Freedom, Sincerity, and the Modern Woman in the Interwar Romances of Berta Ruck
Berta Ruck’s interwar romance novels address contemporary anxieties about the changing role of women in Britain after 1918. Ruck’s novels focus both on the modern woman in contrast to the Victorian woman, and the extent to which modernity and the new freedoms wrought by the First World War emancipat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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International Association for the Study of Popular Romance (IASPR)
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Popular Romance Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.jprstudies.org/2022/02/freedom-sincerity-and-the-modern-woman-in-the-interwar-romances-of-berta-ruck/ |
| _version_ | 1817968181173551104 |
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| author | Bonnie White |
| author_facet | Bonnie White |
| author_sort | Bonnie White |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Berta Ruck’s interwar romance novels address contemporary anxieties about the changing role of women in Britain after 1918. Ruck’s novels focus both on the modern woman in contrast to the Victorian woman, and the extent to which modernity and the new freedoms wrought by the First World War emancipated women from the traditionalisms of the pre-war period. Over the course of the interwar period, however, Ruck began to question whether young women were embracing the full potential of their new freedoms or if they were trading one kind of conformity for another. Ruck challenges young women to dispense with unnecessary labels – mods versus the conventional woman – that prevent women from understanding and embracing their true selves. Ruck delays the expected happy ending until the protagonists reject the performative modernity of societal expectations – a journey centered around new employment and courtship rituals that came to define the modern woman – and arrive at a true understanding of self, accomplished by embracing sincerity and emotional honesty. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T20:05:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8048abfcc7b74d29b9328372768f283d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2159-4473 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T20:05:00Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | International Association for the Study of Popular Romance (IASPR) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Popular Romance Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-8048abfcc7b74d29b9328372768f283d2022-12-22T02:32:02ZengInternational Association for the Study of Popular Romance (IASPR)Journal of Popular Romance Studies2159-44732022-02-01111119Freedom, Sincerity, and the Modern Woman in the Interwar Romances of Berta RuckBonnie White0Memorial University of Newfoundland, Grenfell CampusBerta Ruck’s interwar romance novels address contemporary anxieties about the changing role of women in Britain after 1918. Ruck’s novels focus both on the modern woman in contrast to the Victorian woman, and the extent to which modernity and the new freedoms wrought by the First World War emancipated women from the traditionalisms of the pre-war period. Over the course of the interwar period, however, Ruck began to question whether young women were embracing the full potential of their new freedoms or if they were trading one kind of conformity for another. Ruck challenges young women to dispense with unnecessary labels – mods versus the conventional woman – that prevent women from understanding and embracing their true selves. Ruck delays the expected happy ending until the protagonists reject the performative modernity of societal expectations – a journey centered around new employment and courtship rituals that came to define the modern woman – and arrive at a true understanding of self, accomplished by embracing sincerity and emotional honesty.https://www.jprstudies.org/2022/02/freedom-sincerity-and-the-modern-woman-in-the-interwar-romances-of-berta-ruck/britainconventionalitygendermodsvictorian |
| spellingShingle | Bonnie White Freedom, Sincerity, and the Modern Woman in the Interwar Romances of Berta Ruck Journal of Popular Romance Studies britain conventionality gender mods victorian |
| title | Freedom, Sincerity, and the Modern Woman in the Interwar Romances of Berta Ruck |
| title_full | Freedom, Sincerity, and the Modern Woman in the Interwar Romances of Berta Ruck |
| title_fullStr | Freedom, Sincerity, and the Modern Woman in the Interwar Romances of Berta Ruck |
| title_full_unstemmed | Freedom, Sincerity, and the Modern Woman in the Interwar Romances of Berta Ruck |
| title_short | Freedom, Sincerity, and the Modern Woman in the Interwar Romances of Berta Ruck |
| title_sort | freedom sincerity and the modern woman in the interwar romances of berta ruck |
| topic | britain conventionality gender mods victorian |
| url | https://www.jprstudies.org/2022/02/freedom-sincerity-and-the-modern-woman-in-the-interwar-romances-of-berta-ruck/ |
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