Feminist Theory
Feminist criticism is concerned with the ways in which cultural texts challenge or reinforce the economic, political, social and psychological oppression of women. It studies texts with a consideration of the ways that the text construct and represent gender.
At the heart of this mode of interpretation is the consideration of the following core conflict:
These slides contain a broad overview of what feminist criticism does. They are good for students who want to remind themselves of some of this theory's key aspects. For a deeper understanding of what a feminist critic does, explore the resources below.
Key Figures
Judith Butler
R.W. Connell
Hélène Cixous
Gayle Rubin
Germaine Greer
Gloria Steinem
Simone De Beauvoir
Naomi Wolfe
Click the image to the left to access the article that we read as a class that explains the core tenants of Feminism via an interview between a journalist and a professor of literary studies.
Click the image to see some examples of feminist literary criticism in action. Measure your own work against the models on this page to ensure that you are correctly applying this type of criticism.
Click the image to access further resources to help you understand Feminist criticism. On this page, you can find examples of Feminist criticism, explainer videos and further reading.