Feminist Criticism (1960s-present)
Summary: This resource will help you begin the process of understanding literary theory and schools of criticism and how they are used in the academy.
Contributors:Allen Brizee, J. Case Tompkins
Last Edited: 2010-04-21 08:25:52
Last Edited: 2010-04-21 08:25:52
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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). This misogyny, Tyson reminds us, can extend into diverse areas of our culture: "Perhaps the most chilling example...is found in the world of modern medicine, where drugs prescribed for both sexes often have been tested on male subjects only" (83).
Feminist criticism is also concerned with less obvious forms of marginalization such as the exclusion of women writers from the traditional literary canon: "...unless the critical or historical point of view is feminist, there is a tendency to under-represent the contribution of women writers" (Tyson 82-83).
Common Space in Feminist Theories
Though a number of different approaches exist in feminist criticism, there exist some areas of commonality. This list is excerpted from Tyson:
- Women are oppressed by patriarchy economically, politically, socially, and psychologically; patriarchal ideology is the primary means by which they are kept so
- In every domain where patriarchy reigns, woman is other: she is marginalized, defined only by her difference from male norms and values
- All of western (Anglo-European) civilization is deeply rooted in patriarchal ideology, for example, in the biblical portrayal of Eve as the origin of sin and death in the world
- While biology determines our sex (male or female), culture determines our gender (masculine or feminine)
- All feminist activity, including feminist theory and literary criticism, has as its ultimate goal to change the world by prompting gender equality
- Gender issues play a part in every aspect of human production and experience, including the production and experience of literature, whether we are consciously aware of these issues or not (91).
Feminist criticism has, in many ways, followed what some theorists call the three waves of feminism:
- First Wave Feminism - late 1700s-early 1900's: writers like Mary Wollstonecraft (A Vindication of the Rights of Women, 1792) highlight the inequalities between the sexes. Activists like Susan B. Anthony and Victoria Woodhull contribute to the women's suffrage movement, which leads to National Universal Suffrage in 1920 with the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment
- Second Wave Feminism - early 1960s-late 1970s: building on more equal working conditions necessary in America during World War II, movements such as the National Organization for Women (NOW), formed in 1966, cohere feminist political activism. Writers like Simone de Beauvoir (Le deuxième sexe, 1972) and Elaine Showalter established the groundwork for the dissemination of feminist theories dove-tailed with the American Civil Rights movement
- Third Wave Feminism - early 1990s-present: resisting the perceived essentialist (over generalized, over simplified) ideologies and a white, heterosexual, middle class focus of second wave feminism, third wave feminism borrows from post-structural and contemporary gender and race theories (see below) to expand on marginalized populations' experiences. Writers like Alice Walker work to "...reconcile it [feminism] with the concerns of the black community...[and] the survival and wholeness of her people, men and women both, and for the promotion of dialog and community as well as for the valorization of women and of all the varieties of work women perform" (Tyson 97).
Typical questions:
- How is the relationship between men and women portrayed?
- What are the power relationships between men and women (or characters assuming male/female roles)?
- How are male and female roles defined?
- What constitutes masculinity and femininity?
- How do characters embody these traits?
- Do characters take on traits from opposite genders? How so? How does this change others’ reactions to them?
- What does the work reveal about the operations (economically, politically, socially, or psychologically) of patriarchy?
- What does the work imply about the possibilities of sisterhood as a mode of resisting patriarchy?
- What does the work say about women's creativity?
- What does the history of the work's reception by the public and by the critics tell us about the operation of patriarchy?
- What role the work play in terms of women's literary history and literary tradition? (Tyson)
Here is a list of scholars we encourage you to explore to further your understanding of this theory:
- Mary Wollstonecraft - A Vindication of the Rights of Women, 1792
- Simone de Beauvoir - Le deuxième sexe, 1972
- Julia Kristeva - About Chinese Women, 1977
- Elaine Showalter - A Literature of Their Own, 1977; "Toward a Feminist Poetics," 1979
- Deborah E. McDowell - "New Directions for Black Feminist Criticism," 1980
- Alice Walker - In Search of Our Mother's Gardens, 1983
- Lillian S. Robinson - "Treason out Text: Feminist Challenges to the Literary Canon," 1983
- Camile Paglia - Sexual Personae: The Androgyne in Literature and Art, 1990
James Joyce’s A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man can be interpreted as being extremely sexist towards women. Throughout the entire novel Joyce’s protagonist, Stephen, hates women. The only time women are mentioned in the novel are in the story of Adam and Eve, when Stephen is searching for a prostitute, when Stephen sees the girl he blames for almost everything, when they are being compared to sirens, or when Stephen speaks of his mother. I’m going to focus on the instant where Stephen sleeps with the prostitute. Stephen seeks out the woman in order to “ sin with another of his kind” (Joyce 87). Stephen surrenders himself to the woman and sins with her. Despite the fact that he was the one who went looking for her in order to sin, Stephen blames the prostitute for his own sin. As the story progresses, every time Stephen sees a woman or smells her perfume he is filled with lust. After he repents he ignores the lust and basically congratulates himself for not sinning every time he is successful. His encounter with the prostitute is an allusion to the story of Adam and Eve, which in itself is sexist and has caused the opinion that women are sinful creatures that corrupt men. Economically in this novel women either are nuns, don’t work or are prostitutes. Politically they have no say. Socially they are used by men to fill the carnal desire. According to the feminist criticism this novel is sexist.
