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The Odd Women (Oxford World's Classics)

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"In The Odd Women there is not a single major character whose life is not ruined either by having too little money, or by getting it too late in life, or by the pressure of social conventions which are obviously absurd but which cannot be questioned." --George Orwell

George Gissing was a very odd man himself. Despite the fact that all his novels deal with social issues of the day, notably women, money, and class relations, he was neither a socialist nor a social reformer. He simply described in novels what he knew of degredation, misery, and the tortures "respectable" English society inflicted upon its outcasts and marginal figures. In The Odd Women Gissing chose to focus on the predicament of the extra females of Britain's disproporionate population ratio. These were the "odd" women who would never be matched with a man. Gissing's Madden sisters endured a representative sampling of the a dreary employment opportunities available for genteel but impoverished women in the 1890s. Of the two eldest Madden sisters, Alice was a governess until her health broke down; Virginia was lady's companion (poorly-paid drudge to an elderly tyrant) who has suffered from "mental lassitude" and taken to secret drinking. Another sister, a luckless "hard-featured" girl, is dead before the story begins; she taught in a girl's school until she committed suicide in despair. Monica, the youngest and only good-looking sister, spends twelve to sixteen hours a day on her feet in a large dry-goods shop and lives in an unsanitary dormitory with other shopgirls, some of whom supplement their wages by prostitution. Her sisters fear that Monica's health will also break down under this regime, and that she will lose her looks and her chance of marriage.

Enter Miss Rhoda Nunn and Miss Elinor Barfoot, two enterprising women who have founded a school to teach "odd" women business skills to enable them to compete economically, or at least rise above the general level of ill-paid drudgery. Barfoot and Nunn are early feminists; they wish to live and teach other women to live without feeling diminished by their unmarried status. Monica Madden considers enrolling in their school, but she has managed to meet and attract a man, a middle-aged bachelor named Widdowson, whom she marries instead. The substance of the novel involves the wreck of Monica's life following her disastrous marriage, and Rhoda Nunn's struggle to deal with her relationship with a man she is attracted to, but whom she cannot marry or live with without suffering diminishment and the loss of her role as a teacher and leader.

Gissing's book is a serious and sympathetic treatment of the much-discussed "woman question," and written from a point of view somewhat in advance of his time. The Odd Women has been mostly out of print for the last hundred years, and it is to be hoped that the recent appearance of three new editions heralds a long-delayed recognition of its merits.

The other review posted and the editorial reviews do a much better job than I could in summarizing this story. However, I would like to comment on its insight & current applicability.

As mentioned, "The Odd Women" is about the women who don't get married for one reason or another. In the Brittish Victorian era, there was still a strong stigma against such women...that their one true goal & purpose in life is left unfulfilled. You enter into this cultural assumption almost as soon as you pick up the book.

What is new in this book was the very beginnings of the feminist uprising. Women were starting to rebel against such unfortunate and uncontrollable circumstances in their lives. And they began - out of financial considerations - to learn more masculine disciplines in order to make their own way in the world. At first, you think that this is encouraging and will naturally lead to peace & prosperity for the women...after a bit of struggle to raise the glass ceiling enough to get the women in the doorway.

I think where Gissing goes with the novel, however, is spectacular. Rather than showing such ideal outcomes, Gissing shows through Monica's character that the issue of women having careers wasn't just a matter of training. Women did not look to salvation through work. Most secretly longed for marriage while they were being trained, and some couldn't even focus their minds enough to take in the education. As shown through Monica's character, the women still would rather be trapped in loveless marriages than work.

In addition to developing this kink in the feminist plan, Gissing develops Rhoda's character in an even more dynamic manner. His insight into her strict, stiff, uncaring manner was piercing. He showed how her facad was based on her need to prove herself worthy in some manner; and this need rose from her not having received the attentions from a man. By bringing a desirable man into her life, Rhoda's whole philosophical system breaks down. The power struggle between these two is worth reading, even if a little masculine in its outcome.

In this way, Gissing continues to unveil how dependent these women's worlds still were on men. Even if they didn't want to be...even if they didn't have the choice to be, an idealic philosophy alone could not change these women's most secret desires and nature. It's a disturbing realization to behold.

But Gissing isn't degrading women. His insight is penetrating...especially for a man of his times...but he balances out his story well. He shows in a good way how a professor's long-awaited marriage helps him to become a much more fulfilled, well-rounded man. And, though pathetic, Monica's husband is clearly lonely & lost without a woman by his side. Gissing shows the men in this tale to be completely as in need of women (and desirous of companionship with them) as the women are of men.

In this way, Gissing's revelations lead one to somber despair. One realizes that the feminist uprising comes not out of a desire to truly work but out of an economic need and dignity of women for whom things did not work out. The story is not one of an pioneering spirit but rather of resignation to how things don't always work out and how people slip through the cracks.

Thus, while the historical and sociological insight Gissing provides is invaluable, his story has much to say in our times as well...and he says in such a way that I don't think most would have the courage to now.

If you haven't already, read this book NOW. It is as relevant today as it was the day it was written, the day I first read it as a ninth-grader, and the 5-10 times I've read it since. I have been recommending this remarkable book to serious readers for 25 years and have never heard anything but praise for this incisive social commentary that is as important a work as all the "important" books everybody has heard of (think Edith Wharton, Ernest Hemingway, J.D. Salinger, Willa Cather, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Theodore Dreiser, etc.) except most people have never heard of it. Read and recommend!

