Feminist Criticism--Dobie Handout Page

96
CHAPTER
5
MARXIST CRITICISM
the weaker prolecupidity, are like the animals because both make social decisions for
males" of Hornung
tariat and both men are unbound by moral stricture s. The "weaker
at the bottom
and Truslow's society are as marginalized and alienated as the animals
6
of the beastly hierarchy.
a job and working
Eventually, Lewiston is able to overcom e his predicam ent by finding
d by the fact
quantifie
dly
downwar
is
his way up to a steady salary. Even this small victory
ownership of all
that it involves street cleaning. In our society's unchecked rush toward
work for others is
we survey, we harshly judge and look down upon those whose slavelike
the so-called bluewithout
seen as less than noble. Although our society could not function
cleaners and garcollar jobs such as mechanic and farmer and the unskilled labor of street
spuriOUS shame
The
ued.
underval
severely
are
bage collectors, these necessary occupations
d wholesale
swallowe
associated with these trades has been fostered by the bourgeoisie and
them by lack of better
by all, including the very workers who, like Lewiston, are forced into
and fragment
workers
the
alienate
to
opportunity. This false consciousness further serves
our society.
it felt like to be
Eventually, Lewiston is reunited with his Wife, but he never forgets what
engine."
terrible
and
great
a
of
caught in what the author describes as "the cogs and wheels
by the iron-hard
This engine is the American capitalist economy, construc ted and operated
and fuel the
oil
who
workers
the
to
loyalty
and dispassionate ruling classes who feel no
are unable
him
like
great engine, nor to those who are crushed by it. Lewiston and others
even to compreh end the great forces that shape their lives.
us that the two
As to Truslow and Hornung, at the end of the story Norris reminds
gambled in the
"never saw the wheat they traded in, bought and sold the world's food,
and went on about
nourishm ent of entire nations, practiced their ... oblique shifty 'deals,'"
author's use of the
The
ble."
their destructi ve business "content ed, enthrone d, and unassaila
in this story,
word enthroned calls to mind royalty and the divine right of kings. Certainly
beneath them.
peasants
the
to
thought
no
Truslow and Hornung conduct themselves with
themselves as haVing
Because of their accumulation of earthly treasures , they falsely view
starve, and maim
passed into the realm of diVinity, which gives them the right to destroy,
class.
ruling
the
of
hands
the
in
lies
with impunity the blighted workers whose fate
rank evils of social
"A Deal in Wheat" is a sharp lesson to materialistic societies of the
By taking the reader
systems that base their economy on an undervalued working class.
by the system,
from the wealthy who run the system to the poor who are most affected
an unchecked bourNorris is giving the reader a broad picture of the methods used by
.
geoisie to destroy families and rob individuals of their humanity
FEMINIST CRITICISM
Throughout history people have knocked their he.ads against
the riddle of the nature offemininity. ... Nor Will you have
escaped worrying over this problem -those of you who are
men; to those ofyou who are women this will not apply- you
are yourselves the problem.
SIGMUND FREUD, LECTUR E 33,
New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis and Other Works
If a woman has her Ph.D. in physics, has mastered quantum
theory, plays flawless Chopin, was once a cheerle~der. and
is now married to a man who plays baseball, she Will forever
be "fanner cheerleader married to star athlete. "
MARYANNE ELLISON SIMMONS,
wife of Milwaukee Brewers ' catcher Ted Simmons
definit.ive .explaWhen a school of literary criticism is still evolving, trying to make a
, IS dIfficult
exampl~
for
~:
criticis
t
Feminis
ing.
undertak
perilous
a
be
nation of it can
Instead,
IVe.
to define because it has not yet been codified into a single cntlcal perspect
e
~rom.o.~
eve~
its several shapes and directions vary from one country to another,
.CrItICS.
fermll1st
ves
thems~l
critic to another. The premise that unites those who call
creatIng an
is the assumption that Western culture is fundament~lly patriarchal,.
structure,
soCIal
T~at
work.
the~'
and
women
lizes
imbalance of power that margina
of
a~pects
On-all
educatI
cs,
econorm
hy,
philosop
,
they agree, is reflected in religion
gy
I.deolo
such
expose
to
works
critic
feminist
The
e.
literatur
g
the culture, includin
realized and
and, in the end, to change it so that the creativity of }Vomen can be fully
appreciated.
HIST ORIC AL BACK GROU ND
the modAlthough the feminist movement stretches back into the nineteenth centur~,
the early
In
develop
to
began
lens
ern attempt to look at literature through a feminist
97
CHAPTER
6
FEMINIST CRITICISM
on the
1960s. It was a long time coming. For centuries Western culture had operated
e to
Aristotl
from
thinkers
Leading
s.
creature
assumption that women were inferior
hard
look
to
have
not
does
one
and
beings,
lesser
were
Darwin reiterated that women
that disparage
to find comments from writers, theologians, and other public figures
7 A.D.) called
and degrade women. The Greek ecclesiast John Chrysostom (345-40
and Ecevil,"
ry
women "a foe to friendship, an inescapable punishment, a necessa
to the
little
but
is
ess
cl~siasticus (a book of the Apocrypha) states, "All wickedn
lecA.D.)
0
160-23
(c.
n
wIckedness of a woman." The Roman theologian Tertullia
it
with
and
today;
even
~ure~ women: "The judgment of God upon your sex endures
gateway
the
are
You
e.
ofjustic
bar
mevltably. e~dures your position of criminal at the
. Revered
to ~he devIl. Even the Book of Genesis blames Eve for the loss of paradise
nature
the
of
ions
descript
their
in
ous
ungener
wnters of later ages have been equally
r
characte
no
have
women
"Most
,
asserted
744)
(1688-1
of women. Alexander Pope
ty
generali
the
of
have
I
opinion
"The
d,
explaine
821)
(1795-1
at all," and John Keats
a sugar plum
of wome~-who appear to me as children to Whom I would rather give
than m~ tIme, forms a barrier against matrimony which I rejoice in."
ty of the
It IS not surprising, given widespread acknOWledgment of the inferiori
e
Madam
writer
French
the
femal~: t?at ,:omen too accepted their lesser status. Even
be
should
I
as
man,
a
not
am
I
that
de ~taells smd to have commented, "I am glad
~bhged to marry a woman." When women did recognize their talents, they somewoman, espeh.mes ':'Olked to conceal. them. Jane Austen, for example, advised, "A
it as well as
conceal
should
,
anything
knowing
of
ne
CIally, If she have the rmsfortu
Women m'e
them."
hide
you
if
asset,
an
m'e
"Brains
it,
put
West
Mae
she can." Or.as
ted
commen
once
the staple ofJokes, too. James Thurber, an often quoted misogynist,
'
,
wrong."
the
in
is
place
's
for example, "Woman
with the
In t~e late eighteenth century, however, Mary Wollstonecraft took issue
their
hide
to
women
caused
assU1~~tIOns that have allowed people to make jokes and
she
which
in
Woman,
of
Rights
cre~t1Vlty. In 1792 she published A Vindication ofthe
expeHaving
y.
hierarch
social
of
ss
~eplcted women as an oppressed class regardle
ne~ced as a child the imbalance of power between her own mother and father, and
hav~ng observed as an adult the indignities suffered by women of all classes, she reco~nlZe~ that they are born into powerless roles. As a result, they are forced to use maprepared
mpulatIve. methods to get what they want. She argued for women to be "duly
sex to
her
of
s
member
the
for
called
and
men"
of
ions
compan
the
by educatIOn to be
of
those
to
take charge of th~ir.uves.~y recognizing that their abilities were equal
soin
roles
own
I~en, to define theIr IdentItIes for themselves, and to carve out their
CIety. She wrote,
s consist s-I
I ~arnestly wish to point out in what true dignity and human happines
and body,
mind
of
both
strength,
acquire
to
r
endeavou
to
women
WIsh to per~uade
of sentiand to convmce them that the soft phrases, susceptibility of heart, delicacy
and
weakness
of
epithets
with
ous
synonym
almost
are
ment, and refinement of taste,
which has
love,
of
kind
that
and
pity
of
objects
the
only
are
who
beings
those
that
to shew that
been termed its sister, will soon become objects of contempt. ... I wish
to obtain a
is
ambition
laudable
of
object
first
the
that
elegance is inferior to virtue,
characte r as a human being, regardless of the distinction of sex.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
99
her a "hye?a
Her stand was not welcomed by all. Horace Walpole, for example, called
ev~r agam.
ignore
to
ble
impossi
were
they
and
out,
were
in petticoats," but the words
d by
pubhshe
was
women
of
position
the
of
analysis
t
In 1929 another eloquen
en~al n.ovels.
experim
at
somewh
and
lyrical
of
writer
a
as
known
Virginia Woolf, best
111 hIStO~Y.
