"NEW WOMAN" IN LATE VICTORIAN FICTION

With the purpose of clarification of a role of a female character in the novels of end XIX-beginning XX century we are providing a set of characteristic features of a new woman. This article describes the elements of a Victorian woman image as depicted in fiction and analyses two novels in which the central female characters show themselves bearing the characteristics of a new woman. H. R. Haggard's and B. Stoker's heroines show a mixture of classical Victorian women and new features that enable us to attribute them to new women. These features include the ability to make their own decisions, plan their future, be different from surrounding women, fight for the truth and be able even to save a life of a man. They are characterized by a possibility to find a place in the society (for B. Stoker's novel) or lack of possibility to survive due to the background circumstances (for H. R. Haggard's novel). (C) 2020 Published by European Publisher.