Kinoshita, Sharon. "Cherchez la Femme: Feminist Criticism and Marie de France's `Lai de Lanval'." Romance Notes 34.3 (1994): 263-73.
~Précis~
In the article, "Cherchez la Femme: Feminist Criticism and Marie de France's `Lai de Lanval'," Sharon Kinoshita examines Marie de France's "Lanval" and its feminist implications. She explores three critical essays that discuss the feminism revealed in the Lais of Marie de France and the differing views represented in each criticism. After discussing these interpretations Kinoshita retells "Lanval" and reveals her own opinion. Through her analysis of the three critical essays and her breakdown of "Lanval" Kinoshita argues Marie's feminism is not revealed through her portrayal of strong female characters, but instead through the titular male character's rejection of the code of chivalry.
Kinoshita begins the article by examining critical essays by William S. Woods, Charles Huchet and Michelle Freeman. Each critic has a different interpretation on what aspects of her writing make Marie de France a feminist writer. In his article, "Femininity in the Lais of Marie de France," Woods focuses on Marie's writing style and her "evident [femininity] in every aspect of the text," (qtd. in Kinoshita 263). Woods argues Marie de France's feminine voice is apparent in her writing style and is "emphasized by repetition, exaggeration, diminutives and excessively detailed descriptions," (Kinoshita 263). Kinoshita explains Woods' stereotypical views have a lot to do with the year in which the article was written, the 1950s.
Different from Woods' 1950s view of femininity, Charles Huchet's 1981 article compares Marie's lais to other works of the times. He suggests feminism is not present...
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...ent that characters receive praise for rejecting the patriarchal system, in turn revealing Marie's feminism. Although her argument holds true for "Lanval," it does not hold true for any of Marie de France's other lais.
Sharon Kinoshita describes four "widely divergent assessments of the female voice in the work of Marie de France," (265). While some critics believe Marie's feminism lies inherently in her writing style, others believe Marie made strategic moves to reveal her femininity. Each differing opinion holds true in some instances, but fall apart in others. Regardless of the differences of opinion regarding Marie de France's feminism, I can agree with most critics when they say Marie is one of the most celebrated female poets of her time. Marie de France will continue to be celebrated for years as a poet who wasn't afraid to show her female voice.
Christine De Pizan’s work in The Book of The City of Ladies pioneers a new genre of feminist literature that exposes a time period from the perspective of its female population. Due to this, De Pizan justifiably earns the title of a revolutionary author. However, to say that De Pizan revolutionized the conditions of women in the medieval ages and onward is an overstatement. In her book, De Pizan critiques sexist arguments in order to defend women against misogyny. The change that De Pizan presented in medieval culture was gradual because she was attempting to amend people’s perspectives on women rather than offer any institutional rectifications. She worked to establish that women can be just as mighty as men, and thus, they are not innately inferior. However, her goal was not to ensure that women have equal access to exercise and pursue their virtuous roles. Therefore, if observed
Which is caused by the narrator having a male perspective. The narrator does not give the women and credit or redeeming qualities. All the women follow a general stereotype. If they tried to break away from the stereotype, they would me more important and influential characters. Paquette, a chambermaid in the Baron’s castle, is described as “a pretty and obedient brunette” (5). She is identified obedient not because of her job as a chambermaid, but because she is willing to exploit her soul and body to the men around the castle. In regards to the old woman, she doesn’t even have an actual name, which does not matter since is ugly and useless. The old woman has the mindset that she is; an object; a mistake; a disgrace. That her time has passed as a beautiful useful woman. All the rape and abuse has physically affected her and she is out of luck. In fact, she is lucky if men talk to her, or even look at her without
Traditional female characteristics and female unrest are underscored in literary works of the Middle Ages. Although patriarchal views were firmly established back then, traces of female contempt for such beliefs could be found in several popular literary works. Female characters’ opposition to societal norms serves to create humor and wish- fulfillment for female and male audiences to enjoy. “Lanval” by Marie De France and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer both show subversion of patriarchal attitudes by displaying the women in the text as superior or equal to the men. However, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” also incorporates conventional societal ideas by including degradation of women and mistreatment of a wife by her husband.
Haney-Peritz, Janice. "Monumental feminism and literature's ancestral house: Another look at The Yellow Wallpaper". Women's Studies. 12:2 (1986): 113-128.
Misogyny in this text is represented through many factors showing how women can only prove their dominance by removing the men’s sexuality and freedom of independence. It is also represented in the fact that Nurse Ratched is seen as perfect except for her breasts, her outward mark of being a woman. “A mistake was made somehow in manufacturing, putting those big, womanly breasts on what would of otherwise been a perfect work, and you can see how bitter she is about it.” (6) The fear of women is usually stemmed from ...
4. Judith L. Kellogg, “Le Livre de la cite des dames: Reconfiguring Knowledge and Reimagining Gendered Space” in Christine de Pizan: A Casebook edited by Barbra K. Altman and Deborah L. McGrady, New York: Routledge, 2003.