Called A Room of One's Own, it questioned why women appear so seldom
.:eal hfe
in
b~t
Woolf pointed out that poems and stories are full of their depictions,
Sha~e­
entItled
they hardly seem to have existed. They are absent. In the chapt~r
wnte~
fe~~le
gIfted
a
to
d
speare's Sister," she pondered what would hav~ happene
l
whateve
own,
her
of
room
a
or
n
in the Renaissance. Without an adequate educatIO
issud,
deforme
and
twisted
been
have
she had written," Woolf concluded, "would
that "if we
ing from a strained and morbid imagination." Woolf went on. to argue
,:hat we
exactly
wnte
to
courage
the
and
[women] have the habit of freedom
not
bemgs
human
see
and
room
sitting
common
the
think; if we escape a little from
...
t?O,
sky
t~e
and
reality.;
to
relation
in
but
other
always in their relation to each
to hve and
when she [Shakespeare's sister] is born again she shall find It pOSSIble
write her poetry."
ersons
Individuals like Wollstonecraft and Woolf stand out as eloquent spokesp
but
known
well
less
are
for women. Along with them are many others whose names
soboth
history,
s
women'
of
ment
whose efforts have been important to the develop
who
er,
Showalt
Elaine
by
traced
cial and literary. Some of that history has been
(1840-1 880),
divided it into three phases, which she called the feminine phase
. In th~ .first,
resen~)
(1920-p
phase
female
the
the feminist phase (1880-1 920), and
addItIonal
taking
men,
by
ed
establish
tradition
literary
female writers imitated the
te Bronte
Chm'lot
as
such
ts
Novelis
matter.
subject
or
e
languag
e
care to avoid offensiv
of whom
all
writers,
ed
recogniz
of
styles
and
forms
the
in
wrote
and Mary Ann Evans
George
and
were male. Sometimes female writers even used men's names (Currer Bell
g to
accordin
Eliot, for example) to hide their female authorship. In the second phase,
pothe
In
them.
secure
Showalter, women protested their lack of rights and worked to
secure
to
pushed
others
litical realm, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and
ed separate
equality under the law, and some of the more radical feminists envision
women by
of
ns.
depictio
unjust
female utopias. In the literary world they decried the
the female
g
explonn
on
rated
concent
gs,
male writers. The third phase, at its beginnin
their .own
to
turning
meant,
this
writers
experience in art and literature. For female
typIfied
had
that
On
expressI
of
delicacy
the
that
lives for subjects. It also meant
e~erged.
y
sexualit
g
regardin
s
franknes
new
a
as
crumble
to
women's writing began
texts 111 an efFor feminist critics it meant looking at the depiction of women in male
there. Mo!'e
lurking
fort to reveal theJDisogyny (negative attitudes toward women)
wntfemale
by
works
of
tion
recently they have turned their attention to an examina
~x­
that
nt
moveme
a
ticism,
gynocri
ers. These latest efforts Showalter refers to as
earlIer
to
contrast
in
ce,
experien
female
the
amines the distinctive characteristics of
,.
methods that explained the female by using male models.
publIc
rmsed
ha:e,
ersons
~pokesp
nt
importa
of
host
a
During the third period,
Sec~l1d
The
m
lr
BeauvO
de
SImone
rights.
s
women'
ding
surroun
issues
awareness of
,are patnarSex (1949) argued that French culture, and Western societies in general'
her own
Lacking
human.
chal. In them it is the males who define what it means to be
100
CHAPTER
6
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
101
FEMINIST CRITICISM
history, the female is always secondary or nonexistent. Beauvoir believed that women
are not born inferior but made to be so. She called for women to break out of being
the "other" and realize their possibilities. Betty Friedan shocked some and cheer~d
others with her attack on the image of the happy American suburban housewife and
mother in The Feminine Mystique (1963). By the next decade feminists were takin~ theiI: models from other social protests, such as the civil rights movement. Kate
MIllett, ,m Sexua! Politics (1970), objected to the repressive stereotyping of women
by probmg the dIfferences between biological (sexual) and cultural (gender) identities. Millet ~lso poiI~ted out that power in civil as well as domestic life is held by
males, ~nd lIter~ture IS a record of the collective consciousness of patriarchy. That is,
much lrterature IS the record of a man speaking to other men, not directly to women.
At about the, same tiI~e, Germaine Greer documented images of women in popular
cUl~ure and lIterature m The Female Eunuch (1970), in an attempt to free women from
theIr mental dependence on the images presented by these sources.
Showalter acknowledges that today there is no single strand offeminism or feminist criticism, no single feminist approach to the study ofliterature, but there do seem
to be some similarities among feminists in particular countries. American feminism
which has its stronghold in academia, has worked to add texts by female writers t~
the canon. Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, authors of The Madwoman in the Attic
(1979), have ,been influential in American feminist criticism, calling for a recognition
that male wnters have too long stereotyped women as either "the angel in the house"
(the woman who lives to care for her husband) and "the madwoman in the attic," the
woman, who chooses not to be the angel. They call for writing by women, even a
woman s sentence, that will more accurately capture the complexity of women's lives
and nature.
. Showalt~r poin~s out that French feminists are primarily psychoanalytic. For
theIr theoretIcal baSIS they have turned to their fellow countryman Jacques Lacan.
They are, consequently, concerned with language, particularly with how women in
the Symbolic Order (a phase of development) are socialized into accepting the language (and law) of the father and thereby made inferior. Helene Cixous goes so far
as to assert that there is a particular kind of writing by women that she calls l'eeritur~ fe11linin~. It ~a~ as its s,ource the wholeness of Jacques Lacan's Imaginary Ordel, the prelmgmstIc domam of the female that is characterized by freedom from
laws and a sense of "other" (see chapter 4).
Th~ British fe~nists, according to Showalter, generally take a Marxist position.
Protestmg the explOItation of women in life and literature, which they view as connected by virtue of being parts of the material world, the British feminist critics work
to change the economic and social status of women. They analyze relationships between gender and class, showing how power structures, which are male dominated,
influence society and oppress women. Like Marxists in general, they see literature as
a tool by which society itself can be reformed.
All three groups are gynocentric, trying to find ways to define the female experience, expose patriarchy, and save women from being the other. Those involved with
literature-critics and writers-try to expand the canon to include female writers
and to correct inaccurate depictions of them in the works of male writers. Interest in
such topics has led to increased notice of works written by females who have been
ignored or forgotten but whose texts deserve examination. The Awake~ing, by Kate
Chopin, is a case in point. It was rediscovered in the 1960s, becOlmng a pop~lar
and critical success more than sixty years after its initial publication. The growmg
strength of the women's movement has also led to the es~ablish~ent of ",:,omen's stu~­
ies programs, further fueling the interest in gender studIes, WhICh questIOn the qualIties of femininity and masculinity, and in feminist literary criticism. Such programs
ask questions about the nature of the female imagination and fe~ale literary histo~y
What, after all, is a female aesthetic? Do women use language m ways. that are dIfferent from those of men? Do women have a different pattern of reasonmg? Do they
see the world in a different way?
Several significant studies have tried to answer such questions. They do not all
agree, but in general they have challenged assumptions .about how males and females
use language, view reality, solve problems, and make Judgments. They s~ggest t~at
women and men have different conceptions of self and different modes of mteractron
with others. Some of the findings call for a recognition of the differences, because ignoring them inevitably leads to a suppression of women's ways of understanding and
acting.
Nancy Chodorow, for example, argues in The Reproducti~n of Mothel~ing t~at
girls and boys develop a different concept of self because of dIfferent relatIonshIps
with the mother, the primary parent in the home. Girls maintain an ongoing gender
role identification with the mother from the beginning, but boys, in addition to dealing with an oedipal attachment, give up their primary identificat~on wit? her. The
result is that men tend to deny relationships, whereas women remam relatIOnal.
In another study, Carol Gilligan focuses on differences in the ways in which males
and females talk about moral problems. Men, she points out, are more likely to see
morality as a matter of rights and rules to be dealt with by formal reasoning. W~m~n,
on the other hand, are more likely to deal with moral issues contextually. That IS, mstead of applying "blind justice" provided by abstract laws and universal principles,
they recognize that moral choice must be determined from the particular experiences
of the participants. Conflicting responsibilities are to be resolved in a narrative: co.nsensual manner. Gilligan's In a Different Voice uses the metaphors of a web, WIth ItS
suggestion of connections (and entrapment as well), and a ladder, with its implications of upward movement, achievement, and hierarchies. By doing so, she counters
the argument of Lawrence Kohlberg (based on a study using only male subjects) that
moral development i&::4erived from an understanding of human rights. More recently
she has worked with Nora Lyons to examine the implicatiops of self-definition, finding that many more women than men define themselves in terms of their relationships
and connections to others.
