Abstract: »In an interview about The Cider House Rules, John Irving states, "It is never the social or political message that interests me in a novel" ( qtd. in Herel, para. 18). However, in book reviews, jacket blurbs, literary criticism, and Irving's own writing, readers and critics and Irving often assert that he is a neo-Victorian novelist, and the Victorians were a notoriously political bunch. Though Irving does not admit to the political nature of his writing, the way he treats feminist politics in his fiction has drawn particular notice by the media, who often label him as a feminist writer.
Deeper investigation into the female characters in three of his novels-The World According to Garp, The Hotel New Hampshire, and The Cider House Rules- illuminates lrving's literary juxtaposition between traditional Victorianist and modem feminist. Like the archetypal Victorian fallen women, Ellen James, Franny Berry, Melony, and Rose Rose, are sexually and physically abused by men. However, where the Victorian fallen woman would face societal excommunication, these characters exact revenge on their attackers, eventually reclaiming their sexuality and control over their own lives.
Investigating the various conformities and incongruities between lrving's versions of liberal feminism, and radical feminism suggests that though Irving modernizes the Victorian woman for his updated 19^th century narratives, he is less successful as a male author portraying feminism. He favors a liberal brand of feminism he views as intellectual but non-threatening over radical feminism that he sees as seeking political gain, paralleling his anxieties about political writing. If Irving wants to write about feminism well, he must acknowledge that he is contributing to a political conversation and take responsibility for the political baggage that comes with the territory.« (Source: Thesis)

Contents:

	Abstract (p. 2)
	Acknowledgements (p. 3)
	Chaper One Introduction (p. 5)
		Irving's History: Personal, Literary, Critical (p. 9)
		Irving's Style: Victorianism in the New Millenium? (p. 11)
		Irving's Politics: Feminism, Male Authors, and Literary Theory (p. 16)
	Chapter Two Radical Politics or Personal Vision?: Jenny Fields, Ellen James, and Feminism in The World According to Garp (p. 27)
	Chapter Three Rape and Revenge: Franny Berry, Susie the Bear and Family Feminism in The Hotel New Hampshire (p. 51)
	Chapter 4 Women Making and Breaking the Rules: Melony, Rose Rose, and the Abortion Polemic in The Cider House Rules (p. 74)
	Chapter Five Irving's Legacy-Politics, Metanarrative, and Rewritten Women (p. 93)
		Victorian "fallen women" for the 21st century? (p. 93)
		Writing women: Irving's feminist metanarrative (p. 95)
		Irving's damning contradiction-the apolitical feminism (p. 102)
	Works Cited (p. 111)

Wikipedia: History of the Americas: History of the United States | Literature: American literature / John Irving | Literature: Novels about rape / The Cider House Rules, The Hotel New Hampshire, The World According to Garp | Sex and the law: Rape / Rape in the United States