Feminist Criticism by Roshan Thapa Magar (1) (1).pdf

BICTE 1st Sem (English)

2. WRITER

The text ‘Feminist Criticism’ is taken from the book "A

History Of Literary Criticism” written by MAR
Habib.

M.A.R HABIB

wo THEORY

M.A.R Habib is a distinguished professor of English at Rutgers
University and a scholar of literary criticism, theory and philosophy.
Among his many works is a volume of poetry, “Shades of Islam:

Poems for a New Century.” His new work, “The Qur'an”.

3. Feminism - A revolt against the unequal treatment given to women.
This movement is based on the equality of women & men.

We find that women are treated unequally in the society & are considered /
lower to men and the desire of equality, independence, freedom etc. \

amongst the women's started feminism.

Feminism & Feminist Criticism in a Literal Context - Feminism explains
women in literature, But not just women it explains the tension between male

& female imagery within a piece of literature

Feminist Criticism - Instead of examining & just looking to see what we
can find, we go into the text looking for the tension between male imagery
& female imagery, then we explore how those imagery or symbols are
treated in the text.

"are the female symbols being pushed down or suppressed or are the male

symbols being championed "

4. THEME

The central theme of a feminist criticism essay is the examination of gender power dynamics
within a text, particularly focusing on how literature portrays and reinforces patriarchal
structures, often analyzing the representation of female characters, the "male gaze," and the
concept of female agency to critique societal gender roles and advocate for gender equality.
Key points about feminist criticism themes:

Patriarchy:

Analyzing how literary works reflect and perpetuate a social system where men hold primary
power.

Male Gaze:

Examining how female characters are often viewed and portrayed through a male perspective,
leading to objectification.

Female Agency:

Exploring the extent to which female characters have autonomy and control over their own
lives and choices.

Gender Stereotypes:

Identifying and challenging traditional gender roles assigned to female characters.

Women's Experiences:

Giving voice to the unique perspectives and challenges faced by women in society.

5. SUMMARY

Feminist criticism is not a uniquely twentieth-century-phenomenon. It has it's
past going all the way back to Ancient Greece, in the works of Sappho and
arguably, in Aristophanes’ play Lysistrata, which depicts, a female chorus

as physically and intellectually superior to the male chosus.

In the context of the Peloponnesian War, the idea of women using their
sexuality to end the conflict is most famously depicted in Aristophanes!
play "Lysistrata," where women from both Athens and Sparta organize a
sex strike, refusing to have sexual relations with their husbands until the
war ceases, effectively using their power over men's desires to force an

end to the fighting.

6. In the Middle Ages, Christine de Pisan had the courage to enter into a
debate with the predominant male critics of her day.
During the Renaissance a number of women poets such as Catherine Des

Roches emerged in France and England

In the seventeenth century, writers such as Aphra Behn and Anne
Bradstreet were pioneers in gaining access to the literary profession. After
the French Revolution, Mary Wollstonecraft argued that the ideals of the
revolution and Enlightenment should be extended to women, primarily
through access to education.

In the nineteenth century many writers emerged in Europe, and America,
ranging from Mme. De Stael, the Brontes, Jane Austen, George Eliot, and
Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Margaret Fuller and Emily Dickinson,
Hilda Doolittle, Gertude Stein, Katherine Mansfield, and Virginia Woolf.

7. For most of this long history women were not only deprived of education and financial
independence, they also had to struggle against a male ideology condemning them to virtual
silence and obedience.

The depiction of women in male literature - as angels, goddesses, whores, obedient wives, and
mother figures - was an integral means of perpetuating these ideologies of gender.

It was only with women's struggles in the twentieth century for political rights that feminist

criticism arose in a systematic way.

Since the early twentieth century feminist criticism has grown

to encompass a vast amount of concerns : show her *
it’s a man’s world

+ A rewriting of literary history so as to include
the contributions of women.