Another feminist writer, Robin Lakoff, argues that women's language is inferior
to that of men. She points out its patterns of weakness, uncertainty, and, trivialit~. She
goes on to assert that women should adopt the stronger male utterance If they WIsh to
achieve equality.
READING AS A FEMINIST
T02
CHAPTER
6
1°3
FEMINIST CRITICISM
I
McA fourth study of significance comes from Mary Field Belenky, Blythe
s
Women'
Entitled
Tarule.
Mattuck
Jill
Vicker Clinchy, Nancy Rule Goldberger, and
Recwomen.
of
ment
develop
ual
intellect
the
Ways of Knowing, it is concerned with
processes of
ognizing that male experience has served as the model in defining the
value "have
won~en
that
knowing
of
ways
the
that
argue
intellectual maturation, they
time." That
our
of
ethos
ual
intellect
t
dominan
the
by
ed
been neglected and denigrat
d priattribute
s
processe
mental
the
as
defined
been
ally
tradition
is, "thinking" has
imand
marily to men, processes such as abstract reasoning, the scientific method,
come
not
personal judgments. Belenky et a1. argue that this kind of thinking does
l and internaturally to many women who instead are more comfortable with persona
separaover
tion
personal ways of knowing. They are more likely to value "connec
debate."
over
ation
collabor
tion, understanding and acceptance over assessment, and
and ages, the
Based on interviews with 135 women from a variety of backgrounds
as they move
voice,
their
find
they
as
study found that women develop intellectually
ies) to subauthorit
external
from
ation
identific
from silence (in which they take their
voice) and
public
a
lack
still
but
others
from
away
turn
jective knowledge (when they
ge
knowled
intuitive
own
their
e
integrat
they
(when
ge
knowled
then to constructed
with what they have learned from others).
feminist
Despite (or perhaps because of) such studies, today members of the
the
methods
and
es
movement and the critics, male and female, who make its principl
about
nt
agreeme
e
complet
basis of their critical approach to literature are not yet in
different
what those principles and methods are. In fact, there are currently many
of
because
partly
critics,
feminist
of
forms of feminism and many different kinds
has
that
practice
a
nts,
moveme
literary
and
their tendency to borrow from other social
ves the
both enriched and complicated their work. As a result, they now find themsel
and
ces,
differen
nt
significa
to
led
have
that
n
evolutio
inheritors of several decades of
them.
among
ments,
disagree
some
even
always
Minority feminis ts-wom en of color and lesbians, for examp le-do not
nt
moveme
class
middlewhite,
y
primaril
a
as
see
they
what
with
align themselves
victheir
that
that has historically marginalized them. Their exclusion is ironic, given
has history
only
Not
arts.
counterp
white
their
of
that
than
greater
been
has
on
timizati
generally
has
too
e
taken less notice of them than it has of white women, but literatur
fact that
the
is
es
grievanc
overlooked them, at least until recently. Compounding their
for
critic,
feminist
an
-Americ
African
they have more than a single battle to fight. The
sexism.
and
racism
on:
oppressi
of
forces
example, finds herself pressured by two
circumstance
They are bound together in her experience, but she does not find that
The same
sexism.
on
only
focused
is
which
,
represented by mainstream feminism
ves withthemsel
find
who
women
other
and
aged,
the
poor,
situation is hue for the
ed with
develop
has
it
as
nt
moveme
the
outside
them
leaving
out access to power,
of mie
leadership vested in educated, relatively affluent white women. The respons
critwhite
of
nority feminist critics is therefore likely to be more political than that
the
nt
moveme
de
ics. And when one makes reference to feminism as a worldwi
in
wom~n
bf
power
situation becomes even more complex, because the roles and
Angeles is
different countries vary widely. A feminist living and working in Los
how can
so
Iraq,
in
five
of
mother
a
of
that
from
life
likely to have a very different
there be "sisterhood"?
s,
The political edge found among minority feminist critics, the Marxist feminist
positions
and others has not been welcomed by everyone. Some complain that radical
text. They obregarding social policy ultimately cause a reader to ignore the literary
o pay atject that a radical position diverts the critic from the main task at hand-t
it. Such
on
stance
tention to the aesthetics of literature, not to impose a political
an auas
work
the
see
comments are formalist in nature, for they urge the reader to
disgreat
a
at
lies
that
h
tonomous entity with its own rules of being. It is an approac
protest
social
of
tool
a
as
e
tance from the methods of those who would use literatur
and reform.
tion
The definition of feminist criticism was also destabilized by the introduc
transfor
and
e
disruptiv
a
been
has
1970s
middle
of deconstruction, which since the
8).
chapter
(see
female
or
male
be
to
means
it
what
about
mative way of thinking
also overturns
When the definition plays with the reversal of those categories, it
nal, active/
all the other binary oppositions that are related to them: rational/emotio
when we
mean
we
passive, objective/subjective. The result is that it complicates what
ne
masculi
as
e
someon
refer to sexual identity. What do we mean when we describe
or feminine?
anyone
Practitioners of queer theory (lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and indeed
blurruction's
deconst
of
use
ng
interesti
make
who by self-definition is not "straight")
they
identity,
sexual
g
regardin
s
question
in
d
ring and reversals of categories. Intereste
possible
many
of
n
collectio
a
as
but
female
or
male
view individuals not simply as
ity. In other
sexualities that may include heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexual
affected by
g,
changin
and
dynamic
is
It
static.
nor
stable
words, sexuality is neither
of its own
force
a
is
It
desire.
shifting
to
subject
and
class
and
the experience of race
as the
viewed
be
cannot
xuality
heterose
Thus,
d.
conferre
ally
that is not just biologic
norm against which other sexual identities are measured.
text repApplied to literary criticism, queer theory raises questions about how a
than the
complex
more
resents sexual categories. Does it depict human sexuality as
s are
identitie
sexual
how
show
essentialist terms male and female suggest? Does it
homobe
to
means
it
what
ate
indeterminate, overlapping, changing? Does it complic
and lesbian
sexual or heterosexual? Such approaches can be found in the work of gay
, come
methods
or
goals
same
the
share
rily
necessa
not
critics, who, although they do
.
criticism
queer
of
term
e
inclusiv
together under the more
READ ING AS A FEMI NiST
ofAbiga il
To understand the discussion that follows, you should read the letters
, John,
husband
her
from
one
the
and
1776,
5,
Adams written on March 31 and April
249.
page
on
written on April 14, 1776, which begin
1°4
CHAPTER 6
READING AS AFEMINIST
FEMINIST CRITICISM
',
Although feminist criticism has man Y ' d
general approaches in common, More s ecificall stIan s, mos~ cntICs ,hold some
er forrediscov
to
hIstory
lIterary
at
look
they
y,
p
gotten text s b y women, to reevaluate oth t t an d
'
contexts
cultural
the
exal111ne
to
er ex sili
in which works were produced Th
l
that
makes women the other (the inierio;'~ :~~ ~~e ,e, ma~e/female power structurelimitabolish
to
work
They
It.
IeJec~
ey
'
n
e
ing stereotypes of w o m
the prejudices they create In short' They see~ to exp?se patnarchal premises and
ways
people read and
that they read it, feminist
valued
IS
e
everyon
that
so
I1d
g
h
k
t
'Ill
as a creative rational being , a rna es t em as a group h' hI 'd 1 '
Ig Y 1 eo ogical, even
, " y.
"
VIsIonar
"
d'
Despite the sprawling nature f t "
IS possible to gr,oup some of
It
Ies,
~tu
~:~~st
seve~al
into
ives
perspect
t
the differen
groups of
feminist critics are those who study d'ff ' ppm~ approaches. Three major
hips,
relations
power
study
who
ose
t
eIence,
1,
and those who study the "'emal
e expenence.
l'
~r~~c~hh~::~~ ~~:~It:r:~r~~~at
~he
STUDIE S OF DIFFER ENCE
.
.
Feminist critics who are interested in deter ' , g
l111nm the dIfferences m male and female
writing work from the assumptI' th at gen
,
.
th'
der determines e
on
very mg, mcludmg
,.
valne systems and language Not all t "
cntIcs agree, for they recognize that historically the concept of feI~ale d''''' eirumsht
'
Iuerence as resulted in an assumptiOn
,
,
of female
mfenority, leading them to argue th at d'ff
.
b
long
no
1 erence should
h
~~ e an Issue. Nevd G'll'
ert eless, studies like those of Belenk
lIgan have led cntIcs to look for distinctive elements in texts by Iueil d y an
an Women. They. compare an d contrast what men
Th
and women write and how th ey WlI,'t'
b'
ert. ey exal111ne not only th'
,
elr ~u ~ects but also
then voice, syntax, and diction. And althou h
unresolved, the concern with male and female wrft. such matte~s .remam largely
inin
resulted
has
nstIcs
characte
mg
b'
1
and
gay
creased attention to
"
'fl
b
es Ian texts and eventually ha seen
m uentIal m the
establishment of gay studies programs.
