Chapter 3 - The Scottish New Woman and the Art of Self-Sacrifice

Summary

CH 3: The New Woman, a figure that emerged in the fin-de-siècle novel, was a decidedly metropolitan phenomenon. Yet novels by sisters Mary and Jane Findlater and their better-known contemporary Mona Caird explored the possibility of a Scottish New Woman, recognizing the peculiar impediments to economic and intellectual independence faced by women in rural Scotland. Employing aesthetic techniques that foregrounded their own artistry, including impressionistic reveries, abrupt shifts in perspective, and elaborate symbolism, Caird and the Findlaters suggested that the capacity to appreciate and create beauty is the defining characteristic of Scotland’s New Woman. Caird represents the Scottish landscape as a source of inspiration for her musical protagonist but condemns the conformity demanded by Scottish society as antithetical to the development of her considerable genius. By contrast, the Findlaters suggest that women’s artistic development is possible within the limitations imposed by Scottish society, albeit on the small scale that they employ in their own novels.