The spaces of the feminine in family sagas [Gli spazi del femminile nelle saghe familiari]

Claudia Cao

2021-01-01

---

Abstract

This contribution illustrates the process of reconfiguration of female roles within domestic spaces and the consequent questioning of the traditional family institution that took place between the 1880s and the 1930s. To this end, it examines the gradual emancipation of female characters in three family sagas set in that period – John Galsworthy’s The Forsyte Saga (1906-1921), Rebecca West’s Aubrey trilogy (1956-1985), and the TV series Downton Abbey (2010-2015) – and it respectively identifies three chronotopes: the Robin Hill country house, the music room, the car. These spaces symbolise the overcoming of physical and metaphorical barriers and express the protagonists’ liberation from the limited space of the house as they gain access to the public sphere.