Feminist+Literary+Criticism

English 11 Feminist Literary Criticism

n Feminist criticism is concerned with "...the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women" (Tyson). This school of theory looks at how aspects of our culture are inherently patriarchal (male dominated) and "...this critique strives to expose the explicit and implicit misogyny in male writing about women" (Richter 1346).

§ Definition – Patriarchy: A system designed to keep men in power. Attributes associated with men, for example, are more highly valued than attributes associated with women.

n How is the relationship between men and women portrayed? n What are the power relationships between men and women (or characters assuming male/female roles)? n How are male and female roles defined? n What constitutes masculinity and femininity? n How do characters embody these traits? n Do characters take on traits from opposite genders? How so? How does this change others’ reactions to them? n What does the work reveal about the operations (economically, politically, socially, or psychologically) of patriarchy? n What does the work imply about the possibilities of sisterhood as a mode of resisting patriarchy? n What does the work say about women's creativity? n What does the history of the work's reception by the public and by the critics tell us about the operation of patriarchy? n What role the work play in terms of women's literary history and literary tradition?
 * Typical questions:**

[|http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/11][|/]