Emerence from The Door, and the ‘Dog Woman’ as ‘Manly-Woman’ from Sexing the Cherry

Abstract

This paper explores the concept of feminism and the representation of female characters in Hungarian and English novel, pointing out their similarities and dissimilarities regarding the period and different cultures in which they were written. Consideration is given to Magda Szabó’s The Door (1987) in Hungarian literature, and her contemporary Jeanette Winterson’s Sexing the Cherry (1989) in English literature. The ways in which these significant female authors deal with women’s problems, their position in society and their attributed roles and identities from different perspectives, are examined in detail. In each of these works, the female protagonist takes a stand against the identities and expected duties imposed on her as a woman and the abstract barriers constructed between female and male that aim to control her life. These works of fiction enable the female voice, so often disparaged and disregarded by men, to be heard; and enable us to observe how female writers characterize women. Therefore, these selected novels escape the precedent of male patriarchy and the representation of women in the works of male writers. What differentiates this study is to allow women’s voices from different cultures to be heard and their stories’ being transmitted from female authors who could provide an insight into the minds of women both in Britain and Hungary. Finally, critical points of feminism and the position of women in Hungarian and British society are compared so as to illustrate the persistent exclusion of women from active social life.