Feminist Analysis – The Big Idea
|
At this point in the process, after having annotated the text, taken notes, reviewed them, and asked questions, you should have some idea of the big picture. Try to state your idea as simply and clearly as you can, but don’t oversimplify it; try to capture the complexity of the topic as much as you can. Works will contain multiple topics focusing on different aspects, but a feminist theory approach focuses on the role gender dynamics play in a work. By clearly defining your topic of interest you will better be able to focus on a theory and develop a thesis.
The first step to establishing your main interpretation using feminist theory is to determine if the work supports patriarchal ideals or not. It is important to remember that though a work may illustrate patriarchal characters that does not necessarily mean the work supports patriarchal ideals. A story may contain a nurturing mother who serves her husband and household dutifully, but if she is ultimately unhappy then the work would be considered anti-patriarchal. |
 An anti-women’s sufferage postcard, one of many that depicted sufferagettes as violent, ugly spinsters.
|
For a feminist new critical approach, this big idea will be stated as a theme, or broad statement that is not specific to the work. For example, a potential theme of Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” could be “sexism causes a fundamental misunderstanding of women’s motives”. There are certainly many other possibilities, but this theme works because it is a generalization that could be supported from evidence in the work.
For a historical approach, the main idea would be concerned with how the piece is indicative of the position of women in time period it was written. For instance, a main idea for a historical feminist approach to “A Jury of Her Peers” could be “The workload of rural American women in the 1920’s, along with the physical distance between properties, maintained women’s isolating position in the home sphere.”
For a psychoanalytic feminist approach, the central topic would establish how the character’s experience or understanding of gender plays into their psyche. For instance, a main idea for a psychoanalytic feminist approach to “A Jury of Her Peers” could be “Women whose lives are dominated by their husbands are eventually compelled to take back their independence, violently if necessary.”
For Marxist feminist theory, the big idea will focus on how the socioeconomic system plays into the character’s experience of gender. You might look at how the societal pressure for a man to provide for his family shapes him, or how a woman’s financial dependence on her husband shapes their relationship. For “A Jury of Her Peers,” a potential subject could be “Women’s standard of living is dependent on their husband’s income and it determines their social experience.”
As you can see there are many different feminist approaches to a single work, so don’t feel overwhelmed trying to come up with a definitive statement of what the piece says about gender.
If after having reviewed your fleshed-out observations you’re still struggling to determine a main idea, try to:
- think about the importance of the title
- explain the relationships among all parts of the work
- decide if the characters follow typical gender roles
- think about how character’s gender roles affect them
- decide if the author is in support of patriarchal values
- determine what you think is the work’s purpose
- create multiple working topics and supply quote/passage examples for each one