The Perpetuation of and the Challenge to the Stereotypes of Irish Women

武海燕

I IntroductionEavan Boland in her "Outside History" states that：The nation （Ireland） is an old women and need to be liberated. But she is passive， and if she stops being passive and old， she becomes young and ornamental. So if you take a woman in a town which no doubt is strongly influenced by its Catholic past， where women were counseled patience and silent virtues， a woman who suddenly says， 'Now I'm going to express myself，' that the society is not going to give her the same permission as to a twenty-three-year-old male poet with black curly hair. （qtd. in 1990：38）Boland's elaboration regarding women's situation in Ireland is not only a widespread phenomenon within the domain of poetry， but also a recognized viewpoint accepted by the public for centuries. The situation of Irish women is affected by women's stereotypes upheld by religious and the social norms. On a religious level， the image of Virgin Mary functions as a norm for Irish women. Her presence "manifests itself not only in the statues and the body shrines all over the Irish countryside， but permeates Irish culture and is deeply ingrained in the minds of many contemporary Irish women" （2006：123）. Therefore， her characteristics as purity and maternity provide the criterions for the conventional women's stereotypes. Socially， the masculine domination of Irish society demands silence and docility of women. Women constitute the subordinated position in the patriarchal society and serve as the symbol of the Mother of Ireland.Hence， the construction of the stereotypes of Irish women is a consequence of these long-term understandings of female images both from religious and conventional viewpoints. Clare Connolly describes the stereotypes of Irish women as "Mother Ireland， wild Irish girl， gentle colleen， old hag， wise woman" （2003：3）. These stereotypes of Irish women appear in the works of many male writers who idealize some of the Irish women into images without human traits. W. B. Yeats' play Cathleen Ni Houlihan is a representation of this case. In this play， Yeats depicts an old woman who turns into a young girl after succeeding in eliciting a young man to do blood sacrifice for the independence of her lands. Through Yeats' depictions of the female characters whose behavior or characteristics conform to the stereotypes of Irish women， Yeats' upholding of stereotypical images of women is displayed. However， the stereotypes are also being gradually challenged in various manners with the advance of time. Due to the transformation of both the internal world and external world of Irish women during the development of society， they realize that individuality and independence are important for emancipating themselves from the patriarchal domination. A new woman image is established through the feminist movement. This new woman image demands women's internal transformation and their rebellion against conventional stereotypes of Irish women. Recently， a film which demonstrates this transformation of Irish women's internal world was released， that is The Magdalne Sister. In this film， three female characters， Margaret， Bernadette and Rose， define themselves as a new type of women by contradicting the conventional stereotypes. In this essay， the analysis of female characters in both Cathleen Ni Houlihan and The Magdalene Sisters will be conducted to indicate how the characters in Cathleen Ni Houlihan perpetuate the stereotypes and how the characters in The Magdalene Sisters challenge the stereotypes. ⅡThe Peretuation of the Stereotypes in Cathleen Ni HoulihanConsidering the stereotypical images of women that Connolly suggests above， the character Bridget Gillane serves as a stereotypical emblem of Irish women， possessing feminine virtues like maternity， diligence and subordination to men. Besides， with the witchcraft of rejuvenation， the main character， Cathleen Ni Houlihan， is portrayed as a mythical symbol instead of a real woman with human traits. This depiction is a revelation of a masculine perspective which separates women from ever experiencing death. Bridget Gillane， as a typical countryside woman in Ireland， demonstrates the conventional traits of Irish women. She cares about her sons' futures due to her instincts of motherhood. Since her elder son Michael's future is going to be settled， she begins to arrange that of her little son Patrick， "It will be Patrick's turn next to be looking for a fortune . . . we might be put in the way of making Patrick a priest some day . . ." （1991：5）. It seems that her son's future is her own future and her maternity demands her to depend on her son's future. In order to offer her sons better lives， she does hard works and never desires more， as she confesses that： "If I brought no fortune， I worked it out in my bones， laying down the baby， Michael that is standing there now， on a stook of straw， while I dug the potatoes， and never asking big dresses or anything but to be working" （1991：5）. Therefore， her expectations of her son's future also define her subordinated position to her male family members， and her behavior conforms to the women's stereotypes. Unlike Bridget， who represents the typical countryside woman， Cathleen Ni Houlihan is a mystical Irish woman who serves as a goddess rather than a real woman due to her power of rejuvenation. Consequently， In Cathleen Ni Houlihan， Cathleen is portrayed as the perpeatuation of women's stereotypes in Ireland who possesses the traits of "Mother Ireland"， "old hag"， "colleen" and "wise woman"， all in the same play. This play is taking place in a particular period of time when Irish people were dominated by British colonizers. In this "Trouble Time" Cathleen Ni Houlihan turns into Sean Bhean Bhocht and collects young men to fight for her lands， "My land that was taken from me" （1991：7）towhich she regards herself as the "Mother". As Cathleen utters her trouble， her maternal love towards her land is revealed. Although， her intention of protecting her lands originates from maternity love； however， she uses the witchcraft to elicit the young man Michael to be the martyr of the blood sacrifice. Her witchcraft also can be seen as a manner of wisdom， which she uses for her rejuvenation. After successfully luring Michaelto do the blood sacrifice， the "old