Haney-Peritz, Janice. "Monumental Feminism and Literature's Ancestral House: Another Look at 'The Yellow Wallpaper'" Women's Studies. 12 (1986): 113-128.
Through the thirty four page analysis, Lanser invokes her audience to consider the influences of gender practices taken into account by writing styles, sexual oppression, the feminine consciousness, and political privileges.
The female characters in Molière’s Tartuffe display feminist behaviors years before the feminist movement emerged historically. Many of their actions, words and behaviors are completely out of character for women of their time. Moliere makes a strong statement with this play by presenting female characters that go against convention. The gender inequality when the Enlightenment began was extreme. The women in this play try to fight against this inequality and in the end it is the patriarch of the family that is fooled by Tartuffe yet most of the female characters remain un-fooled throughout the play. Two of the female characters in this play, Doreen and Elmire play significantly different roles in the home. They have different personalities, different household duties and drastically different social standing. As different as these women are, they both show signs of early feminism. To various degrees they fight for want they believe is right. Dorine speaks her mind openly and does not hold anything back. Elmire is sneakier and uses her sexuality to get what she wants.
...present powerful characters, while females represent unimportant characters. Unaware of the influence of society’s perception of the importance of sexes, literature and culture go unchanged. Although fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty produce charming entertainment for children, their remains a didactic message that lays hidden beneath the surface; teaching future generations to be submissive to the inequalities of their gender. Feminist critic the works of former literature, highlighting sexual discriminations, and broadcasting their own versions of former works, that paints a composite image of women’s oppression (Feminist Theory and Criticism). Women of the twenty-first century serge forward investigating, and highlighting the inequalities of their race in effort to organize a better social life for women of the future (Feminist Theory and Criticism).
The characters of Villette are easily associated either comparing or contrasting the common gender roles during the time the novel was written, 1853. A character in the novel who portrays the female gender
French feminist criticism concerns itself with the objectification of women, and examples abound in Two Kinds. From the beginning, Jing-mei’s mother pushes her to be a prodigy partially for reasons of pride and competition. Jing-mei’s Auntie Lindo has a daughter who is a national chess champion, and Auntie Lindo never fails to remind anybody of the fact. When discussing their daughters, both Auntie Lindo and Jing-mei’s mother make no mention of their character, only bragging about their level of “genius”. Ironic as it sounds, they are objectifying their daughters and using them as status symbols, no different from flaunting a new car or gadget. On the other hand, American feminist criticism focuses on the victimization of women, a victimization that is apparent in Two Kinds. Though at first glance, Jing-mei’s mother may seem like the antagonist in the story, when one considers her backstory it is apparent that she just wants her daughter to have the life she never had. The mother lost everything when she moved from China to San Francisco in 1949. In China she lost her family, her spouse, and she had to abandon her twin baby girls. She had a very difficult life in a society that was even more hostile to women than post-World War II America. Finally, there is the Female Subtext form of criticism, which focuses on minor female characters. The minor female characters in this story are Aunt Lindo and her daughter Waverly, two toxic characters that represent the opposite of what feminism stands for. Aunt Lindo drones on about how great her daughter and remarks about how she is obsessed with chess with mock disgust. Waverley herself is no saint, as she brags about her level of genius while belittling Jing-mei after her piano recital fiasco. This is strikingly similar to how men looked down upon women as subhuman for most of history. All in all, Two Kinds is
I will look at an example of Ecriture Feminine writing, that of French feminist Helene Cixous's "The Laugh of the Medusa". This work will then be c...
Feminine Mystique manifests Friedan’s thoughts on the compromise of women’s roles post-World War II and how it led to the detriment of feminism, the exposition of the unspoken and unnamed frustrations shared by a consensus of women, and the deficient system of gender-based functionalism and its setbacks. All of the strong condemnation and criticism on these various facets led to the gradual change of the way women viewed their roles and identities.
The term ‘Ecriture Feminine’, literally meaning ‘feminine writing’, was coined by Helene Cixous. To understand the idea of Ecriture feminine, it is necessary to understand Lacan’s idea of the Symbolic: according to Lacan, a child’s entry into the Symbolic is an entry into the system of language, which always precedes the individual and is centered on the phallus. Cixous built upon the idea that the woman is excluded from Lacan’s Symbolic and she never enters it, therefore a woman’s lived experience can never be expressed through the language which gives meanings that are phallic in nature. Moreover, since the woman does not exist inside the symbolic, she is less controlled by the phallus. Cixous argues that since the woman always occupies a position of otherness and does not accept any symbolic function, therefore, she is free to create and express her own experience in all its depth and intensity by rejecting the dominant male form of expression. A female experience, according to Cixous, transcends the rational and is incomprehensible. Therefore, the male mode of expression with its strict sentence structure is not capable of expressing it.