In reading the "Feminist Criticism and Wuthering Heights", I found myself very curious as to the lense of study and its true meanings. Before reading this section of criticism I had a very basic concept of feminism in general. I was one of those people who looked at feminist point of view as solely a critique of the injustices of women in society, so the different definitions and perspectives of this article were very enlightening for me.
The most interesting aspects of this criticism, for me, are the different regional perspectives of feminism. "French feminists tended to focus their attention on language, analyzing the ways in which meaning is produced. They concluded that language as we commonly think of it is a decidedly male realm"(451), ""American feminist critics began by analyzing literary texts rather than philosophizing about language. Many reviewed the great works by male writers, embarking on a revisionist rereading of literary tradition"(454), "British feminists tended to distingush themselves from what they saw as American overemphasis on texts linking women across boundaries and decades and an underemphasis on popular art and culture. They regarded their own critical practice as more political than that of Norht American feminists, whom they sometimes faulted for being uninterested in historical detail"(455). From these different, regional definitions of feminism truly helped me grasp the different nationalities of women, and their points of view in regards to Wuthering Heights.
"These femisists strss that, while all women are female, they are something else as well (such as African American, lesbian, Muslim Pakistani). This "something else" is precisely what makes them, their problems, and their goals different from those of other women"(456). From this quote, I am more readily able to draw different conclusions on the women of Wuthering Heights, not based on their general circumstances placed on them by the narrative itself, but rather on the circumstances put on these women from the standpoint of history and society at the time. Catherine Linton is no longer just a spoiled, confused woman, she becomes, under this new lense, a undereducated, underappreciated, and underambitios somewhat noblewoman of the English moors of the nineteenth century.
I think it is important to realize that women of all nationalities and regions share some common threads of thought and certainly some common grievances. Feminist literature tries to reflect all women in general, and some women in specific, as regards the spaces and times that they occupy individually. Catherine Earnshaw’s experience of determining what was the best man to choose in marriage is representative of the largest decision in many women’s lives at this point in history. This thread continues today around the world, even if the emphasis on marriage is less pronounced these days in the US, and therefore I believe the questions raised by her conditions are just as valid today as they have been for centuries.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that Catherine's characterization changes after you look at her with this new perspective. Before, she is negatively portrayed. I think after though I was able to see why those characteristics were in place and the fact that there actually was a reason behind them instead. Feminism, before I actually learned about it, was a completely different concept to me. Now, especially looking at it through small perspectives of women in more oppressive time periods, I am able to see and understand it more clearly.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I gathered from your post, the type of feminist ideology I tend to follow is that of the French. I am not a strict feminist, one who is on the look out for the ill-treatment of women, but I do tend to discover certain injustices of women every now and then.
ReplyDeleteLike the French, I notice the maltreatment of women through the use of language. I hear women being defamed and objectified in rap music on a daily basis. In addition, I hear women being called out of their names by my peers as I walk through campus. Sometimes, I hear women calling other women out of their names--as terms of endearment. Terms, if spoken by men, that would be deemed as disrespectful or degrading by the average woman.
It is unfortunate that women have gone through so much in this world and continue to face discrimination in today's society. I am hoping these circumstances will improve for the future generations to come and maybe my daughters would not have to experience such discrimination.