The myth of the heroine : the female Bildungsroman in the twentieth century : Dorothy Richardson, Simone de Beauvoir, Doris Lessing, Christa Wolf

Is there a myth of the heroine similar, but not identical, to the male Bildungsroman, the novel of development? In this new study Esther K. Labovitz scrutinizes the social and spiritual quest of the heroine. The image that emerges in fact signals the future total development of personality - or Bildung of real life women and their fictional counterparts. Labovitz compares the writings of four authors of the female Bildungsroman, Dorothy Richardson, Simone de Beauvoir, Doris Lessing and Christa Wolf, establishing a common ground among them as they trace the heroine's growth and quest.