ReplyDeleteps. I hope i did this right...
James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a feminist’s worst nightmare due to its portrayal of women as a evil being who turn innocent boys into sinners. Joyce went out of his way to prove this idea when he makes the preacher at the chapel speaks of the Story of Adam and Eve and interpret it. The priest believes that that the devil came to eve because she was the “weaker vessel, and poured the poison of his eloquence in her ear promising her that if her and Adam ate the forbidden fruit they would be gods.”(Joyce 103) This would be deeply disapproved of in a feminist criticism due to the fact that it support the role that women caused the original sin and death in the world. Also it supports the idea that women are the weaker sex due to the fact that they are easily convinced to do evil for monetary or social power. The other negative portrayal of women in the novel happens during the Christmas dinner scene. During this time Dante is portrayed as a prude who cannot think for herself and instead believes that “the bishops and priests of Ireland have spoken and they must be obeyed”(Joyce 27). While Mr. Casey is show as being the superior being who takes pride in his ability to set his beliefs of how the church and state should coincide. Thus Dante lacks the ability to make decisions and is more than happy to obey orders while Mr. Casey is something of a more enlighten human. Thus through the lens of a feminist, criticism James Joyce’s novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is clearly sexist.
ReplyDeleteJames Joyce’s novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man contains a variety of degrading statements when referring to women. Being a novel greatly influenced by the catholic religion, much of the content reveals women as “the weaker vessel” (Joyce 125) because Satin chose to tempt Eve instead of Adam in the Old Testament of the Bible. Though, towards the end of the novel, Joyce, as Ms. Barnhart states in her post above, defines Mrs. Dedalus “only by her difference from male norms and values.” In an attempt to determine if Stephen’s mother has had a “happy life” (242), Cranly does not inquire about the woman’s likes or dislikes, accomplishments, personality, or even demeanor, he simply asks “How many children had she?” (242). In this one question, Joyce defines all female happiness in the one major difference between the two sexes. Later on the same page, Cranly asks about Stephen’s father. In response, Stephen easy creates a lengthy list of attributes for his father, and yet the only attribute Stephen reveals of his mother is her ability to have children. So, according to Joyce and his prose, women, in The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, are only included for two purposes, 1) introducing sin into the little Stephen Dedalus’s innocent world and 2) having the ability to have children.
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ReplyDeleteJames Joyce’s novel, A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man, is, as several other members have written, extremely sexist in it’s portrayal of women as “weaker vessels” who generally corrupt the men in their lives. According to Anonymous, Stephen Schreier and Moocow, Joyce only writes about women as sinful prostitutes or “spoiled nuns” (Joyce 30). They either violate their bodies through sins of lust, or they mindlessly follow the direction of male clergy. While these examples are very prevalent throughout A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, they are not the only portrayals. Stephen Dedalus, the protagonist of the novel, also has one other view of women. This view is of the ideal, pure, sinless girl. Much of Stephen’s idea of the perfect woman comes from the Virgin Mary, to whom he dedicates much of his young life. However, for a portion of this novel he also casts this perfect glamour over Emma Clery. Emma is the closest Stephen ever comes to having a love interest throughout the novel. Although this additional example is generally positive compared to the others, feminists would still consider it sexist. By forcing woman to play the role of the Virgin Mary, and by not giving woman complete equality with men, Joyce remains sexists in his views.
