Here is a list of suggested questions (from Literary Criticism: An Intro to Theory and Practice) for a feminist analysis. I thought it might be a useful starting point for anyone who wants to read a part of "I Stand Here Ironing" through a feminist lens. Don't feel like you have to do a comprehensive reading: a section/element of the story will do.
Is the author male or female?
Is the text narrated by a male or female?
What types of roles do women have in the text?
Are the female characters the protagonists or secondary, minor characters?
Do any stereotypical characterizations of women appear?
What are the attitudes toward women held by the male characters?
What is the author's attitude toward women in society?
How does the author's culture influence her/his attitude?
Is feminine imagery used? If so, what is the significance of such imagery?
Do the female characters speak differently from the male characters [Here I might add a consideration of interior dialogue and ask, do the female characters think differently than the male characters. This question isn't to get to an essential difference between the sexes--I promise, Delphy--but to understand per Bartky how power might have become internalized]?
Some questions in relation to our readings in particular:
Does the story present the protagonist's characteristics/temperament/labor role as a result of her biology or are their traces of culture in her speech/thought/work?
How does power work in the world of the novel? Do characters regulate themselves and/or others, and if so, how?
How does the experience of motherhood change the world the protagonist inhabits?
These should get you started! Now I promise to shut up (for a little bit) and let you speak.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Two aspects strike me as rather presumptuous on the part of the teacher/counselor. First is his/her declaration about the narrator’s managing her time: “'I wish you would manage the time to come in and talk with me about your daughter…'” (1424). From this request, it seems that this person believes that Emily’s mother apparently has time to mismanage, that she is not a laboring mother who has a family to support. Time is not readily available to her, and, no doubt, it is far more valuable to her than it is to this educated person. Second comes with the person’s following comment: “'…I’m sure you can help me understand her'” (1424). Again, this person makes an assumption that Emily’s mother has insight into her daughter’s mind because she is mother (“the key”) to her. This person seems to think that an interview with Emily’s mother will help her understand this complex and troubling “youngster.”
ReplyDelete