ABSTRACT
The discovery of the discrepancy between the self and the female role is made early on, whenever the girl child discovers that she is supposed to be pure and selfless and is not. The appeal of romantic escape literature and dreams is that the woman can imagine herself to be all that society requires-pure, sexy, nurturing, beautiful, emotional, weak, etc.-and adequately rewarded for being perfect. The results in literature and in popular culture, as in real life, tend to be either ridiculous or frighteningly destructive. The therapeutic value of literature by and about women results from the fact that in the fictional accounts the self behind the role is more visible than it is in the everyday world of appearances. Meredith would undoubtedly urge men to read literature by and about women, realizing that the full selfhood of women publicly expressed and nurtured is essential if men are to be fully developed human beings as well.
