it is usually soft, leisurely, and heart-warming.   However, Baudelaire’s symbolic image of love and the use of the female form in “A Carcass” is grotesque, nauseating, vile and therefore memorable.  The first image that Baudelaire smacks the reader with is that of a female carcass with her legs spread out like a “lecherous whore,” who even in death is still opened to debauchery in “slick invitational style.”  This is not just the image of a woman, but one that is debased and desecrated.  (The image of the “whore” is loathsome in any culture throughout recorded history.)  Next, the womb, a uniquely female component, which is supposed to give life and joy is categorized as “stink and festering.”  The life and joy that it brings forth is disgusting in his eyes.  He goes on to describe how the maggots and lice are so entrenched in the carcass that it is almost alive again, “pulsating like a wave.”  There is life, but not the life of the carcass.  It is from the vermin that feed off of the dead.

Baudelaire’s denouement is complete when even the dog that had been feeding on the carcass and was been hiding in the rocks is described in the feminine as a “pitiful bitch.” The dog is a scavenger and is fearful; those are even the lowest traits in the world of nature.  I believe that Baudelaire chose to represent the female form in such a negative way because if the reader is disposed to think of a woman as a “inferior being” then it is easy to visualize the lecherous whore as rotting and decaying and for the image to be all the more nauseating and disgusting.  Baudelaire’s intent was to disgust the reader.

Contrastingly, Chekhov’s depiction of women in “The Lady with the Dog” is not as graphic or contemptible as Baudelaire, but is subtle, condescending and subjugating.   Chekhov’s first female portrayal is of Dmitri’s wife, who he had been talked into marrying while at college. Physically, the reader can visualize a very tall woman, who has an austere disposition, but looks twice as old as she really is.  And although she claims to be a “thinker,” Dmitri thinks that she is “shallow, narrow-minded and dowdy.”  And this is the woman that he stood in awe of, although he despises her.

Dmitri, in turn, lived a life of infidelity and did not think very highly of women.  In fact, he thought and spoke of them as “the lower race.”  This is interesting because he felt more at ease with women than men.  We later see that this comfort is based on the lie of his double life.  Dmitri’s success with women stems from his knowing how to manipulate them; he plays on their sympathies and knows “what to say and how to behave.”  This characterizes women as simple and predictable.  And like a skilled craftsman, Dmitri executes with ease.

Anna is not illustrated any differently than the other women that Dmitri has been with.  She is young and inexperienced and although she is married she doesn’t even know what profession her husband is in – which makes her appear to be dimwitted.  She is on vacation, looking for a way to escape her unhappy and mundane life, but does not really understand how to go about doing this.  It is evident that she esteems her virtue, but in her naiveté she doesn’t realize that hanging around and being with a man every day in the absence of her husband would lead to an adulterous affair.  Her virtue is based on her marriage so when they have had their first act of intimacy she considers herself to be an “ordinary, worthless woman,” and rants that she has “been snared by the Devil.”  Dmitri kisses her forehead and says some soothing word and she is alright, just like a child.

Although Dmitri does fall in love with Anna, it is a realistic interpretation of the text that he fell in love with an image of her as when he thought about her when he returned to Moscow.  “When he closed his eyes, she seemed to stand before him in the flesh, still lovelier, younger, and tenderer than she had been in Yalta.”  His image of her as a person does not change, but his image of her image does.  This is the driving force behind his desire to see and be with her.

Dmitri’s view of women does not change and Chekhov’s view of women is evident during the climax of the story.  Very subtly, Dmitri blames the women for his way of behaving and in living the life that he has. Dmitri looks into the mirror and realizes that his life had been a lie.  “Women had always believed him different from what he really was, had loved in him not himself but the man their imagination pictured him, a man they had sought eagerly all their lives.  And afterwards when they discovered their mistake, they went on loving him just the same.  And not one of them had ever been happy with him.”  Chekhov’s critique of women is deafening.  They are described in this passage as shallow and superficial; people who love images over substance.  They spend their lives looking for something that might be unattainable.  But what is more damning is that even when they realize that they have been deceived and mistaken, they don’t become angry or intent on attaining happiness, they just continue to love him.  Without joy or happiness they continue to love him – the lie.  There is a saying that there is no greater deception than self-deception and that is exactly what all of these women experience.  And that is a direct indictment on their character and place in history at that time.

Although there was a shift in thinking from the 14^th century through the 19^th with the Renaissance and Enlightenment, women were still portrayed differently in literature as evidenced by Baudelaire and Chekhov.  Both writers depict women and the female form negatively.  Although Baudelaire’s usage is shocking and graphic, Chekhov is just as offensive with his depiction of the superficial and brainless women