She Is She: Existentialist Themes in the Works of Women Writers of the Southern Renaissance

Abstract

Female writers of the southern renaissance had to deal with a number of oppressive forces, encapsulated in the idea of “Sacred Womanhood.” The way many of these women writers depicted this struggle parallels the struggle for authentic self-hood as proposed by existentialism, and by using the philosophy to inform the events of various novels from writers, such as Zora Neal Hurston, Carson McCullers, Kate Chopin, and Ellen Glasgow, the actions and words of the characters can be more fully understood.