Two Different Approaches To Literary Criticism Are Marxist

Another key point from Marx on estranged labour is that the worker must stay detached from their labour, lest they experience self-estrangement (Marx, 74), which causes a distance from their animal instincts (76), the everyday things that sustain a person, such as eating, drinking, and having sex, that function outside of any economic system. We see this self-estrangement in Willy throughout the play. He is wholly absorbed in his work and has internalized his objectification at the hands of capitalism, and has subsequently

The three analytic paragraphs on the song Zombie, the essay entitled The Closing of the (North) American Mind, and the documentary film Born Into Brothels showcase the literary theories on Marxism, Post-colonial criticism, and feminism. The paragraphs show how people struggle in their own societies in different aspects, politically and socially. Because all three pieces show struggle in all texts, the unifying theme is how people react and overcome the struggles that they face.

The feminist school has various goals when being used to scrutinize a piece of literature. As Gillespie points out, historically texts were written by males with primarily male protagonists, and thus, the male sentiment is most dominantly expressed in many works of literature. The lessened representation of women in literature is usually confined to typical stereotypes of the historical period. This can be seen in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, and this will be further explored and discussed. Through the feminist lens, women’s presence and portrayal in the play, as well as the common stereotypes about women in Shakespearean society, can be studied carefully, despite the centuries that have passed between the play’s conception and the present. Additionally, as stated in Literary Theories: A Sampling of Critical Lenses,

Literary criticism refers to the study of how literature is evaluated and interpreted. Literature is a common aspect of the life of scholars, and we need to understand and then evaluate the texts we read to get the intended message. There are a number of literary criticism theories that can be used in evaluating literature work. The different theories are applicable differently depending on the text in question. For instance, the feminist criticism theory is a theory that is used to analyze texts that have a gender imbalance as the major theme. These are theories that are guarded by feminism as the common factor. They could be evident in economics, social and political life. This paper will analyze two texts “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by

D. Feminist Criticism i. Feminist Criticism started in the 1960’s. The founders of this particular critic were Mary Ellmon, Kate Millet, and Germaine Green. This critic is primarily based upon gender differences. ii. Feminist Criticism is applied when the narrator Sethe is faced with harsh and brutal treatment throughout the novel because of her role as a woman.

Men and Women have many different life experiences that allow their literature to be different from each other. Gender plays a really important role in society. From the day we are born, we are instantly given a blue blanket if we are a boy or a pink blanket if one is a girl. In society, we are told that we can be whoever we want to be, but many people especially women are criticized if they want to endure a path that is similar to a male. In literature, authors are able to express from their real life experiences and have that help them create stories. Many women authors write from the viewpoint of how men have power and are generally categorized as feminist. Male authorities may not want to lower their role as a man and relate to women because they do not feel like they are being “real” or “powerful”. Everyone views things differently and literature is a very good way to pick apart how females and males think similarly and different to one another. Although Feminism and Gender Roles have changed and men and women are more equal, by taking a look at the play “Poof!” by Nottage and article studies on these criticism one can see how they are still present in today’s society from the past.

The two characters in the play that were wrong about why Willy failed are his wife, Linda Loman, and his brother-in-law, Charley. Charley believed Willy was a real salesman, one who knew that if you can not sell you can not succeed. He saw Loman falling apart and figured it was due to the new American generation. If it was not for the changing times, Willy would not be confused and would have been able to find, and achieve, his American Dream for both himself and his family. The article, “The Relationship between Willy and Linda”, explains Loman and his wife’s relationship. Linda is completely devoted to her husband, yet Willy treats her with little respect. Loman often cut her off or spoke down to his wife when she would try to help a situation. When Biff talks about seeing his old boss for a job, Linda started to say, “Oliver always thought the highest of him . . .”(Miller 65) until Willy cut in, “Will you let me talk?”(Miller 65). Even with the disrespect to Linda, she decides to blame everyone else for her husband’s failures and issues, not fully understanding that Willy’s mental deterioration is from his realization of not fulfilling an American Dream. Anytime Willy wants to evaluate himself honestly, Linda just tells lies to “release his tension and increase his incorrect views”(www.eng.fju.edu.tw.com). Linda gets extremely offended,

Analyzing a work of literature through the eyes of a feminist critique means to analyze how the female characters in works of literature, primarily written by males in male-dominated societies, behave. When making such an analysis, one attempts to see how women are oppressed, be it economically, psychologically, or politically. The belief that underlies this criticism is that Western civilization is inherently patriarchal and women are defined not by their inherent worth, but by the women’s difference from what the males of that day deemed normal. The end goal of this analysis of the great works of literature that influence Western civilization is to change the way people see the world and to question preconceived notions people have about

As societies become more open and inclusive, so do the literary characters that inhabit them. Unfortunately, for women who lived in the time of Geoffrey Chaucer, and later Charlotte Brontë and Virginia Woolf, the mountain they tried to climb towards equal political, social and economic rights was steep and treacherous. Yet these three authors, even though bound by their respective societal limitations, used their skills to give voice to characters that embody the first feminist literary characters of our time.

During the Victorian Age, many new authors entered the realm of literature, and created a style of writing very symbolic of the time-period. Masses of these writers had political agendas on the mind. In the age where feminism was quickly gaining speed novels, journals, and pamphlets were all used as tools to disseminate the author’s thoughts, feelings, and even ideals on the subject. The war for women’s rights spread to pen and paper, and no form of literature was off limits. This period saw the rise of feminist writers, who decidedly used their work to comment on the shifting political field for women. These feminist authors critiqued ideas and fallacies held by others, including aspects of women hood that people were afraid would

The oppression of women is represented in literature through the social roles and the experiences of the women since the early 19th century. In Literary and Cultural Theory by Donald Hall, he states that a feminist analysis is “Language, institution, and social power structures have reflected patriarchal interests throughput much of history; this has had a profound impact on women’s ability to express themselves and the quality of their everyday lives” (Hall 202). Patriarchal oppression is shown in any text that delivers a man regulating the life of his wife or any women in his everyday life by restricting and encroaching the rights and experiences of life of that woman.

According to Louis Tyson feminist criticism “examines the ways in which literature (and other cultural

Feminist Criticism is the analysis of a text through a feminist perspective. This may be done through identifying with female characters in the text, and by questioning whether or not society has valued the works of male authors over the works of female authors due to society placing more value on males than on females. Its goal is to expose the misogynistic nature of male writers, such as Shakespeare, by analyzing female roles in their writing. The main focus is on how female characters are portrayed and the characteristics of the relationships between the female and male characters. Feminism is defined as the advocacy for political, social, and economic equality

Authors who highlighted gender discrimination like Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, May Swenson, Anne Saxton and Maya Angelou, all expressed women’s outlandish position in a patriarchal society. However, today’s society invalidates most of the claims made by these authors because people, advocate for women’s rights, and no longer tolerate patriarchy as a moral belief. In a patriarchal society, women, “had no chance of learning grammar...or reading”(Woolf 1), and gained little to no education due to people forbidding women from attending school. In today’s society, women and men, attend school and obtain the same education. Patriarchal society also stereotyped women, only looking at women as a housewife who “got..the clothes to mend,...the floor to mop,...[and] garden to weed”(Woman Work 2,3,8) rather than a doctor, lawyer or police officer.

Feminist criticism scrutinizes the ways in which literature reinforces or undermines the economic, politic, social and psychological oppression of women. One of the tools used