From Silence to Selfhood: Tracing Feminist Consciousness in Margaret Laurence's Fiction

Abstract

Margaret Laurence, for anyone studying Canadian literature, is essentially a giant. Mostly because she spent so much time examining how women actually managed to survive when the rules were incredibly strict and old-school. One can see this everywhere in her books: the daily grind and struggle of female characters. Handling the crushing weight of society's demands, while desperately craving personal freedom, absolutely exhausts these women. This paper maps out the slow burn of feminist thought across five of her biggest titles: The Stone Angel (1964), A Jest of God (1966), The Fire-Dwellers (1969), A Bird in the House (1970), along with The Diviners (1974). Using basic feminist theory, this paper looks at the nuts and bolts of how Laurence puts together female identity. The core argument here is that her protagonists show us the different phases of waking up to feminism. Most of them begin completely silenced, but slowly work their way toward accepting themselves and taking action. Comparing the novels right next to each other makes one thing obvious: Laurence was totally rethinking gender roles, adding something incredibly valuable to the literary conversation.