Gervanna Stephens

Instructor – Mrs. Lucinda Peart

ENGL331 – Literary Criticism

6 December 2011

Feminism and its function in a critical reading of the short

stories The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and The Yellow Wallpaper by

Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the poem “Poem in Praise of

Menstruation” by Lucille Clifton.

The Feminist movement began as an attempt to underscore the

despotism of the patriarchal society that is reflected

exceedingly in literature and permit women to be established as

equals. According to Paul Ady, associate professor of English at

Assumption College in Massachusetts, the feminist literary critic

is predisposed to the rebuffing of patriarchal models in

literature “that privileges masculine ways of thinking and

marginalizes women politically, economically and psychologically”

(Lewis).

Stephens 2

Feminist criticism scrutinizes gender politics in works and

delineates the subtle assembly of masculinity and femininity and

their status in relation to each other, their position and

marginalization within literary works. Feminism’s purpose ergo is

to change the degrading view of women so that all women will

realize that they are not a nonsignificant Other, but that each

woman is a valuable person possessing the same privileges and

rights of every man (Bressler 144). The status of women is what

concerns feminism. Jonathan Culler argues that “feminist

criticism” is “the name that should be applied to all criticism

alert to the critical ramifications of sexual oppression, just as

in politics ‘women’s issues’ is the name now applied to many

fundamental questions of personal freedom and social justice”

(Culler 56).

Feminism has its origins in the struggle for women’s rights

which began in the late eighteenth century chiefly with Mary

Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) (Dictionary

of Literary Terms and Literary Theory). However, it was those

that purported the movement in the twentieth century that greatly

influenced Feminist thought. Theorists such as Virginia Woolf,

Stephens 3

Simone de Beauvoir and Elaine Showalter have made momentous

contributions to the historical development of Feminism and

Feminist Criticism.

Feminist criticism comprises a variety of approaches in its

practice, for it encompasses facets of Reader Response Criticism

and Cultural Studies; for interpretation is influenced by one’s

status, race, gender, class, sexual preference and so forth,

hence different individuals will react differently. Structuralism

and Deconstructionism act also as aspects of Feminism, for

“feminism aims to break down the public/private split in relation

to reason and feeling and the binaries of masculinity/femininity

so as to allow for a different vision of gender and society”

(Waugh & Rice 144). Feminist criticism also connotes

Psychoanalytic Criticism, for it exerts ‘the psychological

sentence of the feminine gender’ according to Woolf (Dictionary

of Literary Terms and Literary Theory). It is important to

feminism because it tries to clarify why people invest in

behaviours which seem irrational, counter-productive and against

their best interest, an example of which is De Beauvoir’s The

Second Sex. Feminism is able to embrace these critical schools of

Stephens 4

thought, Marxism, deconstruction, psychoanalysis and New

Historicism for it is more an approach or mind-set than a school

of criticism.

Feminist criticism lends itself then to comprehension

through an investigation of its historical growth, the

assumptions posited through the theory and the components of its

methodology. In addition, the application of feminist criticism

to the short stories The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and The Yellow

Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Lucille Clifton’s “Poem

in Praise of Menstruation” will explore the practices of the

theory in critical analysis to allow for a better understanding

of the literary pieces.

A study of feminist criticism, its historical development,

the assumptions associated with the theory and the methodologies

in using the theory is necessary in order to garner a round

understanding of the theory of Feminism. The historical

development of feminism was purported through the works of

several theorists, namely Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir and

Elaine Showalter who at aimed defining and asserting women.

Stephens 5

In the early 20th century, British scholar and teacher

Virginia Woolf was a critical individual for the feminist

criticism movement. One of her most influential works A Room of

One’s Own laid the groundwork for present-day feminist criticism.

She asserts that men have and continue to treat women as

inferiors. It is tyrannical and dictating tongue of patriarchy,

she declares, that defines what it means to be female and who

controls the political, economic, social and literary structures

(Bressler 145). It is the false belief of society that women are,

by nature, less intellectually and/or physically capable than

men, it excludes women from the academy, the forum, and the

marketplace. As a result of this policy exclusion the true

potential of many a woman goes unfulfilled (Tong 2). This

unfulfillment of a woman’s latent talent Woolf hypothesizes

through Shakespeare’s sister, who is equally as gifted a writer

as Shakespeare himself. Her gender though, prevents her from

having “a room of her own.” For as a woman, she cannot obtain

education of gainful employment. Her inherent artistic abilities

therefore have no chance to bloom, because she cannot meet the

expense of having her own room. Symbolic of Woolf’s portrayal of

Stephens 6

the solitude and autonomy needed to seclude one’s self from the

world and its social restrictions in order to think and write. In

due course, Shakespeare’s sister dies alone without any

acknowledgement of her outstanding ability (Bressler 145-146).