:,
.
,
" "
One way this approach has influenced CUlT
m an expanded
eVIdent
IS
ClItIcism
e~t
d
b
to
are
genres
which
of
concept
female writers
by
works
If
e.
are to be deemed worthy of studye ~~cePtthe fas lIteratur
' en e orms they have traditi ona11y turne d to,
snc II as journals and letters, have to be included i
~ the canon. The cor~espondence between Abigail Adams and her husb d J h
0 was away fr?m home because of
the American Revolution is an exa~nl' ~ t:' w rts
.of ~exts that mterest feminist critsfoA
e
ics, For one thing, the let~ers allow t~ eo,
h
e VOIce 0 bigall a woman who had
b h
or poems
~h,ose letters her con.through
hand
f'
1
'
t
al
cems are still articulated. They are
1
so yplca 0 t e kind of wntmg women h
d
h have a ways one. Do they constitute literature? A feminist critic would ar
gue t at t ey do.
The Adams correspondence is interestin b
g ,ecause of the contrast of content as
"
well as the st Ie of the two , ' ,
here
letters
both of
more
with a plea
mfrewntes
~e
.. ~e dcomplams that
qnently and that his letters are too brief In
. answeI, e oes not apologIze but explains
~~~;~ t~ b:~I;~: ~~~~:s~:~t~~~;t~\:;i~:::a~~tical tr~atise
f~
COl11l11u:~~~:~n~~~;:~o~;I~S
~er
exhoI~~; t~~
incl~de~
105
is involved
that the "critical state of things" necessitates the brevity of his writing. He
length. Of
greater
at
write
to
him
for
ble
impossi
in matters of importance that make it
of avocalicity
"multip
a
to
irony,
t
apparen
or
course, he also alludes, without excuse
John's
about
g
inquirin
by
opens
also
Abigail
time.
his
tions" that presumably take up
h
paragrap
short
a
devoting
even
and
on
revoluti
the
of
state
work-a sking about the
their
of
to patriotic statement that is sure to please him-be fore she turns to news
feminist
home, the town, and finally her own state of mind. She ends with an overt
of
rights
the
e
statement, calling men tyrants and asking her husband to recogniz
other
the
on
John,
ent.
women to have voice and representation in the new governm
to rehand, after explaining that he has been too busy to write much, turns quickly
nal
imperso
an
is
It
.
colonies
the
counting the progress of the revolt and its effect on
address
does
he
When
it.
with
ent
account, with no reference to his direct involvem
home,
more personal issues, in answer to her description of the state of their Boston
a rein
Finally,
.
morality
of
issues
on
es
discours
he assumes a patriarchal tone and
rted,
lighthea
turns
he
women,
of
rights
the
to
attention
sponse to her requests for his
comher
treats
He
"saucy."
as
her
ng
describi
and
coeur
de
referring to her gaieti
only, they
ments playfully, declaring that because men are already masters in name
lest they
cannot even think to repeal the system in which they seem to hold control
her apgives
He
become completely subjected to "the despotism of the petticoat."
peals no serious thought.
l referThe style of the two letters also has contrasts. Abigail's is full of persona
John
himself.
to
e
referenc
little
ences, the use of the pronoun I, whereas John's makes
his
does
than
distance
greater
much
at
speaks primarily in the third person, narrating
says,
She
.
feelings
her
stating
ly
explicit
wife. Abigail also describes her sentiments,
you," "I
for instance, "I wish you would ever write me a letter half as long as I write
spring
of
h
approac
the
at
tly
differen
very
feel
"I
and
x,"
am fearful of the small-po
feelown
his
to
e
referenc
little
makes
,
contrast
in
John,
ago."
from what I did a month
indulgof
instead
but
,
General
r
Solicito
the
of
children
the
pities
he
ings. He says that
he speaks
ing the sentiment, he uses it to make stern comments about morality. Later
the end
at
and
ity,
of being charmed by Abigail's gaiety, the sign of innocent feminin
final
The
.
equality
for
expresses amusement, even laughter, at her silliness that asks
only
not
two
The
s.
concern
her
mood is implicit in the ironic treatment he gives
pert
differen
quite
from
them
h
choose to discuss different topics but also approac
exthe
e,
objectiv
the
and
ve
subjecti
the
spectives: the personal and the impersonal,
plicit and the implicit.
STUDIE S OF POWER
Woolf beThe sociological aspects of feminism broached so delicately by Virginia
of the imn
complai
who
s
feminist
come overt and explicit withtod ay's outspoken
at the root
is
system
ic
econom
the
that
ng
balance of power between the sexes. Assumi
exploisocial
the
and
ic
econom
the
both
attack
of the inequitable relationship, they
usly
conscio
that
group
a
by
ed
oppress
are
women
that
tation of women. They charge
a
from
writes
who
Barrett,
Michele
.
ideology
its
through
down
works to hold them
106
CHAPTER
6
FEMINIST CRITICISM
Marxist point of view, argues that the way households and families are organized is
related to the division of labor in a society, the systems of education, and the roles·
men and women play in the culture. Building on Virginia Woolf's belief that the
conditions under which men and women produce literature affect how they write
and what they write about, she argues that gender stereotyping is tied to material
conditions,
The feminist critics who are interested in examining and protesting power relationships of men and women in literature have expanded their focus to include a number of subgroups that have also been marginalized in society. They frequently look at
writers from cultures as varied and different as the black (African-American and
other people of color), Hispanic, Asian-American, native American, Jewish, and lesbian ones. Some members of the black group, the most outspoken of the minorities,
describe critics as racists and misogynists, object to the amount of attention paid to
black male writers (instead of black female ones), and even charge white feminist
critics with being interested only in white, upper-middle-class women. Their efforts
have not all been directed to protest, however. They have also produced some valuable scholarship by compiling bibliographies of ignored black writers and their works
studying black female folk artists, and publishing slave narratives. They have traced
the ~rowing power and authority of black females, whose history in this country began 111 sla~ery, and the~ have celebrated the family and community nurtured by those
women. LIke the MarxIsts, these critics have highly political purposes.
The common thread uniting these disparate groups is the belief that the social organization has denied equal treatment to all its segments and that literature is a means
of revealing and resisting that social order. To them, art and life are fused entities
making it the duty of the critic to work against stereotyping in literature, media, and
public aW,areness; to ~aise the consciousness of those who are oppressed; and to bring
about radIcal change 111 the power balance between the oppressors and the oppressed.
Whereas feminist critics in general have sometimes been criticized for having too little to say about the quality of literary texts, those concerned with issues of
power and econ?mics have been especially chided for their lack of attention to questIOns of aesthetIc value. More interested in the sociological aspects of texts than
in making a close reading of them, these readers have an especially political intent.
Many of the English feminist critics who work from a Marxist perspective would belong to this group.
Critics who take this approach would be interested in the letters of Abigail and
John Adams, because they show contrasting views of labor and economics. Hers express concern for the state of their personal property. She comments that their house,
left empty by a doctor who has now moved on, is like a new asset, because it was
worthless to them while it was occupied. She has asked a friend to take stock of what
is left, as part of the process of evaluating their holdings. The house has been left
dirty, obviously an objectionable state, but one that is less distressing than its destruction would have been. She also mentions the fate of others whose homes have
been used by the enemy, noting that in some cases the inhabitants have left rent for their
use or for damage done to furniture. She even mentions the state of the president's
READING AS A FEMINIST
107
"mansion-house." Abigail's is a practical inventory of households-her own, those
of her neighbors, and those of their leaders.
John, too, makes observations about the economy, but they are less personal than
those of his wife. Attracted to an analysis of the broader situation, he is more philosophical than she. Speaking of the defense of Virginia, he comments, "The gentry are
very rich, and the common people very poor. This inequality of property gives an
aristocratical turn to all their proceedings." He recognizes the value of a less hierarchical society, one in which the classes are less distinctly defined. When he mentions
their personal holdings, he maintains his impersonal tone, referring to "a certain
house in Queen Street" rather than naming it as their own. He assumes the same attitude he held toward the "aristocratical turn" of the Virginians and applies it to his
own family, warning, "Whenever vanity and gayety, a love of pomp and dress, furniture, equipage, buildings, great company, expensive diversions, and elegant entertainments get the better of the principles and judgments of men or women, there is no
knowing where they will stop, nor into what evils, natural, moral, or political, they
will lead us." His call for less attention to material acquisition and his desire for a less
hierarchical society foreshadow the ideas to be later espoused by the Marxists.
