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Home Phi Kappa Phi News & Events "Marriage in Early Twentieth Century British Fiction"
"Marriage in Early Twentieth Century British Fiction"
Jennifer A. Turner, English Department, The Citadel
Marriage in the early twentieth century experienced stress and transformation in Great Britain. The period known as modernism ushered in a new willingness by authors to examine the realities of marriage and explore the influences of gender, class, and sexuality on marital dissatisfaction and failure. In addition, an increasing consideration of societal issues such as women's rights, marriage laws, and moral standards fashioned a new image of marriage for authors to address. This presentation will explore how several authors translated this societal watershed into literary art and how they used their literature not only to record but also to understand their society. Perceiving the transformations occurring in their era, the modernists captured marriage in a new light and offered their predictions about and insight into one of mankind's most essential and controversial institutions.