It is for this reason Woolf argues that women must reject the

social construct that society has forced upon them. Should women

reject this social construct, they should also establish their

own identity and challenge the existing, cultural ideas

concerning the identity of the female. Additionally, women should

develop a female discourse that will accurately portray their

relationship “to the world of reality and not to the world of

men” (Bressler 146).

Another significant contributor to feminist criticism is

Simone de Beauvoir. A French writer she became noteworthy because

of her contributions to feminist criticism, in her work entitled

The Second Sex (1949), Simone de Beauvoir asserts that French

societies are patriarchal in nature. Beauvoir posits that because

the female is not male, she becomes the Other, on object whose

existence is defined and interpreted by the male, the dominant

being in society. In the major cultural institutions of society,

Stephens 7

the woman finds herself portrayed as a subordinate and

consequently a secondary or inferior player in these

institutions. Beauvoir declares, like Woolf, that women must

fracture the bonds that society has used to bind them. They need

to view themselves as self-governing human beings and thus

establish themselves as significant individuals in society. In

order to do this, women must first reject the social construct

that men are the superlative and women are the insignificant

Other and hence defy and deny male classification (Bressler 146).

With the work of Beauvoir permeating the 1940’s, we look

towards the 1980’s where the voice of feminist criticism found

its dominance in Elaine Showalter. Showalter detects in the

history of women’s writing three historical phases of evolution.

A feminine phase (1840-80), in which women writers imitated dominant

male artistic norms and aesthetic standards. A feminist phase (1880-

1920) followed, in which radical and often separatist positions

were maintained. Finally, a female phase (1920 onwards) proved the

culminating point for the evolution of women writers; it looked

particularly at female writing and female experience. The need

for the concept of ‘phasing’ resulted partly from a need to

Stephens 8

achieve theoretical respectability and to create a sense of

progress in the practice feminist criticism (Barry 123).

It is the mandate of Feminist critics to develop a peculiar

understanding of the female and the female experience in art

through the literary forms and techniques. To do this, Showalter

expresses that the uncovering of misogyny or male hatred of women

is necessary. Hence, the terms gynocritics and gynocriticism

were given life through this need to define and develop the

female. It refers to “constructing a female framework for

analysis of women’s literature to develop new models based on the

study of female experience, rather than to adapt to male models

and theories.” Showalter aims at unearthing the false cultural

assumptions of women as depicted in literature as well as to

reject these assumptions by ascertaining women as writers and

readers in their own right (Bressler 149).

Gynocriticism provides critics with four models: the

biological, linguistic, psychoanalytical and cultural models. The

biological model focuses on how the female body is portrayed in

the text to produce literary images and a personal, intimate one

that oftentimes becomes the focal point in works authored by

Stephens 9

women. The linguistic model is concerned with female language and

refers to the differences in the male and female linguistic

approach for it questions the idea if women speak or write

differently from men. The psychoanalytic model uses an analysis

of the female psyche and its relation to the writing process to

highlight the contrast between the flux and fluidity of female

writing and the rigidity and structure of male writing. The

cultural model additionally, investigates how the society in

which the female author works and functions shapes their goals,

responses, and points of view (Bressler 155-156).

Critical to the theory also, in addition to the theorists of

the ages who have been the vehicles for the development of

Feminism as a literary theory are the assumptions that form the

base of feminist criticism. Feminist criticism postulates that

the reader’s status specifically gender affects the text’s

interpretation; that women have not had equal access to writing,

publishing and reading in the production of literature; and that

social change finds an arena in literature. The reader’s

interpretation of a text finds its influence by interacting with

his or her own status inclusive of gender, race, class, sexual

Stephens 10

preference, religion and other contributing features. A person’s

status in life depends largely on their worldview, and through

this framework, meaning is constructed. For this reason, a reader

will acknowledge or rebuff certain principles promoted or

undermined in a text based on his or her race, class, sexual

preference, religion and other contributing features.

That women have not had equal access to writing, publishing

and reading in the production of literature is also a poignant

philosophical principle of Feminism. Customarily, female authors

could not write or publish their own works for they were not seen

as equal to their male counterparts. Writers such as Charlotte

Bronte, George Eliot and George Sand had to accept the social

constructs of their day and the definition of women and

accordingly write under male pseudonyms in attempts to equal the

intellect and creativity of their male foils (Bressler 148-149).

