Feminist Theory

Where did this perspective originate?

The basis of the feminist movements is that Western culture is fundamentally patriarchal.

Before

Works of female writers were examined by the same standards as male writers

After the theory

Old texts are reexamined

New works more accurately reflect the “modern women.”

Feminist criticism looks to expose the ways women in literature are undervalued

Western literature

• Reflects a masculine bias

• Presents an inaccurate and potentially harmful portrayal of women

• Feminist critics insist that works by and about women be added to the literary canon and read from a feminist perspective

Three main areas of study and points of criticism exist in the Feminist Theory:

1. Differences between men and women

2. Women in positions of power and power dynamics between men and women

3. The female experience

Differences between men and women

• Gender determines everything

• The canon of literature must be expanded

• The differences must be noted

• All views must be respected as equally valid

Women in positions of power and power dynamics between men and women

• Exploitation of women must be noted and confronted

• Do females characters have power? What kind of power?

• Literature as a mans of which inequality can be ideally protested and possible rectified.

  Note:

  • The division of labor and economics.

  • How male and female characters interact.

The Female Experience

• A women’s experience of life is different from a man’s.

• Examine what aspects of feminine life are included in the work.

• Reject any application of male standards to the female personality.

  Examine:

  • All portrayals of life-giving.

  • Feminine nurturing healing, life giving and restoring.

• Men and women are incomplete without each other.

• Reject suggestions of studying only feminine “incompleteness”