A Contrastive Analysis of the Notion of Marriage in the Nineteenth-Century American Literature and the Pre-Islamic Arabic Literature

Hassan Al-Momani

Abstract


The current study aims at contrasting the notion of marriage in the nineteenth-century American literature with that of the pre-Islamic Arabic literature. To conduct the study, the marriage advice given by the mother (Marmee) in Alcott's Little Women will be compared with Umama Bint Al-Harith's in the pre-Islamic era to see how women in both literatures view marriage and the status of womanhood in their own cultures. A close reading contrastive analysis will be implemented on both pieces of advice to see how the culture influences the mothers' notion of marriage in both texts. The study concludes that although the notion of marriage is similar in both literatures, it is different due to the cultural effect on women's perception of their status in their cultures of their relationship with men.

 


Keywords


women's status, submission, marriage, mother's advice, domestic sphere, companionship, partnership, obedience

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijclts.v.5n.1p.65

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International Journal of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies

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