In this respect, of recognizing patriarchy, emphasis on male

education was dominant, leading to the exclusion of females.

Subsequently, many women could not read or write literature and

in addition, the males controlled the publishing houses and

Stephens 11

through that arena, the dispersal of stereotypical dogmas

flourished.

Social change finds an arena in literature. The portrayal of

women in literature as inferior beings when compared to men has

been a means of promoting and reinforcing the stereotypes of

women as sex maniacs, angels, monsters, wicked stepmothers, old

spinsters or barmaids to name a few as posited by patriarchal

society. They were limited to secondary positions and homely

duties to fulfil the need of the male to be in control. Women

need to dispute the long held patriarchal assumptions about their

gender and re-evaluate the traditional literary canon that has

corrupted what it means to be a woman. Through a taking on of

literature, philosophical and theoretical views, women can also

reject the prevailing female constructs of society by portraying

the woman as self-sufficient, strong, self-assured and equal to

the man.

In the application of feminist criticism to any literary

form an understanding of how to apply the principles of the

theory is essential. It is the assertion of feminism that an

examination of the qualities of the gender of the author and/or

Stephens 12

characters by the reader is pivotal. Feminism also puts forward

that consideration to the promotion or undermining of stereotypes

is necessary to analyze a text. Pen ultimately feminist criticism

asserts that imagination must be put in play as the reader must

think about how a text might be read by a certain type of reader

or how it may be neglected by another type of reader.

It is the mandate of the reader to identify the qualities of

gender, class, race, sexual orientation, and religion of the

author and/or characters. Factors such as these directly

influence the way an author writes as well as the ‘how’ and ‘why’

of character portrayal. The task of discovering the status of the

author and/or characters lends itself to the identification of

stereotypes in a text. In the process of determining the presence

of stereotypes, an examination of the characters will reveal

either the promotion or undermining of such. In addition, whether

a text promotes or undermines stereotypes is dependent on whether

the author is male or female. Visualization of how a text might

be read is quintessential to the practice of the theory. Will a

female and a male arrive at the same or different conclusions if

they read the same text? How might a certain type of reader based

Stephens 13

on their gender, culture, or social class interpret a text?

Questioning these disparities in how a reader may view a text or

neglect a text are all parts of the techniques used in feminist

criticism.

Though a text may not abashedly concern itself with feminist

ideals, a feminist approach may be illuminating. Kate Chopin’s

The Story of an Hour and Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s The Yellow Wallpaper

however are personifications of feminist literature. The

application of the feminist theory to these stories will be

explored through characterization, theme and setting. In each

story masculinity/femininity is presented in the characters and

their actions and through these presentations, the concept of

stereotypes are either endorsed or destabilized.

In Chopin’s The Story of an Hour, the main character Mrs. Mallard

is knowledgeable of the “right” way for women to behave, her

thoughts, emotions and feelings however are in contrast not so

conventional. From the story’s beginning, she is introduced as

“Mrs. Mallard” and referred to as “she” for most of the account.

This anonymity and namelessness placed on her symbolizes the loss

of individuality and identity of women that patriarchy seeks to

Stephens 14

keep intact. It is not until paragraph 16 of the story that the

reader learns her name. It is when she has become “free! Body and

soul free!” that she is addressed by her own name, “Louise.” It

is her sister, Josephine, who calls out to her using her

Christian name, Louise, which proves to be the male form of

Louis, similarly, Josephine’s name is the male form of Joseph.

The irony of the names, reveal that even within a personal

femininity the masculine agenda cannot be quelled and patriarchy

rules dominant.

Dr. S. Selina Jamil, Associate Professor of English at

Prince George’s Community College said in her article ‘Emotions

in the Story of an Hour,’ “The narrator points out, that Mrs.

Mallard is not struck, as “many women” have been, by “a paralyzed

inability” to accept the painful sense of loss. On the contrary,

she is roused from her passivity by an uncontrollable flood of

emotion.” “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment; in

her sister’s arms…she went away to her room alone, she would have

no one follow her.” It is through her actions that Chopin reveals

to the reader the spontaneity of Mrs. Mallard’s emotions and

feelings. She first accepts her sister’s support in her initial

Stephens 15

moment of grief, but as she takes on her individuality as a

liberated woman, she shuns the company of everyone, symbolic of a

rejection of society’s stereotypes.

