Political and Social Emphases on the Period of the Constitutional Monarchy in the Plays of Fehime Nüzhet

Abstract

Fehime Nüzhet, one of the leading women writers during the period of the Constitutional Monarchy, was an activist who played an important role in club activities, and who wrote pieces for newspapers and magazines. Like other woman writers of the period, Fehime Nüzhet wrote texts that focus on "women identity". In her articles, Fehime Nüzhet defends the idea that women should be active in the social sphere, at the same time struggles to rouse in women a consciousness of the motherland. The talks she gave during the Balkan Wars and her duty as a volunteer nurse show how active she was in the social sphere. In the plays written after the announcement of the Constitutional Monarchy, she used a political language and in particular criticised the system of using informants. The plays of the Fehime Nüzhet reflect a critical view towards the reign of Abdülhamit II, in keeping with the general characteristics of plays of the period of the Constitutional Monarchy. In her theatre plays Fehime Nüzhet analysed the period in which she lived, discussing the shortcomings that she perceived in the social life in a political framework. In this context, Fehime Nüzhet's theatre plays reflect the air of freedom experienced in the period of the Constitutional Monarchy.