Feminist Crisis Narrative in The Golden Notebook

Abstract

The Golden Notebook is Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessings most famous work. Interspersed with five notebooks, the author depicts the entire world of the mid-twentieth century in this story, which is considered the pinnacle of twentieth-century examination of gender relations. By describing the personal life and pursuits of its heroine, Anna, The Golden Notebook pictures the reality of the world and the fragmented mental state of people in the 1950s. This paper explores the feminist crisis described in this book. It analyzes Annas struggle for liberation and identity in a patriarchal society, and explores the fragmented narrative, web-like narrative structure, and multiple narrative perspectives employed in the novel to represent Anna's feminist struggle. By analyzing these narrative elements, this paper aims to illuminate how these techniques contribute to the portrayal of Anna's feminist crisis and provide a deeper understanding of the complexities and nuances of her experience.