FeministLiteraryCriticism

Origin

Grewoutof
thewomens
movements
following
WWII.

Twobasicforms...

FeministCriticismanalysisofthe
depictionofwomenandtheirrelationto
thewomanreaderbymaleauthors.
Gynocriticismthestudyofwomens
writing.

WhatdoesFeministCriticismdo?
Concernedwith
recoveringneglected
worksbywomenauthors
i.e.NikkiGiovanni&
ZoraNealeHurston
Creatingacanonof
womenswriting.

FemaleRole
Considertherolesand
situationsoffemale
characters.
Makelistsofdifferent
aspectsofthefemale
charactersplaceinthe
overallstory.
Includeanecdotal
scenariosthatwillback
upyourthesis.

FemaleRelationship
Lookatthe
relationshipoffemale
characterstoeach
other.
Examineany
discrepanciesthat
mightshedlighton
theoverallroleof
femalesinthestory.

Womanvs.Man
Reviewtheroleoffemale
charactersinrelationtotheir
malecounterparts.
Literarycriticismhasits
famoussetofcontrasts(i.e.
manvs.nature,manvs.
society)thatsetuppointsof
inquiry.
Inthiscase,yourfundamental
contrastwouldbewomanvs.
man.

TheWorkingWoman

Lookatthevocationalrolesofwomenin
literature.Muchofliterarycriticismcanbe
appliedtotheworkplace.
Studyingtheworkthateachcharacterdoes
providesagreatstartingpointforanalyzing
thewholeofthework.

TheFemaleWorldview
Considertheattitudesofcharactersandhowtheir
worldviewscontributetotheeventualoutcomesin
thestory.
Thegoalsofcharactersmaynotcauseoutcomes.
Evaluatehowpowerfuleachcharacterbecomes.

Somequestionstoconsider...

Howarethelivesofmenandwomenportrayedin
thework?Dothemenandwomeninthework
acceptorrejecttheseroles?
Istheformandcontentoftheworkinfluencedby
theauthorsgender?

Questionscont...
Howareattitudesexplicitorimplicitconcerning
heterosexualorhomosexualrelationships?Are
theserelationshipssourcesofconflict?Dothey
provideresolutionstoconflicts?
Doestheworkchallengeoraffirmtraditional
ideasaboutmenandwomenandsamesex
relationships?