The division of labor between man and woman, husband and wife, is also clear
in these letters. It is John's duty to be away directing the affairs of the colonies, but
Abigail is expected to remain at home with the family. Such a situation is not surprising in the eighteenth century. More interesting is the nature of the work they are
expected to do. Whereas John's may involve physical courage but probably has more
to do with using his authority to plan operations and direct groups of people, Abigail's responsibility for maintaining the family is considerably more lowly. In answer
to his inquiry as to whether she has yet made saltpeter, she replies that she will try to
do so after she makes soap and remarks that making clothes for the family takes much
of her time. In addition, she is concerned about planting and sowing, about finding
and providing food for all.
Finally, despite the candor with which Abigail presents her case to John regarding her desire for the equality of women, the terms she uses and the spirit in which
he receives them indicate the reality of their relationship. She charges men with being "naturally tyrannical," acknowledges that they hold "the harsh title of master,"
and implores him to !'put it out of the power of the vicious and the lawless to use us
with cmelty and indignity with impunity." Despite his comments elsewhere about the
desirability of equality among people, he fails to take her seriously. As he says, "As
to your extraordinary code of laws, I cannot but laugh."
Obviously Abigail.,and John Adams do not belong to any of the minority groups
named here. They were white, Anglo-Saxon founders of th.e United States, members of what in retrospect is definitely deemed to have been the "inner circle." They
lived in Boston, a cultural city, had access to education, and through John wielded
power and made policy. What would the minority feminist critics make of their
correspondence?
Although there would seem to be less here for the minority critics to address
than there is for the other groups of feminists, the final paragraph in John's letter is
WRITING FEMINIST CRITICISM
J08
CHAPTER
6
109
FEMINIST CRITICISM
significant where their interests are concerned. In it he mentions, in a lighthearted
manner, a number of minority groups: apprentices, students, Indians, "negroes," and
"another tribe," women. Later he refers to "Tories, land-jobbers, trimmers, bigots,
Canadians, Indians, negroes, Hanoverians, Hessians, Russians, Irish Roman Catholics, Scotch renegadoes," too. Clearly his intent is to treat the matter with humor, but
by linlting Abigail's "foolish" request with the unruly conduct of what he considers
to be groups under the control and domination of their betters, he reveals his own
prejudices. He betrays his own sense of superiority, his acceptance of the right to oppress and repress, despite his protestations against aristocracy. It could be charged,
and certainly would be by minority feminists, that such attitudes are at the root of the
racial and ethnic divisions that have marked the entire course of American history.
STUDIES OF THE FEMALE EXPERIENCE
The interest of some feminists in probing the unique nature of the (female personality
and experience has led the critics and writers among them to try to identify a speCIfically female tradition of literature. Such explorations have been particularly interesting to French feminists, who have found in Jacques Lacan's extensions of
Freudian theory a basis for resisting the idea of a stable "masculine" authority or
truth. R~je~ting the idea of a male norm, against which women are seen as secondary
and derIVatIVe, they call for a recognition of women's abilities that goes beyond the
traditional binary oppositions such as male/female, and the parallel oppositions of
~ctive/passive, intell~ctual/emotional.Searching for the essence of feminine style in
lIterature, they exarmne female images in the works of female writers and the elements thought to be typical of l'ecriturefeminine-such as blanks, unfinished sentences, silences, and exclamations. Early female images and goddesses become
important as symbols of the P9wer of women to resist and overcome male oppression.
Images o~ motherhood are significant too, for childbearing and rearing involve power
and creatIOn. Of course, this approach runs the risk of creating ft';male chauvinists
who argue for a special, superior gender. It also risks creating a ghetto in which women's writing stands separate from the male tradition and is thereby weakened.
One such critic who has been influenced by Lacan is Helene Cixous, who in
"The Laugh of the Medusa" (1976) explores the nature of the female unconscious and
issues a call for women to put their bodies into their writing. Connecting female writing with Lacan's Imaginary Order, a prelinguistic phase characterized by oneness
between the child and the mother, she sees women's writing as coming from a primeval space that is free of the elements of Lacan's Symbolic Order, such as the Law
of the Father. In it the Voice of the Mother becomes the source of feminine power and
writing. Cixous's visionary perspective, which calls upon women to invent their own
language, possibly heads toward the terminal marginalization of women's writing,
despite the passion with which it is put forth.
Whereas feminists have often reacted negatively (even angrily) to some of
Freud's idea about women-for example, that women suffer from an inevitable
penis envy that makes them see themselves as hommes manques. since Lacan, some
of these feminists have been able to accept the "phallus" as a symbolic concept: ~s­
ing it as it once was used in ancient fertility cults. From him they take the poslt~on
that males and females alike lack the wholeness of sexuality of full presence, leav1l1g
both with a yearning that can never be filled.
.
Abigail Adams would not have been able to t~nk of herself 111 such terms, but
throughout her letters it is clear that she looks at hfe around her and at her own responsibilities in a way that John does not. She is the nurturing caretaker of the family fulfilling the expected, stereotypical female role. She offers, for example, to copy
and send the instructions for the "proportions of the various sorts of powder fit for
.
."
cannon, small-arms, and pistols" if it would be useful to John.
However, Abigail is more than just a helpmate or facilitator. She IS a ~h1l1kin~ 111dividual, one who reverses the rational/irrational binary. John engages l~ a senous
conversation with her about "Dunmore," and it is clear that he values her mtellectual
grasp of the situation. Her accounts of the work she does to maintain the householdmaking clothes, soap, and perhaps saltpeter-are evidence of the ~eversal of the. acg
tive/passive binary often invoked in regard to male/female. S.he IS a har,dworkin ,
involved, industrious woman, without whose efforts and energIes the farmly, and by
extension the society, could not survive.
, .' .
Rhetorically, as noted in the discussion of studies of power, Ablga111~ careful to
write what is likely to be pleasing to John. She inquires about his work, reIterates the
rightness of the cause for which he is fighting, speaks at length about personal matters and reveals her own feelings. Her voice is not that of her husband, even when
she 'agrees with his sentiments. It is a distinctly female voice full of concern for others that comes from a particularly personal perspective.
WRITING FEMINIST CRITICISM
For those readers who are interested in examining issues concerning women and literature but who do not have a defined agenda to follow or promote, making a feminist reading of a male author's text (which includes most of the canon) involves
realizing from the outset that it is androcentric and resisting that point of view, It
means not necessarily reading from a traditionally male perspective. How does that
resistance take place? For a female reader, it involves consciously refusing to ,reverse
her role (that is, take on a male one) in order to identify with a male protago~lst or,to
share a male point of view of a narrative. Instead of assuming that the mascul1l1~ pomt
of view, system of..yalues, or manner of thinking is the univer~al norm, she w~ll r~c­
ognize that there is an alternative perspective: a woma?'s. WIthout .such. realI~atlOn
the female reader finds herself in a double bind. She is expected to Identify With the
male perspective while being reminded that to be male is ~o~ feminine. ~or a male
feminist reader, it means adopting a new and possibly surprlSl~g perspective, that of
trying to experience the narrative through the lens of. the OP?oslte gender. Of course,
making a feminist reading of a feminist text means uS1l1g a differe~t approach. Inst~ad
of resisting, the reader will try to connect, try to find commonalIty and commumty.
!IO
CHAPTER
6
WRITING FEMINIST CRITICISM
FEMINIST CRITICISM
as help revive
, A f~Illinist reader ~ill also look out for new female writers as well
as late as
that
showed
Baym
Nina
by
study
A
ones.
Ignored
or
n
Intel est lI1 forg~tte
novelist,
1977 the Amenca n cano~ of major writers did not include a single female
en
the midsince
e;r though female novelIsts have been a significant force in the field
tation,
interpre
nm.eteenth century. ,,?-n ~ndrocentric canon generates androcentric
tric
gynocen
of
n
whIch leads to. c~nollIzatIOn ?f androcentric texts and the exclusio
quality
the
asserting
by
process
ones. The femmIst reade~' WIll try to reverse that
undervalued
of texts 'produced by partIcular female writers, finding and promoting
ce, and deacceptan
literary
underlie
that
values
wf:ters from the pas~, .questioning the
of tradireadings
ve
alternati
make
also
will
~l1lng a female tradItIOn of letters. She
tIOnal works.
PREWR ITING
III
a new poin~ of
works have acquired traditional readings that can be challenged from
understan~m~
accepted
the
why
show
to
intend
you
that
view. You can easily explain
and AbIgaIL
John
by
ed
exchang
letters
the
of
case
the
In
ty.
is not the only possibili
that
writings
his
is
it
that
out
point
would
tion
explana
an
such
,
Adams, for example
~er­
t
differen.
a
are ordinarily examined by historians, not hers. Because she presents
. her wntmgs
spective on some of the same incidents and exp~r~ences he. observ~d,
In the charache
may
analySIS
also deserve attention. Other rationales for a femInIst
or the author.
d,
produce
was
text
a
ters the situation, the cultural context in which
a fitting one
is
it
why
ng
explaini
reading,
Wh~tever your reason for making a feminist
.