Mr. Mallard is characteristic of oppression for Mrs. Mallard

in the story. His reported death gives her liberation, frees her

from her marriage, and allows her the independence she needs to

take on her own feminine attributes. Mr. Mallard signifies too,

the return of bondage and anonymity for Mrs. Mallard making her

into the “insignificant Other” (Bressler 146) once more, for when

he comes in “view of his wife” he reestablishes her role as

“wife” and her freedom is short-lived in its essentiality for she

is now ‘domesticated’ once more and her death soon follows. Her

death however may be symbolic of her ultimate freedom from the

strains of patriarchy.

Parallel to this plot is Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s The

Yellow Wallpaper. The story centers on a young woman, Jane, who is

the narrator. In the opening sentence, the narrator remarks,

“John and myself,” “in introducing ‘myself’ and ‘John,’ the

narrator highlights her awkward positioning in her sentence and

at large, society for she is not even on par with ‘ordinary

Stephens 16

people like John’” (Golden 195). Her attempts to write and

explore the well of her creative mind however go against the set

norms established to throw off the constraints of patriarchal

society in order to be able to write.

In contrast to the narrator is John’s sister, Jennie,

clearly epitomizing the stereotype of the woman in society, for

she is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper and hopes for no

better profession. She represents the “husband’s sibling-

surrogate, other woman, sister-in-law, nursing-sister, keeper…and

is viewed by the narrator as a conjugal collaborator, enforcer,

and rival claimant upon the wallpaper…” (Crewe 280).

Hume depicts John, the narrator’s husband as “mechanistic,

rigid, predictable and sexist” (Hume 478). There is also the view

of him as a “censor and heterosexual rescuer” (Crewe 280), but

also “…chained to a madwoman… the logical product of his own

ideology” (King 31), for he “resembles the penal officers of the

eighteenth-century psychiatric wards or penitentiaries…” (Bak

41). John hence is characteristic of the domineering tyrannical

male that aims at both oppressing and repressing the woman of

Stephens 17

society, for he lauds his masculinity over the femininity of his

wife.

In addition to the patriarchy present in the story that

seeks to overpower and dominate the woman, the narrator’s husband

and brother are characteristic of “the power that men possess

over women… to prescribe what they may or may not do and… to

diagnose—to name what is sickness and health, abnormal and

normal” (King 27). Similarly in Chopin’s The Story of an Hour in

comparison to Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper the male-dominated medical

profession identifies the illnesses of both women but are

incapable of treating either Jane’s depression for she eventually

goes insane or Louise Mallard’s heart trouble. Signifying the

impotence of patriarchy and the need for women to reject the

societal frameworks of misogyny and be characters in and of their

own volition.

Entrenched into the plot of each story are several themes

appropriate to feminism. The first of which refers to the

subordination of the female in a highly patriarchal society

lending to her becoming the ‘Other.’ In Chopin’s The Story of an Hour

Mrs. Mallard is representational of the female in the story who

Stephens 18

becomes the Other. She has no identity for she is juxtaposed in

one way for majority of the plot, as Mrs. Mallard, hence only in

relation to her husband does she seemingly ‘exist.’ When

addressed by her name, Louise, it is ironic but not surprising to

see that her personal name is the feminine derivative of the male

name Louis. Characteristically too, that her sister, Josephine,

also falls in this category as well, for her name too, is the

female offshoot to the name Joseph. It lies then to associate the

subordination of females with not only overt acts of oppression

but in tandem with the slight and more implied overlooked forms

of the mental and emotional rather than the physical.

Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper portrays a female narrator who

meets restriction by her husband from writing, because he

disapproves of this desire. He represses her creativity and

imaginative skills through his efforts to help her. These prove

futile and misplaced however, for his attempts in turn portray

his wife as a helpless child rather than a woman in her own

right; she is subdued and dependent and has become in respect to

them both, the Other.

Stephens 19

The narrator inadvertently rejects this label of the ‘Other’

by the ending of the story. As the narrator strips off most of

the wallpaper, the conforming self is left, the creation of a new

social convention. As the woman behind the paper “gets out,” the

image is not of liberation, rather it is the victory of the

social ideal. The woman from behind the paper assists the

narrator in tearing it down, destroying the Other self. “The

narrator is both the woman behind the pattern who is securely

tied with a rope, and she who does the tying,” (King 31) the

narrator creates the wallpaper and it creates her. “While the

heroine misreads and misrecognizes the yellow wallpaper which

represents her suppressed self, she is also writing ‘The Yellow

Wallpaper,’ which in turn is also herself” (King 31-32).

