Victorian feminism and Gissing's the odd women: ‘why are women redundant?’

Abstract

Gissing's The Odd Women (1893) has variously been considered as feminist and also as anti-feminist. Here it will be argued that irrespective of the ideological stance of the novel, it may be seen as a close and realistic rendition of certain feminist issues. This can be observed via an examination of some important statements by Victorian feminists such as Barbara Bodichon and Jessie Boucherett on the subject of ‘superfluous’ women and work. They were concerned, firstly, with the articulation of the problem and its opposition to the ornamental view of women, and, secondly, with practical solutions and their implementation. It is into this second area that Gissing's novel may be seen to fit, providing a close fictional analogy with the activities of the Langham Place Circle.