| Popis: |
This Master's thesis deals with female characters of the socially critical novel Frau Jenny Treibel by Theodor Fontane, in order to find out whether the heroines are satisfied in their social roles or whether they try to challenge the social norms, and what role their social background and education play in this matter. Furthermore, we ask what life goals these women pursue and how successful they are in fulfilling them. The thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter sketches Fontane's biography with the emphasis on the importance of his numerous friendships with women and his ambivalent relationship to female emancipation. Based on literature research, the second chapter introduces poetic realism focusing on Fontane's specific position in it - as a critical realist with elements of modernity. The third, longest chapter, contains the analysis and interpretation of the individual female characters of the novel. We have found, that regardless their social class and education, the heroines live under social conventions, according to which their main goal is an advantageous marriage, functioning at the same time as the measure of their success. The two protagonists, the representative of the intellectual bourgeoisie Corinna, and the more experienced representative of the newly rich... |
