Ambivalence of Female Identity in A Woman of Substance

Abstract

Barbara Taylor Bradford’s first novel, A Woman of Substance, a family saga, characterizes the hypnotic life of Emma Harte. This is the story of a young girl, a woman, a mother and a successful businesswoman. She is the index of an extraordinary matriarch who establishes her position by fulfilling her high dreams. She becomes prosperous in wealth but is vacant in terms of love. She realizes that endurance is better in life than of pursuing the revenge hastily. This thesis argues that the author has tried to prevail the feminist view through her story which ultimately becomes the victim of the social and cultural condition of the patriarchy. For example, Bradford gives great importance to a man’s name and lineage, with the character Edwina choosing the illegitimate father’s name, because of his social class. After completing her vendetta of sixty-plus years, Emma has achieved her economic independence and freedom. This is perhaps the most telling example of the protagonist’s ambivalent position that Bradford chooses to instill in Harte all the stereotypical qualities of successful men. With her success, she must have been a satisfied and a identified woman, however, despite the success, she still yearns the male's role in her life and as head of the household. She has realized herself as a lonely and unhappy person and is her vain pride which leads to the unnecessary family feud.