This interview with Doris Lessing was in 2001, in London being interviewed by Jennifer Bryne. The interview is based on her book at the time The Sweetest Dream, which is about the effects war has on family and friendships. Lessing starts off by describing how war is almost glamorized in some people’s eyes, slogans are even made out of them. Self righteousness that comes from a result of war is also something that Lessing mentions and those two aspects make her blood run cold. Lessing also is prompted to talk about political powers and the influences they have during times of war. She mentions idealism and how Aldof Hitler was an Idealist but took his ideas to the extreme because of being power motivated. One of the main characters in this book is a communist which is something that Lessing can personally relate to. She was once married to one. Now that she is out of that marriage, she is no longer is in fear of sharing her thoughts, there is no punishment for having ideas or speaking her mind now. Lessing’s views on feminism also comes out during this interview. In the past, she had made remarks towards men that made them outraged. Lessing explained that when she was younger, she questioned the patronization she endured being a female and took that anger she had built up and put it into her writing. However, Lessing does shed light on the “feminists” who go too far and treating men in cruel ways. She says they’re just looking for revenge, someone to take their anger out on, and it was an unpleasant sight to see women who should be banding together for equality, making themselves superior. The interview ends with a little history about Lessing’s childhood and how she responds to it now that she is an adult.
Lessing’s focus here was to not only inform the audience about her new book but also allow the listeners to understand where her certain views are coming from and how she used anger when she was younger as fuel when she was older when it came to writing. She has very strong political views and she manifests those into her writing. Overall, Lessing is a strong minded woman who did not have an issue with putting her thoughts out there for the world to read, and did not care about their initial reactions to her writing. She not only wrote stories in an altered feministic way, but she implemented her own life experiences into stories, which helps the reader connect to not only the story but Lessing herself. Although her works vary from topic to topic, Lessing is considered to be a feminist writer.
Doris Lessing 