Feminist Criticism

Feminist critics

• are Concerned with the role, position, and influence of women in a literary text.
• assert that most “literature” throughout time has been written by men, for men.
• examine the way that the female consciousness is depicted by both male and female writers.

4 Basic Principles of Feminist Criticism 

1. Western civilization is patriarchal.
2. The concepts of gender are mainly cultural ideas created by patriarchal societies.
3. Patriarchal ideals pervade “literature.”
4. Most “literature” through time has been gender-biased.

Elaine Showalter's Theory
• Feminine Stage: involves “imitation of the prevailing modes of the dominant tradition” and “internalization of its standards.”
• Feminist Stage: involves “protest against these standards and values and advocacy of minority rights....”
• Female Stage: this is the “phase of self-discovery, a turning inwards freed from some of the dependency of opposition, a search for identity.”

References:

Cuddon, J. (2013) A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Fifth Edition. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell