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Feminist Literary Theory: Eng 4U
Feminist Literary Theory: Eng 4U
Literary Theory
ENG 4U
Diversity
• Feminist literary theory is difficult to define
because feminism itself is difficult to define.
• The term “feminism” does not claim to
account for all women’s experiences in exactly
the same way because women have different
experiences based on race, religion, sexual
orientation, class, age, heritage, geographic
location, physical appearance, etc. There is
great diversity within feminism.
Feminism
• However, feminists do agree that women, as a group,
have historically been oppressed on the basis of their
sex. Feminists, whether male or female, advocate for
women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and
economic equality to men.
The Feminist Lens
Critics who apply the lens of feminist theory to literature are
concerned with the myriad ways that gender can be “read.”
They examine:
1. Women’s Representation
a) Archetypes (Stereotypes)
3. Women’s Language
4. Women’s Reading
Representation
How are women represented in literature and film?
1. Archetypes
+++Positive Archetypes+++
Women as Sources of Life and Bounty
• The Earth • The Virgin Mary • The Earth
Goddess Gaia Mother
+++Positive Archetypes+++
The Platonic Ideal
• Thinkers • Feelers
• Strong • Weak
• Providers • Caregivers
• Protective • Nurturing
• Assertive • Submissive
Traditional Gender Roles
• The belief that gender roles are natural has been traditionally used
to justify:
Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines
not only most relations between men and women, but also the relation of women
to themselves. The surveyor of women in herself is male: the surveyed female.
She turns herself into an object – and most particularly an object of vision: a sight.