Feminist

Approach
in literary criticism
What is Literary Critism?
1. The comparison, analysis, interpretation, and/or evaluation of
works of literature.
2. Includes a discussion of the work’s content and integrates
your ideas with other insights gained from research.
3. May have a positive or a negative bias or a study of an
individual piece of literature or an author’s body of work.
TAKE NOTE: Literary Criticism is not a plot
summary, a biography of the author, or simply
finding fault with the literature.
HISTORY OF FEMINIST
APPROACH
in Literary Criticism
 Waves of Feminism
FIRST WAVE
1848-1920
The earliest stage of feminist literary criticism,
acting as the foundation for feminist literary theory.
This school of thought centered on the treatment of
women by men, highlighting the stereotypical
presentation of women by male authors.
 Waves of Feminism
SECOND WAVE
1963-1980S
Focused on gynocriticism (a term that refers to the study of
women's writing).
Gynocriticism provided a new, female-led, framework for
literary analysis, creating a new space for the study of women
writers.
This school of thought focused on three key areas;
The place of women writers in literary history.
The treatment and portrayal of women in literature.
Discovering a literary canon of works written by women.
 Waves of Feminism
THIRD WAVE
1990S
Influenced intersectional literary criticism. Recognized the
limitations of second-wave feminism, particularly its emphasis
on gender and sex when examining the treatment and portrayal
of women in literature.
Issues such as race, sexuality, and class were brought to
the forefront of the third wave of feminist literary criticism, as
theorists acknowledged how an individual is defined and
impacted by more than their gender.
 Waves of Feminism
FOURTH WAVE
PRESENT DAY
Began utilizing literature, the news, and social media,
to promote feminist causes and highlight issues such as
sexual harassment and gender-based violence.
Continued to influence feminist literary criticism's
examination of the treatment of women in literature and
influenced the contents of texts in the feminist literary
discourse.
What is the Feminist
Approach
in Literary Criticism
 Feminist Approach
Explores the social relationships and
roles of men and women.
Draws on the ideas of feminist theory
to critique literature, considering how
literature portrays and is influenced by
patriarchal narratives.
Feminist literary criticism PATRIARCHY: A social system
(feminist criticism) is the literary where men hold the most power.
analysis that arises from the
viewpoint of ​feminist theory.
 Feminist Approach
It examines a number of elements
of a text including;
'Gendered' language and
symbols.
Stereotypical or unconventional
portrayals of female characters. This form of criticism also
How the gender of a reader can acknowledges how traditional
affect their response to a text. literature and its production, has
been shaped by men.
Strengths and Weaknesses
It is just one lens to view a text through.
Most effective when you are considering issues of gender and
gendered oppression.
Consider these issues in regard to the gender
of the author, the presentation of characters
based on their gender, or both.
The feminist lens doesn't directly consider issues
such as race, class, or sexuality.
Techniques in Writing Feminist Criticism
Five key questions which can act as a base
when analyzing literature through a feminist lens:
1. Is the author, and/or narrator, male or
female?
2. What are the roles of the female characters
in the text? Are they minor, secondary, or
main characters?
Techniques in Writing Feminist Criticism
3. How are women characterized in the text?
Do you notice any stereotype
4. Does the author use feminine or masculine
imagery in the text? If they do, why have they
used this imagery?
5. What social and cultural context was the text
written in? How has this influenced the author's
attitude toward women?

 Application Of
Feminist Approach
Mrs. Dalloway
by Virginia Woolf
 Mrs Dalloway

Question 1:
Is the author, and/or narrator, male or female?
 Mrs Dalloway
Question 1:
The author of Mrs. Dalloway is Virginia Woolf, a woman
who lived from 1882 to 1941. Woolf's work fits into
Showalter's 'Feminist' Phase, as she presents the role
of women in a critical light.
There are multiple narrators in Mrs. Dalloway, as the
novella uses a stream-of-consciousness narrative
structure.
 Mrs Dalloway
Question 1:

The novella's protagonist, Clarissa

Dalloway, is one of these narrators,

Stream-of-consciousness
giving her a level of autonomy over the
- a narrative mode that
represents the continuous
way in which she is portrayed to the
flow of an individual's
mental processes.
reader.
 Mrs Dalloway
Question 2:
What are the roles of the female characters in the text? Are
they minor, secondary, or main characters?
 Mrs Dalloway
Question 2:
The protagonist/main character:
Clarissa Dalloway
-Has a dominant role in the novella's narrative,
with the story centering on the events of a single
day, leading up to her party in the evening.
 Mrs Dalloway
Question 2:
Secondary characters:
Sally Seton
Elizabeth Dalloway
Doris Kilman
Lucrezia Warren.
Elizabeth Dalloway and Lucrezia Warren's narrative voices
feature within the novella.
 Mrs Dalloway
Question 3:
How are women characterized in the text? Do you notice
any stereotypes?
 Mrs Dalloway
Question 3:

Each of the female characters in the text is

influenced by social constructs and
expectations of femininity.
There is a strong sense that Clarissa's life has
been shaped by social expectations of
womanhood and femininity.
 Mrs Dalloway
Question 3:
Clarissa's decision to marry converges with early 20th-
century social constructs of womanhood which placed
women within the home, in the role of housewife and
mother. Once she decided to marry, Clarissa became
'Mrs. Richard Dalloway'.
By referring to Clarissa as an extension of her husband,
Woolf highlights the lack of individual identity many
women held in marriage.
 Mrs Dalloway
Question 4:
Does the author use feminine or masculine imagery in the
text? If they do, why have they used this imagery?
 Mrs Dalloway
Question 4:

Woolf utilizes both feminine and masculine

imagery in the text, a key example being Peter's
'pocket knife'.
 Mrs Dalloway
Question 4:
The pocket-knife
-acts as a phallic symbol, Woolf employs
it to allow the audience to infer Peter’s
Phallic and yonic attraction and need for dominance.
symbols -becomes a symbol of masculinity during
-refer to the male and Peter and Clarissa's first exchange.
female anatomy.
-Phallic symbol: will Despite knives holding connotations with
resemble/represent a danger and Peter’s own pocket knife being
penis
large, Clarissa dismisses it.
 Mrs Dalloway
Question 4:
This indicates that she is not intimidated by
Peter’s masculinity and presence.

Phallic and yonic

As he tilts his pen-knife towards her green
symbols dress, Clarissa simply responds by opening her
-refer to the male and scissors

female anatomy. a yonic symbol, the similar connotations

-Yonic symbol: will
with danger held by scissors allowing
resemble/represent a
vagina.
Clarissa to match Peter’s encroaching
masculinity with her femininity.
 Mrs Dalloway
Question 5:
What is the social and cultural context that the text was
written in? How has this influenced the author's attitude
toward women?
 Mrs Dalloway
Question 5:
Mrs. Dalloway was written and
published during the mid-1920s.
-Women in the United Kingdom over the age
of 30 had only just obtained the right to vote through
The women's suffrage the 1918 Representation of the People Act.
movement in the UK:
-A movement to fight for -It wasn't until 1928 that women in the
women's right to vote. United Kingdom could vote at the same age as
men.
 Mrs Dalloway
Question 5:
-As represented by the women's suffrage
movement and its success, traditional
expectations still held a strong social influence.
-The majority of women were expected to
The women's suffrage
movement in the UK:
become housewives and mothers, supporting
-Began in the late 19th their husbands rather than acting as
century and succeeded in independent entities.
its mission with the 1918 & While Virginia Woolf subverted these expectations,
1928 Voting Rights Acts. she would have still been impacted by these
traditional ideas.
 Application Of
Feminist Approach
Mulan (1998)
QUIZ TIME!
 True of False?

2 3
1
The feminist approach Feminist literary criticism
Literary criticism is not a explores the social
directly considers plot summary, a biography
issues such as race, relationships and roles of
of the author, or simply women.
class, or sexuality. finding fault with the
literature.
 QnA

6
4 5
In your own When is the feminist
understanding, what is How many feminism waves approach most
feminist approach? did we discussed and effective?
when did the feminist
approach emerged?
Thank you!
Group 5