In the early 20th century, many writers began to provide a more complex, nuanced, and realistic portrayal of gender issues. Virginia Woolf, often considered one of the most important voices in feminist literature, wrote about this concept in a way that, considering it was a newly “new” issue in her time, is surprisingly astute and, to use a modern term, queer. . James Joyce, similarly, approached this concept in a bold and dynamic way, presenting gender as a complex internalized issue, a concept that defines our identities. Both Woolf and Joyce, in their respective texts, present the genre in a highly realistic way that delves into this concept. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayIn “Mrs. Dalloway in Bond Street” Woolf provides a female character who features both the internalization of gender and the intrinsic gender of language. The opening sentence of the story presents this gender of language: “Mrs. Dalloway has said that she would buy the gloves herself. Clarissa Dalloway is initially introduced with her formal title, Mrs., making it clear that she is married and thus defining her character as a wife, Woolf projects onto Clarissa's character all the reader's assumptions about the role of the married woman in the early 20th century; affectionate, submissive, moderate in a multitude of socio-economic and cultural ways. Also, follow this clarification with “she said she would buy the gloves herself.” presents further gendered assumptions that Clarissa decided to purchase the gloves herself implies that she could have asked someone else, most likely a servant, to do so, thus presenting her as upper-middle class, an assumption that is solidified when. we learn that he lives in Westminster and is the husband of a Member of Parliament. The action of purchasing gloves is inherently feminine, focused on fashion, a trivial thing, and therefore presents both a solidification of her gender role and a reaffirmation of her class status as she is able to spend money on such triviality. Therefore, by carefully reading the first sentence of the story, we can determine that Clarissa Dalloway is married and comes from a wealthy background, showing how Woolf exploits the inherent gender of the language to allow for in-depth insight into her characters. Woolf's internalization of genre is presented through her use of stream of consciousness, a style that she and Joyce utilized to its fullest potential. The internalization of gender into Clarissa's consciousness is highlighted in a passage that follows Clarissa learning that her friend, Milly Whitbread, has been to the doctors: "Of course, she thought as she walked, Milly is about my age - fifty - fifty-two years." . So it's probably like this, Ugo's ways said it, they said it perfectly." The “what” that sent Milly to the doctors is supposedly menopause due to Milly's age. Clarissa's internalized gender is shown through her inability, even within her internal monologue, to utter the word menopause, but rather only to imply it and Woolf forces the reader to fill in the gaps. It's implied that menopause is too risky or impolite a topic to mention, too physical and private, and the fact that Clarissa can't even say the word internally highlights how much she's been conditioned into the polite role of an upper-middle-class woman. classy woman. Gender, therefore, Woolf implies, is more than an individual's outward appearance, as well as hersactions and what he is allowed to do according to the law. Rather, it is something that is internalized, reaching deep into our sense of self and identity and even censoring our thoughts and shaping our language. Using a revolutionary writing technique, stream of consciousness, Woolf is able to present gender in a realistic way, and thus highlight gender issues that had previously been ignored. Joyce, through the use of stream of consciousness, shows a similar internalization of gender and gender roles. In the episode "Nausicaa" of his magnum opus Ulysses, Joyce describes an interaction on a public beach between his novel's protagonist, Leopold Bloom, and a young woman, Gerty McDowell. The internalization of the genre is presented primarily through Gerty's stream of consciousness, not only through its content but also through its overall tone and style. As in much of the rest of the novel, Joyce uses an eclectic range of styles, and in this section he imitates the style of the romance novels that Gerty confesses to adore. The story opens with a scene that, compared to the rest of the novel, is highly sentimental and fictionalized: “The summer evening had begun to bend the world in its mysterious embrace. Far to the west the sun was setting and the last gleam of an all too fleeting day lingered lovingly over sea and beach, on the proud headland of good old Howth, guarding as ever the waters of the bay.” This incredibly picturesque description is an out-of-place type of novel, especially considering its overall coherence compared to the often chaotic and distorted descriptions of the novel's settings. This overly romanticized style goes beyond simply describing the landscape and continues to influence Gerty's stream of consciousness. Gerty is presented, both through the narrator and herself, in an overly exaggerated manner: "She was declared beautiful by all who knew her... Her figure was light and graceful, even a hint of fragility... The waxen pallor of her face was almost spiritual" in its ivory-like purity, even as her rosebud mouth was a true Cupid's bow, Greekly perfect. she has internalized gender stereotypes to a degree that alters her perception of herself, conditioning her to act as a tragic and romantic heroine: "Her very soul is in her eyes and she would give worlds to be in the privacy of her own life." family room where, by giving vent to tears, he could have a good cry and relieve his repressed feelings. It has been shown, once again, that gender influences both the language and consciousness of the individual, Gerty being linguistically influenced by literature written to appeal to young women to such an extent that it presents her as a one-dimensional character, devoid of substance beyond of an interest in his own appearance and his melodramatic love interests. But the works of Woolf and Joyce do much more than simply show how, internally and through language, gender influences the individual, they go further and address the issues in a way that can be considered well ahead of their time . In her novel Orlando, Woolf describes the life of the titular character, Orlando, whose life spans many centuries and whose body changes between the male and female sexes. In Orlando, Woolf writes: There is much to support the idea that it is the clothes we wear and not we who wear them; we can make them take the shape of an arm or a breast, but they could at their will our hearts, our brains, our languages... If we compare the image of Orlando as a man with that of Orlando as a woman, we will see that although both are..