.
easily.
more
will help your reader follow the analysis
SItuatIOn
the
of
events
or
rs
characte
the
connect
An alternative beginning is to
literature as a
with one that has actually occurred. Because many feminist critics see
be powerful.
can
ion
connect
a
such
making
society,
reform
way to understand and
I~' you have the opportunity to choose the text you will examine for your feminist cri-
if the work has
tIque, you may ~ant to select something by a female writer, especially
ess of the seRegardl
critics.
feminist
from
notice
o~
bit
not ,already receIved ,a good
characters
the
on
focus
to
helpful
it
find
initially
will
you
on,
lectlOn you are working
n of the author's attithdes and ide111 the text. They are an easily accessible indicatio
ology, Some of the questions you can ask include the following:
ing,
, What s')tereotypes of women do you find? Are they oversimplified, demean
untru~. For example, are all blondes understood to be dumb?
supportive, powerless,
~ EXal11I~e the roles women pla~ in a work. Are they minor, ones?
ial
obseqUIous ones? Or are they mdependent and influent
narrative? If so, how does the male or female
4. Is the nan:ator a characte r in the
ons?
percepti
reader's
the
POI1lt of VIew affect
female characters?
the
about
" How do the male characters talk
characters?
female
the
treat
rs
'. How do the male characte
male characters?
the
toward
act
rs
How do the female characte
characters?
l
powerfu
lly
politica
and
socially
Who are the
the answers to these questions?
by
d
suggeste
are
'" What attitudes toward women
work lends itself more naturally
the
that
indicate
s
,. Do the answeI:s to these question
characters, a study of power
female
and
male
the
between
a study of dIfferences
or a study of unique fegroups),
other
perhaps
(or
sexes
the
between
Imbalances,
ce?
expenen
male
:0
DRAFT ING AND REVISI NG
follow, or how
Once you have determined which of the three approaches you want to
.
analysis
your
they work together to form the text, you can begin drafting
The Introduction
critique is
One interesting way. to open your discussion is to point out why a feminist
ed
establish
many
,
partIcul ady appropn ate for the text you are analyzing. For example
The Body
on can take
Because feminist studies serve so many different interests, your discussi
try wO~'k­
can
you
making,
decision
your
a wide variety of approaches. To simplify
studIes
c~,
differen
of
studies
earlier:
d
discusse
es
ing within one of the three categori
areas
rng
overlapp
are
these
course,
Of
ce.
experien
of power, or studies of the female
them.
of
one
in
analysis
your
center
to
want
y
probabl
of attention, but you will
certainly
If the issue of gender differences attracts your attention, you will almost
for
looking
be
will
you
since
study
your
for
writer
female
a
by
work
a
want to select
s
question
ask
can
what makes a female text different from one written by a male. You
such as the following:
writer~?
• Is the genre one that is traditionally associated with male or female
that IS of
one
• Is the subject one that is of particular interest to women, perhaps
,
.
importance in women's lives?
IS
Why
?
narrator
the
of
voice
the
• What one-word label would accurately capture
it appropriate?
• Is the work sympathetic to female characters?
presented
• Are the female characters and the situations in which they are placed
detail?
in
with complexity and
of the
• How does the language differ from what you would expect from a writer
,
opposite gender?
On
perceptI
reader's
• How does the way the female characters talk influence the
•
of them?
ed with
• What are the predominant images? Why (or why are they not) associat
women's lives?
In the case of
• Does the implied audience o(the work include or exclude women?
sound more
it
does
or
e,
audienc
mixed
a
to
d
addresse
work
the
is
a male writer,
like one man telling a story to another man?
having been
• How do the answers to these questions support a case for this work's
written in a particularly masculine or feminine style?
lIZ
CHAPTER
6
RECOMMENDED WEB SITES
FEMINIST CRITICISM
r~' you
get
are intereste d in the relation ships of the characte rs or in how things
ce)
imbalan
(or
balance
the
ate
investig
y
probabl
will
you
text,
the
of
done In the world
at some concluof power depicted in it. The followin g question s can help you arrive
ng.
prewriti
sions. Some of them are similar to those you asked while you were
depicted: men or
.. Who is primari ly respons ible for making decisions in the world
women?
Or do they work
" Do the female characte rs play an overt part in decision making?
behind the scenes?
Who holds position s of authorit y and influenc e?
Who controls the finances?
assume some
• Do the female characte rs play tradition al female roles? Or do they
unusual ones?
ill treated?
.. Are there any instance s in which women are unfairly treated or
.. What kind of accomp lishmen ts do the female characte rs achieve?
• Are they honored for their accomp lishmen ts?
action, or
.. Do the ~nale characte rs consult the female characte rs before taking
merely mform them of it?
structur e as
"" Does the stOlY approve or disapprove, condem n or glorify, the power
revealed by your answers to these question s?
~ How is the female reader co-opted into accepting or rejectin g the images of
women presente d in the work?
~ou may be interested in examini ng how the unique female experience is caplike
r question s
tured m the work you are to analyze. If so, you will want to conside
the following:
r that is stable
" Does the text reject the idea of a male norm of thinking and behavio
where?
so,
If
and unchang ing?
ity?
.. Is th~ writer's style characte rized by blanks, gaps, silences, circular
text?
the
in
nt
importa
body
., Are Images of the female
.. Are there referenc es to female diseases or bodily function s?
motherh ood
• Do motherh ood or those attitudes and behavio rs characte ristic of
figure significantly in the text?
male intellec" Can you find instance s in which the tradition al binaries of male/fe
? .'
reversed
are
assive
active/p
and
tive,
e/subjec
objectiv
tional,
tual/emo
.. What new circums tances do the reversals suggest?
is associated
• Can you find instance s in which wholene ss rather than othernes s
with the female characte rs?
uniquen ess of the female experien ce can you
4 What generali zations about the
make based on the answers to these question s?
II3
about. the ~ay the
into a single stateme nt about what is particuI~rly fe~ale (~r ~ale)
Its piesenta about
or
lllIt,
depIcted
ships
relation
power
the
about
written,
work was
tion of the nature of the female experien ce.
...
~
GLOSSARY OF TERMS USEFU L IN FEMIN IST CRITICISM
tions that are
Androcentric A term used to describe attitudes, practices, or social organiza
.
.
being.
of
model
the
are
men
that
based on the assumption
of the female exGynocriticism A movement that examines the distinctive charactenstl.cs
male models. ~s
usmg
by
fe~ale
the
d
perience, in contrast to earlier methods that expla~ne
to. stud~ the :-vr~t­
w~ys
?ew
g
developm
WIth
d
concerne
is
icism
applied to literature, gynocrit
l, ImgUlstlc,
ing of women. Elaine Showalter designates foUl' such perspectives: bIOlogIca
..
.
psychoanalytic, and cultural.
which
dunng
stage
psychiC
th?
to
refer
to
Lacan
Jacques
by
used
tenn
A
Imagina ry Order
sense
a
develop
to
and
objects
the infant begins to recognize its separateness from other
h' I
..
,
of self.
t at las as
L'Ecriture femillille A term used by French critics to designate women s wntmg
its source the wholeness of Lacan's Imaginary Order.
.
.
Misogyny The hatred of women.
hiS
perceives
boy
a
five
of
age
the
around
that
theory
Freud's
Sigmund
Oedipal attachm ent
father to be a rival for the love of his mother.
.
.
.
Patriarc hy A social system that is headed and directed by a male..
man
which
m
stage
psychiC
the
to
refer
to
Lacan
Jacques
by
used
term
Symbolic Order A
dividuallearns language and it shapes his identity.
RECOMMENDED WEB SITES
. .
dex.htm ' .
P?ltamGender Inn, a searchable database provldmg access to more than 6,O~O lecords
on English and
ing to feminist theory, feminist literary criticism, and gender studies focusm~
and gender
s
women
of
areas
some
on
phies
bibliogra
provides
also
It
.
American literature
studies. It is available in both English and Gennan.
http://www/uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/englisch/~a~enbank/e_in
.
.
..
http://www.cddc.vt.edu /feminism/enin.html
theory.
literary
than
theory
politIcal
more
A feminist theory Web site that includes
bibliograp~ies/
http://www.york.ac.uk/services/library/subjects/women/
research_methods. htm
An annotated bibliography.
The Conclusion
http://www.feminist.org/research/chronicles/biblio.html
A bibliography of American feminist issues.
zations and conThe end of your paper is an appropr iate place to state the generali
es to the text
referenc
your
of
all
pull
should
It
s.
question
your
clusions drawn from
http://www.york.ac.uk/services /library/subjects/women/bibliographies /
literary_criticism.htm
H4
i 11
CHAPTER
19~~~~~1190~~ted
6
FEMINIST CRITICISM
arts
bibliography of feminist aesthetics in literary, performing, and visual
/
http://.www.york. ac. uk. services/ library/subj ects/women /bibliographies
felTIll1lscmethods.htm
'.
e h .
