The aim of this essay is to examine how men is portrayed in three short stories, ?En omvändelsehistoria?, ?Far och son? and ?Jeppa?, from the debut Från Skåne by Victoria Benedictsson. I also investigate the ideas of masculinity during the 1880s. Unmanliness, paternity and manly tears are other concepts that I have been examining with close?reading as the method.

The aim of this master thesis is to examine how female identity is formed in two novels and two short stories from the 1880?s. As a framework we rely on the method outlined by Pierre Bourdieu when he approaches the cultural and social worlds through the concept of fields. To understand the female position during that time we use Michel Foucault?s work about the history of sex, Thomas Laqueur?s theories about the rise of sexes and Karin Johannisson?s study about the exploration of the dark continent (i.e.

Anne Charlotte Leffler, Victoria Benedictsson and Frida Stéenhoff were all part of the Modern Breakthrough in Swedish literature. By utilizing Jürgen Habermas theoretical works on communicative action, and Nancy Fraser?s supplementary reading of his theory, this essay makes clear that the authors? struggle for an understanding and a rethinking of social norms in their plays Skådespelerskan (1873), Romeos Julia (1888) and Lejonets unge (1896) can be read as a contribution to the public debate. Dialogue has a key function for female authors during the Modern Breakthrough. Women and mens? possibilities to take part in conversation and argument as equals, requires the professional woman?s transgression and access to the privileges of both public (State) administration ? ?system?, and world of everyday life ? ?lifeworld?.

Uppsatsen avser att utreda hur August Strindbergs pjäs Fröken Julie avspeglar samtidens bild av kvinnan som sjuklig varelse. Enligt min mening tilltar behovet av att definiera kvinnan som biologiskt svag, i takt med kraven om jämlikhet mellan könen. Uppsatsen argumenterar för Julie som en representant för emancipationskvinnan. Denna, för mannen, hotfulla varelse som inkräktade på hans revir. Julie måste därmed avväpnas, göras svag, sjuk och styrd av sin sexualitet för att sedan utplånas.