“New Aspect of the Woman Question”
This essay has been referred to as the origin of the New Woman movement which swept across late Victorian England, giving rise to a new genre called New Woman fiction. The author effectively sweep aside all pretensions of superiority and dominance enjoyed by men who cannot see themselves in the eyes of women as anything less than perfect. The new aspect is the consideration that women need not limit their activity and existence to the home, thus the concluding assertion of the essay: “the woman question is the marriage question.”
“The Modern Girl”
This essay essentially takes up the concepts outlined in the above essay while applying them specifically to younger woman. A concise summary of essay’s content is summed up in the author’s reply to the rhetorical question “what are we to do with our girls?” The answer is to consider them individually, respect their needs and desires and refrain from expectation that they conform to historical conventions.
“The Condemned Cell”
This short story is narrated by Lady Charlotte while in prison awaiting execution for the murder of her husband. The narrative is primarily composed of flashbacks which relate her side of the story. The motivation for the murder, she claims, was inspired by love, not hate: she discovered he had a previous wife and technically was guilty of bigamy.
“Ideala”
Ideala is one of Grands contribution to the New Woman genre. It is a novel about a woman who enters into marriage with what can only be described as a bad egg. Alienated and isolated from her husband, she falls in love with another man. The crux of the novel is whether is preferred to leave the husband for the other man or to sacrifice her own happiness for the higher purpose of helping out women even less fortunate.
“The Heavenly Twins”
This is also an entry into the New Woman genre, but more expansive than Ideala as it covers three different characters who are unified by the theme of subjugated to male dominance. It may also be the very first novel to admit that syphilis could be contracted even by women well above the streetwalker class. The essential narrative storyline is to connect the three woman as an examples of male oppression since each is victimized in one way or another by the men in their lives.
“An Emotional Moment”
As an example of the New Woman movement, this short story is deliriously ambiguous in the treatment of the lover affair at its core. The events of the story essentially revolve around the question posed to the female partner: “Do you love me.” Her reply is an analogy drawn by referring to a past relationship in which it was the admission of love which serviced its failure. In the present, she perceives her reply as being a statement about the important of truth in a relationship while his perception is a critique of the likelihood of her being faithful and true. The ending is left open-ended purposely so that each reader can draw their own independent conclusion.