Another theme finding its prominence in the short stories is

marriage as an inherent tool of patriarchal oppressiveness. The

organization of marriage from its inauguration, places women at

the hands of men, for they are the dominant forces of the

institution thus wielding control. Both Chopin and Gilman reveal

through the literature that marriage as a socially constructed

Stephens 20

institution though providing shared contentment is inherently

oppressive.

In The Story of an Hour, Chopin seeks to highlight the natural

way in which marriage causes oppression. For even though Louise

readily describes her husband as kind “the kind, tender hands”

and loving “the face that had never looked save with love upon

her,” she nevertheless experiences a joyous relief at the news of

his death. Though she rejoices, her actions do not suggest she is

spiteful or malicious towards her husband, for she also notes,

“she knew that she would weep again…” at his funeral. Her relief

then could be in characteristic to a joyous independence found

through her release from marriage, as her thoughts suggest,

“there would be no one to live for during those coming

years; she would live for herself. There would be no

powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with

which men and women believe they have a right to impose a

private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a

cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime…”

Louise Mallard expresses no definite way in which Brently Mallard

oppresses her, but with her thoughts, it is inferred that

Stephens 21

marriage itself is the oppressive force, that robs persons of

their independence and identity.

In Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, the nature of marital

oppression occurs similarly to Chopin’s The Story of an Hour, but is

more forceful in this story. It can be critiqued that marriage

acts, as a compensation of patriarchy, for it is not a

partnership, as society would have many be deceived, but a legal

male dominated arena by which females can be further oppressed.

The narrator of Gilman’s story is so grafted deeply into the

marriage structure that she states, “John laughs at me, but no

one expects that in a marriage.” For Gilman such an affirmation

allows for the critique of the superciliousness of male attitudes

towards women and reveals the sad state of what is a marriage on

the ‘inside’ that seems to disregard the derision of women.

In both stories, the woman as a prisoner motif is evident in

regards to the theme marriage as an inherent tool of patriarchal

oppressiveness. These women ergo die for or fall prey to insanity

because of the cause for which they fight. Both stories however

see the women’s “cause” being to “reject the social construct and

Stephens 22

establish their own identity in search of a room of one’s own”

(Bressler 146).

The final theme that is weaved into the plot of the short

stories up for discussion, is the idea of, men as therapists,

erroneously treating women to show their “superiority.” Mrs.

Mallard in Chopin’s The Story of an Hour is “afflicted with a heart

trouble” ergo she needs to be preserved; the preservation of

Louise Mallard lends itself to the preservation of her oppressive

discourse. The male diagnoses Mrs. Mallard, the male is incapable

of effectively treating her condition and the male inevitably

pronounces her dead. Her heart condition may have developed as a

reaction to her substandard status in a male dominated society

and her marriage, for her face “bespoke repression” and the

narrator reveals that there was a “powerful will” that was

“bending” hers. She is only an appendage to her husband, the

Other, and is only referred to for most of the discourse in

juxtaposition to her husband. Additionally, her heart condition

could have been in simple terms a broken heart resulting from a

lack of attention from her husband, for he seeks not to

Stephens 23

understand his wife, but in her thoughts “impose a private will

upon a fellow-creature,” specifically her.

Gilman presents in The Yellow Wallpaper the narrator, Jane, with

a nervous disorder. Her husband, John, a physician prescribes

rest therapy for her. He prevents her from engaging in any forms

of activity, inclusive of her favourite hobby, writing. John

being a physician along with the narrator’s brother who supports

his decisions is oblivious to what is actually the right

treatment for his wife’s “condition,” he and her brother

recommend what they believe she needs ignorant to what is

actually the cause of her illness; patriarchal hegemony. Though

meaning well, John is incapable of realizing the venomous effect

he has on his wife, “John is a physician, and perhaps… that is

one reason I do not get well faster.” Even though the narrator

pens these words, it is evident that she does not realize their

full extent, for she follows her husband’s dictates, aiding in

stifling her positive qualities, imagination and creativity.

It is ironic too, that the husband has confined the

narrator, his wife, to the upstairs bedroom of a rented

summerhouse so that she can recuperate. She is restricted from

Stephens 24

writing and working and has to hide her journal from him. He

controls her access to the rest of the house as well, “…hardly

lets me stir without special direction.” The story relates more

than its written plot, for it also tells the tale of imprisonment

on the narrator’s mental state and her eventual decline into

psychosis in spite of the treatment prescribed by patriarchy,

symbolized through her husband.

An exploration into the setting surrounding each story will

allow for understanding the application of feminism. It will

highlight how different epochs reflect dissimilar ideas and

notions in regards to women and reveal how even the physical

surrounding can inhibit the female.

