Feminism – Literary Critism

Ratna Wati , Elisa Permatasari,
Sakti Sundarti, Rid Iclasia
 

Who Is the Critism?


The criticsm is elaine showalter and he
critizise about Thomas Hardy in writter as a
reader and Elizabeth Barrow and Muriel
Spark in writter as a writter
 

What is !eminist Critism ?

!eminist criticism is the literary and

critical theory that e"plores the bias in #a$or
o# the male %ender in literature& and which
ree"amines all literature #rom a #eminist
' Stephen& Martin ()*+& English Literature; A student Guide&
Guide &
point
p% +), o# $iew
 

What is !eminist Critism ?

In #eminist criti-ue in woman as a reader

elaine said that .woman as the consumer o#
male produced literature and with the way
in which the hypothesis o# a #emale reader
chan#%es our apprehension o# a %i$en te"t
 /wakenin%
 /wakeni n% us to the si%ni#icance o# its
se"ual codes
 

Writers in !eminist critism

• Simone de Bea$ouir0s
Bea$ouir 0s 1 social construction
o# %ender and distin%uishin% between se"
and %ender 
• 2ate Millett0s
Millett0s 1 Se"3role stereotypin% and
4atriarchial
• Elaine Showalter 3 #eminist criti-ue&
%ynocritics and !emale Culture
 

In Toward a Feminist Poetics Showalter

Poetics Showalter di$ides
#eminist criticism into two sections5

* Th
The
eWWom
oman
an a
as
s 6e
6ead
ader
er o
orr !e
!emi
mini
nist
st
Criti-ue
( The Woman
oman as W
Writ
riter
er o
orr 7y
7ynoc
nocrit
ritics
ics and
!emale Culture
 

The Woman as 6eader or !eminist Criti-ue

.Feminist critique&8
critique&8 which #ocuses on .woman

as reader 1 with
male3produced woman and
literature&8 as the consumer o# a

She pro$ides an e"emplary #eminist criti-ue o#

Thomas Hardy0s The Mayor o# Casterbrid%e to
demonstrate that .one o# the problems o# the
#eminist criti-ue is that is male3oriented
 

The Woman as 6eader or !eminist Criti-ue

9et:s see in hardy:s essay

“to shake loose from one's wife; to discard the drooping rag of woman, with her
mute complaints and maddening passivity; to escape not by a slinking
abandonment but through the public sale of her body to a stranger, as horses are
sold at a fair and thus to wrest, through sheer amoral wilfulness, a second chance
out of life. It is with this stroke, so insidiously attractive to male fantasy, that the
mayor of casterbridge begins8
begins8
 

The Woman as 6eader or

!eminist Criti-ue

• ;n that scene hardy said that the drunken husband

<Michael Hendcard=
dau%hter #or sellin%
#i$e %uineas his wi#e
at a country #air and his in#ant
 

The Woman as Writer or 7ynocritics

“Gynocritics,” which .is concerned with woman

as writer 1 with woman as the producer o# te"tual
meanin%8
Showalter presents %ynocritics 
%ynocritics  as a way .to
construct a #emale #ramework #or the analysis o#
women0s literature and the problem o# a #emale
lan%ua%e the tra>ectory o# the indi$idual or
collecti$e #emale literary career and literary
history@
 

7ynocritics  Elizabeth Barrett Brownin% and

Muriel Spark

In this chapter& Elaine Showalter e"plains that A%ynocritics must also

take into account personal histories in determinin% women0s literary
choices and careers

In order to support her statement& the #eminist analyst shows how

Elizabeth Barrett0s husband& 6obert Brownin%& in#luenced her
<Elizabeth0s=
<Elizabeth0s= work as an artist Showalter a##irms
a##irms that it is known
Ahow susceptible women writers 

Barrett Brownin%0s letters o# the *)s the pain#ul& haltin%& #amiliar

stru%%le between her womanly lo$e and ambition #or her husband
and her con#lictin% commitment to her own work
 

Three 4hases o# !eminism

* Th
The
e !emin
!eminin
ine
e phase
phase <*D
<*D)1
)1*
*)
)=5
=5

( The
The !emin
!eminis
istt phase
phase <*
<*)1
)1*
*()
()=5
=5
+ Th
The
e!!em
emal
ale
e pha
phase
se <*
<*(
()F
)F =
 

The !eminine phase <*D)1*)=5

• it is characterized by .women 'writin%, in

an e##ort to e-ual the intellectual

achie$ements o# the male cultureG

• The distin%uishin% si%n o# this period is the
male pseudonymG 'which, e"erts an
irre%ular pressure on the narrati$e&
a##ectin% tone& diction& structure& and
characterization8
 

The !eminist phase <*)1*()=5

• elena Ci!ous5
Ci!ous5 “Censor the body and
you censor breath and speech at the

same time.
heard. #  
rite yoursel!. "our body must be heard.# 
•    wherein .women are historically
enabled to re>ect the accommodatin%
postures o# #emininity and to use literature
to dramatise the ordeals o# wron%ed

womanhood8
 

The !emale phase <*()F =

• .women re>ect both imitation and protestF
two #orms o# dependencyFand turn

instead to #emale e"perience as the

source o# an autonomous art& e"tendin%
the #eminist analysis o# culture to the

#orms and techni-ues o# literature8

 

The Term
• !eminine55 a set o# cultural characteristics
!eminine
%i$en by the society

• !eminist55 a political position re#errin% to a

!eminist
woman stri$in% #or an e-uality o# ri%ht

• !emale55 a matter o# biolo%y

!emale
 

What does the writer want to

show throu%h the short story ?

The writer does make clear that the

problem
#emale andis se"ism andbeen
male ha$e that clarity help us
socialized
#rom birth on to accept se"ist thou%ht and
action /s a conse-uences& #emales can
be >ust as se"ist as men and while that
doesn0t e"cuse or >usti#y male domination
 

Halllo
• http5historiaculturalmpb
http5historiaculturalmpbnetcombr#e
netcombr#em
m
inismoTowarda!eminist4oeticshtm
•
<seba%ian te"t #eminism di #c ada disini=
• Thanks
 

Ja#tar 4ertanyaan mn%% kmren

• Who is the writers in this critism ?

•
What does the writers criticize in this writin% ?
• What theory does the critics use in his critism ?
• What do you know about the theory o# #ormalism ?
• What does the writers want to show throu%h the short
story ?