"A vain and miserable life is the lot of nearly all mortals. Most women, whether they marry or not, will suffer and commit endless follies." Gissing "The Odd Women"

Yet another classic piece of literature that most people aren't even aware of, let alone have ever read. What a writer this Gissing guy was! If you haven't discovered him yet, then I am pleased to make the intro. Start, as I did, with "New Grub Street" (one of my all-time favorites!) and if you enjoy that adventure, then definitely give this one a look-see as well. Gissing reminds me a bit of H. James, Maugham, and Dreiser all rolled into one.

The story takes place in late 19th century England. It is essentially the tale of a group of `odd' women who are ailing as outcasts, simply because they are not married. Oh the horrors of being a single woman in the prim and proper Victorian world! But no need to fret, because these dainty, displaced dames all have someone to turn to in our main protagonist Rhoda Nunn. Before there was Mary Tyler Moore, there was Rhoda. The latter being a fearless feminist whose life work is to educate and motivate these spinsters to live independent lives sans men. However, Rhoda's mission takes a bit of a tumble when love finally comes a knocking upon her door. Will Rhoda toss in the towel and marry? Will she abandon her life work for a man and love? Order the book and find out!

This beautiful book, like his above-mentioned classic, tells many stories within his main story. I also enjoy writers who love their characters and want you to love them too (i.e. Austen, Steinbeck, Balzac, Tolstoy, Dickens, et al...) and Gissing definitely falls into that category. His focus is almost entirely on people and what impels them (primarily, love and human relationships) to do what they do. He digs deep into his protagonist's hearts and minds and draws vivid, penetrating portraits of their souls. His writing is relatively easy to digest and straightforward. His prose does not venture off onto lavish descriptions of landscapes and characters, rather, like Dreiser, he slowly unravels his creations dynamic nature upon each page turned.

A novel that was way ahead of its time in its criticism of a male-dominated, often times cruel society that had no problem oppressing women, especially single women. Gissing writes women like G. Eliot and Austen write men - exceptionally well. You can really tell that he himself spent a lot of time trying to understand the feminine mystique. It is also a novel that examines the dilemmas of the constant battle going on in us all - that perpetual see-saw we are all riding - opting between our own desires and our own principles.

An EXCELLENT READ! 4.7 STARS!!!

During the late 19th century, Britain experienced a serious demographic imbalance, when the sex structure of the population had a substantial majority of females. An estimate of 500,000 is mentioned. These `surplus' women were not `pairable' and were called `odd women'. The ambivalence of the word must surely have motivated Gissing to use the word for his title. The novel focuses on the changing role of women in the social fabric.
The `normal' role for women, as defined by the middle class point of view, was the housewife and mother, without education, without income, without own head. A single woman, a working woman, an educated woman was an abnormality. The fate of married women was some kind of lottery as well. Their normal lot was obedience. Divorce was ruled out, property rights were shaped after the male interest, child custody was always with the men in case of breakup of a family.

What happens when there are suddenly thousands of single women who have no provider, no fortune, no training, and no prospects? The novel goes into the sociology and economics of the life of single women, but don't be afraid of a pamphlet. This is a very strong piece of social writing from the late Victorian period. It was published 1892. Gissing was socially conscious, but neither was he a democrat, nor did he honestly sympathize with the fate of the poor classes. At least he was decent enough to reject the term `lower classes', but he didn't seem to realize the contradiction that this produced, as his middle class heroines are just as poor as working class women, and surely just as miserable. His sympathies were with the `de-classed', impoverished middle classes. He had contempt for the uneducated proletarian underdog. He was not in all respects an admirable person.

The novel begins with the introduction of a family with 6 daughters. The father, a widower and a moderately viable provincial medical doctor, dies of an accident without having secured any financial provision for his girls. They have virtually no future other than employment as governesses, companions, shop girls. Marriage, the traditional way, is not a realistic option. Poverty and disease are guaranteed.
The daughters in their helplessness are contrasted with a pair of active, dynamic, independent women, who make a career for themselves and try to help other women. The novel gives us a typology of single women in their attitudes and choices. We also follow different types of marriages and thoughts about marriage.

I find it surprising and disappointing that only about a handful of Gissing's novels are currently in print in decent editions.

This is a lesser-known classic that deserves more recognition that it gets. It is a novel about the plight of single "old maid" women during the victorian era. Back then, women who would not or could not get married were condemned to a life of poverty and despair. They survived only by working in sweat shops and nearly starving to death. They were the objects of ridicule and amusement, fear and anxiety. This book delves into all of these facets and also that of the misery of married women who marry a man only to avoid being single. Although the book has a strong feminist bent, it is still good reading and opens one's eyes to the ill treatment that women formerly underwent in times past and the shocking attitude of society.

"The Odd Women" is a very well written yet somewhat stiff read concerning the plight of a few London women on how to best proceed with their lives. Marriage? Work/career? The book dares to present women as independent, productive individuals rather than doormats for husbands. Although Gissing writes excellent prose and his characterizations are quite in depth I found the book to be bogged down with too much cerebral banter; at times it felt like I was reading a play rather than a novel. I think the book is best viewed from a historical perspective rather than as anything one would choose for reading enjoyment.


Bottom line: life in late Victorian England never seemed so dull yet detailed with such richness.

This novel is quite different from the ones Gissing's contemporaries grew famous for. I read this on the heels of Vanity Fair and The Egoist, and Gissing can hold his own against the greats.

I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just say that this novel exposes the other side of the Victorian Moon--not necessarily the dark side. There is something purposeful about the ending; you'll be moved by it.

Dan Carrison

Mr. Gissing's tome of feminine insanity: the fickleness,
the crass behavior, and women's inability to balance mind and matter: All encompass how women have not changed through time.