Both narratives take place in the late nineteenth century, a

time when women were still in the shadows, for they were to be in

the home and happy. It was men at the time that determined and

assigned women’s roles and as such, perpetuated a conceptual

prison that subjected and silenced women. Women at the time were

viewed “as emotional servants whose livelihood was to be

dedicated to the welfare of home and family to preserve the

social constructs and maintain stability” (Papke 10). They were

Stephens 25

restricted to set parameters determined by men known as the

woman’s sphere or the domestic sphere. Women were urged to give

up self-definition and were recommended to become identified by

their service to others and in particular, men. Desires to

achieve were quickly quelled, especially outside the domestic

sphere, for “it was from an ambitious desire to extend the limits

of the sphere, that many have brought trouble upon themselves”

(Newton 882). Welter asserted, “if anyone, male or female, dared

to tamper with the complex virtues which made up True Womanhood,

he was damned immediately as the enemy of God, of civilization,

and of the republic” (372). For even in the home, achievement for

the woman was to be circumscribed.

Chopin’s The Story of an Hour takes place in an American home,

in a single hour. The physical setting is springtime and

comprises blue skies and the trees were in view, “…the tops of

trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life…there were

patches of blue sky …” The physical setting depicted or hinted at

the emergence of a new life, the one that Mrs. Mallard thought

awaited her. She could only be master of herself after her

husband’s passing like so many wives of late nineteenth century

Stephens 26

America. As a widow, “there would be no one to live for…she would

live for herself.” She would leave nothing behind, for she had no

children, an occurrence that the doctors would have sought to

blame on her. In fact, when she leaves the story through death,

she is a character of lack in the male discourse, for she has

failed to live up to the domesticity and homeliness ascribed by

men.

In the late 1800’s women were not given the opportunity to

choose their careers over their families, because to do so, meant

to give up the other. In The Yellow Wallpaper however, the narrator

does not get this choice, for she is given strict orders that

‘rest’ will be her cure and thus should do nothing else. “The

ideal woman of the time was not only assigned a social role that

locked her into her home, but she was also expected to like it,

to be cheerful and gay, smiling and good humored” (Lane, To

Herland 109). For Gilman’s narrator in the story an attempt to

refuse this role leaves her spiraling down into psychosis and

though now “free” from patriarchy, she does not possess the

ability to appreciate it, because she is not in her rightful

mind. Similarly, Mrs. Mallard in The Story of an Hour is now

Stephens 27

eternally and forever free from male dominance but cannot

experience the joys of her liberation and independence because

she lost her life to do so.

Both women in each story sit inside and watch nature, they

do not actively engage with what they see outside, for the world

outside of their designated room is the public sphere of which

they are not to enter. They are prisoners inside the woman’s

sphere; they are slaves to patriarchy.

Finally, the feminist theory will be applied to the poem,

“Poem in Praise of Menstruation” by Lucille Clifton. Feminist

poetry is lined with blatant feminine connotations and female

language. In dissecting feminism’s relevance to this poem, a

study of imagery, style and tone versus mood is critical.

The poem as the title suggests speaks to the pride of being

a woman for it highlights a very private female occurrence, that

of menstruation. Clifton uses feministic imagery rather

dramatically in her poem. She speaks to a river bright as blood,

brave, coming in a surge of passion and pain and more ancient

than the beginning. Clifton expresses the central theme of her

poem through the exploration of a function of the female body. It

Stephens 28

is personal and intimate and a significant image, in fact, the

sole imagery of the entire poem.

Imagery refers to the use of language to represent objects,

actions, feelings, thoughts, ideas, states of mind and any

sensory or extra-sensory experience (Dictionary of Literary Terms

and Literary Theory). In the poem, prolific detail is given to

the description of menstruation and the image of likening it to a

river. Lines 1-2 speak to the beauty of a river, “if there is a

river

more beautiful than this” the surface of which is normally calm

and able to reflect whatever hangs or hovers over it. Lines 3-4

give the distinction of the “river” as being different however,

for it is “bright as the blood red edge of the moon” with these

lines, images of war, death and carnage flash into the mind’s

eye. A look back at the poem’s title however, allows for an

association of the image presented with the cycle of menstruation

which according to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary is the

discharge of blood from the lining of the uterus at intervals of

about one lunar month.

Stephens 29

Lines 9-12 “a river braver than this coming and coming in a

surge of passion of pain…” though rivers may seem calm and slow

flowing on the surface, the currents underneath prove powerful

and constantly rushing forward. Its movement is swift and

decisive but despite the glory of its coming, there can be

adverse effects, if the “river” should overflow its banks

resulting in pain for those in the vicinity.