Feminism, science, logic of inquiry, and methodology,with
m p 'ISIS on socIal sCIences,
teaching, and research bibliography.
http://ww w.igc.ap c.org/wo men/fem inist.htm l
Links to feminist resources and concerns.
http://ww w:igc.ap c.org/wo men/boo kstores/w idenets.h tml
Femmlst bookstores worldwide.
http://www.ecoethics.net/bib/1997/clca_015.htm
A bibliography on ecofeminism.
SUGG ESTED READ ING
Feminist Analysis Lon
Barredtt, Mvichele. ':~l11en's Oppression Today: Problem s in Marxist
. . '.
on: erso EdItIOns, 1980.
Braid~tta, ~osi. Nomadic Subjects. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1994.
Identity Ne '-' 'k' R
Butlel, JudIth. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversi on 0"
outW ,01.
'.
~
ledge, 1999.
.
if
.
. d
Chodorow Nancy Tl R eplo
uctlOno Motherm g:psycho analysis andtheS ociology ofGen_
'k 1 . Ie
I .
a Press 1999
Californi
of
Univ.
Angeles:
Los
and
ey
. eel. el e
.
CIxous, H~len~. The Laugh of the Medusa. Signs 1 (1976): 87'5-893
k Kn
'-'
N
Par'shley
M
H
Trans
Sex
opf 1993
de Beallvolr, SImone. The Second . .
. ew ,or:
'"
Fl'
n Fictio;l. BlO~ming­
America
to
h
Approac
Feminist
A
ettei' y,..IrUddl.th. The ~esisting Reader:
ton. n lana Umv. Press, 1978.
Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: Norton 1997
,.
Gates Henry LOllis .II' d Read'II1g Black, Reading Feminist
y New
: A Critical Antholog
' ., e.
,
~ k M "
.
1990.
,or': endran,
W .
Gilbert. Sandra' M ., an d S usan G ub ar. Madwom an in the Aftl'c' The TIT
' 1, vroman rlter and the
.
N' t I C
'
1
'-'
'
C
Hav
New
ed
2d
ion.
Imaginat
Literary
me ee(1t 1- entlll)'
en, onn.. ,a e Umv. Press,
.
2000,
",
Green, Gayle, and Coppelia Kahn eds Makin g a Diffi
I erence: Fe/1l1l1lst Literary Criticism. New
,.
York: Routledge, 1991.
B
Giroux, 2001.
Greer: Germaine. ,~he Femal~ ~1I11Uch. New York: Farrar, Straus and
New York' C 1 b'
Century.
the
Gubm, ~usan. Cntlcal ConditIOn: Feminism at the Turn of
. 0 urn 1'1
Umv. Press, 2 0 0 0 . >
p
'
U
b'
NewYor k'Colum 1'1 mv. ress, 19 90.
Hall1let SMother and Other Women
Heilbrun, Carolyn.
.
. .
S '
lack
P
, New York' Co1umb'1'1 U'
Sexualih
son, tevI, and Sue Scott, eds. Feminism and
.
mv, ress,
.
,~.
1996,
Criticism. Chapel
l\![eesHe"IE, lujZa~eth, Crossing th,e Double-C ross: The Practice of Feminist
I mv. of North Carolma Press, 1986.
1.
.
1vIIllett: Kate. Sexual Politics, Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Press, 2000.
Univ of Call'fo .
SedgWIck, Eve. Epistemo logy of the Closet. Berkeley and Los Angeles'"
rma
Press, 1990,
MODEL STUDENT ANALYSIS
lIS
Literature, and Theory,
Showalter, Elaine, ed. The New Feminist Criticism: Essays on Women,
New York: Pantheon, 1985.
Minnesota Press, 1993.
Warner, Michael, ed. Fear of a Queer Planet. Minneapolis: Univ. of
Whitston, .1982.
York:
New
n.
afWoma
Rights
afthe
on
Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindicati
1999.
Press,
Chivers
England:
Bath,
Own,
One's
of
Room
A
Virginia.
Woolf,
MODE L STUD ENT ANALYSIS
The Masculine Sex-Parasite in Edith Wharton 's "The Other Two"
Connie Herndon
As her own memoirs and those df others make clear, Wharton was
emphatically not a feminist in the ordinary sense of the word. On the
contrary, she seems often to have gone out of her way to present herself
for New
as an old-fashioned "man's woman" who felt nothing but contemp t
Womanly strivings.
Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar
of the Enslaved,"
In a chapter entitled "Angel of Devastation: Edith Wharton on the Arts
Wharton 's
Edith
Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar explore the contradi ctions between
nature of her fiction.
personal stance toward feminism, indicated above, and the feminist
neither in theory nor in
was
They argue that "despite all th[e] evidence that Edith Wharton
the most searchpractice a feminist, her major fictions, taken together , constitut e perhaps
d by any
produce
ty'
'feminini
of
tion
ing-and searing- feminist analysis of the construc
ist
nonfemin
d
professe
novelist in this century" (128). Thus, Wharton may be consider ed a
herself, I sensed
who wrote feminist texts. Before reading anything about Edith Wharton
Two," The
Other
"The
this contradiction regarding feminism when I read her short story
s regarding the
story left me with mixed feelings and curiosity about Wharton 's intention
Gilbert and
from
gUidance
With
n.
interpret ation of the female character, Alice Waythor
of Alice
ation
Gubar, I have better understo od my frustrations and arrived at an interpret
full-scale fantasies
Waythor n as a sacrificial example of Wharton 's refusal to "elabora t[e]
g of female
unleashin
the
about
about the liberation and gratification of female desire or
is a typical rendering
power" (Gilbert and Grubar, 129). In other words, Alice Waythor n
"sex-parasites" and
of Wharton 's scathing view of the social system that produced female
1.,{I,
129).
Gubar,
and
that, to Wharton , seemed largely beyond reform (Gilbert
in 1904 as one of
Barbara A. White says that "The Other Two," which was published
"depicts a newly
a collection of short stories entitled The Descent of Man and Other Stories,
this is cerAlthough
married person's disillusionment with an initially admired spouse" (57).
the female reader in a
tainly true, I have already indicated that the story is meant to involve
the situation that protype of disillUsionment also. To explain this opinion, the specifics of
married person" to
vides the subject of the story need to be reviewed. The "disillusioned
nil
CHAPTER
6
MODEL STUDENT ANALYSIS
FEMINIST CRITICISM
n, who has been
whom White refers is Mr. Waythor n, newly married to Alice Waythor
beginning, does
the
in
n,
Waythor
man"ied twice before her marriage to him. Though Mr.
"fancied that a woman
not think he will have a problem with his wife's past, he has wrongly
she cannot, that
can shed her past like a man" (Wharto n, 99). When he discovers that
her into continue d rela"Alice was bound to hers both by the circumst ances which forced
99), he is disillusioned
tion with it, and by the traces it had left on her nature" (Wharto n,
feet had worn" (98).
many
too
with her, thinking of her as, among other things, "a shoe that
[her past]" are that she
"The circumst ances which forced her into continue d relation with
dealings with
has a child by the fil"st husband and that her second husband has business
y thrown toWaythom 's firm. Thus, Mr. and Mrs. Waythor n find themselv es constantl
~1r.
nds. Mr. Waythor n's
gether with one or the other (and, at the end, both) of Alice's ex-husba
as with the growwell
as
confines,
attempts to deal with this situation within proper social
story.
ing disillusionment he has with his wife as a result of it, make up this
" path in my
The aspect of "The Other Two" that at first led me down a "feminist
As a woman,
n.
Waythor
interpret ation is the stereotypically oppressi ve characte r of Mr.
when, watching
I am offended by his possessiveness, especially in the following passage
his the light
motions,
flirting
their
with
Alice, he thinks, "They were his, those white hands
disturbed
been
Having
haze of hair, the lips and eyes, ..." (83, Wharton 's ellipsis points).
te presence of
by recent manifestations of his divorced wife's past, including the immedia
of ownersh ip
feeling
the
in
only
her two ex-husba nds in his life, Mr. Waythor n finds relief
vely dismembers
toward his wife. He feels comforte d only when he objectifies and imaginati
offended by this
the parts of her body and calls them his own. As a woman, I am deeply
rship"
possesso
of
behavior, which Wharton describes,as his "yielding again to the joy
to provoke female
(83). \Nharton 's illustration of such behavior is clearly critical and meant
readers.
find a resting
And yet, as my sympathies move away from Mr, Waythor n, they don't
oppressive
s
husband'
her
of
object
the
is
she
place with Alice Waythor n either. Though
therefore ,
and,
s
views toward women, Alice seems never to be touched by his prejudice
r provokes my anger,
does not seem victimized by them. Though Mr. Waythor n's characte
Gilbert and
loyalty.
my
nor
~1rs. Waythor n's characte r does not provoke my sympathy
of heart'-h er apparent
Gllbar discuss what Some critics have called Wharton 's '''limitation
and Gubar, this accuGilbert
To
(131).
