ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

This paper explores the struggles women face in becoming citizen-subjects in Elizabeth Bowen’s The Heat of the Day. Set against the backdrop of post-independence Ireland and the looming threat of World War II, the novel follows Anglo-Irish protagonist Stella Rodney as she navigates conflicting allegiances between nation and love. Blackmailed by a British intelligence agent who accuses her lover of espionage, Stella is forced into a dilemma where personal and civic loyalties conflict. Confronted with this double bind of consent, she must choose between her loyalty to her country and her love for her partner. By depicting a woman caught between civic duty and private freedom, the novel challenges the traditional notion of public/private sphere and envisions a woman as a citizen-subject capable of embodying both. Drawing on Carole Pateman’s analysis of the public/private sphere, which exposes the fundamental link between the modern social contract and paternalism, this paper examines how women attain civic status through the exchange of their private freedoms. By doing so, the study investigates how gender mediates individuals’ engagement with society, revealing the ways in which the notion of public/private sphere has served to conceal power dynamics within the private realm and its aspect of sexual transaction.

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