The Inferiority Complex of Women during WWI: Represented in Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain and Diary without Dates by Enid Bagnold.
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2016-08-15
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en
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During the First World War some women experienced a sense of inferiority towards men, as they were able to contribute to the war in an immediate manner while women were not. These women had to cope with this female inferiority complex by themselves, having to find their own means of dealing with this. This thesis examines Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth and Enid Bagnold’s Diary without Dates as two autobiographies that describe this feeling, as well as give an impression of how these women dealt with these sentiments. Working as a Voluntary Aid Detachment as well as having a creative outlet, which for Vera and Enid is writing, seem to be two key aspects in this as both women used these techniques. However, there are also differences in the mechanics these two women used. For Vera Brittain, the realisation that her friends did not have to die in vain, as well as finding a new friend in Winifred Holtby who shared the same values as she did, helped tremendously in dealing with her sense of inferiority. Enid Bagnold finds solace in publishing her diary, outing her sentiments towards VAD work and the public, in order to create a change.
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Faculteit der Letteren