Representation of Women: Analyzing 19th and 20th Century Short Stories using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Author(s) : Bushra Amil & Abdur Rehman Tariq

Abstract:

The issue of representation of women in the literature and other domains of society emerged as an important field of study from mid nineteenth century with a focus on the subjugation of women in the male patriarchal society. Although, the status and rights of women have been widely discussed and women as an individual identity with their own rights and role in society remained the subject of various research. The analysis of women needs, is much needed to highlight the humanistic psychological perspective. The aim of this study is to identify the portrayal of women protagonists in the 19th and 20th century literature based on their needs analysis to highlight the difference in how this portrayal changed over the period of time. It is done by using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model. Two short stories, one from the 19th and the other from the 20th century have been analyzed. The study concludes that the representation of women in literature had undergone major changes in correlation to the emergence of feminist theory and the change in socio-political scenarios. The results show that the woman protagonist in the late nineteenth century short story was portrayed as submissive, dependent upon the opinions of male characters, therefore, suffering at the hands of patriarchy. Whereas the woman entering 20th century is more independent, ambitious, aware of her potentials and is eager to achieve the highest state of freedom and autonomy, even compromising marital relations.
Keywords: Representation, Individual Identity, Needs Analysis, Patriarchy, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs