Feminist Motifs in Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged"

Nowadays feminism occupies an important place in the sphere of people's interests, because many problematic aspects of women's lives have remained unresolved. This makes it necessary to consider the ideas of feminism in literature. Moreover, based on the fact that Ayn Rand is a famous American writer of Russian origin, one of the founders of the philosophy of rational individualism, her portrayal of feminism is a relevant area for study. This research focuses on identifying and examining feminist motifs in Ayn Rand's work, using the novels “The Fountainhead” (1943) and "Atlas Shrugged" (1957) as examples. Although some feminist motifs in her oeuvre have been analyzed previously, many of them remain unexplored because researchers have focused on the author and her philosophy rather than on the novels. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to fill in the gaps, systematize feminist motifs, and analyze how the author demonstrates ideas of feminism in her novels through the lens of her philosophy of individualism. Due to the fact that the writer is a controversial figure for whom philosophy and worldview play an important role, her novels contain feminist and anti-feminist motifs. According to a comparative analysis of both novels, feminist motifs continue from novel to novel. In fact, "Atlas Shrugged" develops the issues raised in “The Fountainhead”, but examines them from a different angle. Social relations, the influence of the state and public opinion come to the fore. This change reveals the author's position and her view of the place of women in society. The study focuses on the main characters, Dagny Taggart and Dominique Francon, as they are strong women in male society and the only independent female characters in the novels. At the same time, the minor female characters are also shown as victims of society. Also considered is how Ayn Rand describes the sexual relationships between men and women. The author's point of view on the traditional image of the mother, which was seen as the only way for a woman to realize herself in society, is presented. The study also identifies the characteristics of the American feminist movement of the second and third waves, because despite the time of writing the novels, Rand's ideas are more suited to the later stage of feminism.