Study Material for MEG 05: Elaine Showalters Contribution
to Feminist Criticism
Prepared for IGNOU MA English Exam 2025
Date: June 10, 2025
1 Introduction
Elaine Showalter is a very important figure in feminist criticism, which is a way of studying
literature to understand womens experiences, roles, and challenges in society. She was an
American literary critic who gave new ideas to feminist criticism in the 1970s and 1980s. Her
biggest contribution is the concept of “gynocriticism”, which means focusing on women as
writers and their unique experiences in literature. She also divided the history of womens
writing into three phases to show how womens voices evolved over time. Lets look at her
contributions in detail with examples.
2 Introduction of Gynocriticism
Showalter introduced the term “gynocriticism” in her essay “Towards a Feminist Poetics”
(1979). Gynocriticism means studying womens literature by focusing on women writers, their
experiences, themes, and styles, instead of comparing them to male writers. Before Showalter,
feminist criticism often focused on how women were shown in books written by men (called
“feminist critique”). But Showalter said we should study womens own writing to understand
their true voices.
2.1 Why is this important?
Gynocriticism gave women writers a separate space to be studied. It helped critics look at
womens literature without always thinking about male standards. For example, Showalter said
we should study how women writers like Jane Austen wrote about marriage and family from a
womans point of view, instead of comparing her to male writers like Charles Dickens.
2.2 Example
In her book A Literature of Their Own (1977), Showalter studies British women novelists like
Charlotte Brontë and George Eliot. She shows how these writers created strong female charac-
ters, like Jane Eyre in Jane Eyre, who fights for independence and love on her own terms. This
focus on womens perspectives helped feminist critics understand the unique struggles women
faced in literature.
3 Three Phases of Womens Writing
Showalter divided the history of womens writing into three phases in A Literature of Their
Own. These phases show how womens writing changed over time as their social roles changed.
This idea is very helpful to understand the growth of womens literature.
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• Feminine Phase (1840–1880): In this phase, women writers tried to copy male writ-
ers to fit into the male-dominated literary world. They often wrote under male names
(pseudonyms) to be taken seriously.
– Example: George Eliot, whose real name was Mary Ann Evans, used a male pen
name to publish her novels like Middlemarch. Showalter says this shows how
women had to hide their identity to be accepted.
• Feminist Phase (1880–1920): In this phase, women writers started to fight for their
rights through their writing. They wrote about womens struggles, like lack of voting
rights or education, and demanded equality.
– Example: Virginia Woolf, in her essay A Room of Ones Own (1929), writes about
how women need money and a private space to write. Showalter says this phase
shows women becoming braver and speaking out against injustice.
• Female Phase (1920 onwards): In this phase, women writers focused on their own
identity and experiences as women, without copying men or fighting for equality. They
explored womens inner lives, emotions, and relationships.
– Example: Showalter points to writers like Doris Lessing, who in The Golden Note-
book (1962), writes about a womans personal struggles with love, work, and mental
health. This shows women creating their own stories without worrying about male
standards.
4 Focus on Womens Culture and Experiences
Showalter also said that womens literature should be studied by looking at their culture and
history, which is different from mens. She believed women have their own way of writing
because their lives are different. For example, women often write about family, motherhood,
and relationships because these are big parts of their lives.
4.1 Example
In Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, the main character Jane talks about her struggles as an or-
phan, her desire for love, and her fight for independence. Showalter says this shows a womans
perspective on life, which is different from how a man might write about the same topics.
4.2 Why is this important?
Showalters idea helped critics see that womens writing is not “lesser” than mensits just differ-
ent. She gave a framework to study womens literature on its own terms.
5 Evaluation of Showalters Contribution
Showalters work was a big step forward for feminist criticism because it gave women writers
their own space in literary studies. Her idea of gynocriticism shifted the focus from “how men
write about women” to “what women write about themselves.” This was very empowering for
women writers and critics. Her three phases also made it easier to understand how womens
writing evolved over time.
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However, some critics say Showalters ideas have limitations. For example, she mostly focused
on white, Western women writers and didnt talk much about women from other cultures, like
Indian or African women. Postcolonial feminists like Gayatri Spivak later pointed out that
Showalters framework doesnt fully include the experiences of marginalized women.
6 Conclusion
In conclusion, Elaine Showalter made a huge contribution to feminist criticism by introducing
gynocriticism and giving a framework to study womens literature. Her ideas, like the three
phases of womens writing, helped us understand the growth of womens voices in literature.
Examples like Jane Eyre and The Golden Notebook show how women writers created their
own space. Even though her work has some limitations, Showalters contributions are still very
important for feminist literary studies.