hag" transforms into a "colleen"， so that the blood of the young man serves as the prescription of the poor old woman's rejuvenation. The co-existence of "old hag" and "gentle colleen" also reaffirm that Cathleen Ni Houlihan is a mythical image by Yeats' description. When Yeats endows Cathleen with the power of rejuvenation， he separates her from ever experiencing death， which corresponds with the conventional female image in Irish literature. This depiction is accordant with Irish stereotypes of women. Ⅲ The Challenges to the Stereotypes in The Magdalene SistersAlthough the stereotypes of Irish women have been upheld for centuries and still dominate Irish peoples perspective， with the development of feminist movement and an awakening female consciousness in the new centuries， women seek for their new individual identities and endeavor to liberate themselves from the stereotypes. Nevertheless， the road leads to the liberation is not easy to go through and even demands Irish women's painful suffering. In The Magdalene Sisters， the three main characters' endeavor to be independent demonstrates the cost and the suffering required in order to break the stereotypical female images. In this film， women's stereotypes become the inviolable authorities； therefore， when the characters' behavior contradictsto the stereotypes， they are forced to modify their behavior to be socially - accepted. However， the three characters' rebellion and their escapes from the Laundries indicate these stereotypes are being challenged and will be altered progressively with the internal transformation of women who desire independence and emancipation from the stereotypes.Margaret， who is forced to be sent to the Magdalene Laundry， represents herself as a victim of the unfair treatment between men and women in Ireland. After being raped by her cousin， she is the one who is treated as a shame for her family rather than a pathetic victim of a violation， but the man who commits this violation is unpunished. However， the depressed situation， which she has been regarded as a shame for the whole society， does not suppress her desire to get rid of the prison-style life in the Magdalene Laundry. Even after she leaves the Laundry， she remains single for the rest of her life， partially because she wants to demonstrate her resistance to the convention and her determination against the patriarchal domination， which defines Margaret as a profanation to the stereotypes. Bernadette， with her rebellious characteristic， defines herself as a brave and independent woman who challenges the stereotype determinedly in this film. She insists that she has not committed any sin and she is not deserved of being punished even after being sent to the Laundry. Indeed， her charm and beauty are being seen as sins， because her beauty can seduce men to commit violations. However， Bernadette's desires for emancipation from conventional rules and rebellion to the patriarchal domination urge her to successfully escape this "hell" and raise her resistance against the stereotypes to a noticeable degree. Consequently， in this film， the challenges to the stereotypes are intensively demonstrated in Bernadette's behavior. Her rebellious traitsare differentfrom the "wild girl" in stereotypes in terms of her desire for individuality and independence rather than accepting her subordinated position to men. Rose's behavior reveals her as a transformation from a silent girl to a new type of Irish woman who finally breaks withthe conventions and lives as an independent individual. As a gentle colleen， who is obliged to send her new-born away， Rose behaves as a timid and vulnerable woman before comes to the Laundry. However， after witnessing the sordid life of nuns and the hell-style life of the girls in the Laundry， she determines to escape with Bernadette. Actually， it is this "hell" that constructs Rose as a more strong and independent woman than ever before. Finally， as a victim in the patriarchal society， Rose breaks with the conventions and frees herself from the stereotypes.Ⅳ ConclusionIrish woman hasbeen symbolized as Mother of Ireland， the goddesswho is separatedfrom ever experiencingdeath. From both the religious and conventional viewpoints， Irish women are bound by the stereotypes which demand the docility and silence from them. In Cathleen Ni Houlihan， Yeats unfolds the characteristics of stereotypes within both the descriptions of a normal countryside woman Bridget Gillane and a mystical goddess Cathleen Ni Houlihan. Through depicting Bridget's maternity and her subordinated position to her male family members， Yeats exposes the perpetuation to the stereotype within the construction of this character. Besides， the character of Cathleen Ni Houlihan serves as the symbol of Mother of Ireland. Unlike the Bridget， Cathleen is endowed with the power of rejuvenation through the blood-sacrifice， which corresponds with the traditional male writers' idealization of female image who isseparated fromeverexperiencing death. Through internal transformation and the external stimuli from the developments of society， Irish women began to desire liberation from the patriarchy domination and require for individual identities rather than the subordination to men. These expectations from Irish women are revealed inThe Magdalene Sisters. The three main female characters， Margret， Bernadette and Rose， define themselves as a new type of women with their struggles against both the religious and conventional repressions toward them. Their internal desires of being independent individuals and escaping from the Magdalene Laundry（the symbol of the religious authority） mark them asthechallenges to the stereotypes of women in Ireland and bring the promise for women in general. The promise， that the individual women can suppress the stereotypes of women in Ireland， is demonstrated in The Magdalene Sisters.References：

[1]Connolly，Clare.“Introduction：Ireland in Theory”. Theorizing Ireland. London. Palgrave MacMillan， 2003.1-13.

[2]Gilsenan Nordin， Irene， ed. The Body and Desire of Contemporary Irish Poetry. Dublin： Irish Academic Press，2006.

[3]Hannon， Dennis J. and Wright， Nancy Means. "Irish Women Poet： Breaking the Silence". The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies.1990.57-65.

[4]Harrington， John P.， ed. Modern Irish Drama.New York：Norton， 1991.endprint