Emergence of a feminist conscioussness in the work of Marta Brunet

Abstract

Using Carole Pateman's work on the oppressive nature of different types of civil contracts, this essay suggests that women's active participation in the production process, as it is the case in "Soledad de la sangre," modifies the degree of subordination experienced by the female protagonist. In contrast with Bombal's bourgeois women, thanks to the negotiating power obtained by her incorporation into the paid work force Brunet's protagonist subverts male domination in order to privilege her private space. La Mampara, La otra voz y La raíz del sueño offer further examples of a frustrated female subject, marginalized by the conventions of a patriarcal society. They also confirm that women's only possibility of transcending oppression remains at the imaginary level.