Feminist Criticism In The Thirteenth Night

Analyzing the ways in which a piece of literature includes feminist ideologies can bring out the potential messages that the creators of these productions were attempting to portray, while allowing the reader to critique the literature from a feminist perspective.

American Literature has always been about men and for men. In this essay, we are going to analyze the women’s role in the book, as inferior and weaker gender.

The feminist movement lays claim to a history of both victorious struggle and violent controversy. As women fought for equality with men in the early twentieth century, literature was inspired by this movement. Modernist writers used their artform to provide social commentary in similar ways to realistic writers of the nineteenth century. However, modernist thought allows a much more obvious agenda to be presented through literature. Mina Loy, in “Feminist Manifesto,” and Susan Glaspell, in “Trifles,” both used their respective writings to convey personal opinions on the women’s movement and the relationship between men and women. Though this similarity places them in the same category of modernism, the two differ in their writings

According to Louis Tyson feminist criticism “examines the ways in which literature (and other cultural

We all commonly assume that we act freely, that we make our own decisions without regard to the opinions of those around us. We all like to think we create our own stories, and choose the way we tell them. However, many of us are probably at least tempted to wonder if this a thing completely within our control, how much of it is, and how we can resist attempts of others to write our stories for us, regardless of what we actually desire. Particularly when it comes to women, the society around us is very sure of what it wants our stories to be, and who should tell them and when. This is, of course, a process that begins early. As Foss,

Feminist criticism is often defined as a literary analysis that arises from the viewpoint of feminism, feminist theory, and/or feminist politics (Napikoski). Feminist criticism can be divided into two parts. The first type of feminist criticism revolves around the idea of the woman being the reader of male-constructed literature. This type of feminist criticism consists of the female reader focusing on stereotypes and misconceptions about women. The second type of feminist criticism concentrates on the woman being the writer. This type of feminist criticism demonstrates history, themes, genres, and structures of literature by women. In the past, it was very common for literature that had been constructed by men to be taken into consideration more than literature composed by women. Both “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “A White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett were written in the 1800’s and revolved around the point of view of females. Both of these authors use symbolism in order to represent and enhance the ideas of feminism in their stories.

In Christina Rossetti’s poem Goblin Market, Laura is saved from death through the bond of Sisterhood: a female power that embodies both traditionally feminine and masculine characteristics and values. Ross Murfin’s essay “What is Feminist Criticism?” feminist criticism, in the study of literature, is described as a criticism that examines how the values and attitudes of patriarchal societies affect the portrayal and expression of women in text (186-194). French feminists have focused on analyzing the way meaning is produced and have concluded that a gender binary is formed by language (186-187). Meaning is created by what a thing is not; for example, men are men because they are not women. The gender binary determines what things are masculine and what are feminine. This essay will adopt a feminist perspective and examine the gender roles (the behaviours, expectations, characteristics and values assigned to each gender by a society’s gender binary) depicted in Goblin Market. The primary focus will be on how gender roles affect the actions and decisions made by Laura and Lizzie throughout the poem and how sisterhood, a construct that blurs the gender binary, is the means that saves Laura’s life.

Feminist Criticism is described as literary criticism to presents different perspectives on how literature discusses issues of gender, focusing on education, financial and social difference in a male dominated society. Critics revolve around power relation between the two genders. They also review how females are represented in different texts and literature and how such representation is sufficient. In addition, feminist critics in politics present literature that seeks to raise consciousness about the important role of women and highlight how language is misused to marginalize women. Influential figures of this form of criticism are George Eliot and Margaret Fuller. They are two who mainly came up with the idea of Feminist Criticism and the basic principles followed by others today. Some famous authors who wrote through the lens of Feminist Criticism are Ellen Moers, Alice Walker, and Tillie Olsen... These writer’s focus on inequality between women and men. Many stories have been written using this thought process as the catalysts for the work.

“The… sea… [was] inviting the soul to wander in abysses of solitude” (Chopin 189). The only way this character felt they could be free from the oppression and pressure from her husband and society was by setting her soul free into the ocean. Oppression of women in the 1800’s led to their rights being limited, literature revealing men’s perception of women, and the idea of a mother-woman. Due to men continuously misinterpreting women in their literary work (“Feminist criticism and literary history”), women started reading their work and analyzed how the women were being perceived. According to the “Feminist Literary Criticism” article by Cantrell, women authors write their books in contrast to how women are perceived in men’s literature.

Women are not equal to men and this is portrayed by the way we are treated in our society. The phenomenon where woman is often degraded has been aided since biblical times and has translated into literature because women have begun to reclaim their identities through writing and the women’s movement. Adrienne Rich argues in “When We Dead Awaken”, that women writers write specifically for the male audience because those are the norms that have implemented on us. Rich acknowledges the opposing spectrum: male authors when she says, “No male writer has written primarily or even largely for women, or with the sense of women’s criticism as a consideration when he chooses his materials…”

Though it was uncommon during the 1800’s, some women didn’t want to assume the traditional role of a typical Victorian lady. Such is the case in Kate Chopin 's The Awakening; she introduces us to Edna Pontellier a mother and wife during the said era. Throughout the story, we follow Edna 's journey of self-discovery and self-expression through emotions, art, and sex thanks to the help of people she meets along the way. Chopin decides to end the book with Edna’s suicide in an attempt to convey a sense of liberation from her repressed life, but was the reasoning behind her suicide what everyone else thinks? Consequently, this said journey took me along for the ride, and I had no complaints. As Edna figured out who she was, I felt as if I was

In a world usually depicted as a “man’s world,” a woman’s role is not considered as significant and thus can be repressed. It is why a feminist perspective or criticism comes into place, especially in literature. By definition, a feminist criticism consist of scrutinizing “the ways in which literature reinforces the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women.” (Tyson) In Gail Godwins’s A Sorrowful Woman, the leading female character is concentrated in her efforts in distancing from her structured lifestyle. A feminist would critic Godwins story by as the female character is in pursuit of peace and happiness and wants to escape from the role she has been implanted. The critic would concentrate on the experience woman

The American literary canon presents a one sided view of women, due to the dominance of male authors. Classic American books generally present images of women in a male-centered viewpoint, creating a biased representation of women in literature. In “Feminist Literary Criticism: From Anti-Patriarchy to Decadence,” Anne Barbeau Gardiner states that the American literary canon is “strikingly narrow…prepared by white men whose judgment was prejudiced and whose language was full of gendered meanings.” (Gardiner 395). Gardiner

If they read as women, they will more easily notice the conflicts female characters face rather than neglecting the treatment of these individuals. Culler argues that reading like a woman is “to bring about a new experience of reading and to make readers—men and women—question the literary and political assumptions in which their reading has been based” (51). This statement introduces the idea that, in order to read like a woman, readers must challenge the conventional expectations of literature to construct a novel perception of the text.

Feminist criticism scrutinizes the ways in which literature reinforces or undermines the economic, politic, social and psychological oppression of women. One of the tools used