The Outsider: A Feminist Study of Susan Glaspell’s The Outside

Abstract

The American dramatist, Susan Glaspell, in her literary work, addresses the assigned position of women in a male-dominated society to promote gender equality and woman’s empowerment. She negotiates the plight of women and gender roles by situating the female characters in confined and unlikely settings. This study is primarily concerned with the position of women in her controversial play, The Outside (1917). It focuses on the female characters’ positions as outsiders and strangers in their society and how they have become outsiders and aliens in their community as a result of being non-conformists to the prescribed rules. It also demonstrates that women are forced to choose between conforming to the societal norm and being shunned and rejected as insane by society. Using feminist theories, the position of female characters as outsiders and detached from the social activity is analyzed. It concludes with the point that the writer defends the right of non-conformist women who want to have their own space and role that is not confined by masculine principles.