Lines 13-14 “a river more ancient than this” evoke another

poignant image. It envisions that the female monthly cycle of

menstruation originates from the beginning of the human race,

when the poet refers in the latter lines to “daughter of eve

mother of cain and abel…” This lends the reader to visualize and

acknowledge that the praise of menstruation is not only physical

for despite the pain that comes with it, it signifies that the

body is working correctly for a non-pregnant female. In addition,

the reference to biblical characters distinguishes the menstrual

act as glorious and as the title suggests, inevitably worthy of

praise.

The style and structure of the poem aids the feminist

movement and asserts women. The style refers to how the writer

Stephens 30

says things; it is his/her voice and the structure, to how the

voice of the writer is expressed through form. The poem is

written in free verse; hence, it has no regular metrical pattern,

no delineated stanza or line length and depends on natural speech

rhythms for its rhyming scheme is also not determined (Dictionary

of Literary Terms and Literary Theory).

Every word of the poem is in common letters, which suggests

a sense of flow, as the thoughts come easily and naturally

reflecting a connection by the writer with the central idea

discussed throughout the poem. This flow of the words, could also

parallel the flow of the menstrual cycle each month and the flow

of blood that exits the body during the process. There are

punctuations in the poem, no capital letters to suggest that any

aspect of the poem is greater than any other part. There are no

commas to suggest a pause and no periods to hint at an end, only

the line breaks for the next stanzas are present and even those

do not suggest a pause or end or fragmentation, for the ideas of

the previous lines, flow into the lines following them. This

could also suggest that unless a woman has reached menopause –

which refers according to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary

Stephens 31

is the cessation of menstruation in a woman’s life – the

menstruation process is continuous.

The fact that there are no periods to end the sentences or

the poem itself lends itself to the development of an idea that

feminism and the feminist movement is continuous and ever

developing. Women must consciously reject and actively rebel

against the social constraints of society and patriarchy that

would not have them introduce to the “public sphere” private

womanly matters. Women must assert, in the home, school,

workplace and through the literary world that a “woman’s sphere”

is not limited to private thoughts and avenues, but it is

explicit and encompasses the literary canon for it exposes its

shortcomings and is the needed “filling” to satisfy the gap in

literature without women’s writings.

Lastly, in applying the feminist theory to the poem, “Poem

in Praise of Menstruation,” a look at tone and mood will ensue.

Tone and its relation to mood is essential in the application and

understanding of the poem. Pride is the central tone permeating

the poem, which would contrast sharply to the feelings of the

reader when analyzing the poem epitomizing the mood.

Stephens 32

Tone is the reflection of a writer’s attitude, manner, mood

and moral outlook in a piece of work and the way the personality

of the writer permeates the work (Dictionary of Literary Terms

and Literary Theory). Mood on the other hand speaks to the

feelings that the reader experiences while or after reading the

piece of literary work.

The central tone of the poem is one of pride. From the poet

exudes pride, when she speaks of menstruation, she compares it

vividly to nature and delights in doing so, for she equally makes

claim that it is as part of the female make up. There should be

no qualms about its origin, for though it may be a painful ordeal

or cause discomfort, it is an expression of femininity and what

makes us “woman.”

For a woman to reject this part of her, she rejects her

feminineness and accepts patriarchy’s claims that a “woman’s

sphere” should never enter the “public and social sphere” of

life. Clifton says, “beautiful and faithful and ancient and

female and brave” (lines 23-24) in personifying and immortalizing

women and praising not only her bodily functions, but in

extension praising and uplifting her.

Stephens 33

The mood elicited in the reader from the poem initially is

one of wariness and disgust, because things private and sacred to

a woman are on public display for anyone to see, criticize, and

in turn talk about generally. To the reader at first glance upon

the initial impression this seemed sacrilegious.

Upon a second look at the piece and after examining however,

the literary techniques and thought placed on writing such a poem

and making it glorify the menstrual cycle, the reader feels a

sense of satisfaction. After transacting with the poem, a sense

of understanding looms in the reader’s mind, for it had to take

strength for the writer to first create the piece and then think

about publishing it considering that she is a female.

The reader is emboldened by the poem for it speaks of the

menstrual process in a positive light. It exalts and admires the

monthly cycle and thus praises all women and lifts them up from

the gutters of society and patriarchy. The reader and all women

are given through the poem, a personal voice and a personal

insight into the workings of the “woman’s sphere.” The poem

speaks so intimately about the female body and transcends not

only Showalter’s biological model of criticism but usurps the

Stephens 34

literary canon of “maleness” and adds the “fe” to the word to

express“femaleness” and connote a pride and joy in “femaleness”

that extends throughout literature.

