Anaïs Nin- Delta of Venus (1977)

 

Who was Anaïs Nin (1903-1977)?

Anaïs Nin is most known for her multi-volume work, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, which became a fundamental text in feminist thought. She was a pioneer as a writer of female erotica and also an excellent essayist. She began journaling in her teenage years in 1921 and continued doing that during her whole writing careeer.  Her open-minded and transparent diaries touched a chord in many women, who believed she had stirred something within them. Anaïs began writing erotic stories for an anonymous reader. Living in New York's West Village, Anaïs wrote the sexual stories that would later complete the volume Delta of Venus and Little Birds.

·Little Birds offers an exploration of the enigmatic realms of sex and sensuality. From the coastal towns of Normandy to the streets of New Orleans, this work holds thirteen vignettes that present a desirable French painter, a sleepless nocturnal wanderer, a guitar-strumming gypsy, and many others who immerse themselves into the chaotic waters of romantic experience.

·Delta of Venus presents a group of female characters who act as active agents over their own sexual desires and sexual empowerment, defying society's norms and rules of sexual normativity. It is important to note that the women in most of the stories in Delta of Venus are actively involved in their sexual experiences, expressing their thoughts and feelings about the various sexual encounters they have with men and also women. They do not try to hide their deep sexual desires or thoughts when confronted with male violence or their own sexual frustration, and share with us a blunt account of their sexual experiences. 

What we find in her work Delta of Venus:

·The search for passion and love that women need to reach in order to have a full enjoyment of their female sexuality in their sexual encounters is a central theme to understand female sexual empowerment. This theme is clearly seen in the story of “Elena”, in which the character of Elena vents her sexual frustration when she fails to reach her sexual fulfillment because of the lack of love and passion she experiences, as “she lay back tired of lust and caresses, but without fulfillment” (Nin 89).

·Furthermore, this search of love for women to fully enjoy the sexual experience is also seen in the story “Mathilde”, since there is poetry in the way Mathilde wants to be courted by men. This is seen in the following quote: “This was the kind of feeling she wanted to inspire. Could she? Her glow was not of that nature. She was much more like fire than light. Her eyes were ardent, violent in color” (Nin 9). In the figure of Mathilde there is a clear desire of women to be able to have the sexual experience mixed up with love to really enjoy sexual relationships.

·However, there is also sexual dissatisfaction, which seen in the story of “Lillith '', since Lilith's husband does not sexually satisfy her and she sees herself as being sexually cold because of her lack of sexual enjoyment. She only endures sexual relationships with him because it is the patriarchal duty and obligation of a wife to ensure the pleasure of a man in women-men sex relationships, since “she was a whore who had no feelings, and in exchange for his love and devotion she would fling this empty, unfeeling body at him. She felt ashamed to be so dead in her body” (Nin 53).

Works Cited: 

Nin, Anaïs. “Elena”. Delta of Venus, Penguin, 1990, p. 72-132.

Nin, Anaïs. “Mathilde”. Delta of Venus, Penguin, 1990, p. 8-18.