Women Victimization in Stephen Crane’s Maggie Girl of Street (1893)

Abstract

Stephen Crane‘s first novel Maggie Girl of Street treated an unpopular subject, with its unflinchingly sincere brutally and realistic portrait of the urban life in nineteen century New York society. Therefore, the work was initially rejected by editors who considered it inappropriate for publication. Further, it transports a dark reality of life such as: poverty, sex and prostitution based on vulgar dialect and violence. Crane describes the misery and despair of those people living in harsh circumstances among the slums of New York City. This description was directly representing people who belonged to the lower class by concentrating on Maggie’s family. The novel contains a little of mystery and suspense especially with its style in writing, which gives it a different and a specific touch in order to import the reality. The present research work is divided into three chapters; in the first one we review the characteristics of Naturalism as literary movement shaped by its peculiar styles and themes. The second chapter, represents a brief history of the American women and their situation, classification in society and women‘s suffrage. The third chapter includes two parts the first one is a study of form that examines Crane’s language and style and the second one a study of content based on the analysis on Maggie’s character, reasons that force Maggie to turn into prostitution and Stephen Crane ‘s life and works. In this dissertation we seek to demonstrate how Maggie became a victim of her society and her family with highlighting major reasons and causes that play a huge role in changing the circle of her life.