+ The tracing of a female literary tradition.

+ Theories of sexuality and sexual difference.

+ The representation of women in male

literature.

Some feminists have urged the need for a female language,

while others have advocated appropriating and modifying the
inherited.

8. Feminist Criticism rejects the traditional theories of masculine
presuppositions that have divided male and female as binary
opposites and have tried to fix the patriarchal concepts. It shows

that such concepts are just the cultural and ideological constructs.

The significance of language rests ultimately on its expression of
male ways of thinking that go all the way back to Aristotle.
According to Aristotle's law, either one is a man or one is a

woman; person is either black or white, either master or slave.

Feminists have often rejected these divisive ways of viewing the
world, stressing instead the various shades between female and
male, between black and white, and indeed urging a vision of unity

rather than opposition.

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à 4

ARISTOTLE

9. One of the invaluable accomplishments of feminism has been utterly to reject the

notions of objectivity and neutrality.

Feminists have pioneered a new honesty in acknowledging that they write from

subjective positions informed by specific circumstances.

This position rests largely on feminists acknowledgement that thought is not
somehow an abstract process, but is intimately governed by the nature and

situation of the body in place and time.

The body that a person inhabits will shape his/hers thinking at the profoundest
levels. Whether a person's body is male or female will initially determine their

thought and experience at a far deeper level than which books they read.

10. It should be remembered that feminism is not comprised of any
one movement or set of values; it has been broadly international
in scope and its disposition is dictated by many local as well as
general factors.

For example, writers from Arab traditions such as Fatima
Mernissi and Leila Ahmed have attempted to articulate a
feminist vision distinctly marked by their specific cultural
concerns; the same is true of African-American feminists such as
Alice Walker and feminists of Asian heritage such as Gayatri

Spivak.

11. Trace out the course of feminist criticism from Ancient Greece to Modern time.

Feminist criticism has it's past going all the way back to ancient Greece, in the works of Sappho and arguably,
in Aristophanes’ play Lysistrata, which depicts, a female chorus as physically and intellectually superior to the

male chosus. Similarly , Chaucer values the “eperiance” against male authority.

In the Middle Ages, Christine de Pisan had the courage to enter into a debate with the predominant male
critics of her day.

During the Renaissance Period a number of women poets such as Catherine Des Roches emerged in France
and England.

In the seventeenth century, writers such as Aphra Behn and Anne Bradstreet were pioneers in gaining access
to the literary profession. After the French Revolution,write Mary Wollstonecraft argued that the ideals of the

revolution and Enlightenment should be extended to women, primarily through access to education.

In the nineteenth century many writers emerged in Europe, and America, ranging from Mme. De Stael, the
Brontes, Jane Austen, George Eliot, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Margaret Fuller and Emily Dickinson,
Hilda Doolittle, Gertude Stein, Katherine Mansfield, and Virginia Woolf.

12. ics?

Who were the major 19th century feminist C:

In the nineteenth century many writers emerged from Europe and America ranging from Mme. De Stael, the
Brontes, Jane Austen, George Eliot, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Margaret Fuller and Emily Dickinson,

Hilda Doolittle, Gertude Stein, Katherine Mansfield, and Virginia Woolf were the major critics.
What was Mary Wollstonecrafts argument after french revolution?

After the French Revolution Mary Wollstonecrafts argued that the ideas of revolution and enlightment
should be extended to women , primarily through access to education.

What have feminists rejected?

We know that Feminist Criticism rejects the traditional theories of masculine presuppositions that have divided
male and female as binary opposites and have tried to fix the patriarchal concepts. It shows that such
concepts are just the cultural and ideological constructs.

Feminists have often rejected these divisive ways of viewing the world, stressing instead the various shades
between female and male, between black and white, and indeed urging a vision of unity rather than opposition.

One of the invaluable accomplishments of feminism has been utterly to reject the notions of objectivity and

neutrality.