."
lack of sympathy for her characte rs, her coldness
with which she
delight
sation from critics can be explained as a "misperc eption of the grim
women (and their
fNced herself, and her readers, to face the social facts that made her
Waythor n has
Alice
for
sympathy
of
men) what they were" (131). Thus, Wharton 's lack
general.
her characte rs in
rt purpose and is Indicative of her attitude toward
to the story, Not
But more than a lack of sympathy for Alice is at work in my response
of disapproval
feeling
a
also
is
oniy is there a lack of sympathy for her characte r, but there
II7
Mr. and Mrs. Wayand repulsion toward her. To understa nd why, the characte rs of both
discussed. One is the
be
to
issues
thorn must be more carefully consider ed. There are two
Waythor n is more
crossing of masculine and feminine stereotyp es in the characte rs (Mr.
presence of the "sexfeminine and Alice Waythor n more masculine). Second, there is the
parasite" in Alice.
time, Mr. WayUpon finding Mr. Haskett (Alice's first husband) in his house the first
down with a
himself
flung
he
thorn handles and thinks of himself thusly: "In his own room
acutely from the grogroan. He hated the womanish sensibility which made him suffer so
other examples,
tesque chances of life" (88, emphasis added). In this and numerou s
He is constant ly
Mr. Waythor n is portraye d as having stereotypically feminine qualities.
Varick (Alice's second
worried about appearances, as when he is caught on the train with
of the picture he and
vision
husband) and sees someone he knows. When he "had a sudden
excuse" (79), Also,
Varick must present to an initiated eye, he jumped up with a muttered
his office to do
at
him
visit
to
come
he is worried about appearan ces when Varick must
when, "waitbusiness. Waythor n demonst rates his "womani sh" concerns over propriety
it.... Waythor n could
ing in his private room, [he] wondere d what the others thought of
And, elsewher e, at
(85).
in"
fancy the clerks smiling behind Varick's back as he was ushered
composu re was restthe very beginning of the story, Waythor n reflects that "Her [Alice's]
(72). In another inful to him; it acted as ballast to his somewh at unstable sensibilities"
nt contingencies
stance, Waythor n is described as "always refus[ing] to recognize unpleasa
by a spectral
till he found himself confront ed with them, and then he saw them followed
ies," his
sensibilit
e
"unstabl
train of conseque nces" (95). Waythor n's tendenci es toward
of avoiding and then
oversensitive regard toward keeping up appearan ces, and his habit
female that are
overdramatizing problems are all stereotyp es of the foolish and numskull
and offensive
foolish
the
so familiar to us. Wharton 's inversion of them, placing them within
male characte r is a clever way to undermin e such stereotyp es.
having
On the other hand, Alice Waythor n is nearly the opposite of her husband,
characte rhe
ore,
"perfectly balanced nerves" as perceived by him (Wharto n, 72). Furtherm
to be aware of them"
izes her as haVing "a way of surmoun ting obstacles without seeming
to their home, he
(75). When he is still worrying about the upcoming visit of Mr. Haskett
n and forgotten " about
looks at Mrs. Waythor n and notes that "she had obeyed his injunctio
changing situations that
it (77). Of course it isJler emotional control and ability to adapt to
change of husbands
her
eventually comes to burden Waythor n: "The fact that Alice took
have forgiven her for
like a change of weather reduced the situation to mediocrity. He could
for anything but her acblunders, for excesses; for resisting Haskett, for yielding to Varick;
n is given all the stereoquiescence and her tact" (99, emphasis added). Thus, Alice Waythor
d with the "strong
typically "masculine" characteristics that have been traditionally associate
e qualities.
masculin
Alice's
regard
to
how
male." The question to be addresse d now is
Il9
MODEL STUDENT ANALYSIS
nS
CHAPTER
6
FEMINIST CRITICISM
In thinking about the masculine qualities described in Alice Waythorn, it is important
to consider another aspect of her character, an aspect that Gilbert and Gubar attribute to
what they call the "sex-parasite." Quoting from Olive Schreiner in An Olive Schreiner Reader,
Gilbert and Gubar (63) define the sex-parasite as "the effete wife, concubine or prostitute,
clad in fine raiment, the work of others' fingers; fed on luxurious viands, the result of othel"S' toil; waited on and tended by the labour of others" (Gilbert and Gubar, 143). This
clearly describes Alice Waythorn, who has gradually climbed the social ladder through her
succession of husbands. Alice's movement up in the social structure is evident in Mr. Waythorn's shock at the social station that he observes in Alice's first husband, Mr. Haskett.
Waythorn spends a good deal of time trying to imagine his wife in "a phase of existence
so different from anything with which he had connected her" (Wharton, 89). Furthermore,
though "Varick ... was a gentleman" (89) and "[h]e and Varick had the same social habits,
spoke the same language, understood the same allusions" (90), Varick is clearly not as "well
off" as Waythorn is. This is seen in Waythorn's surprise when he learns of the nature of
Mr. Varick's business with his firm: "Waythorn wondered vaguely since when Varick had
been dealing in 'important things,' Hitherto he had dabbled only in the shallow pools of
speculation, with which Waythorn's office did not usually concern itself" (19). Clearly, then,
Alice Waythorn has been on the move up since her first divorce. Alice's long history as a
"wife-prostitute" is further obvious in Waythorn's concession that it might be "better to
own a third of a wife who knew how to make a man happy than a whole one who had
lacked opportunity to acquire the art" (100). Alice Haskett, with all her training, is definitely
a master of the "art" of making a man happy. And what she has gotten in return is an increasingly more prestigious and luxurious position in the social structure.
We cannot like Alice Waythorn, because she is a sex-parasite. And her masculine, independent ways ironically do not help us to like her. Wharton's presentation of the sexparasite in Alice Waythorn is representative of the kind of woman she despised (Gilbert).
And yet Wharton was fully aware of "the process by which women are socialized as prisoners of sex, and more specifically the horror (to the 'lady' herself and others) of the cultural
techniques of feminization that created the female 'sex' parasite" (Gilber;: and Gubar, 129).
In other words, though she despised this type of woman, she fully understood her and
might even have considered herself one, for becoming a sex-parasite was virtually inescapable in her given social structure. Alice, as sex-parasite, represents the contemporary unreformed woman of Wharton's time. While feminists around Wharton were looking for
ways to escape such a destiny, "Wharton mostly saw signs that said NO EXIT" (Gilbert
and Gubar, 129). I think Wharton's pessimistic views regarding the potential for reform are
clear in "The Other Two," Alice's masculinity is, in some ways, a warning that reform will
lead oniy to a different, yet equally disturbing role for women. In this case, the warning is
that women may become more like men, who, after all, are the ones we as women least
want to resemble. Mr. Waythorn, with all his feminine characteristics, is portrayed as being
silly and, eventually, rather inconsequential. Certainly, this is what we, as women, are trying
to move away from. And yet, at the end of the story, when Alice Waythorn clearly has the
upper hand, we are not satisfied because she is too manlike- she is not the type of woman
we want to be, even if that means we would have the greater measure of power.
Wharton's pessimistic views about the possibility of a better social situation for women
often manifests itself in female characters who disillusion female readers acquainted with
more conventional, more romantic, and optimistic feminist ideas. This is certainly the case
in "The Other Two," And yet Wharton's nonfeminist feminism, in the end, is a potent form
of social criticism. In her refusal to grant women "full-scale fantasies about the liberation
and gratification of female desire or about the unleashing of female power," (Gilbert and
Gubar, 129), Wharton exercises what we today call tough love. Unwilling to scratch only
at the surface of the social dynamics that create us, she makes us look deeper and longer at
the female beasts that we are. For, as is evident in Alice Waythorn, if women are to be the
enlightened ministers of a more humane world, we must do more than become equal to
men in the same social structures in which we live lives of oppression. Equality within corruption will not reform us. A new and better world will require new social structures and
better human beings, both male and female in kind.
Works Cited
Gilbert, Sandra M., and Susan Gubar. Sexchanges. Vol. 2 of No Man's Land: The Place
of the
Woman Writer in the Twentieth Century. New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univ. Press, 1989.
Wharton, Edith. The Other Two. In The Descent of Man and Other Stories (New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1904), 71-105.
White, Barbara A. Edith Wharton: A Study of the Short Fiction. Twayne's Studies in Short Fiction 30. New York: Twayne publishers, 1991.
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THEORY
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PRACTICE
An Introduction to Literary Criticism
ANN
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DOBIE
THOIVllSON
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