I would be very grateful for any recommendations from list members of examples of authors/books/short stories/plays that portray single women in Irish literature across the 20th century or a critical analysis of the same; particularly women who are 'always single' or 'unmarried'. If possible I am looking for examples in which the single woman is the main character, narrator but all suggestions appreciated. Examples I have already include Brian Moore's 'The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne', William Trevor's 'The Ballroom of Romance', and portrayals of single women in the novels of Kate O'Brien and Mary Lavin. Most portrayals invoke stereotypes of single women as sad, lonely, vulnerable, depressed figures who settle for less and are unfavourably compared to those who marry and have children. The personal thoughts and desires of single women are variably focussed on loss of opportunity to love, to marry and the need to marry in order to be recognised by others as a woman (Moore/Trevor) or women's struggle to live a meaningful life as a single woman, contesting normative expectations of womanhood beyond the family frame (O'Brien).
Thank you
Anne Byrne
NUI, Galway
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