The application of Feminism as a literary theory to the

short stories The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and The Yellow Wallpaper

by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Lucille Clifton’s “Poem in Praise

of Menstruation” has resulted in a deeper understanding of the

theory. This exploration of Feminism through the short stories

and poem lends itself to the idea that Feminism is more an

approach to literature or a way of thinking than a structured

school of critical theory.

The aim of Feminism is to revolutionize the debasing outlook

of women, so that women like Mrs. Mallard in The Story of an Hour and

Jane in The Yellow Wallpaper will realize that they are not a

nonsignificant Other, but a person of worth deserving of the same

treatment and privileges as a man. Feminism aims to give women

the strength to reject the societal constructs of definitions in

relation to man and allow her to, like Clifton in the poem “Poem

in Praise of Menstruation” exalt her femininity and see herself

as an autonomous being and significant in her own right.

Stephens 35

Works Cited

Bak, John S.  “Escaping the Jaundiced Eye: Foucauldian

Panopticism in Charlotte Perkins

Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’”  Studies in Short Fiction 31.1

(Winter 1994):  39-46.

Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and

Cultural Theory. 2nd ed.

Manchester, United Kingdom: Manchester University Press.

2002. Print.

Bressler, Charles. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory

and Practice. 3rd ed. Upper

Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc. 2003.

Print.

Crewe, Jonathan.  “Queering ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’?  Charlotte

Perkins Gilman and the

Politics of Form.”  Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 14 (Fall

1995):  273-293.

Stephens 36

Cuddon, J.A. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and

Literary Theory. 4th ed.

London: Penguin Books.1999. Print.

Culler, Jonathan. “Reading as a Woman.” On Deconstruction: Theory

and Criticism after

Structuralism. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1982. Print.

Golden, Catherine.  “The Writing of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ A

Double Palimpsest.”  Studies in

American Fiction 17 (Autumn 1989):  193-201.

Hume, Beverly A.  “Gilman’s ‘Interminable Grotesque’: The

Narrator of ‘The Yellow

Wallpaper.’”  Studies in Short Fiction 28 (Fall 1991):  477-484.

Jamil, S. Selina. "Emotions in The Story of an Hour." The

Explicator 67.3 (2009):

Stephens 37

215+. Academic OneFile. Web. Retrieved on 2 November 2010 from,

<http://ns2.ncu.edu.jm:2056/gps/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-

Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=IPS&docId=A2020273

73&source=gale&srcprod=AONE&userGroupName=ncu_jm&version=1.0

>.

King, Jeannette, and Pam Morris.  “On Not Reading Between the

Lines: Models of Reading in

‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’”  Studies in Short Fiction 26.1 (Winter

1989):  23-32.

Lane, Ann J. Introduction. “The Fictional World of Charlotte

Perkins Gilman.” The Charlotte

Perkins Gilman Reader. Ed. Ann J. Lane. New York: Pantheon

Books, 1980. X-xviii.

---. To Herland and Beyond: The Life and Work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman. New

York:

Penguin, 1990.

Stephens 38

Lewis, Jared. “What Is the Feminist Approach to Literary Criticism?”

Ehow.com. Web. Retrieved on 2

November 2010 from, http://www.ehow.com/way_5819656_feminist-

approach-literary-criticism_.html

Lynn, Steven. Texts and Contexts: Writing About Literature with

Critical Theory. 5th ed. United

States: Pearson Education Inc. 2008. Print.

Newton-Lowder, Judith. “Power and the Ideology of ‘Woman’s

Sphere: 1981”’ Feminisms: an

anthology of literary theory and criticism. Ed. Robyn Warhol and Diane

Price Herndl. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2007.

880-895. Print.

Papke, Mary E. Verging on the Abyss: The Social Fiction of Kate Chopin and Edith

Wharton. New York: Greenwood P, 1995. Print.

Stephens 39

Rice, Philip & Patricia Waugh. Modern Literary Theory. 4th ed.

New York: Oxford University

Press Inc. 2001. Print.

Tong, Rosemarie. Feminist Thought A Comprehensive Introduction.

United States: Westview

Press, Inc. 1989. Print.

Welter, Barbara. “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860.” The

American Family in Social

Historical Perspective. Ed. Michael Gordon. New York: St. Martin’s

P, 1978. 373-392.