Moodne daam 1910. aastate naiskirjanduses

This article examines the portrayal of socially active modern urban women in Marta Sillaots’s novellas “Juta” (1912) and “Anna Holm” (1913), as well as in Alide Ertel’s short story collection “The Modern Lady” (Moodne daam, 1919/1920). The characters are analyzed within the framework of the “New Woman”, as surveys sort both Sillaots’s and Ertel’s early works under the theme of women’s emancipation, without acknowledging that they depict emancipated women in a negative light. Such women are characterized by a pursuit of independence, cultural interests, and creativity; mostly, they appear sympathetic at first. However, the authors’ ultimate judgment of these women’s aspirations is one of disapproval – they turn out to be nothing but frivolous socialites. The article contextualizes these characters within earlier depictions of emancipated women in Estonian literature and examines the social and cultural factors that may have motivated this kind of literary portrayal. It is concluded that the authors in question were drawn to the image of an independent woman, but in the 1910s Estonia, a broadly suitable social space did not yet exist for such an image, nor had fitting literary plots been established. This led to an ambiguity surrounding these characters. A particularly vivid example is Sillaots’s character Juta, who appears in two novellas and is initially developed as an extraordinary, decadent female figure. She possesses a lively imagination and an independent mindset, while also functioning as a morbidly passive observer; she is interested in the sciences of the mind and conducts psychological experiments on both herself and others. However, as there seems to be no clear path for such a character, she is relegated to the status of a peripheral cautionary figure, a doll-faced socialite, in the later text. Similarly, Ertel’s short story protagonists have no other outlet besides trivial social life. The analyzed characters deviate from the traditional monogamous heterosexual marriage – a defining point for the New Woman, which, however, upon closer examination often proves a tragic necessity rather than a mark of independence. As such, the portrayal of the modern lady exemplifies the tensions within the category of the New Woman: neither the characters nor the authors are entirely certain what a woman’s role should be in the contemporary urban society; which behaviours should be considered bold and independent, and which ones should be seen as moral laxity or meaningless social provocation.