Irish Women : being both mothers and wives

Sammanfattning: Edna O'Brien and Marian Keyes are two sexually candid female writers. They are both from Ireland and their novels have caused many spectacular headlines over the years. These female authors have been greatly acclaimed, but also sharply criticised for their outspoken way of writing. However they have enjoyed huge success and their novels have been read by many people. This essay will focus on two of the many novels written by these Irish authors: The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien and Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes. In the following essay I will focus on Irish women represented in the novels of Keyes and O'Brien, and their relation to men but also to their daughters. In these novels, women are forced into strict gender roles, very different from those of men. Still, even though the older women in the novels are trapped in their roles, they encourage their daughters to develop and grow beyond such roles. I would argue that the novels and also the feminist actions that still occur in Ireland are built upon a long time of subordination for women, and also from the twisted structure in many of the Irish men-women-relationships. I would argue that the rules and roles created in historical Ireland, have formed an inequality between the sexes that still exists.