Voyage in the Dark

What I really like going back to in these blog posts is toying with the idea of what the new woman is and what that means. When thinking of Anna and reflecting from our class discussion of her on Monday I'm pretty torn on whether or not I think she is a new woman. Sure, she is independent in a sense in that she is out on her own, a very young girl and is trying to support herself. But the fact that she then goes and depends on a man for her main source of income is restricting of her freedoms (in my interpretation).

When I think of a new woman she is free from the constraints of having to depend on others to sustain herself. Anna is quite in love and dependent on this man (she sits around waiting for him) so how does that make her any different from a married woman who is subordinate to her husband? We also discussed the use of her sexuality to get what she wanted in some ways, and I'm not sure how I feel about this being an act of empowerment or reclamation (to a certain extent) of one's body. In one sense I understand how it is taking a risk and having sex was seen as more so political of an act than it is now, but submitting and objectifying your body to someone to then receive and income just does not settle with me as being empowering. I'm all for choice, but I find it troubling to label this as a way of empowerment or a way to reclaim your body.