Building Identities: an Analysis of Capitalism and Gender in Sally Rooney and Naoise Dolan

When it came out in 2018, "Normal People" by Sally Rooney instantly created a buzz. Following the success of her critically acclaimed debut novel, "Conversations with Friends," "Normal People" was received with an even greater praise. The popularity of "Conversations with Friends" and "Normal People" was then increased by that of their BBC TV adaptations, airing respectively in 2022 and in 2020. It could be hypothesised that the latter, hitting the small screens of our homes during lockdown, not only reached a vaster public but also deeply resonated because of its themes of intimacy, in a period in which it was generally lacking. That same spring, Naoise Dolan, an Irish debuting author, published her novel "Exciting Times," instantly raising parallels and comparisons with Rooney and her works. This work aims to analyse the above-mentioned novels, their literary value and the importance of the themes they present, investigating the deeper reasons behind their popularity. A feminist standpoint and methodology will be employed: these three novels all give interesting accounts of our contemporary society, inevitably dealing with feminist issues that intertwine with both personal and social aspects of the characters’ lives. Because of this, a particular attention will be paid to how, on the basis of which cultural schemes, gendered identities are portrayed, and more generally to how the identities of the characters are built and why they seem to have resonated on such a significant scale with readers.