Marilyn French (; November 21, 1929 – May 2, 2009) was an American
radical feminist author.
Life
French was born in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
to E. Charles Edwards, an engineer, and Isabel Hazz Edwards, a department store clerk. In her youth, she was a journalist, writing a neighborhood newsletter. She played the piano and dreamed of becoming a composer.
She received a bachelor's degree from
Hofstra University
Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...
(then
Hofstra College
Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...
) in 1951, in philosophy and English literature. Marilyn Edwards married Robert M. French Jr. in 1950 and supported him while he attended law school. The couple had two children.
French also received a master's degree in English from Hofstra, in 1964. She divorced Robert French in 1967 and then pursued a doctorate
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, where she earned a PhD in 1972 on the thesis of ''The Book as World: James Joyce's Ulysses.''
French was diagnosed with
esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Other symptoms may include pain when swallowing, a hoarse voice ...
in 1992. This experience was the basis for her book ''A Season in Hell: A Memoir'' (1998). She survived cancer and later died from heart failure at age 79, on May 2, 2009, in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.
Career
Teaching
She was an English instructor at Hofstra, from 1964 to 1968, and was an assistant professor of English at the
College of the Holy Cross
The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest ...
in
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...
, from 1972 to 1976.
Political views and written works
In her works, French asserted that women's oppression is an intrinsic part of the male-dominated global culture. For instance, one of her first non-fiction works, ''Beyond Power: On Women, Men and Morals'' (1985), in which she traces and analyses the history of gender relations from early matrifocal societies to the lives of women and men "in the age of patriarchy".] French took issue with the expectations of married women in the post-World War II era and became a leading, if controversial, opinion maker on gender issues who decried the
patriarchal
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of Dominance hierarchy, dominance and Social privilege, privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical Anthropology, anthropological term for families or clans controll ...
society she saw around her. "My goal in life is to change the entire social and economic structure of Western civilization, to make it a feminist world," she once declared.
French's first and best-known novel, ''
The Women's Room
''The Women's Room'' is the debut novel by American feminist author Marilyn French, published in 1977. It launched French as a major participant in the feminist movement and, while French states it is not autobiographical, the book reflects man ...
'' (1977), follows the lives of Mira and her friends in 1950s and 1960s America, including Val, a militant
radical feminist. The novel portrays the details of the lives of women at this time and the
feminist movement
The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for Radical politics, radical and Liberalism, liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality b ...
of this era in the United States. At one point in the book the character Val declares in a moment of extreme anger, over her friend Mira's protests, that "all men are rapists, and that's all they are. They rape us with their eyes, their laws, and their codes."
French made it clear elsewhere that these were not her own beliefs, but critics of radical feminism have often attributed the view to French herself, without noting that the quote was drawn from one of many fictional characters in a novel. ''The Women's Room'' sold more than 20 million copies and was translated into more than 20 languages.
Gloria Steinem
Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism
Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in ...
, a close friend, compared the impact of the book on the discussion surrounding women's rights to the one that
Ralph Ellison
Ralph Waldo Ellison (March 1, 1913 – April 16, 1994) was an American writer, literary critic, and scholar best known for his novel ''Invisible Man'', which won the National Book Award in 1953. He also wrote ''Shadow and Act'' (1964), a collecti ...
's ''
Invisible Man
''Invisible Man'' is a novel by Ralph Ellison, published by Random House in 1952. It addresses many of the social and intellectual issues faced by African Americans in the early twentieth century, including black nationalism, the relationship b ...
'' (1952) had had on racial equality 25 years earlier.
Her most significant work in later life was ''From Eve to Dawn: A History of Women''. It was published in a Dutch translation in 1995 (in one volume of 1312 pages), but did not appear in English until 2002 and 2003 (published in three volumes by Mcarthur & Company), and then again in English in four volumes (published by
The Feminist Press
The Feminist Press (officially The Feminist Press at CUNY) is an American independent nonprofit literary publisher that promotes freedom of expression and social justice. It publishes writing by people who share an activist spirit and a belief in ...
) in 2008. It is built around the premise that exclusion from the prevailing intellectual histories denied women their past, present and future. Despite carefully chronicling a long history of oppression, the last volume ends on an optimistic note, said
Florence Howe
Florence Rosenfeld Howe (March 17, 1929 – September 12, 2020) was an American author, publisher, literary scholar, and historian who is considered to have been a leader of the contemporary feminist movement.
Early life
Born in Brooklyn, New ...
, who recently retired as director of the publishing house. "For the first time women have history," she said of Ms. French's work. "The world changed and she helped change it."
While French was pleased by significant gains made by women in the three decades since her landmark novel, ''The Women's Room'', she was also just as quick to point out lingering deficiencies in gender equality.
Selected works
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*''From Eve to Dawn: A History of Women in Three Volumes'' (2003), non-fiction:
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*''From Eve to Dawn, A History of Women in the World'' (2008) in four volumes:
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* (published posthumously)
In popular culture
*Marilyn French is mentioned in
ABBA
ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...
's song "
The Day Before You Came
"The Day Before You Came" is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA, released in October 1982 as the lead single from the compilation album '' The Singles: The First Ten Years''.
History Development
Following the November 1981 release of ABB ...
" (
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
), in the lyric: "I must have read a while, the latest one by Marilyn French or something in that style".
[, and the video clip for the song vaguely reflects the strangers-meeting-on-a-train plot of The Bleeding Heart]
References
External links
*
Marilyn French– Daily Telegraph obituary
Obituaryby the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
on
Legacy.com
Legacy.com is a United States-based website founded in 1998, the world's largest commercial provider of online memorials. The Web site hosts obituaries and memorials for more than 70 percent of all U.S. deaths.Keagle, Lauri Harvey"Death in the D ...
*
Marilyn French papersat the Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New York, NY
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Marilyn
1929 births
2009 deaths
20th-century American educators
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American novelists
21st-century American women writers
American feminist writers
American women novelists
Feminist studies scholars
Gender studies academics
Harvard University alumni
Hofstra University alumni
Hofstra University faculty
Novelists from New York (state)
Radical feminists
Writers from Brooklyn