The stigma of the fallen woman in the novels of jude the obscure and Yeryüzünde Bir Melek

Regardless of the cultural differences, the 19th century Victorian England and Tanzimat Period in Ottoman Empire had similar expectations from women. The two novelists from these two countries, Thomas Hardy and Ahmet Mithat Efendi, had critical attitude towards such expectations. Thus they created socially unacceptable but acceptable for them heroines. Afterall, for some Sue Bridehead is Hardy’s main focus and similarly for Ahmet Mithat Raziye is still an angel. The reason why these two heroines are unacceptable for the society’s of their days is intriguing. Considering all these, the aim of this thesis is to discuss these two heroines through the lens of stigma of fallen woman so that why these heroines experince exclusion may be discussed. While doing this Erving Goffman’s ideas regarding stigma along with Stafford&Scott’s arguments on how stigma and norms are related; and Link&Phelan’s writing on stigma and its connection to negative stereotypes will be used.