​FEMINIST LITERARY CRITICISM

A Look Through the Feminist Lens

While some books may not be written with feminist culture in mind, that does not stop readers from judging these texts through a feminist lens. Reading through a feminist lens entails looking deeper at the way that female charaters are written, as well as the relationships between men and women within the writing. It also examines the use of gendered stereotypes; for example, the damsel in distress stereotype, a mother or girlfriend dying in order to inspire a male character's journey, and otherwise flat or two dimensional female characters.

 

Perhaps the most important questions feminists ask within the realm of literary criticism is "how does gender affect the piece?" The treatment of Ophelia in Hamlet is one example. Her father treats her more like his property, or a bargaining chip to be played at the right time, than he treats her like a person. She is not placed on the same level as her brother Laertes, who is clearly shown thinking and acting of his own accord, where Ophelia is a puppet of her father. In act 1 scene 3 she says "I do not know, my lord, what I should think" in regards to her actions with Hamlet. Although Laertes is certainly respectful to his father, he has a mind of his own, and even sees fit to instruct Ophelia in her actions. The treatment of Ophelia and many other Shakespearian women is a matter of discussion for those reading Shakespeare through a feminist lens, and a very interesting debate.

 

Bechdel test:

The Bechdel test is a tool used in literature and film to measure a work. There are three criteria a work must meet to pass the Bechdel test: there must be two female characters, these female characters must talk to each other, and they have to talk about something other than a man. The number of books, movies, and other forms of literature that do not pass this simple test is astounding. Hamlet does not pass. The Bechdel test is not the be-all-end-all way to measure a perfect feminist novel, it is merely the lowest bar for a piece of literature to pass.