One of the most memorable points in the novel that feminists would note for sure, is when Cranly questioned Stephen about ever feeling "love towards anyone or anything" (Joyce 212). When Stephen answers the question, he never admits about feeling anything towards Emma, who throughout the novel loves and hates. He only mentioned God, and his father, who are both ironically males. His mother was not mentioned either, which was not right because it was his parents who created him, but his mother who gave birth to him. The question here is, why does he not love her if she was the one to give birth to him and raise him as much as his father did? Is he ashamed to admit that he loves a woman? Cranly even tries to convince Stephen to show some affection and gratefulness to his mother, "do as she wishes you to do...you disbelieve in it," which proves that Stephen is sexist (Joyce 213). On the other hand, Cranly is on the more fair on the subject of talking about his friend's parents. In the end, Stephen does not listen to Cranly's advice about caring for his mother more. This signifies both Joyce's non feminist beliefs and the patriarchal beliefs of that time period he was living in.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else has said, in Joyce’s “A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man” women are considered evil temptresses leading innocent men into sin. Throughout the novel, Stephen considers women to be less important than men therefore should not be acknowledged the same when men are. They do not deserve the respect men have. This sexist attitude comes from the story of Adam and Eve. Eve is the temptress who leads Adam into sin, forever changing the way God views human beings, therefore women are not respectable in men's eyes. Joyce utilizes this idea when Stephen becomes involved with various prostitutes. Joyce makes it seem it is the woman’s fault for Stephen’s final decision. It was Stephen who “closed his eyes, surrendering himself to her, body and mind” (Joyce, 88). The woman did not force him to do this just like Eve did not force Adam to eat the apple. When men made a poor decision it was easiest to blame their action on a woman because the original sin caused by Eve was all the justification needed. Joyce makes his opinion about woman very clear in “A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man” very clear and to all feminist criticisms and to most readers, that Joyce is sexist.
ReplyDeleteUndeniably, James Joyce’s novel “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” is extremely sexist against women. Like others have said, women are presented as temptresses that drag Stephen into sin. Even the Virgin Mary, who was seen as a symbol of “the preciousness of God’s gifts” (Joyce 91), had, in the end lost her “magic touch.” Besides the prostitutes and the Virgin, Stephen’s mother, Dante and Emma were too subjected to sexism. Whereas the men move out to the world and accomplish tasks, the woman are subjected to a different world, never completely within the society. Dante ultimately gets reduced to tears after her argument about the importance of religion in Ireland during the Christmas dinner. As the men continue on pridefully stick to their beliefs, the women are shunned and their ideas rejected. If not, they are placed above reach and vaguely part of the world like Emma is to Stephen, who never gains the guts to talk to her before his breakaway from society. In fact, Joyce extends the sexism further by having Stephen fear to look at them after his redemption from his sin of prostitution and claiming he did not "love towards anyone or anything" (Joyce 212) in his life.
ReplyDelete“A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” is, as many others have written, a sexist and degrading novel towards women. James Joyce portrays Irish women as vermin, who seek out men in Ireland to sinfully corrupt by doing the devils work. On page 86, Joyce writes that Stephen “burned to appease the fierce longings of his heart” in a manner the Church would greatly disprove. To appease these longings, Stephen would seek out someone who he could “force [...] to sin with him” (87). From these lines, it is obvious what Joyce’s stance is on women and feminism. He portrays Stephen as someone who doesn’t feel women should be treated with respect and care, and that they cause men to sin. In fact, Stephen blames the prostitutes for his sins, even though he was the one who sought them out. In addition, Joyce places the women’s living areas in the squalor of Dublin, in “dark [and] slimy streets” (87). Joyce uses this setting to appeal to the reader so that he or she understands exactly what Stephen is doing as a young man. Overall, James Joyce uses Stephens young and naive nature to show his sexist and degrading ideas towards women.
ReplyDeleteUltimately, is James Joyce’s main character, Stephen Daedalus, in A Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man, sexist? No, sexism may seem present, but personally I believe the novels view towards women only demonstrate Joyce’s and Stephen’s insecurities, which are woven into the plot. More specifically, the novel is based upon Joyce himself for Stephen is trying to stand up for its beliefs, the feminism power that he knows he possesses. Stephen’s bildungsroman comes from the impact of woman in his life as he tries to find a way through politics, religions and the influential people of Ireland. For example, as the novel comes to life, Stephen is able to control his emotion, except when it comes to women. In their company, Stephen turns up his “ valve” at once and “opened the spiritual-heroic refrigerating apparatus.” Additionally, Stephen is able to freeze up his emotions, finding a way to control them. As Stephen becomes older, disappointment arises as he notices the way his mother chose to let him go. Therefore, it is overwhelming obvious Stephen fears rejection. However, he is fascinated by the image of women, for he cannot bring himself to stop thinking about them. Unsurprisingly, during moments of darkness, and struggles, Stephen finds himself thinking of the comfort and the care of his mother. Unfortunately, as previously mentioned, Stephen’s insecurities become evidently present as a result of his mothers rejection, which results in his quest for love in a prostitute, whom he knows would never reject him. Therefore, Stephen ultimately is searching for the mother figure in himself and all his sexual quests. Thus, it is evident of the reason behind Joyce’s implication of sexism in A Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man.
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