After the Civil War, and continuing on through the beginning of the 20th century, many new female authors emerged in American literature. Some, such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman or Kate Chopin, articulated explicitly feminist points of view, while others, such as Louisa May Alcott, were less obviously revolutionary in their intentions but still brought new perspectives into American literature. What were these new perspectives? How did they differ from male authors of the time?
Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper in which you do the following:
• Analyze which social factors influenced American women writers of the period of 1865 to 1912.
• Describe the specific roles these new female authors played in this period.
• Explain how the perspectives of these female authors differed from those of their male contemporaries.
• Illustrate your points using works from major women writers of the period.
• Provide some illustration of male perspectives for purposes of comparison. You may do so by including evidence from contemporary literary works by male authors.