The capacity of the female body to create a new life has always been the property of the public domain. Man's own feelings of inferiority in that area have manifested itself in his absolute control over the woman, especially over her capacity of motherhood. The goal I set for myself in my thesis is to show that women have always felt this control and were always searching for a way to let out their frustrations over it. They chose literature as their main tool, as it allows more space for feelings not welcomed in the everyday life. I choose a few works of which all of them present motherhood, and a woman, in a different light. Euripides, Gustave Flaubert, Toni Morrison, Kate Chopin and Sheila Heti, each a child of their own time, face the problem of motherhod in a different way. The review of these works, most of which already have a place in the western canon, will be accompanied by the philosophical analysis by the authors, whose thought gave birth to the modern feminism – Simone de Beauvoir, Miriam Hirsch, Adrienne Rich. Without them women today would not be equipped to think about their place in society. Even in the 21st century, the concept of »free choice« remains a lie, as the public life of a woman is completely dependable on whether or not she gives birth. But thanks to those who came before us, we possess the theoretic capital through which we can face such a hypocrisy.
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