Minna Canth
Encyclopedia
Minna Canth was a Finnish writer and social activist. Canth began to write while managing her family draper's shop and living as a widow raising seven children. Her work addresses issues of women's rights
, particularly in the context of a prevailing culture she considered antithetical to permitting expression and realization of women's aspirations. Her play "The Pastor's Family" is her best known. In her time, she became a controversial figure, due to the asynchrony between her ideas and those of her time, and in part due to her strong advocacy for her point of view.
Minna Canth is the first woman to receive her own flag day in Finland
, starting on 19 March 2007. It is also the day of social equality in Finland.
In Työmiehen vaimo, the main character Johanna is married to Risto, an alcoholic who wastes all his wife's money. Johanna cannot prevent him - her money is legally his, not hers. The play's premiere caused scandal, but a few months later, parliament enacted a new law about separation of property.
Anna Liisa is a tragedy about a fifteen-year-old girl who gets pregnant without being married – she manages to hide her pregnancy, and when the child is born, she suffocates it in a fit of panic. Her boyfriend Mikko's mother helps her – she buries the baby in the woods, but a few years later, when Anna Liisa wants to marry her fiancé Johannes, she is blackmailed by Mikko and his mother. They threaten her to reveal her dark secret if she does not agree to marry Mikko, but Anna Liisa refuses. In the end, she decides to confess what she has done. She is taken to prison, but is much relieved after owning up and seems to have found peace.
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
, particularly in the context of a prevailing culture she considered antithetical to permitting expression and realization of women's aspirations. Her play "The Pastor's Family" is her best known. In her time, she became a controversial figure, due to the asynchrony between her ideas and those of her time, and in part due to her strong advocacy for her point of view.
Minna Canth is the first woman to receive her own flag day in Finland
Flag days in Finland
By law, the Finnish flag must be flown from public buildings on the following days:*February 28, day of Kalevala; the occasion is also celebrated as the Day of Finnish culture*May 1, Vappu, the Day of Finnish Labour*Second Sunday in May, Mother's Day...
, starting on 19 March 2007. It is also the day of social equality in Finland.
Most important works
Minna Canth's most important works are the plays Työmiehen vaimo (The Worker's Wife) from 1885 and Anna Liisa, penned in 1895.In Työmiehen vaimo, the main character Johanna is married to Risto, an alcoholic who wastes all his wife's money. Johanna cannot prevent him - her money is legally his, not hers. The play's premiere caused scandal, but a few months later, parliament enacted a new law about separation of property.
Anna Liisa is a tragedy about a fifteen-year-old girl who gets pregnant without being married – she manages to hide her pregnancy, and when the child is born, she suffocates it in a fit of panic. Her boyfriend Mikko's mother helps her – she buries the baby in the woods, but a few years later, when Anna Liisa wants to marry her fiancé Johannes, she is blackmailed by Mikko and his mother. They threaten her to reveal her dark secret if she does not agree to marry Mikko, but Anna Liisa refuses. In the end, she decides to confess what she has done. She is taken to prison, but is much relieved after owning up and seems to have found peace.