Woman Self Assertion vs. Patriarchal Regulations in Nawal El Saadawi’s « woman at point zero »

Abstract

Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi is an engrossing, dramatized non-fiction work about the life of Firdaus, an Egyptian woman sentenced to death for killing a man. After suffering greatly at the hands of men through her entire life, Firdaus becomes a prostitute, but she is imprisoned for killing a pimp who beats and rapes her. "Woman at Point Zero" is a heart wrenching tale that readers will find hard to put down. In 1973, Nawal El Saadawi hears about Firdaus, a woman who has been sentenced to death for killing a man, from her doctor friend at Qanatire Prison. At first, Firdaus refuses to meet Saadawi, but she eventually agrees to tell the story of her life.

الملخص (بالعربية) :

مرأة في نقطة الصفر التي كتبتها نوال السعداوي هي نسخة درامية ,العمل غير الخيالية عن حياة فردوس ، امرأة مصرية حكم عليه بالإعدام لقتلها رجل. بعد معاناة كبيرة على يد الرجال من خلال حياتها ، فردوس تصبح عاهرة ، لكنها مسجونة بتهمة قتل القواد الذي يدق و يغتصبها . " امرأة في نقطة الصفر " هو حكاية موجعة سوف تجد القراء صعوبة في اخماد. في عام 1973 ، نوال السعداوي يسمع عن فردوس ، امرأة وقد حكم عليها بالإعدام لقتلها رجل ، من صديقتها الطبيب في سجن القناطر . في البداية ، رفضت فردوس لتلبية السعداوي ، لكنها تتفق في النهاية ان تحكي قصة حياتها . ----------------------------------------------

Résumé (Français et/ou Anglais) :

Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi is an engrossing, dramatized non-fiction work about the life of Firdaus, an Egyptian woman sentenced to death for killing a man. After suffering greatly at the hands of men through her entire life, Firdaus becomes a prostitute, but she is imprisoned for killing a pimp who beats and rapes her. "Woman at Point Zero" is a heart wrenching tale that readers will find hard to put down. In 1973, Nawal El Saadawi hears about Firdaus, a woman who has been sentenced to death for killing a man, from her doctor friend at Qanatire Prison. At first, Firdaus refuses to meet Saadawi, but she eventually agrees to tell the story of her life.